The US installed 832MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) in the second quarter of 2013, representing 15% growth over the first quarter of the year. It was solar's second best quarter ever, according to a new report released by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
The largest share of PV installations came from the utility sector, with 38 completed projects totaling 452MW, a jump of 42% over the previous quarter. The residential market experienced a slight hiccup in second-quarter 2013, breaking its streak of incremental quarterly growth with a flat quarter, and in the non-residential (commercial) market, only 13 out of the 28 states tracked in the report showed quarterly growth. However, the report forecast a resumption of growth in the second half of 2013, with 4.4GW of PV expected to come online in 2013, up from 3.3GW in 2012, an overall annual growth rate of 30%.
As always, the solar market experienced significant variability across states in the second quarter. California installations increased 7% on quarter despite the end of incentives in some states, an indicator of solar's increasing competitiveness. Overall, 20 of the 28 states tracked in the report are on pace to increase their annual installation of solar energy over 2012, the report said.
"Distributed generation is the big story in the US solar market this year," said Shayle Kann, VP 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 US solar market on the whole, the report forecasts over 5GW of PV and concentrating solar power (CSP) will be installed by the end of 2013. At that time, cumulative solar PV capacity will surpass 10GW.
"America's solar energy industry remains on course to have another record-shattering year," said SEIA CEO Rhone Resch. "Today, there's more than 9,370MW of total solar electric capacity across the US, enough to power more than 1.5 million US homes."
