USDA ERS – chart details

Solar energy development has been concentrated in the Atlantic and Western regions of the United States, especially California, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. These states are among those with policies promoting the development of renewable energy – most of them in rural areas. Between 2016 and 2020, utility-scale solar power capacity in rural areas more than doubled, reaching 45 gigawatts, or 3.7 percent of U.S. electrical capacity, and the number of solar PV projects increased from 2,316 to 3,364. About 70 percent of solar PV projects installed in 2009–2020 in rural areas were located on agricultural land. It is estimated that approximately 336,000 acres of rural land have been directly affected by solar development. More information on the expansion of solar and wind energy in rural areas of the contiguous United States, the regional distribution of renewable energy development, and the land cover change associated with development can be found in the USDA report, Economic Research Service: Utility-Scale Solar and Wind Development in Rural Areas: Changing land cover (2009–2020), released in May 2024

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