FLORIDA 3RD-FASTESTGROWING SOLAR MARKET
In 2017, Sunshine State third-fastestgrowing solar state.
Florida moved into the top 10 solar states for the first time since 2011, adding 748 megawatts in 2017.
The Sunshine State was also the third-fastest-growing solar state last year, growing 109 percent, according to a report released Thursday by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research.
Florida had a total of 1,430 megawatts of solar installed at the end of 2017. It also ranks fifth in solar jobs,with 8,529.
Nationally, the solar industry had double-digit gigawatt growth for the second year in a row, despite the yearlong threat of tariffs.
The 10.6 gigawatts added was down from 2016’s record-shattering 15 gigawatts but up 40 percent from 2015.
The market was driven by strong growth in the corporate and community solar segments.
“The solar industry delivered impressively last year despite a trade case and market adjustments,” said SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “Especially encouraging is the increasing geographic diversity in states deploying solar, from the Southeast to the Midwest, that led to a double-digit increase in total capacity.”
The nonresidential market segment got its moment in the spotlight in 2017, growing 28 percent year-over-year, notching its fourth consecutive year of annual growth.
Last year in particular saw an “explosion” in the community solar market, led by Minnesota and Massachusetts.
“Minnesota headlined a banner year for community solar, with more megawatts installed in that state than total U.S. community solar installations in all of 2016,” said Austin Perea, GTM Research solar analyst and co-author of the report. “We expect community solar to diversify geographically in 2018, with Maryland and New York to be key growth markets for the sub-segment beginning this year.”
However, the residential and utility-scale segments saw installations fall on an annual basis for the first time since GTM Research and SEIA began publishing the report in 2010.
The year-over-year downturn for the utility segment in 2017 was largely expected, because of the massive influx of installations seen in 2016 as projects were rushed to completion before the anticipated expiration of the 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit.
The report notes that uncertainty surrounding the Section 201 tariffs caused many projects to be postponed or canceled, while interconnection delays and Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act cancellation resulted in many projects spilling over into 2018.
Of the top 10 state markets for residential solar in 2016, only two saw annual growth in 2017.
However, 25 of the 44 states tracked in the report saw year-over-year growth in annual residential photovoltaic installations, with several states climbing in the rankings.
California and North Carolina remain the two largest solar states after adding the most and second-most capacity in 2017, respectively.
Because of the federal and state policy changes and market dynamics, GTM Research lowered its base-case forecast for 2018-22 by 13 percent.
Still, total installed U.S. photovoltaic capacity is expected to more than double over the next five years, and by 2023, more than 15 gigawatts of PV capacity will be installed annually.