Solar power dominates October in US

October  was the month of solar power in the US. According to recently released data, last month’s new power generation completions all came from one source: The sun.

SNL Energy says that a total of 530 MW came mainly from four installations. An additional four projects totalling 710 MW of power from biomass, gas and solar power were announced during October.

This means that year-to-date the US has added 2,500 MW of new solar energy. One megawatt can power about 1,000 homes.

But the country still only gets 1% of its electricity from the sun. And as The Atlantic notes, “it’s possible to make too much of the fact that solar energy was the sole source of new electricity capacity” in October as completion dates for power plants can be random.

What is certain is that solar is here to stay, and it’s making up an increasingly larger chunk of US power generation. According to a Solarbuzz report, the number of planned photovoltaic projects awaiting completion has grown by 7% over the past 12 months and now exceeds 43 gigawatts – “enough to power more than six million US households.”

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