Solar power in Kansas has been growing in recent years due to new technological improvements and a variety of regulatory actions and financial incentives.[1]
It is estimated that 41.7% of electricity in Kansas could be provided by 12,500 MW of rooftop solar panels.[2]
In 2015, IKEA installed the largest solar array in the state, 730 kW on the roof of its store in Merriam.[3] In 2011, Kansas's largest solar array, 118 kW, was the rooftop installation at Peeper Ranch in Lenexa. Its output is available online.[4]
The state's net metering program allows residential installations of up to 25 kW and 200 kW non-residential on-site electrical generation to roll over any excess generation to the next month, but any excess at the end of the year is lost. Participation is limited to 1% of utility's previous year peak demand.[5] Many of the states have net metering policies that are inadequate for 100% renewable energy. Kansas was given a C for net metering and an F for interconnection policies.[6]
DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:6.5TimeAxis = orientation:verticalScaleMajor = unit:month increment:1 start:0 TextData = pos:(15,220) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:hrs pos:(205,25) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:Month pos:(90,230) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:Wichita Sun Hours/day (Avg = 5.30 hrs/day) Colors = id:yellow value:yellow PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black bar:Jan color:yellow from:0 till:4.30 text:4.30 shift:(-10,55) bar:Feb color:yellow from:0 till:4.88 text:4.88 shift:(-10,60) bar:Mar color:yellow from:0 till:5.25 text:5.25 shift:(-10,65) bar:Apr color:yellow from:0 till:5.80 text:5.80 shift:(-10,70) bar:May color:yellow from:0 till:5.75 text:5.75 shift:(-10,70) bar:Jun color:yellow from:0 till:6.01 text:6.01 shift:(-10,75) bar:Jul color:yellow from:0 till:6.27 text:6.27 shift:(-10,75) bar:Aug color:yellow from:0 till:6.33 text:6.33 shift:(-10,75) bar:Sep color:yellow from:0 till:5.63 text:5.63 shift:(-10,70) bar:Oct color:yellow from:0 till:5.36 text:5.36 shift:(-10,65) bar:Nov color:yellow from:0 till:4.32 text:4.32 shift:(-10,55) bar:Dec color:yellow from:0 till:3.68 text:3.68 shift:(-10,45) Source: NREL[7] |
| Year | Capacity | Change | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.1 | 0.1 | >100% | |
| 2011 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 100% | |
| 2012 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 150% | |
| 2013 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 120% | |
| 2014 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 109% | |
| 2015 | 4.7 | 2.4 | 104% | |
| 2016 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 26% | |
| 2017 | 14.9 | 9 | 153% | |
| 2018 | 21.9 | 7 | 47% | |
| 2019 | 46.7 | 24.8 | 113% | |
| 2020 | 81.9 | 35.2 | 75% | |
| 2021 | 99.1 | 17.2 | 21% | |
| 2022 | 115 | 15.9 | 16% |
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | |
| 2021 | 62 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |
| 2022 | 67 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 |