U.S. Photovoltaic Market Poised To Be World's Biggest

From EarthTechling's Kristy Hessman:

The United States is poised to shove aside Germany, Italy and Japan as the largest market for photovoltaic (PV) installations, according to ABI Research. The firm’s Global Photovoltaic Cells and Moduel Markets study forecasts that in 2013, the United States will have more PV installation than any other country.

According to the study, an estimated 900 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity came online during 2010 in the U.S. PV market. That number is expected to almost double in 2011. That growth is only expected to continue over the next few years. Experts forecast an increase of 5 gigawatts installed during 2013 in the United States

Increased incentives at the state and federal level will drive much of the growth, ABI said. Thirty U.S. states have already implemented renewable energy standards (RES) or renewable portfolio standards (RPS) – targets for major utilities to reach by generating or purchasing a percentage of their energy from renewable energy sources. California has an RPS target of 33 percent by 2020 and is likely to be the first state to introduce feed-in tariffs for PV power generation, ABI noted.

In addition, ABI said, renewable energy technologies are growing in the utility, industrial and commercial sectors. And government is playing a big role as well – as we’ve reported, even the U.S. military is looking into PV solutions to power supplies for troops and equipment.

Comments

[Hans Littooy]

11:50 AM on 09/23/2011

OK, I'm a conservative, live in San Diego and was very skeptical of solar power, so when a solar company stopped by house and offered to size the system, I thought - OK, prove to me the economics! Well, he ran the economics. 6-7 payback for just electricity recovery (my monthly electric bill averages $165). Not great, not bad though. But here's the kicker - add an electric car to the mix and assuming you spend $400/mo on gas, you can achieve a 2-3 yr payback. Thereafter, essentially free gas and electricity...I was sold and in process of procurring a system.

[Rocnjohnny]

05:59 PM on 09/22/2011

I would say give zero tax to these companies and help subsidies their plants. Yes we have a black mark on the fall of half a billion dollars. We have a lot more that is doing very well. The Solyndra deal was pushed hard for over two before Obama even knew what it was. We can do this and do it better than anyone. If we push to keep the manufacturing in this country.

[HLL]

07:16 PM on 09/22/2011

Agree wholeheartedly. We could be a leader in clean green energy technology, just as we led the race to the Moon in the 1960's. The American people are certainly capable of that kind of innovation, creativity, Science and industry. Oil, coal and nuclear power are the 20th century and destr0y all life, clean green is the 21st century and is in harmony with all life; it's time we embraced the century we're in with an eye to the future. Your ideas, rock, Rocnjohnny! ☮ F & F

[Hans Littooy]

11:54 AM on 09/23/2011

I don't agree with subsidizing the manufacturer. Because they are start-ups, they will not incur any income taxes for quite some time. I am OK but not a fan of with initial subsidizes on the purchase price as it will help with ramp-up costs until economies of scale are achieve. Let the free market pick the winners and losers in the production of the panels - we know government cannot pick winners and losers without bias - it is impossible.

[billtmore]

11:36 AM on 09/22/2011

folks if we get a Republican president and tea party congress they will try to put the kabash on this in favor of subsidzing big oil in exchange for lower prices at the pump

[HLL]

12:36 PM on 09/22/2011

Truth! But don't think we'll get a GOPTea POTUS... Progress, no matter how sporadic, is unavoidable and clean green energy is progress the entire planet is striving to make, despite naysayers. The U.S. could be a key player in clean green energy technology that would create more jobs and help our economy. I think, I hope, we're gettin' the hang of it now! ☮

[g9]

10:11 AM on 09/23/2011

subsidzing big oil ..equals...more profits....not...lower prices.....
anyone that tells you different is LYING....
chase them out of office ..
.vote them out because thy have been bought off

[Donald Persons]

12:15 AM on 09/22/2011

You see the oil lobby hype is not correct.

[Hans Littooy]

11:55 AM on 09/23/2011

Oil is not the concern; electric companies are the concern as solar power will take away revenue from generation. Not many electric plants run on oil...natural gas yes, but not oil.

[Donald Persons]

06:45 PM on 09/23/2011

That's interesting because our 15 Congressional District (OH) is in the hip pocket of an electric company. Solar is stalled in Ohio because of this, in spite of Senator Brown and others pushing the other way.

[MSaxe]

11:59 PM on 09/21/2011

The market may be huge, but who is going to manufacture them?

Right now, it's China and Germany. We ceded our lead in solar when Ronald Reagan eliminated federal tax credits for solar installations. Others took the lead.

[nb693]

01:39 AM on 09/22/2011

But that's the nature of markets. Is it possible to be the maintain a lead for ever ? China became first from far being second, third and even further back.
US manufacturers have been improving the efficiency which is a stepping stone for a scale up that would allow one to be the leader.

[imusintheevening]

12:16 PM on 09/22/2011

Actually, a few years ago AMAT, a silicon valley maker of processing equipment decided to build a $2 billion solar cell plant. They looked around and it came down to Germany or China. They ended up in Germany to be "close to their customer" where anyone can install PV and sell back to the grid at a subsidized $0.78/KWh. Meanwhile, China built 2 $2 billion plants. The Solyndra fiasco centers around a thin-film process rather than crystalline Si. As a Materials Engineer with 30 years experience in thin film process, I believe it was a gamble on the price of Si staying abnormally high (3rd most abundant material on earth) and the TF cells having high enough conversion efficiency. At any rate, we can still regain with the next wave of manufacturing efficiency push and tax credits for this clean energy solution.

[bridge to somewhere]

01:03 PM on 09/22/2011

A Crystalline Si plant just opened up a few miles from where I'm at. Too bad it all gets shipped back to Japan/Korea/China for the actual manufacturing process.

[pinkibus]

11:43 PM on 09/21/2011

Good news at last. It will mean fewer asthma cases, fewer deaths from smog and maybe I will get to see a starry night. One can always hope. While America seems to be going backwards in so many ways it is going forward in one significant way.