Dive Summary:

• GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association released a report that U.S. solar photovoltaics (PV) market installed 684 megawatts in the third quarter of 2012, which is a 44-percent increase over the same period last year.
• Arizona and California were the state's with the most PV installations, but Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania all saw growth of five megawatt or greater compared to the previous quarter.
• The industry hopes to see continued growth in the fourth quarter, which historically has been the strongest for PV installations in the U.S.

From the article:

The GTM and SEIA research teams expect third-party leased PV systems to remain a hot option in the U.S. market for homeowners into 2013 and beyond. During this quarter, residential PV markets in Arizona, Colorado, California, and Massachusetts saw third-party systems range from 57 percent to 91 percent of total residential system installations.

“While Q3 2012 was remarkable for the U.S. PV market, it is just the opening act for what we expect to see in Q4,” said Shayle Kann, vice president of research at GTM. “We forecast more than 1.2 gigawatts of PV to be installed next quarter on the back of developers who are pushing to meet year-end deadlines in both the utility and commercial segments. We also expect to see the residential PV market post another record number in Q4, as third-party residential installers gain more traction in mature, cost-effective markets.” ...