To compare, the share of fossil fuels reached 60.3%, with natural gas leading with 40.3% of utility-scale electricity generation, followed by coal with 19.3%.
Total renewable power generation, including from hydropower, accounted for 19.8% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation last year, as per EIA data.
President Joe Biden has set a goal to have the U.S. use 100% clean electricity by 2035.
The solar energy plan the officials have prepared lacks in details but outlines a highly ambitious goal: have solar provide 45% of U.S. power in 2050.
According to DOE’s report the NYT cites, the U.S. has to double the amount of solar energy installed every year over the next 4 years compared with 2020.
After that, solar installations every year must double again by 2030.
The Quarterly Solar Industry Update by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory showed in June that the U.S. installed 4.0 GW of PV in the 1st quarter of 2021, which was its largest Q1 total ever.
Texas, Florida, and California represented half of U.S. PV capacity installed in Q1 2021.
Despite a concentration of PV installations in the top 3 markets, diversification of growth continues across the U.S., the update says.
Estimates from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie showed that in the 1st quarter of 2021, solar accounted for 58% of all new electricity-generating capacity added in the U.S.
Wind installations accounted for most of the remaining new capacity.
Under a business-as-usual scenario, the U.S. solar industry will install an additional 160 GW of capacity over the next 5 years, compared to 102.8 GWdc of total installed capacity now, the U.S. Solar Market Insight of SEIA and WoodMac found.
Author: Tsvetana Paraskova
