The garden state, also known as New Jersey, might need its nickname changed to the solar state. Over the past eight years, this small, mid-Atlantic landmass has gone from solar power laggard to a solar power leader. New Jersey had 128 megawatts (MWs) of solar equipment installed by the end of 2009, according to the recently published “US Solar Industry Year in Review 2009,” issued by the Solar Energy Industries Association.

In fact, at this point, the only state in the United States with more installed solar is California, which has 1,102 MWs of PV installed as of 2009. California is the nation’s most populous and one of its largest—you could fit about 20 New Jerseys in the area occupied by California. California, the nation’s most populous state—and at about 20 times larger than New Jersey, has the most installed PV in the country.

New Jersey’s come a long way since 2001, when it had only six PV installations. Since then, solar has seen a thousand-fold increase in the number of installed PV sites. A spokesman from New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program said that at the end of May 2010, “over 6,032 New Jersey residential, commercial, public, and non-profit entities have installed a solar electric system.” Since August 31, 2009, nearly 2,000 more PV installations were completed. At that point, the state had 4,175 installations producing 95 MW of PV.

The industry isn’t blossoming in New Jersey for an unwarranted reason. The state implemented a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that requires 2.12 percent of power generated in the state to come from PV by 2020. To meet that goal, the state estimates that it will need between 1,500 MW and 2,300 MW of newly installed PV. That means the state will add about 180 MW of PV every year, between now and 2020. Looking at how quickly installations have been going up, it’s likely the state will meet its goal.

The move toward the implementation of the RPS has roots in the state’s clean energy program, which started in 2001. To help the state reach the RPS goal, New Jersey has a number of progressive solar incentives. These are offered to residents, utilities, small businesses and non-profits, and include a Renewable Energy Incentive Program and rebates to people who install small PV arrays on their home or business.