CONNECT WITH US
Climate & Energy

Climate & Energy

U.S. Small-Scale Solar Generation Has Quadrupled in the Last Decade

CleanTechnica logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
U.S. Small-Scale Solar Generation Has Quadrupled in the Last Decade

We estimate that U.S. generation from small-scale or rooftop solar photovoltaic systems (smaller than 1 megawatt of capacity) has increased from 18,812 gigawatthours (GWh) to 92,979 GWh over the last decade. The four states with the highest generation of small-scale solar in the country—California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida—are in regions with more abundant solar resources. Even though it is in a region with lower solar resources, New York ranks as the fifth-largest rooftop solar generation producer as a result of capacity growth supported by technology improvements and state incentives.

The year-over-year change in generation was particularly high in 2022, when total generation grew by 25% compared with the previous year amid record capacity growth. Changes in different programs supporting rooftop solar partly explain this increase in generation. For example, California’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0 program was available through April 2023. This net metering program offered higher export compensation than the subsequent Net Billing Tariff, or NEM 3.0. All the capacity built under the NEM 2.0 program was grandfathered in, incentivizing higher capacity installation before the current NEM 3.0 took effect.

California accounted for 37% (34,411 GWh) of total U.S. small-scale solar generation in 2025. Between 2024 and 2025, rooftop solar generation in the state grew by 8%, largely due to an increase in capacity. Small-scale solar capacity in California increased from 18 gigawatts in 2024 to 20 gigawatts in 2025.

S. generation, or 5,795 GWh. Year-over-year generation in Arizona grew only 6% in 2025. The largest increase happened between 2022 and 2023 when generation from small-scale solar grew by 22% in the state.


Source link
Related Topics:Climate & Energy

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.