EIA

The volume of U.S. electricity generated by renewable energy is set to surpass the level sourced from coal for the first time this month and the trend is expected to continue in May, according to Department of Energy data.

With 4.3 GW of utility-scale solar and 3.9 of distributed generation predicted, the figures collated from federal sources don’t take account of the huge capacity of solar projects waiting in the interconnection queues of seven grid operators.

A new analysis by Credit Suisse forecasts that installed residential solar capacity in the United States could grow more than 3x to reach 41 GW by 2025, and shows that there is plenty of space on rooftops to do this.

Newly released EIA data shows overall module shipments falling by two thirds in the second quarter of 2018, while pre-tariff prices remained relatively steady.

The organization’s short-term energy outlook forecasts that 10.3 GW-AC of solar will be installed in 2019, a 7% growth from 2018 – but for 60% of this solar to come online in December.

Generation from U.S. solar increased 41% last year to 1.9% of all electricity, with solar making up more than 10% of generation in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Vermont.

An abundance of hydroelectric power and wind is pushing up renewable energy in the spring months, but there is a need for more power during the summer peak, as well as issues with the geographic location of resources.

The latest report from the U.S. Department of Energy finds an acceleration in the deployment of batteries, dominated by lithium-ion technology.

The output of all the main sources of thermal electricity generation declined in the first nine months of this year, as hydro, wind and solar boomed and demand fell.

The latest monthly report from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency shows that U.S. PV output in the first nine months of 2017 grew 47% over the same period in 2016, with market growth across the nation. PV represented 1.9% of total generation during this period.