Large-scale solar power generates about 4% of all electricity in the U.S. Capacity has almost doubled in the last year. Smaller-scale installations – including solar panels on things like homes and public buildings – have also
More than half of the public said they strongly supported solar power specifically, with a third supporting it less strongly. In all, it is endorsed by 87 percent, with only 1 percent saying that they were opposed. Furthermore,
The country''s burgeoning solar capacity is delivering 600,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year – equivalent to power for a city the size of Belfast. This saves 202,000 tonnes
The most remarkable is that it is nowhere near over. Read more in our series on solar energy: To call solar power’s rise exponential is not hyperbole, but a statement of fact. Installed solar capacity doubles roughly every three years, and so grows ten-fold each decade. Such sustained growth is seldom seen in anything that matters.
Panels now occupy an area around half that of Wales, and this year they will provide the world with about 6% of its electricity—which is almost three times as much electrical energy as America consumed back in 1954. Yet this historic growth is only the second-most-remarkable thing about the rise of solar power.
Installed capacity is doubling every three years. According to the International Solar Energy Society, solar power is on track to generate more electricity than all the world’s nuclear power plants in 2026, than its wind turbines in 2027, than its dams in 2028, its gas-fired power plants in 2030 and its coal-fired ones in 2032.
To call solar power’s rise exponential is not hyperbole, but a statement of fact. Installed solar capacity doubles roughly every three years, and so grows ten-fold each decade. Such sustained growth is seldom seen in anything that matters. That makes it hard for people to get their heads round what is going on.
For example, while the vast majority of the public supports the development of large-scale community-based solar installations, not everyone agrees. US attitudes toward solar power vary — why is that?
Gen Xers had the highest percentage of those likely to take no steps at all (10%). Leading the way on solar energy. Gen Z and Millennials lead the charge on solar homes: 70% of respondents who currently have solar panels on their home are millennials or Gen Zers.
