Solar in the U.S. growing, but not as fast as Europe

The United States has less than 5% of the world's oil reserves, yet uses over 25% of the world's oil production.  You don't need to comprehend fancy calculus to understand the math and see that energy independence won't come from drilling.  We could drill in the front yard of every American home, in all the national forests, and up and down both coasts and not find enough oil to meet demand.  Even if peak oil weren't a concern, common sense dictates that we find alternative energy - renewable energy - to sustain our needs for the rest of this century and beyond.


Solar power may not be the answer for all communities and homeowners.  But in many areas of the southwest, where population is growing the fastest, the sun is an abundant commodity that can be easily used to supplement, if not replace other forms of electricity generation.  Even in the midwest and northeast, which don't enjoy the same number of sunny days, solar panels pay for themselves in less than ten years.

From Reuters:


The U.S. solar power sector grew 67 percent in 2010 but still lagged European markets by a wide margin in installing solar systems, the industry's trade group said on Thursday.
The U.S. market for solar energy reached $6 billion in 2010, up from $3.6 billion the previous year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
But U.S. share of worldwide photovoltaic solar installations slipped to 5 percent last year from 6.5 percent in 2009 due to booming growth in Germany and Italy, where solar players enjoy generous government incentives.
Photovoltaic, or PV, solar systems transform sunlight into electricity.
Solar electric installations reached 956 megawatts in the United States last year, including 878 MW of PV systems. More than 17 gigawatts of PV were installed globally.
In 2011, SEIA expects U.S. PV installations to double from 2010, while the global market will experience slower growth due to subsidy cuts in Europe.
"Much of the global PV industry is turning its eye toward the U.S. with great expectations," the report said.
This year is likely to be "light" for concentrating solar power, or solar thermal, SEIA said. In 2010, 77.5 MW of CSP were installed, and that portion of the market is expected to grow quickly in the coming years with 41 projects totaling 9 GW currently under development.
The U.S. market has diversified geographically in recent years. California represented about 80 percent of the U.S. PV market from 2004 to 2005, but last year accounted for less than 30 percent of the market. Other than California, the states that each installed more than 50 MW of PV systems in 2010 were Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Jersey.
In manufacturing, the United States increased its production of solar components substantially in 2010. Production of solar modules rose 62 percent, while wafer production grew 97 percent and cell manufacturing rose 81 percent.
However, stiff competition from low-cost regions such as China forced three domestic PV facilities to close last year, including a BP Solar (BP.L) plant in Maryland, Intel-backed (INTC.O) SpectraWatt's New York facility, and Evergreen Solar's (ESLR.O) factory in Massachusetts.
"Additional plant closures will not come as a surprise," SEIA said, but added that new plants would be built this year by Wacker Chemie AG (WCHG.DE), Flextronics (FLEX.O) and Stion.