pv magazine analyses the growth of solar energy generation in the first two months of this year and examines another sustainable energy equivalent – wind energy.

The solar photovoltaic “train” has “left the station, rapidly picking up speed” in 2022, showing a 36% increase by February compared to the first two months of 2021. This shows significant growth despite a challenging year for the industry. The stated figure (36%) includes both large- and small-scale production, as shown by the monthly data from the Energy Information Administration ((EIA) Electric Power Monthly), which includes updated capacity and generation data up to February 2022.

In the first two months of the year, total solar energy production included in the EIA data amounted to 23,862 GWh, which is more than the 17,593 GWh recorded in the first two months of 2021.

All solar photovoltaic power plants tracked by the EIA generated 167,047 GWh in the 12 months up to February, which is slightly less than 4% of total electricity generation in the USA. This is in comparison to the 12-month period a year earlier, when solar energy plants generated 130,511 GWh, representing 3.24% of the electricity generated in the USA.

This increase in production has been achieved thanks to the hard work of the US solar energy industry, as a total of 23.6 GW of capacity was installed in the sector in 2021, enough to provide electricity to 23.3 million American homes, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Solar energy accounted for 46% of all new capacity that came online in 2021, marking the third consecutive year that photovoltaic elements have accounted for the largest share of new capacity added in the USA.

According to estimates, small-scale production projects (with a capacity of less than 1 MW) provided 50,301 GWh over a 12-month period, which is 19% more than in the previous year, when the volume of energy produced over a 12-month period was 42,257 GWh. This production volume means that small-scale solar energy projects have exceeded 1% of the total annual production volume, reaching 1.2%.

Sustainable energy

In a previous review of EIA data, pv magazine examined the differences between “renewable” and “sustainable” energy. Johns Hopkins University describes renewable energy as energy derived from sources that replenish themselves naturally to meet our energy needs. This can include technologies such as biomass, hydropower, etc. “Sustainable” energy is defined as energy that can provide for both current and future generations. Johns Hopkins considers solar and wind energy to be the primary sources of sustainable energy.

Sustainable electricity generation (all solar photovoltaic and wind energy) started 2022 strongly, with volumes increasing by more than 33% in two months compared to the previous year. (...)