SOLAR ROLLOUT: 2015 was a record year

Feb 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - David Danelski The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.

A surge of solar panel installations made 2015 another record year for the industry, and for the first time, electricity production from new solar systems exceeded the capacity from new natural gas facilities, according to solar industry figures.

Photovoltaic panel installations last year totaled 7,286 megawatts -- a 17 percent jump from 2014, according to numbers released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research.

California once again was the leader in solar projection, putting up enough new panels to harness 3,266 megawatts -- enough electricity for about 800,000 homes.

The state's new production was nearly three times that of second-place North Carolina. The numbers released are to be included in next month's release of the U.S. Solar Market Insight 2015 Year-in-Review that will include detailed market analysis and forecasts.

The trend is apparent in the Inland area.

Last year saw the opening of the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, a plant in Riverside County near Desert Center that has enough solar panels to blanket more than 6 square miles. It produces enough juice to power an estimated 160,000 homes.

The solar rollout also is happening at homes, one rooftop at a time.

"We are seeing the same thing," said Michael Bacich, assistant general manager of Riverside's electrical utility. "It really has been going up precipitously since 2012."

In Riverside, 670 homes and businesses installed solar systems in 2015, and more than 1,000 new systems are expected to go up in the city this year, according to city officials.

Southern California Edison, which serves most of Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties, along with other parts of Southern California, saw 56,629 of its customers add solar systems in 2015, bringing its total to 158,776 customers, said spokesman Robert Laffoon-Villegas.

Residential systems now represent just under a third of the U.S. solar market, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, but this segment grew by 66 percent in 2015.

Overall, new solar capacity exceeded additional natural gas production, according to the solar industry association.

A spokeswoman for the American Gas Association referred questions to Edison Electric Institute, which represents U.S. investor-owned electric companies.

Jeff Ostermayer, a spokesman for the institute, said in an email that these utilities plan on spending more than $300 billion over the next three years to improve the electric grid, which will allow for more solar and other sources of clean energy.

Rhone Resch, president of the solar industries association, was pleased by the growth.

"Without a doubt, 2015 was a monumental year for the U.S. solar industry, and perhaps what's most amazing is that we're only getting started," he said in a statement.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9471 or ddanelski@pe.com