The Institute for Local Self-Reliance study finds that five states saw increases of more than 30% in distributed solar capacity, one state grew by 50% and another doubled its capacity.
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) provides its annual snapshot in its The state(s) of distributed solar–2024 report on the rate of distributed solar adoption, state by state and found that of the 32 new gigawatts of total solar capacity installed, 5.4 GW was distributed.
ILRS defines distributed solar as residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) and community solar. Generally, distributed solar can be owned by individuals, small businesses and public entities.
Key findings noted the states in which distributed solar made the most gains since ILSR’s 2023 update:
- States where distributed grew by more than one gigawatt include California (1.5 GW) and New York (.94 GW);
- States that increased capacity by more than 30% over 2023 levels include Maine (44%), Arkansas (37%), Oregon (35%), Montana (35%), and South Dakota (32%);
- States where all growth was distributed include New Hampshire and Arkansas, and over 90% was distributed in Massachusetts and Montana.
While the residential solar market has dropped by an estimated 25% to 31%, according to Ohm Analytics, the ILSR study finds that in 23 states and the District of Columbia, approximately one in every 25 households now has rooftop solar, an increase of two states over the 2023 study.
Community solar
Community solar provides a way for people to benefit from solar energy who may be unable to install solar either due to financial restrictions or because they do not have a suitable rooftop for solar. Nineteen states have adopted community solar policies, which support local decision-making and promote its adoption.
In its 2024 Community Power Scorecard, ILSR states that “a model community solar policy has no cap, has a fair compensation rate, simplifies the billing process for subscribers, meaningfully accounts for the challenge of reaching low- and moderate-income (LMI) subscribers, and rewards other beneficial development or small subscriber-friendly practices.”
Using its Community Solar Tracker, the recent ILSR study finds community solar saturation in nine states: Colorado, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon. Community solar saturation is calculated by dividing installed community solar capacity by state population.
Key findings on community solar saturation, 2024:
- Minnesota retained its community solar leadership, with more than 150 watts of distributed solar per person. This is the equivalent of more than three out of every 50 households having rooftop solar.
- In Minnesota, almost half (47%) of existing solar at the end of 2024 was community solar. New York (39%) and Massachusetts (20%) were also in double digits.
- In New York, Oregon and New Jersey, community solar grew as a percentage of each state’s total solar marketplace.
- Oregon more than doubled its community solar capacity, and in Illinois it grew by more than 50%.
Overall capacity
In 2024, the top five solar capacity states include: California (39.4 GW), Texas (25.4 GW), Florida (13.8 GW) and North Carolina (7.3 GW) and Arizona (1.8 GW).
In terms of distributed solar saturation, Hawai’i, Maine, Massachusetts, California and Arizona are the leaders, as measured by installed distributed solar capacity per person.
Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Nevada, New York are all in the top ten for both total solar capacity and distributed solar saturation.
Methodology
ILSR analysis combined data from its community solar tracker data in Colorado, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon with the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) figures on small-scale solar capacity by state. (The U.S. EIA did not provide data on Alabama.) ILSR then used state population estimates to calculate distributed solar per capita (watts per person).
Utilities slow the growth
John Farrell, director of ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative, and Timothy Denherder-Thomas, general manager of Cooperative Energy Futures, discussed utility attacks on distributed solar in a recent presentation to Just Solar Coalition.
They made the case that, despite the many benefits of local ownership, utility companies oppose it and prefer to build their own generation and distribution infrastructure because they are guaranteed to earn a guaranteed return on their investments. The presenters said that the clean energy transition requires both utility-scale and distributed generation and encouraged “maximizing local solar to maximize local benefits.”
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