GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) recently released the "U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2nd Quarter 2013," which presents analysis of solar power markets in the United States with state-specific data for 28 states and the District of Columbia. The nation installed 832MW in Q2 2013, representing 15% growth over the first quarter of this year.
According to the report, the largest share of photovoltaic (PV) installations came from the utility sector, with 38 completed projects totaling 452MW. This was a jump of 42% over last quarter. The residential market experienced a slight hiccup in Q2, breaking its streak of incremental growth with a flat quarter. In the non-residential (commercial) market, only 13 out of the 28 states tracked in the report showed quarterly growth. However, the report forecasts a resumption of growth in the second half of the year (with 4.4GW of PV expected to come online this year) — up from 3.3GW in 2012 and equaling an overall annual growth rate of 30%.
“Distributed generation is the big story in the U.S. solar market this year,” said Shayle Kann, vice president of research at GTM. “We expect significant growth, especially in the residential sector, but the future will be dictated by the increasingly complex nexus between the solar industry and utilities.”
Looking at the U.S. solar market as a whole, analysts forecast that by the end of the year more than 5GW of PV and concentrating solar power (CSP) will be installed, taking cumulative solar PV capacity to surpass 10GW. For key report findings, read the executive summary or purchase the full report, which includes a state-by-state data breakdown.