This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

December 19, 2012

Report: Record 3rd Quarter U.S. Residential PV Installations

Installation of residential photovoltaic (PV) systems reached record levels, with more than 118 megawatts (MW) installed in the third quarter of 2012, according to a report released on December 11 by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research. The quarter marked the third-largest on record for the U.S. PV industry and raised the total installed capacity through the first three quarters of the year to 1,992 MW, surpassing 2011's annual total of 1,885 MW.

In the third quarter, the top-ranked states were California, Arizona, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Nevada. Commercial installations grew 24% in the third quarter over the second quarter in 2012, led by notable growth in California and Massachusetts. The cumulative U.S. solar capacity is now 5.9 gigawatts of PV, which converts sunlight directly to electricity, operating from more than 271,000 U.S. installations. See the SEIA press release.