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California Sets A record, And Has Surpassed The UK, France And Spain In Their Installed Solar Capacity

In the first quarter of this California installed 718 megawatts of solar capacity, for a total of 10,649 mega watts.

That’s from the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report. That’s enough to power 2.6 million homes.

When it comes to creating clean energy jobs and protecting the environment, California is showing the world how to get the job done.  To put the state’s remarkable progress in some context, today California has 10 times more installed solar capacity than the entire nation had in 2007.  We congratulate Gov. Brown, his administration, legislative leaders and the people of California for being at the forefront of America’s efforts to create a vibrant and growing clean energy economy.

California’s explosive growth in solar is due, in large part, to stable and effective public policies such as the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and Net Energy Metering (NEM). Nationwide, solar remains the fastest-growing source of renewable energy in the United States, and it is supported by 9 out of 10 Americans.

The residential market also continued to flourish in Q1, with installed system prices dropping 4 percent year-over-year — and down nearly 50 percent since 2010. The upswing in residential installations is expected to continue in the foreseeable future, especially in light of a recent report by the California Energy Commission , which shows that more than a quarter of all new homes being built in Southern California are being constructed with solar energy systems.

Lots of new jobs have been created in the green energy sector in California.

Get more details in the original article at Renewable Energy World.