With 128 days of sunshine each year, Kansas has strong potential for solar energy development and use, but Forbes recently ranked the state among the bottom 10 in the nation for implementation.
The analysis was done by looking at installed megawatts of solar power, the number of jobs in the industry, the number of homes with solar power, and the percentage of energy in each state powered by solar power. Kansas finished at No. 44.
Installing solar energy in Kansas costs an average of $9,881, which is less than the national average of about $16,000. The state has only about 15,000 homes with solar power installed, however, according to Forbes, which brings the total percentage of homes in Kansas powered by solar energy to 0.2 percent.
By comparison, California ranked first with 27.3 percent solar power. Oklahoma ranked just above Kansas but had the same percentage of solar energy at 0.2%.
Kansas has 971 solar jobs in the state and 110 megawatts of installed solar energy. The neighboring state of Colorado ranked ninth in the analysis, with more than 2,000 megawatts installed and more than 7,000 solar jobs.
North Dakota is ranked the worst state for solar by Forbes, with 149 solar-powered homes and 262 jobs in the industry. It has only 2 megawatts of solar power installed in the state.
States with the worst solar energy absorption:
North Dakota
Alaska
West Virginia
South Dakota
Kentucky
States with the best absorption of solar energy:
California
Nevada
Arizona
Texas
Massachusetts
At number 1, California has more than 10 million homes powered by solar energy.
While the monthly price of solar energy can be cheaper than traditional energy, the initial installation is expensive. If you are interested in going solar and want to see how much it will cost you, you can use this solar energy calculator and enter your postcode and energy supplier for a quote.
