A lack of federal tax credits, tight financing, and utilities not needing more solar to reach 2020 California goal has greatly slowed development of big solar. California has mandated 33% in-state renewable energy by 2020 and utilities say they will attain that so they don’t need to make additional purchase agreements for expensive renewable energy. This will accelerate the shift to distributed (rooftop) solar continues.
Of the 365 federal solar applications since 2009, just 20 plants are on track to be built. Only three large-scale solar facilities have gone online, two in California and one in Nevada. The first auction of public land for solar developers, an event once highly anticipated by federal planners, failed to draw a single bid last fall.