Cape Analytics is a Mountain View, California-headquartered company that reveals insights about US property by using AI and computer vision to scan and interpret geospatial imagery. So the company decided to look for evidence of solar panels across America, and published their findings in a report today called “The Most Solar Places in America.”

For the first time, Cape Analytics used their AI to look at more than 38 million homes in 21 metropolitan areas across the US in order to gain a better understanding of how many homeowners are actually adopting solar energy.

Here’s what they learned:

Of the 38 million homes Cape Analytics examined across the US, 1.8% of them had solar panels.

On a per-capita basis in the 21 metropolitan areas it looked at, that came out to 1,837 solar homes per 100,000 homes.

San Diego is the most solar city, and Detroit is the least.

From this data set, calculations revealed the “Solar 100” (cities with the highest rate of solar — see the report for the full list).

Brentwood, California, is the most solar place in the US.

Almost all of the other top 100 most solar cities are located in California.

More than 30% of the homes in La Costa Ridge in Carlsbad, California, have solar panels, making it the most solar neighborhood in the country.

Which metro areas have the most solar panels?

Here are the rankings of the 21 metropolitan areas Cape Analytics examined when it comes to homes with solar panels per 100,000 homes:

San Diego: 10,195 San Francisco: 6,031 Riverside: 5,863 San Jose: 5,415 Los Angeles: 3,981 Phoenix: 3,644 Tampa Bay: 2,591 Denver: 1,776 Miami: 1,352 New York City: 1,190 Philadelphia: 913 Boston: 849 Washington, DC: 769 Seattle: 657 Dallas: 202 St Louis: 140 Minneapolis: 117 Houston: 110 Chicago: 75 Atlanta: 64 Detroit: 59

Electrek’s Take

Why do the metropolitan areas’ stats pan out this way? First of all, sun has a lot to do with it. California’s climate provides year-round sun, which is obviously kind of important to get your solar panels cranking.

But there’s more to it than that, otherwise Seattle probably wouldn’t even be on this list. Seattle only gets an average of 152 sunny days per year, compared to the US average of 205 days. And Atlanta gets 217 days of sun, yet sits six spots below Seattle. Why?

Wealth is a huge driver of deciding to install solar panels on your house’s roof. Solar panels pay off in the long run, but they cost a fair bit of money up front (unless you lease). The median household income in Seattle hit a record $93,500 in 2018. Compare that with Atlanta, which had a median household income of $51,701 in 2017.

So this explains why wealthier metropolitan areas in sunny California are more likely to have a higher concentration of solar-paneled homes. But this is expected to change, as the cost of solar is dropping. Further, solar also increases the value of homes.

Finally, tax incentives come into play. Arizona offers additional tax credit, and California has incentives based on the energy the panels produce. But Texas has none.

Photo credit: Cape Analytics

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