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Top 10 U.S. States by Solar Power

Name the ten U.S. states that have the greatest amount of installed solar power.
As of 2015. Source
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 7, 2018
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First submittedJuly 9, 2018
Times taken11,854
Average score70.0%
Rating4.11
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Megawatts
State
13,243
California
2,303
Arizona
2,087
North Carolina
1,632
New Jersey
1,240
Nevada
Megawatts
State
1,020
Massachusetts
638
New York
564
Hawaii
544
Colorado
534
Texas
caribdevist
+8
Level 62
Jul 9, 2018
California, ftw.
sillie
+17
Level 77
Jul 9, 2018
Texas could easily add so much more and funny how Florida and New Mexico aren't even on the list.
shortyoh
+7
Level 81
Jul 26, 2018
It's all about state legislatures supporting or fighting the industry. If you have a government that puts artificial barriers in place that devalue investments by homeowners or commercial farms, you're not going to get much installed capacity.
mf3
+3
Level 87
Jul 9, 2018
Yeah, no states from the southeast except North Carolina (purple state). Oh well, wait until oil gets back to $150/bbl.
gtj31
+3
Level 86
Sep 18, 2018
Oil itself doesn't really compete with solar. Solar is used for the electric grid and oil is almost never used for the electric grid save a few outliers (Hawaii used to be one of those outliers, not sure about now). Natural gas, admittedly the same industry as oil, does compete with solar.

So I agree with the others that say this is state politics. Texas should have far more dual use land with its wind farms and solar capability considering much of the land can't even be properly used for farming or ranching.

Cooldrive
+1
Level 63
Sep 18, 2018
Hoping...I have oil stock.
TravelGuy1320
+4
Level 39
Jul 9, 2018
Florida is really making use of its nickname. #SunshineState?
FlyingPenguin
+1
Level 53
Jul 14, 2018
It really should be named the Rainy State.
jafe
+17
Level 82
Jul 10, 2018
"10 Ten"?
roleybob
+5
Level 75
Jul 18, 2018
Yes Captain Haddock?
Jeremy
+1
Level 74
Jul 20, 2018
I didn't realize that XD
luxint
+1
Level 65
Sep 18, 2018
Whatever? Peter Pedant!
rphxx
+1
Level 71
Jul 24, 2018
10 Ten XDDD
HectorVortac
+1
Level 48
Sep 18, 2018
North Carolina? Third most in the whole country. How did that happen?
possumsjay
+1
Level 58
Sep 18, 2018
My area is full of solar farms. I pass three of them (and a wind farm!) on my drive to work. From what I understand there were great leaps in renewable energy here a few years ago thanks to proper legislation and subsidizing farmers who put land towards it. There's been some pushback recently, mostly from the top because it supposedly "interferes with local military programs" and from the bottom because we don't see any of the energy produced being used locally. But they're still here.
Somequiztaker
+1
Level 77
Sep 19, 2018
There is also a very large tech company presence here that would probably request renewable energy as a source of power
jetpunker33
+1
Level 26
Sep 2, 2022
Makes sense if you consider several statistics. First of all North Carolina is the 7th biggest state in the country by population and has the third largest net migration. So, what that means is that there is a ton of new homeowners.

Secondly, the two biggest factors it seems like for this metric are geography (specifically how far southern and hot a state is) and politics (typically more liberal states have higher solar rates). Well, combined with the population growth, North Carolina is a relatively warm state with a long coastline. It also is a purple state and is only going to continue to become more liberal. Different politics than most of the southeast.

kiwiquizzer
+1
Level 68
Sep 18, 2018
Pushing it to feature this quiz???
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
Sep 18, 2018
Though size, population and geography obviously plays a part, this seems to have a lot more to do with politics than the amount of sunshine. I'm most surprised that New Mexico didn't make it.
ander217
+1
Level 75
Sep 18, 2018
One of the problems is that most individuals and businesses don't go 100% solar, and somebody still has to pay for the overhead and maintenance on the existing grid. Some states allow electric companies to add a surcharge to any customers who supplement with solar power, claiming that without the charge their other customers will have to make up the difference. They say that puts their non-solar customers in the position of subsidizing those who use solar power. The power companies worry that if enough people go solar, they won't be able to maintain their systems for those who cannot or choose not to do so. The solar industry is still young enough that those issues haven't yet been worked out in many states.
nichster
+3
Level 55
Sep 18, 2018
You've written 10 twice! :D
Quizmaster
+5
Level ∞
Sep 18, 2018
Can't believe no one noticed until you.
nichster
+1
Level 55
Sep 18, 2018
People just don't bother looking, they just want to take the quiz!
roleybob
+1
Level 75
Sep 27, 2018
That was sarcasm - other people have mentioned it above...
raymun
+2
Level 66
Sep 19, 2018
Seems like quite a shame Hawaii, with it's quite small area, has greater production than the whopper of a state that is Texas
GeoDude
+2
Level 48
May 9, 2019
Other states could have cheap clean energy and stop giving so much money to gas and coal companies. But nah, keep voting R.
bridog8456
+2
Level 47
Sep 27, 2022
Update needed

https://www.seia.org/research-resources/top-10-solar-states-0

miningaway
+1
Level 76
May 24, 2023
Bruh New Mexico and Florida aren't on the list and somehow NEW JERSEY and MASSACHUSETTS are despite them being cold states. Solar power is very useless when like 4 months are snowing
MCdoesgeography
+1
Level 69
Jul 31, 2023
Tiny New Jersey generates more than 3 times the solar energy of Texas?? I would have guessed Texas produces like a 100 times more than anything in the North East.
AlmostAGenius
+1
Level 80
Sep 1, 2023
Definitely needs updated. Texas is now number two for solar generation, and Florida has made a huge surge upward. Not even close to accurate anymore as some states produce more than 10 times as much now as they did in 2015.
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