Recent data from the US Department of Energy has shown that Massachusetts is now producing 10% of its total energy from solar. Despite its relatively low average of sun hours per day compared to other states, Massachusetts can attribute much of its growth thanks to the 30% Federal Tax Incentive, as well as the competitive SREC market.

Massachusetts joins four other states where solar represents more than 10% of total electricity generation: California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Vermont. Although Massachusetts may not have the highest overall solar production, it ranks second overall in the amount of solar jobs.

These states all rank significantly higher than the national average of 2.4% PV solar production. However, California leads the way with 19% of its energy coming from solar generation.

Despite the recent success of Massachusetts, the future of solar remains uncertain in the state. Recent legislation recently proposed demand charges for all residential net metering customers starting in 2019. This would cut profits for those who sell their excess energy back power companies.

Despite this, solar is doing very well nationally. In the first half of the year, solar in the U.S has grown 28% and reached 48 TWh thus far. We remain optimistic that this success of solar will continue!