Notes from the Solar Underground: 2016 – What Just Happened?

2016 was a wild year and not just for solar. Voters seem to be rejecting the status quo in favor of the unknown in many countries. After decades of reliance on government incentives, subsidies and mandates the global solar industry may be inured to unpredictability but the industry as a whole should be wary of global trends.

No matter what and for everyone, 2016 was a heck of a year. Here is a roundup of a few events that rocked and rolled their way through solar’s 2016.

Renewable Energy in US Gained 24 Percent Through First Nine Months of 2016

The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) on Nov. 29 released electric generation statistics through the end of September 2016. Generation from geothermal, solar, and wind energy increased by 24 percent compared with the first nine months of 2015. Non-hydro renewable energy, including biomass, has made up 8.5 percent of U.S. electric generation thus far in 2016.

Overall, renewable energy sources, including hydro-electric power, made up 15.1 percent of total U.S. electric generation through the first nine months of 2016. This is down from 16.9 percent during the first half of 2016 (with 9.2 percent from non-hydro renewables), but still far ahead of 2015. Non-hydro renewable energy is still expected to be over 9 percent of total generation by the end of the year, up from 7.6 percent in 2015.