{"id":1282,"date":"2026-09-14T16:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T23:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/?page_id=1282"},"modified":"2026-09-14T16:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T23:05:33","slug":"washington-state-solar-energy-history-prices-capacity-and-data-accuracy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/washington-state-solar-energy-history-prices-capacity-and-data-accuracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington State Solar Energy: History, Prices, Capacity, and Data Accuracy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Student project by Anas Mohamed and Mauro Martinez<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington State&#8217;s solar market has grown over time, with much of the earlier growth coming from residential customer-sited systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The historical dataset includes <strong>7,462 Washington solar installations<\/strong> from 2011 through 2019.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>About <strong>92.1%<\/strong> of those systems are single-family residential installations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Washington now has approximately <strong>955 megawatts of installed solar capacity<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The state has about <strong>60,227 solar installations<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These systems represent about <strong>$2.3 billion in solar investment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Installed solar can produce enough electricity to power approximately <strong>103,115 homes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Solar Prices and System Size<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The historical data shows that solar systems generally became larger while the installed price per watt decreased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Median system size increased from <strong>4.8kW in 2016<\/strong> to <strong>9 kW in 2019<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Median installed price decreased from <strong>$4.34\/W in 2016<\/strong> to <strong>$3.34\/W in 2019<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As of August 2026, the average residential solar price in Washington is about <strong>$2.55\/W<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The average quoted residential system size is about <strong>13.48 kW<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Current Solar Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington solar continued to grow after the historical dataset ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Solar provides about <strong>1.25% of Washington&#8217;s electricity<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The solar industry supports approximately <strong>1,093<\/strong> jobs in the state.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SEIA projects continued growth in Washington&#8217;s installed solar capacity cover the next five years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Policies Supporting Solar Development<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Several policies and programs have helped support solar development in Washington:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Net metering<\/strong> allows eligible customers to receive credit for electrivity sent back to the grid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Clean Energy Transformation Act<\/strong> requires electric utilities to move toward carbon-neutral electricity by 2030.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The law also requires electricity from renewable or non-emitting resources by 2045.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2025, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded <strong>$41.1 million<\/strong> to <strong>49 clean-energy community projects across 22 counties<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Funded projects included rooftop solar, battery storage, building decarbonization, and electric-vehicle charging.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Why Data Accuracy Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Accurate data is important when comparing solar projects and understanding market trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Missing records can create misleading trends.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Incomplete years can make solar growth appear higher or lower than it actually was.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Incorrect units can make project costs difficult to compare.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The historical dataset is especially useful for residential solar, but it does not represent every type of solar project in Washington State.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington&#8217;s solar market continues to grow as system sizes increase and the cost per watt generally decreases. This project shows that price, system size, capacity, policy, and data quality all need to be considered together when evaluating solar development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accurate information and supportive energy policies will remain important for future clean-energy planning in Washington State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/seia.org\/state-solar-policy\/washington-solar\/\">Solar Energy Industries Association \u2014 Washington Solar and Storage<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.energysage.com\/local-data\/solar-panel-cost\/wa\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">EnergySage \u2014 The Cost of Solar Panels in Washington<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/electricity\/state\/washington\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">U.S. Energy Information Administration \u2014 Washington Electricity Profile<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/RCW\/default.aspx?cite=80.60\">Washington State Legislature \u2014 Net Metering of Electricity<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commerce.wa.gov\/energy-policy\/electricity-policy\/ceta\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Washington State Department of Commerce \u2014 Clean Energy Transformation Act<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commerce.wa.gov\/commerce-energizes-communities-with-41-1-million-in-clean-energy-community-grant-awards\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Washington State Department of Commerce \u2014 Clean Energy Community Grant Awards<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/emp.lbl.gov\/publications\/distributed-solar-2020-data-update?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Berkeley Lab \u2014 Distributed Solar 2020 Data Update<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/credits-deductions\/residential-clean-energy-credit?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Internal Revenue Service \u2014 Residential Clean Energy Credit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-cta  wsu-cta--width-full\" >\n\t<a \t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/documents\/2026\/09\/washington-state-solar-energy-white-paper.pdf\/\"\t\n\t\tclass=\"wsu-button  wsu-button--size-large\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\tFull Report\t\t\t<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Student project by Anas Mohamed and Mauro Martinez Overview Washington State&#8217;s solar market has grown over time, with much of the earlier growth coming from residential customer-sited systems. Solar Prices [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1282"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1287,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1282\/revisions\/1287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}