Posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 2:07 pm
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) this week released the 2009 U.S. Solar Industry Year in Review, finding another year of strong growth despite the economic recession. Overall U.S. solar electric capacity increased by 37 percent (photovoltaic and concentrating solar power combined). This was driven primarily by strong demand in the residential and utility-scale markets, resulting in a 36 percent increase over 2008 in overall revenue. Grid-tied photovoltaic installations grew by 38 percent. Residential grid-tied PV solar installations doubled from 78 megawatts (MW) to 156 MW while non-residential grid-tied PV solar installations grew 2 percent less than in 2008. The utility market tripled their cumulative grid-tied PV capacity from 22 MW to 66 MW. Over that same time period, solar water heating shipments grew by 10 percent over 2008 while solar pool heating growth was 10 percent less than 2008 growth, reflecting construction and housing declines.
