Arizona continues to be one of the top states for solar installations, moving up a spot in 2020 in the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight yearly report.
In what was a record-setting 2020 for the industry as a whole, Arizona added 503 megawatts of installations, the eighth-highest amount among states nationwide.
Of that total, 200 megawatts added were in Arizona’s residential market, which grew 43% from 2019, the report’s authors found.
The overall total in Arizona was actually down from 2019’s addition of 916 megawatts, but the state posted a record fourth quarter, as did the nation as a whole.
‘Pent-up demand’
The report’s authors said the solar industry benefited from strong activity, particularly in the residential sector, in the second half of the year after Covid-19 pandemic restrictions started to ease.
“Pent up demand from the second quarter (during the worst impacts of Covid-19 restrictions) combined with a surge in interest in home improvements, resulting in record-setting sales pipelines in the second half of the year,” the report said.
In addition, nonresidential solar in the fourth quarter increased 73% from Q3 as the industry worked to catch up with project backlogs and utilities sought to beat an anticipated decline in the investment tax credit rate, which has since been extended.
The report found that 43% of all new 2020 electricity-generating capacity in the country came from solar installations, which was the largest share in the industry’s history. It was the second straight year for solar to rank first in new electricity generation.
According to the report, U.S. solar capacity is expected to quadruple over the next decade as costs decline and financing options become more available and utilities continue to grow their pipelines to meet decarbonization targets.
