France, on a per capita basis, has installed more than twice the solar PV as the United States through mid year. The United States remains a major world market for solar PV though it continues to fall further behind Germany and Italy.
California is currently North America's leader in solar PV development, followed by New Jersey and Ontario, Canada.
France, like its European counterparts in Germany and Italy, use a differentiated system of feed-in tariffs to pay generators for their solar electricity. California and the United States use a complex mix of tax credits, grants, and net-metering.
The mid-year report by Soler, the French association of solar professionals, found 1,473 MW of solar PV operating in Metropolitan France, and another 200 MW in former French colonies.
The population of California is fast approaching 40 million people. France has a population of about 60 million inhabitants. The population of the US now exceeds 300 million.
