U.S. installed 10.6 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV capacity in 2017

In 2017, the U.S. solar market installed 10.6 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity. The total solar capacity now stands at 53.3 gigawatts (GW), enough to power 10.1 million American homes.

The industry applauds this figure despite it being 30 percent less than what was installed in a unique and record-breaking 2016.

Experts justify the high 2016 numbers as a result of the excitement and rush generated when the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was set to expire. But still, the market exceeded 2015 levels by 40 percent.

In just the same manner as in the previous years, about 59 percent of the installed 2017 solar capacity came from the utility PV, while distributed solar accounted for 41 percent of installations.

Forecasts indicate that total installed U.S. PV capacity will more than double over the next five years, and by 2023, over 15 GW of PV capacity will be installed annually.

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