Solar power in the U.S. state of Vermont provides almost 8% of the state's in-state electricity production as of 2025. A 2009 study indicated that distributed solar on rooftops can provide 18% of all electricity used in Vermont. A 2012 estimate suggests that a typical 5 kW system costing $25,000 before credits and utility savings will pay for itself in 10 years, and generate a profit of $34,956 over the rest of its 25-year life.

Net metering is available for up to at least 500 kW generation, but is capped at 15% of utilities peak demand. Excess generation is rolled over each month but is lost once each year. Group net metering is also allowed.Vermont Net Metering Vermont is given an A for net metering and a C for interconnection.Freeing the grid A feed-in tariff was created in 2009, but is limited to 50 MW and is fully subscribed. The cap has increased by 5 to 10 MW/year from 2013 until 2022, and the cap went up to 127.5 MW. It is available for solar, wind, methane, and biomass.Standard Offer Program Standard Offer for Qualifying SPEED Resources Seven solar projects are receiving payments, of $0.30/kWh, for 25 years.Monthly Production

Installed capacity

Grid-connected PV capacity (MW)US Solar Market Insight Report "Vermont Solar" SEIAYearCapacityChange% change 2007 0.7 0.2 40% 2008 1.1 0.4 57% 2009 1.7 0.6 55% 2010 3.9 2.2 129% 2011 11.7 7.8 200% 2012 28.0 16.3 139% 2013 41.5 13.6 49% 2014 64 22.5 54% 2015 107 43 67% 2016 185 78 73% 2017 220 35 19% 2018 302 82 37% 2019 355 53 18% 2020 379 24 7% 2021 397.6 18.6 4.9% 2022 417 19.4 4.8%

Solar farms

Source: NREL

In 2012, Vermont had five solar arrays of at least 1 MW, the 2.2 MW SunGen Sharon 1 in Sharon. the 2.1 MW concentrating photovoltaics array installed in July 2011 in South Burlington, the 1.5 MW photovoltaic array also in South Burlington installed in October 2011, the 1 MW photovoltaic array in Ferrisburgh, and the 2 MW Williamstown Solar Project.

As of 2019, Green Mountain Power (GMP) has further constructed 417 MW or solar projects (in service) as of the end of 2023. In 2015, the 20 MW Coolidge solar farm near Ludlow was opposed by GMP, which claimed that there was no need for such utility-scale solar in the state. The farm was completed by NextEra Energy at the end of 2018.

Generation Using data available from the U.S. Energy Information Agency's Electric Power Annual 2017 and "Electric Power Monthly Data Browser", the following table summarizes Vermonts’s solar energy posture.

+ Solar-electric generation in VermontYearFacilitiesSummer capacity (MW)Electric energy (GWh or M kWh)Capacity factorYearly growth of generating capacityYearly growth of produced energy% of VT renewable electric energy% of VT generated electric energy% of U.S. solar electric energy 2018 34 98.7 143 0.165 33% 44.4% 6.09% 6.07% 0.27% 2017 31 74.2 99 0.152 13% 67.8% 4.64% 4.62% 0.19% 2016 65.7 59 0.103 118% 23% 3.10% 3.08% 0.16% 2015 32.4 48 0.169 7% 100% 2.4% 2.42% 0.19% 2014 30.2 24 .091 41% 2.10% 0.34% 0.13%

Capacity factor for each year was computed from the end-of-year summer capacity. 2017 data is from Electric Power Monthly and is subject to change.

A small-scale 15KW installation at a homestead in middle Vermont generated 19,480 kWh of electrical energy at a capacity factor of 0.15. The homestead was sending energy to the utility when it was produced, and taking energy from the utility when needed. Overall, the homestead consumed 80% of its generation and sold the remaining 20% to the utility. The generation profile is shown in the chart.

Beginning with the 2014 data year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has estimated the distributed solar-photovoltaic generation and distributed solar-photovoltaic capacity. These non-utility-scale appraisals evaluate that Vermont generated the following amounts of additional solar energy:

+ Estimated distributed solar electric generation in VermontYearSummer capacity (MW)Electric energy (GWh or M kWh) 2018 102.3 130 2017 90.3 111 2016 59.8 76 2015 49.9 48 2014 27.9 33

See also Wind power in Vermont Solar power in the United States Renewable energy in the United States

References

External links