Query: There are about 120,000 solar energy jobs in the United States, but only 1,700 of them are in Georgia.

Relevant passages:
Renewable energy in the United States <=SEP=> Renewable energy in the United States accounted for 13.44 percent of the domestically produced electricity in 2015 , and 11.1 percent of total energy generation . As of 2016 , more than 260,000 people work in the solar industry and 43 states deploy net metering , where energy utilities buy back excess power generated by solar arrays .   Renewable energy reached a major milestone in the first quarter of 2011 , when it contributed 11.7 percent of total U.S. energy production ( 2.245 quadrillion BTU of energy ) , surpassing energy production from nuclear power ( 2.125 quadrillion BTU ) . 2011 was the first year since 1997 that renewables exceeded nuclear in US total energy production .   Hydroelectric power is currently the largest producer of renewable power in the U.S. . It produced around 6.14 % of the nation 's total electricity in 2015 which was 45.71 % of the total renewable power in the U.S. . The United States is the fourth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world after China , Canada and Brazil . The Grand Coulee Dam is the 5th largest hydroelectric power station in the world .   U.S. wind power installed capacity now exceeds 72,000 MW and supplies 4.1 % of the nation 's electricity . Texas is firmly established as the leader in wind power development , followed by Iowa and California . Since the U.S. pioneered the technology in 1981 with Solar One , several solar thermal power stations have also been built . The largest of these solar thermal power stations are the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility ( 392 MW ) , southwest of Las Vegas , and the SEGS group of plants in the Mojave Desert , with a total generating capacity of 354 MW . Large photovoltaic power plants in the USA include Solar Star ( 579 MW ) , near Rosamond , California , the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm , a 550 MW solar power plant in Riverside County , California and the Topaz Solar Farm , a 550 MW photovoltaic power plant , in San Luis Obispo County , California . The Geysers in Northern California is the largest complex of geothermal energy production in the world .   The development of renewable energy and energy efficiency marks `` a new era of energy exploration '' in the United States , according to President Barack Obama . In a joint address to the Congress on February 24 , 2009 , President Obama called for doubling renewable energy within the next three years . In his 2012 State of the Union address , President Barack Obama restated his commitment to renewable energy and mentioned the long-standing Interior Department commitment to permit 10,000 MW of renewable energy projects on public land in 2012 .

Georgia (U.S. state) <=SEP=> Georgia ( -LSB- ˈdʒɔrdʒə -RSB- ) is a state in the southeastern United States . It began as a British colony in 1733 , the last of the original Thirteen Colonies . Named after King George II of Great Britain , the Province of Georgia covered the area from South Carolina down to Spanish Florida and New France along La Louisiane , also bordering to the west towards the Mississippi River . Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution , on January 2 , 1788 . In 1802-1804 , western Georgia was split to the Mississippi Territory , which later split to form Alabama with part of former West Florida in 1819 . Georgia declared its secession from the Union on January 19 , 1861 , and was one of the original seven Confederate states . It was the last state to be restored to the Union , on July 15 , 1870 . Georgia is the 24th largest and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States . From 2007 to 2008 , 14 of Georgia 's counties ranked among the nation 's 100 fastest-growing , second only to Texas . Georgia is known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South . Atlanta is the state 's capital , its most populous city , and has been named a global city .   Georgia is bordered to the south by Florida , to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina , to the west by Alabama , and to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina . The state 's northern part is in the Blue Ridge Mountains , part of the Appalachian Mountains system . The Piedmont extends through the central part of the state from the foothills of the Blue Ridge to the Fall Line , where the rivers cascade down in elevation to the coastal plain of the state 's southern part . Georgia 's highest point is Brasstown Bald at 4784 ft above sea level ; the lowest is the Atlantic Ocean . Georgia is the largest state entirely east of the Mississippi River in land area .

Solar power in the United States <=SEP=> 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 2016 , the U.S. had 40 gigawatts ( GW ) of installed photovoltaic capacity , having almost doubled in capacity from the previous year . In the twelve months through March 2017 , utility scale solar power generated 38.3 terawatt-hours ( TWh ) , 0.94 % of total U.S. electricity . During the same time period total solar generation , including estimated distributed solar photovoltaic generation , was 59.8 TWh , 1.47 % of total U.S. electricity . In terms of total installed capacity , by year end 2015 the USA ranked 4th in the world behind China , Germany , and Japan . 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 ( 29 % ) . By 2015 , solar employment had overtaken oil and gas as well as coal employment in the U.S.   The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar power . The U.S. is among the top countries in the world in electricity generated by the Sun and several of the world 's largest utility-scale installations are located in the desert Southwest . The oldest solar power plant in the world is the 354-megawatt ( MW ) SEGS thermal power plant , in California . The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a solar thermal power project in the California Mojave Desert , 40 miles ( 64 km ) southwest of Las Vegas , with a gross capacity of 392 MW . The 280 MW Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend , Arizona , about 70 mi southwest of Phoenix , completed in 2013 . When commissioned it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage .   There are plans to build many other large solar plants in the United States . Many states have set individual renewable energy goals with solar power being included in various proportions . Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation requiring California 's utilities to obtain 50 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by the end of 2030 .