Solar Outgrowing NatGas And Wind

Solar Looks to Outpace Natural Gas and Wind; Although final totals are not quite in, estimates indicate more solar capacity was added in 2016 than for its rivals

Bobby Magill, December 27, 2016 (Climate Central via Scientific American)

“…For the first time, more electricity-generating capacity from solar power plants is expected to have been built in the U.S. in 2016 than from natural gas and wind…Though the final tally won’t be in until March, enough new solar power plants were expected to be built in 2016 to total 9.5 gigawatts of solar power generating capacity, tripling the new solar capacity built in 2015…[That will] exceed the 8 gigawatts of natural gas power generating capacity and the 6.8 gigawatts of wind power slated for construction this year. No new coal-fired power plants were planned in 2016…Though U.S. solar power generation was expected to have grown by 44 percent in 2016 and is expected to grow more than 30 percent in 2017, it will still provide around 1 percent of the nation’s electric power…” click here for more

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