Renewable energy sources now make up almost a quarter of California’s energy, with solar at the forefront. Recent forecasts from the Solar Energy Industry Association anticipate that the growth trend experienced by the solar industry in California over the last two decades will continue through 2016.

Solar power is booming in the Golden State, driven by strong incentives, new jobs, and the hard work of thousands of Californians. According to SEIA estimates, by the end of 2016 the state could reach 40 GW of cumulative capacity, up from just 500 MW of installed capacity in 2004.

One can only hope that new fees recently imposed by California’s utility regulators do little to check the growth of solar power usage in the Golden State.

Whether we’re in a drought, or it’s the ‘new normal,’ if there’s one thing that California has a lot of it’s sunshine. Thanks to the state’s favorable climate and ongoing efforts to increase infrastructure, California’s solar capacity has grown at an incredible rate.

As a result, solar has recently jumped ahead of wind and hydroelectric power. CAISO reports that utility-grade solar is responsible for 6.7 percent of California’s total power output. If you include privately owned smaller installations, which currently number over 400,000, solar is now responsible for providing almost 10 percent of the state’s total energy output.

The Growth of Solar

For many years, Shasta Dam was able to provide power to almost half a million California homes. Hydro represented a sizable portion of the state’s renewable power. However, the nearly half-decade long drought in California has had a serious effect. At many hydroelectric power dams in California, current energy production is at less than 20 percent of normal levels.

As 2015 gives way to 2016, some hydroelectric power reservoirs in California have dried up completely, making power generation impossible. This environmental shift has made solar development an even more attractive option to both business owners and policymakers. New solar technologies are constantly improving the already enticing economics of solar power.

Until recently, solar power couldn’t compare with wind power’s renewable energy contribution. According to KQED, “As recently as 2012, solar accounted for just 0.9 percent of CAISO generation, less than one-quarter of the 4 percent share that wind had at the time.”

Solar has pulled ahead though, and California’s burgeoning wind power systems are now only providing about as much power as the deeply diminished hydro capability. Updated information for 2015 is not yet available, but in 2014 utility grade wind power provided only 6.57 percent of the state’s gross system power.

Solar’s Time to Shine

The diminishing viability or underdeveloped infrastructure of other renewable energy sources has made solar the obvious choice moving forward. According to Bernadette Del Chiaro, head of the SEIA, “As utilities have worked to meet their renewable energy mandates, solar has become a favorite choice because the cost of PV [photovoltaic] panels has declined so much that it is more competitive than most other forms of energy.”

As the costs to manufacture and install solar systems continues to fall, the popularity of this source of renewable energy will continue to rise.

With existing solar incentives having recently been extended, solar energy is in a good position to remain California’s preeminent source of renewable energy for the foreseeable future.

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