A Solar Panel on Every Roof? In U.S., Still a Distant Dream

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/a_solar_panel_on_every_roof_in_us_still_a_distant_dream/2434/

15 Aug 2011: Report

A Solar Panel on Every Roof?
In U.S., Still a Distant Dream

Daunted by high up-front costs, U.S. homeowners continue to shy away from residential solar power systems, even as utility-scale solar projects are taking off. But with do-it-yourself kits and other innovative installation approaches now on the market, residential solar is having modest growth.

by Dave Levitan

It seems like the ultimate in green technology for an emissions-savvy citizen of the 21st century: solar panels on your roof, providing carbon dioxide-free electricity whenever the sun is shining. But as huge utility-scale solar and wind projects continue to make news and the economy continues to struggle, the state of the residential solar sector in the United States remains decidedly mixed.

From the first quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter, installations of U.S. residential solar systems rose from 62 megawatts to 74 megawatts (enough to power about 15,000 homes), and the Solar Energy Industries Association reports that http://www.seia.org/cs/news_detail?pressrelease.id=1418">the first quarter of 2011 saw similar gains over the same period in 2010. Considering that the total installed solar capacity in the U.S. — residential, commercial, and industrial-scale of all types included — still hasn’t cracked 3,000 megawatts (enough to power roughly 600,000 homes), this feels like progress.

Yet if you look at residential solar’s share of the total U.S. solar market, the picture is less bright. In 2009, 36 percent of all installed solar systems were on homes; http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/03/u-s-solar-market-bloom-in-2010-but-challenges-remain">this dropped to 30 percent in 2010, and some experts think that will continue to fall.

“The way the U.S. solar market is really headed is toward utility projects,” said MJ Shiao, a solar markets analyst with http://www.greentechmedia.com/research/">Greentech Media Research. He noted that the growth from the first quarter of 2010 to 2011 was about 14 percent in the residential market, compared with an impressive 119 percent for non-residential sectors. Just last week, the http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/current/2011/kw32/us-interior-department-approves-550-mw-california-pv-plant.html">U.S. Interior Department approved First Solar’s 4,100-acre solar project in the California desert, which is expected to generate enough electricity to power 165,000 homes.

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[PoliticAverse]

1. Correct link here...

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/a_solar_panel_on_every_roof_in_us_still_a_distant_dream/2434/

[BadgerKid]

2. There's a 30%-of-cost (with a caveat) tax credit through 2016.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index

[Kolesar]

3. Wet-blanket editorializing

Utility PV integrations are growing faster because activists* forced utilities to adopt a REPS/Renewable energy portfolio standard.

link does not work,btw

*me