Solar power in Nebraska
{{short description|Overview of solar power in the U.S. state of Nebraska}}
File:Porter 000597 169545 514278 4578 (36965582305).jpg
Solar power in Nebraska is used for only a very small percentage of the state's electricity, although it is rapidly becoming competitive with grid electricity, due to the decrease in cost and the 30% tax credit, which can be used to install systems of any size. In 2024, the state ranked 44th among the 50 U.S. states with 203 MW of installed capacity.{{Cite web |title=Nebraska Solar {{!}} SEIA |url=https://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/nebraska-solar |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=www.seia.org |language=en}}
Solar power and wind power could be harvested to provide all of Nebraska's energy need, although they would require either transmission lines to provide power when neither is available or storage. Estimates show that Nebraska could generate 3,832,600 GWh/year from wind,[http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/pdfs/wind_maps/wind_potential.pdf Estimates of Windy Land Area and Wind Energy Potential, by State] and 34.1% of demand from rooftop solar panels, using 8,200 MW of solar panels.[http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/65586.pdf Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States]
Utility installations
Nebraska had seven utility-scale solar installations sized larger than 1.0 MW at the end of 2019.{{cite web
|url=https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/
|date=15 September 2020
|title=Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data (EIA-860A/860B)
|author=Energy Information Administration
|website=eia.gov
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918022441/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/
|archive-date=18 September 2020
|url-status=live
}} These include a 5.8 MW system in Kearney and a 3.6 MW system in Lexington; both commissioned in 2017.[https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/39937-How-Lexington-Nebraska-Became-Home-to-the-Second-Largest-Solar-Farm-in-the-State Solar Energy Generation in Nebraska], Nebraska Energy Office, May 12, 2016 A 3.6 MW community solar plant on the west side of Lincoln was to be finished in 2016.[http://netnebraska.org/article/news/1026860/solar-power-rise-nebraska Solar power on the rise in Nebraska], Fred Knapp, NET News, May 31, 2016
{{excerpt|List of power stations in Nebraska|Solar}}
Statistics
| style="float: right; margin: auto;" |
ImageSize = width:420 height:240 PlotArea = width:350 height:150 left:40 bottom:40 AlignBars = late DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:6.5 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:month increment:1 start:0 TextData = pos:(15,220) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:hrs pos:(205,25) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:Month pos:(90,230) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:Grand Island Sun hours/day (avg = 5.29 hrs/day) Colors = id:yellow value:yellow PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black bar:Jan color:yellow from:0 till:4.24 text:4.24 shift:(-10,60) bar:Feb color:yellow from:0 till:4.76 text:4.76 shift:(-10,65) bar:Mar color:yellow from:0 till:5.34 text:5.34 shift:(-10,70) bar:Apr color:yellow from:0 till:5.78 text:5.78 shift:(-10,75) bar:May color:yellow from:0 till:5.76 text:5.76 shift:(-10,75) bar:Jun color:yellow from:0 till:6.16 text:6.16 shift:(-10,80) bar:Jul color:yellow from:0 till:6.27 text:6.27 shift:(-10,80) bar:Aug color:yellow from:0 till:6.25 text:6.25 shift:(-10,80) bar:Sep color:yellow from:0 till:5.70 text:5.70 shift:(-10,75) bar:Oct color:yellow from:0 till:5.24 text:5.24 shift:(-10,70) bar:Nov color:yellow from:0 till:4.20 text:4.20 shift:(-10,55) bar:Dec color:yellow from:0 till:3.76 text:3.76 shift:(-10,50) |
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
|+ Utility-scale solar generation in Nebraska (GWh){{cite web|title=Electricity Data Browser|url=http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/|publisher=U.S. Department of Energy|date=March 28, 2018|access-date=October 17, 2021}} | |||||||||||||
| Year
! Total ! Jan ! Feb ! Mar ! Apr ! May ! Jun ! Jul ! Aug ! Sep ! Oct ! Nov ! Dec | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=right
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| align=right
| 2017 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| align=right
| 2018 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| align=right
| 2019 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| align=right
| 2020 | 55 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| align=right
| 2021 | 57 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
See also
External links
- [http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/201.htm Comparison of Solar Power Potential by State]
- [http://solarpowerrocks.com/nebraska/ Nebraska solar cost estimate]
- [http://www.nrdc.org/energy/renewables/energymap.asp Renewable energy map]
- [https://archive.today/20130414144358/http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/index.cfm?getRE=1%3Fre=undefined&ee=0&state=NE Renewable energy policies and incentives]
References
{{reflist}}
{{Solar power in the United States}}
{{Energy in the USA}}