U.S. companies occupy four of the top five places for developing utility-scale solar projects, according to a new analysis from Wiki-Solar.
In 2013 – which was the last time the nonprofit solar research group published a top 10 list – First Solar was the only U.S. participant, although it topped the list by a wide margin. Now seven of the top-ten utility-scale developers are based in the U.S.
‘It is no surprise that U.S. companies are reaping the rewards of high growth in their home market,’ says Philip Wolfe, founder of Wiki-Solar. ‘But the list also shows that Germany, with three in the top 15, is retaining some 'early-mover advantage.'’
The top 10 solar developers along with their cumulative installed capacities of solar are as follows:
- First Solar (U.S.), 2,572.7 MW
- SunEdison (U.S.), 860.6 MW
- 8minutenergy (U.S.), 685.0 MW
- China Power Investment (China), 649.6 MW
- Recurrent Energy* (U.S.), 532.6 MW
- Activ Solar (Austria), 468.8 MW
- juwi Solar (Germany), 449.1 MW
- Sempra Energy (U.S.), 335.0 MW
- Strata Solar (U.S.), 326.9 MW
- NRG Energy (U.S.), 307.4 MW
*Now part of Canadian Solar
