The past two years have seen a huge increase in the solar energy market—over 100% in 2010 alone—but will the trend continue into the New Year? According to industry data, all signs point to yes.
Top solar execs, including those that met at the Solar Power International Convention in October, all understood the key to boosting solar in 2011 and beyond: tax credits, grants, and loans that make the systems enticing and affordable for homeowners and businesses.
One of the leading grant programs driving growth around the country is the Treasury Grant Program, or TGP. This program allows commercial solar projects to get a 30% grant instead of receiving the solar Investment Tax Credit.
However, in order to qualify for the TGP, construction must begin on solar installations by the fast-approaching 31st of December, 2010, a deadline that Solar Energy Industries Association hopes to extend all the way to December 31, 2012.
In addition to adding 5,000 MW of additional solar energy by 2016, such an extension would also mean 65,000 energy-related jobs could be added to the workforce by 2015. And fortunately, these jobs would be created in states that are floundering in the current economy, including Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
As other green energy options continue to increase in price, solar energy is steadily decreasing, especially as supply and demand have begun to even out. This is the time, as experts point out, that policy starts to mean more than the amount of natural sunlight that a state can produce. Hopefully, things will continue to look up from here.
Photo Credit: stantontcady via Flickr CC
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