How Does Your State Stack Up? Top States for Solar Installers

There are a million ambiguous benchmarks for “solar” states. A million ways to point out how this state ranks higher than that state, how this state is “solarized” or that state “fossilized.” Well, CalFinder Solar has put together a list for you that actually makes sense: The Top U.S. States for Solar Installers. See how your state compares in solar advancement by checking how many solar installers actually work within each state. The more a state and its citizens embrace solar power, the more solar companies will crop up to service that growing demand.

A few notes about this ranking:

• These numbers are drawn from FindSolar.com, a listing of solar installers affiliated with the American Solar Energy Society (ASES).
• Members and nonmembers of ASES are included in these totals.
• Totals do not reflect every installer in each state, as reliable and consistent totals are difficult to come by. They do, nonetheless, illustrate the point of this ranking.
• For a different spin, I’ve also include per capita rankings, which reveal surprisingly different, if arguably trivial, results.
• Results include both solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (electric) installers.

Top U.S. States for Solar Installers

Just about every statistical ranking in the country illustrates California’s dominant reign in American residential solar power, and this one is obviously no exception. California alone holds nearly 36 percent of solar installers housed in the top 20 states combined.

Top U.S. States for Solar Installers (per capita)

Per capita rankings reveal a different story. States with smaller populations come out much more favorably under these parameters. Yet compared to other highly populated states, California still exudes solar dominance.

(Number of residents per solar company)

Breaking Down the Data

You may notice a certain proliferation of states that reside on the eastern seaboard. First of all, these states are typically small in area and therefore have smaller populations. Secondly, it should be noted that many installers in New England likely thrive from or at least utilize interstate business.

Again, California’s presence within the top 10 is significant. Bear in mind that Vermont has the second smallest state population (just ahead of Wyoming), while California is by far our largest state by population, with over 12 million more people than runner-up Texas.

If it seems that these numbers are still rather scant (think about how many building contractors exist in just one town), remember that solar power still provides only about 1% of our energy consumption in the United States. At the same time, however, the solar industry is growing at an amazing rate, averaging around 40% growth annually in recent years. The solar industry is expected to add thousands of green-collar jobs this year and in the years to come, but somebody has to install all those solar panels!

Posted on October 13th in Solar Information by Dan.