If you look at a graph of the amount of solar being installed quarterly over the past few years, you’ll quickly notice a trend, it’s like a series of hills ramping upwards. That trend has continued into the second quarter of 2012, but it’s growing even more.

With more than 742 megawatts of new solar photovoltaic power installed, the second quarter of 2012 is the second-best quarter for solar installations in the U.S.’s history, according to U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2nd Quarter 2012, by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). And that’s not including the completion of the 30 megawatt concentrating photovoltaic Alamosa Solar Generating station that came online in the second quarter.

The report also includes projects like Agua Calienete, which, while still under development, has already become the largest operational solar farm in the world. As of July it was producing 200 megawatts of power, and it’s since grown. 

The quarter was up 45 percent over the first quarter of 2012 and a whopping 116 percent over the second quarter of 2011. What’s more, the growth trend is expected to continue throughout the rest of the year, according to SEIA Vice President Tom Kimbus. Given that 791 megawatts were installed in the fourth quarter of 2011, this year’s third quarter could break the overall record for solar installed in a quarter. In fact, according to the report, there are 3,400 megawatts of utility PV projects currently under construction in the U.S.

The only part of the solar market that didn’t see sweeping growth in the quarter was concentrating solar power (CSP). But that’s not to say they’re not growing as well. “We anticipate construction beginning on several CSP plants before the end of the years, but don’t expect any to be completed until 2013,” Kimbus said. For instance, 92 percent of the pylon installations for BrightSource’s Ivanpah project were completed in the second quarter. When completed it will add 370 megawatts of power to 546 megawatts of CSP power currently generating.

The growth was led by utility installations, which hit 477 megawatts in the second quarter, according to the report. Eight states, California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico, and New Jersey, had utility installations of 10 megawatts or greater. In all, the U.S. now has 5,700 megawatts of installed solar capacity, the report said.