US Solar Generation to Surpass Hydropower in 2024 for First Time - Bloomberg
US Solar Power Generation to Surpass Hydropower in 2024 for First Time - Bloomberg
US Solar Generation to Surpass Hydropower in 2024 for First Time
The US is on track to generate more electricity from sunshine next year than from hydropower for the first time ever as surging installations of solar panels, especially residential systems, transform the power system.
Solar will generate more than 318 billion kilowatt-hours of US power in 2024, compared with 284 billion kilowatt-hours from hydropower systems, according to government data. Solar surpassed hydro on a monthly basis in September 2022, but next year will be the first time the threshold is crossed on an annual basis.
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US Solar Generation to Surpass Hydropower in 2024 for First Time
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: renewables
Renewable energy sources — once the fuel of the future, then practical in specific, narrow applications — are increasingly economic mainstream sources of power generation. Hydropower was long the mainstay of U.S. renewable electricity generation, although wind power surpassed hydro for the first time in 2019, and solar continues its rapid growth. The continued growth of wind and solar, with their fluctuations, is tied in part to improvements in storage technology: batteries.