2015 has been a record-breaking year for solar energy adoption in the U.S., with both residential and utility-level solar programs expanding nationwide. In this post we'll run through the ten states with the fastest-growing solar energy programs. 

1. California

Year after year, California leads the way in solar adoption. In 2014, solar power capacity in California increased more than in the entire country from 1970-2011, enough to power more than one million homes. 

2. North Carolina 

In 2014, North Carolina installed almost 400 MW of photovoltaic solar panels, giving it a higher solar capacity than all of the Southeast states combined. 

3. Nevada

Nevada installed enough solar to power more than 50,000 homes in 2014. Look for them to continue growing in the solar space, as Nevada also leads the nation in solar-related jobs per capita. 

4. Massachusetts

By next year, Massachusetts will have taken more than 900 MW of fossil fuel plants offline, replacing it with more than 1,000 MW of solar. Last year, Massachusetts installed more than 300 MW of that goal, enough to power 50,000 homes. 

5. Arizona

Arizona was one of just four states that generated all of its utility-scale power from solar in 2014. It bolstered its renewable power sources with 246.6 additional MW in solar capacity. 

6. New Jersey

New Jersey set a new state record last year, installing almost 240 MW across 8,000 solar installations. That's enough to power 38,000 homes. 

7. New York

In 2014, New York installed almost 150 MW of solar capacity, as much as it had installed in the previous three years combined. 

8. Texas

The Lone Star State installed a state record 129 MW of solar capacity last year, and is expected to double that total this year. 

9. Hawaii

The leader in solar capacity per capita, Hawaii augmented its solar capacity with enough to power 26,000 homes last year. Now one in every eight Hawaiian homes have residential solar panels. 

10. New Mexico

New Mexico installed twice as much solar last year as it did the year before, adding enough solar to power 20,000 additional homes. 

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