The US installed 2.7GW of solar PV in 2019 Q1, a Q1 record, up 10% over 2018.
SEIA/Wood Mackenzie reported the data in their Solar Market Insight Report 2019 Q2.
Q1 2019 highlights from the report
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- The US passed 2 million installations in Q1, 2 years after hitting 1 million. The next doubling to 4 million installations is projected to happen by 2023, with annual additions reaching 16.4GW in 2021, before the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) expires for residential installations.
- Residential additions continue modestly (8% in 2018). Q1 2019 grew 5% year-on-year, exceeding 600MW of new installations for the third consecutive quarter.
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- Non-residential additions declined due to policy changes in core states (CA and MA) and interconnection issues, despite the addition of 1.6GW of utility-scale installations, 61% of new capacity.
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- Solar contributed 51% of the new capacity additions in Q1 (up from 28% in the full year 2018), surpassing natural gas at 28% (down from 54% in 2018).
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- 1.6GW pf Utility PV Capacity was added in 2019 Q1 with 4.7GW under construction, placing projected year-on-year at 46% for utility-scale projects. The Utility PV pipeline currently totals 27.7 GW
Sources and further reading:
Solar Market Insight Report 2019 Q2 (SEIA/Wood Mackenzie)