United States Solar Sector Surpasses 1 Million Installations

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The United States solar sector has apparently now installed over 1 million installations across the country, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

“The adoption of solar energy in America has reached a new height of 1 million installations nationwide,” the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) wrote for a new campaign called #MillionSolarStrong, which intends to celebrate the achievement by hosting a series of events across the country, and taking to social media to kick up a celebratory storm.

“It took us 40 years to get to 1 million installations, and it will take us only two years to get to 2 million,” said Dan Whitten, vice president of communications at the SEIA. “This is a time to mark when the solar industry started to accelerate at warp speed.”

It should come as no surprise that the US solar industry has reached its million mark, considering the recent growth of the industry over the past few years. In 2015 alone the US solar PV industry installed a record 7,286 MW of solar, bringing the country’s cumulative total past 25 GW. That growth isn’t expected to stall this year, either, with the US solar market expected to grow by an impressive 119% in 2016, installing 16 GW by the end of the year.

“This is a new energy paradigm and the solar industry officially has a seat at the table with the largest energy producers,” said Rhone Resch, SEIA president and CEO. “Because of the strong demand for solar energy nationwide, and smart public policies like the ITC and NEM, hundreds of thousands of well-paying solar jobs will be added in the next few years benefiting both America’s economy and the environment.”