Solar power in the United States

Solar power in the United States includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics. As of the end of 2016, the U.S. has 40 gigawatts (GW) of installed photovoltaic capacity, having almost doubled in capacity from the previous year. In the twelve months through December 2016, utility scale solar power generated 36.8 terawatt-hours (TWh), 0.90% of total U.S. electricity. During the same time period total solar generation, including estimated distributed solar photovoltaic generation, was 56.2 TWh, 1.38 % of total U.S. electricity. In terms of total installed capacity, by year end 2015 the USA ranked 4th in the world behind 1.China 2.Germany 3.Japan and ahead of 5.Italy and 6.UK. In 2016, 39% of all new electricity generation capacity in the country came from solar, more than any other source and ahead of natural gas (29%). By 2015, solar employment had overtaken oil and gas as well as coal employment in the U.S.

The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar power. The U.S. is among the top countries in the world in electricity generated by the Sun and several of the world's largest utility-scale installations are located in the desert Southwest. The oldest solar power plant in the world is the 354-megawatt (MW) SEGS thermal power plant, in California. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a solar thermal power project in the California Mojave Desert, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Las Vegas, with a gross capacity of 392 MW. The 280 MW Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Phoenix, completed in 2013. When commissioned it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage.

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