Solar United States 

A  report released this week by Environment America takes stock of U.S. clean energy progress. Clean leadership is distributed across states with various economic and democratic makeups. “You’re seeing an evolution that’s happening everywhere; and it will be interesting to see what will happen 10 years from now,” Sargent said. The U.S. creates nearly six times as much renewable electricity from the sun and the wind as it did in 2008. In addition, nine states receive more than 20 percent of their electricity from renewables.
 

A record amount of solar power created

The country produced a record amount of solar power, generating 39 times more solar power than a decade ago. The average American uses nearly 8 percent less energy today than a decade ago due to energy efficiency improvements. The U.S. transportation fleet has evolved. Electric vehicles broke past 100,000 annual sales for the first time, with 104,000 units sold.  On the energy storage front, nine of the 10 states included battery storage capacity to date had zero utility-scale battery capacity in 2008. California, Illinois and Texas are among the battery storage state leaders. A bid to build solar-plus-storage in Arizona beat out competing bids for new natural-gas peaker plants.

Announcements to retire two coal plants and deploy 1,800 megawatts of solar and wind, paired with 275 megawatts of battery storage, and building over 1,000 megawatts of new solar and 100 megawatts of battery storage, provide clues to the clean energy boom. “People are starting to notice that renewables are happening, but they still think of it as a niche part of our energy mix — and it is a small fraction of it,” Sargent said. “But if renewable energy keeps growing at the rate it's grown over the past 10 years, the notion that you could meet all our current electricity needs with renewable energy is not that far-fetched.”
 

100 percent renewable energy is a no go

Aiming for 100 percent renewable energy is still far fetched, technically and politically. For instance, in California, a 100 percent renewable energy proposal failed in the state legislature. And while the bill (SB 100) is now moving through the legislature again, lawmakers had to loosen up the language around “100 percent renewable energy” to   include “eligible zero-carbon resources. There are very, very few places where someone adopts a clean energy policy and then says, ‘That was stupid; let's get rid of it,’” he said. “Partly because once you do it at scale, it’s cheaper. Also because people see it and like it and want more of it — there’s growing public acceptance of it.” The obstacles appear that clean energy is growing substantially  across the nation and will   need to be   leadership at the top, at the federal level. 

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power. Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need, and how much you can save. Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.