2012 Record Year For Utility-Solar Installations

December 28th, 2012 by Adam Johnston

2012 has been a record-breaking year for utility-sized solar power installations. Utility-scaled solar installations this year reached 8.5 gigawatts (GW), according to a recent PV-Tech article.

Solar panels near San Antonio Via Duke Energy/Flickr/Some Rights Reserved

The preliminary data from Wiki-Solar noted that newly installed power plants exceeding 10 megawatts (MW) in size have so far reached a total installed capacity of 3 GW in 2012, far more than 2011’s 2.3 GW.

Meanwhile Euro and US companies were leading the way in utility-sized installations, with seven of the top companies being based in Germany. (See chart below).

Chart Courtesy of Wiki-Solar / PV Tech

Enerparc was number one, followed by Juwi Solar, First Solar, Sunselex, and Hanwha Q-Cells (formally known as Q-Cells) in the top five.

Rounding out the top ten were: Saferay in at sixth, with GP Joule at seven, Quanta Power Generation at eight, Belectric at nine, and Activ Solar at ten.

However, despite the record amount of large-scale installation capacity seen this year for solar, a great number of utility companies could be doing more to promote these types of installations, said Phillip Wolfe of Wiki Solar:

“It is interesting to note that some of the world’s largest utilities are not fully engaged, especially after reports that some German suppliers, which have been sceptical about renewable energy investments, are starting to lose control of their markets.”

Drive an electric car? Complete one of our short surveys for our next electric car report.

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: ABC Construction, Activ Solar, belectric, Conecon, Cupertino Electric, Elecnor, Enercons Guset, Enerpa, Enerparc, First Solar, Gestamp, GP Joule, Hanwha Q Cells, juwi solar, Large Scale Solar Energy, q-cells, Quanta, Quanta Power Generation, Saferay, SunEdison, Sunpower, SunRay Renewable, Sunselex, Sybac Solar, Tozzi Sud, utility scale solar developers, utility scale solar growth, utility scale solar power plants, Utility Solar Energy 2012, Wiki Solar, Wiki-Solar Utility Solar data

About the Author

Adam Johnston Is currently studying at the School of the Environment Professional Development program in Renewable Energy from the University of Toronto. Adam graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a three-year B.A. combined major in Economics and Rhetoric, Writing & Communications. Adam also writes for Solar Love and also owns his own part time tax preparation business. His eventual goal is to be a cleantech policy analyst, and is currently sharpening his skills as a renewable energy writer. You can follow him on Twitter @adamjohnstonwpg or at www.adammjohnston.wordpress.com.