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September 2012 - Utilities

According to figures released by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, the amount of photovoltaic solar panels installed in the United States in the second quarter of 2012 reached 742 megawatts – and increase of 230 megawatts on the first quarter of the year. GTM analysts suggested that by the end of 2012, 3,200 megawatts will have been installed – a rise of 71% compared to 2011 figures. The figures include residential and business installations, as well as those installed in larger scale power plants.

Much of the growth in the second quarter stemmed from the completion of more than twenty large scale solar panel power plant projects situated in key states such as Arizona and California. Overall, utility installations represented 477.3 megawatts of the total figure, whilst commercial installations accounted for 196.3 and the residential sector for 98.2 megawatts. Unsurprisingly, California and Arizona led the United States in terms of megawatts installed – with 217 and 173 megawatts installed respectively.

Californian utilities are under pressure to increase their use of renewables in order to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which calls for a third of the state’s electricity to be generated renewably by 2020.

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