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Homes , Buildings in Northeast , West , Are Solar Leaders
In 2020 , 3.7 % of U . S . single-family homes , including mobile homes , generated electricity from small-scale solar systems ( solar panels installed on a home or building ), according to EIA ’ s 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey ( RECS ). In 2018 , 1.6 % of U . S . commercial buildings had small-scale solar generation , according to EIA ’ s 2018 Commercial Energy Consumption Survey ( CBECS ).
The presence of small-scale solar generation varied by a number of characteristics .
The presence of small-scale solar generation varied by a number of characteristics . Some of the largest differences were based on region . The West Census Region , where 8.9 % of single-family homes ( 2020 data ) had small-scale solar generation , had the highest percentage of homes with small-scale solar generation , mostly in California . Of commercial buildings in the West , 3.8 % ( 48,000 ) had small-scale solar generation ( 2018 data ). The Northeast Census Region had the second-largest percentage of homes with small-scale solar generation at 4.7 % ( 2020 data ). Similarly , for commercial buildings , 2.5 % ( 20,000 ) had small-scale solar generation ( 2018 data ). These two regions generally have had policies and incentives that have fostered growth of small-scale solar .
The presence of small-scale solar among homes and commercial buildings also differed by year of construction ; homes and commercial buildings built in 1980 or later were more likely to have solar than those built before 1980 . Homes that were owneroccupied were more likely to have small-scale solar generation than rented homes . In addition , 5.7 % of households with incomes of more than $ 150,000 had small-scale solar generation , compared with 1.1 % of households with incomes less than $ 20,000 .
For commercial buildings , government-owned buildings were more likely to have small-scale solar generation than nongovernment-owned buildings . Buildings used for public assembly , education , office space , or retail accounted for 61 % of all commercial buildings that reported having small-scale solar generation .
CBECS is the only nationally representative source of information on commercial building energy consumption . We collected 2018 CBECS data from 6,436 buildings . We released preliminary CBECS energy consumption estimates in September 2022 , and we will release final CBECS data in December 2022 .
RECS collects information on energy use in primary , occupied housing units . We collected 2020 RECS household energy-use data from 18,496 households , which is the largest responding sample in the program ’ s history . For the first time , RECS data are available at the state level for all 50 states and the District of Columbia .
Principal contributors : Carolyn Hronis , Zack Marohl , Ross Beall , Laura Gellert
Originally published Oct . 25 , 2022 . l FON
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