U.S. Sets Staggering Record with 191% Growth in Solar Power Installations in 2016 in U.S.

Solar Energy / Economics

Date posted: 12/15/16

Patrick Caughill reports that solar power has been making some impressive strides in 2016. The first three quarters of this year have already seen more new installations of solar panels than the entirety of 2015. A report by GreenTech Media shows that in the third quarter (Q3) of this year alone, enough solar panels to generate 4,143 MW of electricity were installed in the U.S. Q3 of 2016 has seen a 191% rise in installations from the same quarter last year, making it the new record holder for new solar power installations in the country. Increased affordability could be a major driving force in the sudden boom in new installations. Priced per watt, there was a $0.14 drop between the first and third quarters. This brought total prices of residential solar power below $3.00 per watt, not including the the capital cost of installation. Along with solar power becoming more affordable in general, it is also approaching coal in terms of cost effectiveness. This trend is also helped along by government programs that award tax breaks for the adoption of renewable energy. A report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of various means of generation. According to the EIS, LCOE represents the per-kilowatt hour cost (in real dollars) of building and operating a generating plant over an assumed financial life and duty cycle. For new plants set to go online in 2022 the LCOE of coal power is predicted at $139.50 per kWh compared to solar photovoltaic power of $66.30 per kWh. Energy experts(?) are predicting that coal is a fading industry that will never return to its former grandeur and can continue to see sharp growth in solar power along with other forms of clean energy generation. A new study(?) from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests that 25% of the U.S. energy needs could be filled by rooftop solar installations alone. Fact checks are required to validate the above claims.