Solar power in Texas

Solar power in Texas, a portion of total energy in Texas, includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics. The western portion of the state especially has abundant open land areas, with some of the greatest solar and wind potential in the country. Development activities there are also encouraged by relatively simple permitting and significant available transmission capacity.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Texas has continued to rapidly expand its utility-scale solar capacity into the 2020s, leading the nation in new solar installations due to abundant land availability, strong solar resources, and extensive transmission infrastructure.

Solar farms

The capacity of large solar farms in Texas has increased substantially in recent years. Facilities sized between 5 and 50 MW began to come online throughout the state between about 2010 and 2015., OCI Solar Power Since then, progressively larger farms have been constructed in the western counties, with the electricity being contracted by utilities which serve the more populated central and eastern regions.Upton Solar, Vistra Energy, 2018Roserock Solar, Recurrent Energy, 2016Georgetown’s energy 100 percent renewable with solar plant, georgetown.org, June, 2018Midway Solar, 174 Power Global, 2018 The three largest operating facilities as of 2018 are the 180 MW Upton farm in Upton County, and the 157 MW Roserock and 154 MW Buckthorn farms in Pecos County. Smaller installations by individuals, cooperatives, and businesses are also continuing to add significant capacity, with some of top contractors in the state including Meridian Solar, Longhorn Solar, Axium Solar and Native.

Statistic

Installed capacity + Grid-connected PV capacity (MW)YearCapacityChange% change 2007 3.2 2008 4.4 1.2 38% 2009 8.6 4.2 95% 2010 34.5 25.9 301% 2011 85.6 51.1 148% 2012 140.3 54.7 64% 2013 215.9 75.6 54% 2014 387 129 79% 2015 594 207 53% 2016 1,269 675 113% 2017 1,982 713 56% 2018 2,925 943 48% 2019 4,324 1,399 48% 2020 7,785 3,460 80% 2021 13,845 6,060 78% 2022 17,247 3,402 25%202322,8725,62533%

Generation Utility-scale Using data available from the U.S. Energy Information Agency's Electric Power Annual 2017"Electric Power Annual State Data" 1990-2017 Existing Name Plate and Summer Capacity by Energy Source and State retrieved 2019-3-17 and "Electric Power Monthly Data Browser","Electric Power Monthly Data Browser" Table 1.17B retrieved 2019-3-15"Electric Power Monthly Data Browser " Report 1.14 retrieved 2017-6-17"Electric Power Monthly Data Browser " Report 1.13 retrieved 2017-6-17"Electric Power Monthly Data Browser " Report 1.6 retrieved 2019-3-17 the following tables summarize Texas's solar energy posture.

+ Utility-scale solar capacity in TexasYearFacilitiesSummer capacity (MW)Capacity factorYearly growth of generating capacity 2018 52 1,948.2 0.196 57.1% 2017 39 1,240.2 0.201 114% 2016 578.9 0.144 82% 2015 317.9 0.144 71% 2014 185.7 0.173

Capacity factor for each year was computed from the end-of-year summer capacity.

2018 data is from Electric Power Monthly and is subject to change.

+ Utility-scale solar generation in Texas (GWh) Year Total % growth % ofTX renewables % ofTX total % ofUS solar Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2010 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 2011 29 1 2 2 3 3 4 3 4 3 2 1 1 2012 120 4 4 6 9 13 14 12 13 11 10 9 15 2013 163 8 10 15 12 15 16 17 18 15 14 9 14 2014 283 73%0.70%0.06%1.5% 11 8 17 19 26 26 30 32 34 37 26 17 2015 401 42%0.80%0.09%1.6% 20 20 25 26 26 41 47 50 43 36 22 45 2016 732 32.9%1.2%0.16%2.0% 44 54 51 53 49 65 71 58 78 78 65 66 2017 2,188 199%3.0%0.48%4.1% 88 113 175 199 240 231 242 218 182 201 152 147 2018 3,206 52.9%4.1%0.70%5.0% 204 195 254 250 294 380 365 352 268 217 233 194 2019 4,367 241 239 289 428 398 477 491 464 396 360 272 312 2020 8,538 354 420 443 572 842 916 1,166 1,075 843 727 591 589 2021 14,137 648 647 1,002 955 1,233 1,424 1,546 1,615 1,638 1,361 1,069 999 2022 22,165 1,312 1,411 1,690 1,764 2,106 2,406 2,662 2,227 2,339 1,894 1,244 1,110 2023 32,402 1,545 1,474 2,094 2,603 3,072 3,544 3,967 3,947 3,303 2,630 1,9462,278202448,2222,2632,6793,3033,5094,1295,0285,1775,8274,8864,8743,5193,026202524,0673,3403,6895,1815,3886,549

Distributed Beginning with the 2014 data year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has estimated the distributed solar generation and distributed solar capacity."Form EIA-861M (formerly EIA-826) detailed data" retrieved 2021 3 31 These non-utility-scale appraisals evaluate that Texas generated the following amounts of additional solar energy:

+ Estimated distributed solar generation in Texas"Electric Power Monthly" retrieved 2019 3 12YearSummer capacity (MW)Electric energy (GWh or M kWh) 2020 1092.6 1612 2019 670.5 1001 2018 474.7 715 2017 309.1 476 2016 277.1 391 2015 147.2 223 2014 96 141

Potential Covering half of the roof with 10% efficient photovoltaics is sufficient to generate all of the electricity used by an average family in Texas. Solar farms are more cost effective in West Texas, where insolation levels are greater. The US uses about of energy each year. This number is expected to be reduced by 50% by 2050, due to efficiency increases.Makhijani, Arjun Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free, A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy 2007 Texas has the potential to generate 22,787 TWh/year, more than any other state, from 7.743 TW of concentrated solar power plants, using 34% of Texas, and 131.2 TWh/year from 97.8 GW of rooftop photovoltaic panels, 34.6% of the electricity used in the state in 2013. The 1,310-megawatt Samson Solar farm is under construction in northeastern Texas.

Texas electricity consumption in 2010 was 358.458 TWh, more than any other state, and 9.5% of the US total.

Solar power in Texas

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