California Doubles Rooftop Solar Capacity - In One Year

2013 was a historic year for rooftop solar installation across the United States, and in California in particular. The Golden State added as much rooftop solar capacity as was installed over the prior 30 years combined.

1 minute read

January 4, 2014, 11:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"2013 was a banner year for clean energy and the U.S. solar industry was no exception," reports Kiley Kroh. "California, the nation’s solar standout, more than doubled its rooftop solar installations last year from 1,000 megawatts (MW) to 2,000 MW. To put this number in perspective, writes Bernadette Del Chiaro of the California Solar Energy Industries Association, it took California over 30 years to build the first 1,000 MW of rooftop solar."

"As record numbers of homes and businesses decide to go solar, utility companies are growing increasingly uneasy about the threat it poses to their existing business model," adds Kroh.

Thursday, January 2, 2014 in Climate Progress

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