U.S. On-Grid Photovoltaic Capacity: A Baseline for the National Energy Modeling System: Preprint
How much photovoltaics (PV) is installed in the United States? This basic question poses a data collection challenge, as PV systems are generally small and there is no systematic, nationwide reporting scheme for electric plants under 1 MW in size. This paper presents results and methods from an effort to arrive at an accurate estimate of grid-connected PV capacity and a database of installations underlying this number. Two main products resulted from these efforts, the first being a spreadsheet summarizing knowledge of PV capacity in the U.S. The second product, presented in this paper, is a database of PV installations, yielding a total on-grid capacity of 26.6 MW at the end of 2000. Compared to sources giving an upper bound of between 30 and 40 MW for cumulative on-grid PV capacity in the U.S., 26.6 MW is still low, but this number is the largest to date that is based on a database of installations.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO. (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-99-GO10337
- OSTI ID:
- 15000426
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-620-32104; TRN: US200325%%211
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) Solar 2002 National Solar Energy Conference, Reno/Sparks, NV (US), 06/15/2002--06/20/2002; Other Information: PBD: 1 May 2002; Related Information: Prepared for the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) Solar 2002 National Solar Energy Conference, 15-20 June 2002, Reno/Sparks, Nevada
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
CAPACITY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SUPPLIES
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANTS
INTERCONNECTED POWER SYSTEMS
INVENTORIES
PHOTOVOLTAICS
NATIONAL ENERGY MODELING SYSTEM
ON-GRID CAPACITY
RENEWABLE ELECTRIC PLANT INFORMATION SYSTEM
COMBINED DATABASE
RENEWABLES
PV
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY