By
Rhone Resch
May 26, 2015 at 5:00 am ET
From the end of 2004 through the end of 2014, the deployment of solar energy in the United States grew at an unprecedented rate, according to a new video report, Solar Energy in the United States: A Decade of Record Growth, released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
According to a detailed SEIA analysis, in 2004, there were 500 megawatts (MW) of solar energy installed nationwide. But by the end of 2014, there were 20,000 MW – enough to power more than 4 million homes – with 97 percent of that capacity added after passage of the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). Over the same time period, the cumulative investment in installed solar installations in the U.S. soared from $2.6 billion to $71.1 billion.
Here are some other key takeaways from SEIA’s analysis:
Most importantly, the tremendous growth of solar energy in the United States has translated into tens of thousands of new jobs. In 2004, there were less than 20,000 people at work in the U.S. solar industry. Through 2014, that number had soared to 174,000 – with new jobs being added every day. Without question, effective, forward-looking public policies, like the solar ITC, Net Energy Metering (NEM) and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), are helping to drive solar energy’s remarkable growth. Because of these polices, we should be generating enough clean electricity to power more than 8 million American homes by the end of 2016, benefitting both our economy and environment, while providing homeowners, businesses, schools, nonprofits and government officials at all levels with real choices in how they meet their electricity needs in the future.
Rhone Resch is the president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.