page_title: Solar power in the United States
section_title: Solar photovoltaic power
hierarchical_section_title: Solar power in the United States / Solar photovoltaic power
caption_attribution_description: English: The USEIA projects US solar generating capacity to increase more than tenfold between 2011 and 2040
context_page_description: Solar power in the United States includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics.
  As of the end of 2019, the United States had over 71.3 gigawatts of installed photovoltaic capacity. In 2018, utility scale solar power generated 66.6 terawatt-hours, 1.66% of total U.S. electricity. During the same time period total solar generation, including estimated small scale photovoltaic generation, was 96.1 TWh, 2.30% of total U.S. electricity. In terms of total cumulative installed capacity, by year end 2017 the United States ranked 2nd in the world behind China.
  In 2016, 39% of all new electricity generation capacity in the country came from solar, more than any other source and ahead of natural gas. By 2015, solar employment had overtaken oil and gas as well as coal employment in the United States. In 2016, more than 260,000 Americans were employed in the solar industry.
  The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar power.
caption: The U.S. EIA projected U.S. solar generating capacity to increase more than tenfold between 2011 and 2040. The 2035 projected total capacity was reached in 2016, and the 2040 projected capacity in 2017.
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