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					</table>The U.S. added 6.4 GW of small-scale solar capacity in 2022, which marks the highest annual growth ever recorded in the segment, according to a report by the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Energy Information Administration</a>.
Small-scale solar, often referred to as distributed solar or rooftop solar, encompasses solar-power systems with a capacity of 1 MW or less. The majority of small-scale solar capacity in the U.S. resides atop residential buildings in the form of rooftop solar modules.
The report indicated that the journey began in 2014 when small-scale solar capacity in the country stood at a modest 7.3 GW. In 2022, the small-scale solar capacity has shot up to 39.5 GW, constituting nearly one-third of the total solar capacity.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-58570 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-12-171821.png" alt="" width="808" height="415" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-12-171821.png 808w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-12-171821-300x154.png 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-12-171821-768x394.png 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-12-171821-650x334.png 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-12-171821-624x320.png 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-12-171821-600x308.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 808px) 100vw, 808px" />
Catalysts for Growth
Multiple factors have driven the expansion of small-scale solar capacity over the past decade. Tax credits, incentives, supportive public policies, and elevated retail electricity prices have provided fertile ground for this growth.
The decrease in the cost of solar modules has been equally significant, making renewable energy more accessible to the masses.
California has emerged as the leader in small-scale solar capacity, contributing 36% of the total. The state&#8217;s satisfactory sunshine, attractive incentives, and relatively high electricity prices have been pivotal in driving rooftop solar adoption.
California&#8217;s Net Energy Metering Program, which permits surplus electricity generated by rooftop solar panels to be fed back into the grid for credits, further incentivizes solar investments.
Starting in 2020, California mandated the installation of solar panels on newly constructed single-family homes and multifamily buildings up to three stories high.
Surprisingly, mid-Atlantic states with less year-round sunshine, namely New York and New Jersey, occupy the second and third positions in small-scale solar capacity. In recent years, sunny states like Texas and Arizona have been narrowing the gap.
The report noted the consistent and generous solar incentives offered by New York and New Jersey through longstanding state policies have been instrumental in fostering small-scale solar growth.
The EIA report said that it was essential to consider population-adjusted metrics to gain deeper insights into the prevalence of small-scale solar capacity within states. Although California boasts the highest overall small-scale solar capacity, it is Hawaii that leads in small-scale solar penetration, with 541W per capita.
Historically reliant on oil-fired power plants for a significant portion of its electricity, Hawaii faced high electricity bills due to expensive fuel imports.
However, as the costs of solar panels plummeted, many homes and businesses in Hawaii embraced solar energy. This transition not only reduced their electricity bills but also aligned with the state&#8217;s ambitious goal of generating 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045.
According to a previous <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/us-coal-capacity-fall-2050" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> by the EIA, the capacity of coal-fired power plants in the U.S. could reduce by ~88% from the 2022 levels by 2050 as environmental regulations raise costs and new plants powered by natural gas and renewable energy displace the aging fleet.
Earlier in March, EIA <a href="https://mercomindia.com/wind-solar-batteries-power-capacity-us-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> that around 82% of the new utility-scale generating capacity planned to come online in the U.S. in 2023 will comprise wind, solar, and battery storage.

US Adds 6.4 GW of Small-Scale Solar Capacity in 2022: EIA Report

In an interesting finding, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has learned that for every million dollars the state’s utility proposed on spending on rooftop solar, it would create 30 times more jobs than $1 million spent on utility-scale solar.
According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (<a href="https://ilsr.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ILSR</a>), in late 2020, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission asked the state’s electric and gas utilities <a href="https://mn.my.xcelenergy.com/s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Xcel Energy</a> about their infrastructure projects in the pipeline to be accelerated to support the COVID-battered economy.
In its proposal form, Xcel Energy presented a comparison between two proposed solar projects: one, a giant solar array on a closing coal plant site, and a small collection of rooftop solar projects to serve low-income residents.
A nondescript table revealed the relative economic benefits of small-scale solar. For every million the utility proposed spending on rooftop solar, it would create 30 times more jobs than $1 million spent on utility-scale solar.
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Solar-Jobs-Created-in-Minnesota.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-26327 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Solar-Jobs-Created-in-Minnesota.png" alt="Solar Jobs Created in Minnesota" width="602" height="247" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Solar-Jobs-Created-in-Minnesota.png 602w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Solar-Jobs-Created-in-Minnesota-300x123.png 300w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Solar-Jobs-Created-in-Minnesota-600x246.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px" /></a>
ILSR, who is currently co-running a ‘30 Million Solar Homes’ campaign, has (preliminarily) found that an investment in solar for one in four American households could have $30 billion per year in energy bill savings, create over 1.7 million jobs, and shift more than 5% of total electricity use to the sun.
However, the low-income rooftop solar proposal raises an interesting question about the utility-scale project: If rooftop solar produces, by Xcel Energy’s estimates, 30 times as many jobs per million dollars of project cost, why isn’t the state doing more rooftop solar for economic recovery?
If Xcel Energy spent $608 million supporting rooftop solar, it would create over 7,000 jobs at a time with high unemployment, especially among African Americans.
According to ILSR, utility companies often and erroneously compare large and small solar costs to generate electricity, leaving out the delivery costs, not including the cost of large projects (and that small projects do not pay).
Rather, large-scale solar competes with other large-scale power production and small-scale with other sources that deliver power to homes and businesses, and both types of solar are competitive.
Minnesota’s value of solar calculation shows that rates of locally produced power are similar to the retail electricity rates. Large-scale wind and solar are the most cost-effective new electricity sources than other big power generation just about anywhere.
ILSR report further suggests that the more money the state invests in small-scale solar, the larger economic multipliers it will see across the economy. A focus on distributed solar can deliver a much bigger economic boost than allowing the utility centralized power production and competitive price.
Last year, the US clean energy industry ended with the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/us-clean-energy-industry-february-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lowest</a> number of workers since 2015 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a recent report by <a href="https://bwresearch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BW Research Partnership</a>.
Meanwhile, the second Covid-19 surge is <a href="https://mercomindia.com/covid-19-how-the-solar-industry-is-handling-the-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wreaking</a> havoc in India, with cases surpassing six figures daily. Reports suggest that some migrant workers across the country may be making their way home to avoid the logistical nightmare a lockdown may bring. As the health crisis threatens to get out of control, Mercom took an in-depth look at what is transpiring on the ground to understand the situation at various project sites across the country.

Huge Employment Opportunity in Rooftop Solar

The Himachal Pradesh nodal agency, <a href="http://himurja.hp.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HIMURJA</a>, has announced a program to develop 28 MW of solar projects in the state. The state has invited applicants from within Himachal Pradesh to submit applications for the development of solar projects of sizes ranging from 250 kW to 500 kW.
The program is in line with the state’s efforts to increase entrepreneurship among farmers and land-owners.
Prospective applicants for this program will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. All solar projects are to be developed by the selected applicants on private land or land acquired on a lease basis. Once commissioned, these projects can sell the power produced to Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) at a tariff approved by the state electricity regulatory commission.
According to the state program, only one project would be allocated to an applicant who would need to prove the ownership or the acquisition of land to set up the solar project.
Further, the applicant would also need to prove his or her financial ability to develop such projects, considering the per MW cost of solar projects being ₹40 million ($556,000). Applicants would need to show that they have sufficient funds to meet 75% of the system cost.
Projects would ideally be needed to be developed near HPSEB sub-stations or near the 11 kV/22 kV HT distribution feeders. However, in case the availability of the land is not in close vicinity of existing HPSEB substation or distribution feeder, the developer may set up an 11 kV/33 kV feeder from the proposed project site up to the nearest substation.
The policy will be in force until December 31, 2020.
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/himachal-pradesh-solar-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Recently</a>, the Government of Himachal Pradesh signed two agreements for setting up 250 MW of solar power projects in the state. The estimated cost of the projects is ₹10 billion (~$139.7 million).
Image credit: Himurja

Himachal Pradesh Launches Program to Deploy 28 MW of Solar Projects

New benchmark costs have been set for small-scale and rooftop solar projects in India, according to a government release and will come into effect on March 20, 2017. These new costs were approved by the President of India.
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-1.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-5186 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-1.png" alt="" width="353" height="151" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-1.png 353w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-1-300x128.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px" /></a>
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-2.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-5183 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-2.png" alt="" width="537" height="527" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-2.png 537w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-2-300x294.png 300w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rooftop-Benchmark-2-45x45.png 45w" sizes="(max-width: 537px) 100vw, 537px" /></a>
A Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) official stated, this will boost rooftop installations and help achieve 100 percent electrification through the implementation of off-grid solar. These new benchmark costs were a long overdue; we have been waiting since 2014. They will boost project development for off-grid, standalone and rooftop solar, added the MNRE official.
The new benchmark tariffs will help expedite the process for the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/government-india-developing-solar-energy-program-power-loom-sector/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">solar energy program for the power loom sector</a> under which financial assistance and capital subsidies are being supplied to the industry to address power shortage issues.
Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/149-mw-solar-installed-off-grid-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previously reported</a>, 149 MW of solar projects have been installed under the off-grid projects program. According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, only 730 MW of rooftop solar has been installed so far. This is way below the targeted rooftop capacity. The new benchmark tariff will aid in easy tendering of rooftop projects through competitive auctions.

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