To continue America’s progress toward renewable energy, cities, states and the federal government should all adopt strong policies that encourage homeowners, businesses and utilities to “go solar.”
The cities with the most solar PV installed per resident are the “Solar Stars” — cities with 50 or more watts of solar PV capacity installed per capita. In 2013, only eight of the cities surveyed for this report had enough solar PV per capita to be ranked as “Solar Stars,” but now 26 cities have earned the title.
Honolulu leads the United States for solar power per person among cities surveyed, followed by San Diego; Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Jose, California; and Burlington, Vermont. All of the “Solar Stars” have experienced dramatic growth in solar energy and are setting the pace nationally for solar energy development.
Los Angeles leads the nation in total installed solar PV capacity among the 70 cities surveyed in this report, as it did from 2013 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2018, after briefly being topped by San Diego in 2016. Los Angeles has added more than 215 MW of solar capacity since year-end 2016.
Nearly 45 percent of the cities surveyed in all seven editions of this report more than quadrupled their installed solar PV capacity from 2013 to 2019.
Leading solar cities can be found in every region of the country. Leaders in per capita solar capacity by census region include Honolulu in the Pacific region; Las Vegas in the Mountain region; Indianapolis in the North Central region; San Antonio in the South Central region; Washington, D.C., in the South Atlantic region; and Burlington, Vermont, in the Northeast region.
Over the past few years, many states have considered or passed cuts to net metering — the critical practice of crediting solar energy customers for the excess energy they supply to the grid. Additionally, some states and utilities are now targeting residential solar customers with fees on every watt of solar generation or putative rate designs that reduce the appeal and financial promise of installing solar panels. These changes, such as imposing demand charges and other electric bill fees only on solar customers specifically, could cause solar panel owners to pay as much for electricity as other customers, even though they consume less electricity from the grid.
Some of the cities in this report could generate hundreds of times more solar power than they do today. A National Renewable Energy Laboratory study estimated that small building rooftops alone are technically capable of hosting enough solar energy to cover the annual electricity needs of more than 130 million American homes — about as many as exist in the U.S.
Cities can go even farther by encouraging solar installations along roadways and as stand-alone utility-scale installations.
To take advantage of the nation’s vast solar potential and move America toward an economy powered by 100 percent renewable energy, city, state and federal governments should adopt a series of strong pro-solar policies.
Local governments should, among other things:
State governments should, among other things:
The federal government should, among other things:
If we want cleaner air and a more stable climate, we need to harness energy from the sun. Along with our national network, we are working to expand solar energy across the country, and we need your help.
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