New Jersey Tops California in Solar Installations

When it comes to new US solar installations, it looks like New Jersey has overtaken California for the top spot nationally.

According to PV Magazine’s new stats for US solar power installations in the first quarter of 2012, New Jersey installed 173.8 MW of solar power, while California installed 148.4 MW.  Arizona, Massachusetts and Tennessee rounded out the top five positions.

In total for the US, 506 MW of solar photovoltaic power was installed in the first three months of the year, an increase of 85% over what was installed in the same period in 2011. This is a breakdown of the numbers:

•    93.9 MW in residential installations, up 31 percent from Q1 2011
•    288.8 MW deployed in the commercial sector, up 77 percent
•    131.6 MW in utility build, more than doubling (246 percent) activity for the same period in 2011

For the year as a whole, the Solar Energy Industries Association forecasts 3,200 MW of new installations.