Solar power could, under certain conditions, provide 45% of the United States' electricity by 2050, up from about 3% in 2020, a report from the Biden administration said on Wednesday.
To achieve this goal, however, "
significant cost reductions, public policy support and large-scale electrification
" of solar energy are needed, says the US Department of Energy.
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In 2020, photovoltaic panels and solar thermal power plants produced just under 80 gigawatts (GW) in the United States, enough to meet about 3% of the country's electricity demand.
The deployment of solar energy would need to increase on average from 15 GW in 2020 to 30 GW each year by 2025, then to 60 GW per year between 2025 and 2030, to achieve the ambitions presented in the report.
Solar power could employ 1.5 million people in US, study finds
The administration of President Joe Biden, which has made the fight against climate change one of its priorities, is banking on the vast infrastructure investment plans still under discussion in Congress. "
The study sheds light on the fact that solar power, our cheapest and fastest growing clean energy source, could produce enough electricity to power every home in the United States from here." 2035 and at the same time employ up to 1.5 million people,
”said Energy Minister Jennifer Granholm in a statement.
According to the scenario developed by its services, solar energy would represent 37% of electricity in 2035, the rest being provided by wind energy (36%), nuclear energy (11% -13%), hydroelectric power (5% - 6%), biomass and geothermal energy (1%).
This would be a major turning point compared to the current pattern: in 2020, renewable energy provided 21% of electricity in the United States, the rest being produced by natural gas (40%), nuclear ( 20%) and coal (19%).
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In a letter to policymakers, nearly 750 companies in the solar energy sector insisted on the need to expand existing support policies and put them in place for the long term. Quadruple the current rate of installations by 2030 represents "
a race against time
", they say, notably asking for a strengthening of the current tax credit on investments in solar energy.
