Where Solar Energy Is Booming in the U.S.

The solar market has seen ebbs and flows over the past decade, and right now, utility-scale solar appears to be the hottest business in town. As the pipeline grows, developers and solar manufacturers have a lot riding on who is winning projects. Tens of billions of dollars are at stake over the next few years. Investors wouldn't have thought that the solar industry would be hitting records with a fairly hostile Trump administration in power, but that's what's happening today. Corporate buyers looking for stability in electricity costs and some green energy kudos from consumers and investors are signing projects at a record pace, and utilities are starting to see solar bids so low they can't be ignored. In the first six months of 2019, 11.2 GW of utility-scale solar projects have been announced, and 17% of those were from corporate buyers. As recently as 2016, corporate buyers were only 10% of the market and passed just a bit more than 1 GW of projects, a level that's already been surpassed. On the utility side, solar is winning on the price of electricity.