The U.S. had just over 20,000 MW of solar capacity at the end of November 2015, making up about 1.9% of total electricity generating capacity nationwide, according to new numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. California made up 9,976 MW of the total, with 52% of the nation’s utility-scale solar capacity.
Distributed solar made up 32% of California’s solar capacity. California has more thermal and utility-scale solar capacity than the rest of the U.S. combined. Nationwide, utility-scale solar made up 60% of solar capacity, but each state’s mix varied greatly.
For example, North Carolina’s 1,070 MW of utility-scale solar composes 94% of its total installed capacity while distributed solar makes up 87% of New York’s total installed solar and 89% of Hawaii’s total installations.