WARMING UP TO SOLAR POWER
Large-scale utility projects have grown rapidly in recent years; Texas ranks seventh in nation
LARGE-scale solar power has grown rapidly over the past six years as falling solar panel prices, tax incentives and government policies aimed at boosting renewable energy encourage the development of major solar projects.
The installed capacity of so-called utility-scale projects — greater than one megawatt, or enough to power 200 homes on a hot Texas day — has increased an average of more than 70 percent a year between 2010 and 2016 to about 21,500 megawatts, with about half of that capacity coming online in the last two years.
Utility-scale solar, however, still accounts for a tiny share of the nation’s electricity production. Last year, it represented less than 1 percent of the country’s utility power generation capacity. Wind accounts for 5.6 percent of the nation’s generation capacity, according to the Energy Department.
California, North Carolina and Arizona lead the nation with the most solar capacity; Texas ranks seventh.
Utility-scale solar, as opposed to rooftop systems, accounts for most of the solar power generated in Texas, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a research group.
The growth of utilityscale solar in Texas suffered a setback in April of last year when Sun-Edison, the world’s largest renewable
energy developer, filed for bankruptcy. The company was forced to delay construction on two major solar projects in Texas.
Houston-based NRG Energy bought one of the projects, the 154-megawatt Buckthorn solar farm in West Texas, in September. The project’s sole customer is Georgetown, a town of around 60,000 north of Austin. The Buckthorn project is expected to be completed in 2018, said NRG.
Texas has lagged other states in solar power growth, largely because it does not offer any tax credits or other incentives. It also lacks a socalled net metering law which requires utilities to buy excess power from rooftop and other small systems, which also brings down the cost.
The federal government offers a 30 percent investment tax credit for companies, utilities or homeowners that buy solar panel systems. The credit is set to expire in 2022.