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Report: Solar sets record for installations

December 15, 2011 — 8:00am ET | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

A new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research shows that the U.S. solar industry had its best quarter ever in Q3 2011, setting a new record for solar electric capacity. With 449 MW installed (a 140 percent increase over the same quarter last year), more solar electric capacity came online in Q3 of 2011 than in all of 2009. Q4 is predicted to be even larger. Driving the growth are policies supporting solar, declining solar panel prices and utility-scale project completions.

The outlook for solar isn't all shiny and bright. Market uncertainty looms with the expiration of the Section 1603 Treasury Program which SEIA says will need to be continued to keep the industry growing and create jobs. In the absence of an extension of the program, the report predicts that there will be a tax equity bottleneck for projects in 2012, leading to a possible slowdown in installations in late 2012 and into 2013.

"The U.S. solar industry is on a roll, with unprecedented growth in 2011," said Rhone Resch, President and CEO of SEIA. "Solar is now an economic force in dozens of states, creating jobs across America...The 1603 program has done more to expand the use of renewable energy than any other policy in U.S. history."

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