United States and solar power

US Solar Energy Statistics

2023

An analysis of the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) 2022 year-end electricity generation report shows that the United States is estimated to add 24.8GW of solar capacity in 2023. The United States has a solar generating pipeline of 101.6GW to be installed by 2030. The top 5 states with the largest pipeline include:

Rank	State	Proposed Capacity (GW)
1	Texas	33.3
2	California	9.2
3	Nevada	6.4
4	Florida	5.6
5	Indiana	4.9

2023 Trends

According to the EIA, Renewable Energy sources provided a quarter of the nations electrical generation during the first half of 2023. The mix of renewables accounted for 25.11% of US electrical generation. Compared to 25.06% from the first half of 2022. Solar grew by 12.44% in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022. Solar combined with wind accounted for 17.11% of generation, up from 16.48% a year earlier.

2022

An analysis of the EIA's 2022 year-end electricity generation report shows that the US added 10.9GW of solar capacity in 2022, bringing the total capacity for solar power in the US to 72.1GW. Of the 72.1GW of operating solar capacity, 1.5GW is generation from solar thermal technology. The top 5 states with the largest operation solar capacity are:

Rank	State	Installed Capacity (GW)
1	California	16.7
2	Texas	11.4
3	North Carolina	6.1
4	Florida	6
5	Georgia	3.6

2022 Trends

According to Global Energy Monitor's Global Solar Power Tracker, which tracks utility scale solar projects of 20MW or larger, the United States is second in the world for operating solar capacity (11.6%) and prospective capacity (9.8%). China ranks first in both categories (52.5% and 32% respectively).

2021

According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), the 2021 United States' primary energy production by Renewable Energy sources totaled 13%. 9.3% was produced by wind, and 4.8% from a combination of geothermal and solar. Renewable Energy production and consumption reached record highs in 2021 driven by record high solar and wind energy production. In January 2022, the US brought 22 projects into operation adding 952 MW of capacity. A new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests that new renewable energy capacity additions will exceed 300 GW globally, after new installations reached almost 295 GW in 2021. Renewable Energy capacity additions increased by a record 6% globally.

According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the EIA, Renewable Energy sources provided 97.4% of new domestic electrical generating capacity and 24.4% of actual generation during the first quarter of 2022. During the same time period utility scale solar (>1 MW) added 1,639 MW in new capacity and electric generation by solar sources grew by 31.8% compared to 22.9% from wind sources. Renewables now provide 26.4% of total US available installed generating capacity. At the end of 2021 there were nearly 300 hybrid plants operating across the US, totaling nearly 36 GW of generation capacity. That's up 74 plants from the previous year. The US had a total of 1,143 GW of generation capacity, making hybrid plants 3% of the country's total capacity.

Solar Farm Profiles

Name	Capacity (MW)	Status	Start Year	GEMwiki
Chill Sun Solar Project	2250	Pre-construction	2027
Gold Dust Solar	1500	Pre-construction	2026	Gold Dust Solar
Gemini Solar	690	Construction	2023	Gemini Solar
Prospero Solar	550	Operating	2021	Prospero Solar
2W Permian Solar Project Hybrid	420	Operating	2021	2W Permian Solar Project Hybrid

The largest operating solar farm in the US is Prospero Solar project. With two phases totaling 550MW, the Propsero Solar project came online in 2021. Owned by Longroad Energy, Prospero Solar is located in Andrews County, Texas.

The largest proposed solar farm in the US is the Chill Sun Solar Project. The project is anticipated to total 2250MW and come online in 2027. A joint development between Naturgy Energy Group and Candela Renewables, the Chill Sun Solar Project will be located in Nye County, Nevada.

Targets and Barriers

Renewables Targets

According to a report published by the IEA, renewables, including solar, wind, and hydropower, will dominate the growth of global electricity supply over the next three years, meeting on average more than 90% of the additional demand.

Transmission

The volume of projects has overwhelmed the nations antiquated systems. More than 8,100 energy projects were waiting for permission to connect to electric grids at the end of 2021, up from 5,600 the year before. PJM Interconnection, which operates one of the nations largest grids, has been inundated by so many connection requests that in 2022 it announced a freeze on new applications until 2026. The law does little to address barriers to clean energy projects including permitting holdups, local opposition, and transmission constraints. Many applicants give up and fewer than one-fifth of solar and wind proposals actually make it through the interconnection queue. Some developers will submit multiple proposals at different locations without intending to build them all. the rise of speculative bidding further jams up the queue.

Critical Metals

Many of the remaining untapped deposits of metals needed for the production of renewable energy technologies are located 35 miles near or within areas of cultural and environmental importance to Native American communities. These key metals include Nickel (97% of reserves near vulnerable communities), Copper (89%), Lithium (79%), and Cobalt (68%). The demand for Copper is anticipated to rise as much as 350% by 2050. Two mining projects facing strong opposition from Native American groups are the Lundin Moning's Eagle mine in Michigan and the Resolution copper mine in Arizona. Both located within the 35-mile radius of impact.