The United States’
22,500 MW of
rooftop solar panels
are not located mainly
in sunny states like
Arizona, Nevada,
New Mexico, and
Hawaii
The sun matters,
but it seems that
retail electricity
prices drive
solar panel
locations.
The map below
shows rooftop
solar capacity
by state as of
November 2019.
This includes all
“small-scale”
( <1MW )
solar installations,
including both
residential and
non-residential,
as solar capacity
per capita.
The 22,500 MW
of U.S. rooftop solar
is to 0.07 kW per capita,
ranging from 0.50 kW
per capita in Hawaii
to less than 0.01 kW
throughout most
of the Southeast.
By this solar energy
oer capita metric,
the top ten states are:
(1) Hawaii
(2) Massachusetts
(3) California
(4) Arizona
(5) Vermont
(6) New Jersey
(7) Connecticut
(8) Nevada
(9) Rhode Island
(10) Maryland
Six out of the top
ten states are in
the Northeast,
with low levels
of sunshine ?
The pattern
for retail
electricity prices
in the second chart
looks similar
to the pattern
for rooftop solar
panels per capital
in the first chart.
(1)
Hawaii is #1
Most expensive
electricity,
generated mainly
from relatively
expensive
heating oil.
Hawaii has
lots of sun too.
As a result,
Hawaii has
twice as much
rooftop solar
as any other
U.S. state, on a
per capita basis,
(2)
California?
High electricity prices
and high levels of solar.
(3)
Massachusetts?
High electricity prices
and high levels of solar.
(5)
Vermont?
High electricity prices
and high levels of solar.
(6)
New Jersey?
Offers 0% sales tax
and other state-level
incentives for rooftop solar.
Florida is not in the Top Ten !
Florida and
eight other states
have restrictions
against third-party
power purchase
agreements,
which discourages
which discourages
solar leasing.