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Solar power in the United States includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics. As of the fourth quarter of 2014, the U.S. has 18.3 gigawatts (GW) of installed photovoltaic capacity with an additional 1.7 GW of concentrated solar power. In the twelve months through September 2015, utility scale solar power generated 25.0 terawatt-hours (TWh), 0.61% of total U.S. electricity.〔US Energy Information Administration, (Table 1.1.A. Net Generation by Other Renewable Sources: Total (All Sectors), 2003-July 2013 ), (Table 1.1. Net Generation by Energy Source: Total (All Sectors), 2003-Dec2013 ), accessed 1. dec 2015.〕 In fiscal year 2013, federal supports and subsidies (not including state and local spending) for solar power amounted to $4.4 billion, or 27% of all federal supports and subsidies for electricity production. At the same time, in 2015 (Jan-June), 39 % of all new electricity generation capacity in the USA came from solar. The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar power. The U.S. is among the top countries in the world in electricity generated by the Sun and several of the world's largest utility-scale installations are located in the desert Southwest. The oldest solar power plant in the world is the 354-megawatt (MW) SEGS thermal power plant, in California. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a solar thermal power project in the California Mojave Desert, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Las Vegas, with a gross capacity of 392 MW.〔 The 280 MW Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend, Arizona, about southwest of Phoenix, completed in 2013. When commissioned it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage.〔Mearian, Lucas. (U.S. flips switch on massive solar power array that also stores electricity: The array is first large U.S. solar plant with a thermal energy storage system ), October 10, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013.〕 There are plans to build many other large solar plants in the United States. Many states have set individual renewable energy goals with solar power being included in various proportions. Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation requiring California's utilities to obtain 33 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by the end of 2020. A total of 4,324 MW of utility scale solar power plants are under construction and an additional 25,926 MW are under development, with 19,060 MW under construction or development in California. == Availability == A 1997 report by the United States Department of Energy found available domestic solar energy (including biomass) technically accessible regardless of cost amounted to 586,687 Quadrillion BTUs (Quads); 95% of this was biomass. Coal represented the second largest resource, a distant 38,147 Quads. Predictions of how much solar power was economically feasible to collect amounted to 352 quads, compared with 5,266 quads from coal. The assumptions used in the report were based on a predicted 2010 price of a barrel of oil being $38, and multiplied annual renewable resources by 30 for comparison with non-renewable resources.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Table 1. Accessible Resources, regardless of cost )〕 The total annual energy consumption of the United States in 2007 was approximately 100 Quads, less than 0.5% of what is theoretically available from sunlight. A 2012 report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory described technically available renewable energy resources for each state and estimated that urban utility scale photovoltaics could supply 2,232 TWh/year, rural utility scale PV 280,613 TWh/year, rooftop PV 818 TWh/year, and CSP 116,146 TWh/year, for a total of almost 400,000 TWh/year, 100 times current consumption of 3,856 TWh in 2011.〔(National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Solar Has The Most Potential Of Any Renewable Energy Source )〕〔(Electricity in the United States )〕 Onshore wind potential is estimated at 32,784 TWh/year, and offshore wind at 16,976 TWh/year. The total available from all renewable resources is estimated at 481,963 TWh/year.〔(Renewable Energy Technical Potential )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Solar power in the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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