Report: Ohio Ranks 17th in US for Solar Power Installations
By Farah Siddiqi
Ohio News Connection
Ohio homes and businesses have installed enough solar energy to power nearly 300,000 homes each year.
A new report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association said more than half of the solar installations in the United States have come online since 2020, with more than 25% installed since the Inflation Reduction Act passed almost two years ago.
Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the industry is booming in the state.
“Ohio is a hotbed of solar manufacturing,” Hopper said. “You have a number of facilities that are manufacturing solar panels, racking, manufacturing other parts that are needed to build solar. And that’s led to significant investment in the state from the solar industry.”
The report showed in 2012, only California had more than 25,000 solar systems installed. Today, 23 states and territories can make that claim, and 11 have surpassed 100,000 solar installations. More than 19,000 are in Ohio, ranking 17th in the nation.
Hopper said not only is the growth in solar energy happening quickly, but it has been sustained, and she predicts it will continue to be.
“It took 40 years for the United States to install a million solar projects, and then it only took eight years to get to 5 million. And that is indicative of the rapid growth,” Hopper said. “We think it’ll only take six years to get to 10 million.”
Hopper said for most people and businesses, power is a significant expense, so alternatives are worth considering.
“I would encourage every homeowner, every business owner in Ohio to take a look at their electricity bill,” Hopper said. “Compare it to the quotes they got from solar contractors, and in most cases, I am betting that they’ll be saving money.”
She said the solar industry supports the careers of about 1,700 Ohioans and has invested just over $3 billion into the state’s economy.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
