Solar Can Power More Than 9 Million American Homes

The U.S. has reached 49.3 gigawatts of total installed solar power capacity in the third quarter of 2017, enough to power 9.5 Million homes, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The numbers continue to be impressive: In the last ten years, solar in the U.S. has experienced an average annual growth of 68 percent. Almost 260,000 Americans now work in the solar industry. By 2021, more than 100 gigawatts of solar capacity will be installed.
The cost to install solar has dropped by 70{bdcc069b23db8cb15678bb29c9e1c945edf790effe3af739082c851aee20c527} since 2010. Lower costs in the supply chain, such as for thin-film characterization, have significantly contributed to this price drop. Other factors were lower costs for labor and local permits.
California is still dominating the American solar market, but other states like North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada also have an increasingly large share of the market. Utah, Texas and South Carolina are among the emerging markets.