The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) has released its second annual report revealing which of the nation’s utilities have added the most megawatts of solar capacity in the past year, and which utilities have the most cumulative megawatts of solar capacity. The results for 2008 shouldn’t be too much of a surprise: the most solar integrated utility was Northern California’s PG&E, its 85 MW of new solar capacity blowing the competition out of the water–those 85 MW were over 44% of the total field. Second was California Edison; third, SDG&E. In fact, California utilities occupy 8 of the top 10 slots, with one each for Hawaii and Nevada.

The report makes it very clear that the relationship between utility companies and the solar market is going to become ever more important as we move forward. Specific installation projects and challenges are discussed. SEPA’s press release on the report notes that:

The report also documents a wave of utility-driven installations, pointing to the growing importance of utilities in the solar power market, and the growing importance of solar power to the business of utilities.  Historically, the solar power market has been dominated by customer-driven installations.

“Residential and commercial photovoltaic projects will continue to be important stimulants for job creation and small business growth, but they will be complemented by large-scale photovoltaic and concentrating solar power projects,” said Mike Taylor, director of research and education at SEPA.  “The variety of ways solar power is being implemented signals an increased maturity in the market.”

View or download the entire report as a PDF here.