The U.S. solar energy industry achieved a new record for installations and growth in the third quarter of 2011 thanks to utility-scale project completions, a strong residential market, effective policies and the plummeting price of solar panels, according to a report released today by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Through the third quarter of 2011, the U.S. solar market has installed more than 1,000 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity on the year, already surpassing the 2010 annual total of 887 MW, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight: 3rd Quarter 2011 report. This includes 449 MW installed in the third quarter alone a record for quarterly installations and more new solar electric capacity than was added in all of 2009. This also represents 140 percent growth over the same quarter last year.

Much of this growth is due to the Department of Treasury’s 1603 program, which is set to expire on Dec. 31 unless Congress extends it. 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. But our industry needs stable policy on which to make business decisions, and unfortunately an underlying mechanism for financing solar projects is scheduled to expire on December 31. To keep the industry growing and creating jobs in the U.S. we need Congress to extend the 1603 program. The 1603 program has done more to expand the use of renewable energy than any other policy in U.S. history. Our country is not in a position to have Congress turn their back on American industries, and it is critical that Congress extend the 1603 program in the few days left before the end of the year.”

The U.S. Solar Market Insight: 3rd Quarter 2011 report (http://www.greentechmedia.com/research/solarinsight) is the most detailed and timely research available on the continuing growth and opportunity in the U.S. The report includes analysis of PV, concentrating solar power (CSP) and concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) technologies, exposing the key metrics that will help solar decision-makers navigate the market’s current and forecasted trajectory.

Highlights from the third quarter report include:

-Grid-connected PV installations in Q3 2011 grew 39 percent over Q2 2011 and 140 percent over Q3 2010.

-The utility PV market installed over 200 MW in Q3 2011, a greater than 400 percent increase in installations over Q2 2011.

-The residential PV market grew 21 percent over Q2 2011 to reach nearly 75 MW.

-California regained a substantial share of overall PV installation in Q3 2011 with 44 percent; the next six largest state markets combined comprised 45 percent of quarterly installations.

While domestic solar markets are booming more than ever, the report also finds that U.S. solar is facing more uncertainty than at any point in recent history. On one hand, solar module prices are falling precipitously and system prices have never been lower; on the other hand, the market faces substantial risks in the form of legislative, financing, political, and market barriers.

“U.S. solar is entering 2012 with a sense of cautious optimism,” said Shayle Kann, Managing Director of the solar practice at GTM Research. “There are three questions on the mind of everyone in the market: one, what would be the impact of the 1603 Treasury Program’s expiration; two, can emerging commercial markets like Massachusetts, Colorado, Ohio, Tennessee, and Hawaii ramp up as major markets like California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania trend downward; and finally, how will the trade petition against Chinese solar imports impact market dynamics, both in the immediate term and if duties are ultimately levied?”

With the 1603 Treasury Program scheduled to expire at the end of this year, solar project developers will be scrambling to either complete, or safe harbor, projects in the fourth quarter of 2011 in order to qualify for the program’s grant. This will undoubtedly produce robust installation numbers through the end of 2011. However, the uncertainty surrounding the program’s extension threatens the market’s growth in 2012 and beyond.

About GTM Research:

Greentech Media delivers research and analysis in the business-to-business greentech market. Using an integrated platform, we produce high quality products, whether it is industry news, market research or networking events. GTM Research, the research arm of the company, produces in-depth market reports and is the publisher of PV News, a monthly solar market tracker. Greentech Media is headquartered in Boston, MA, with operations in New York, NY, San Francisco, CA and Munich. For more information, visit http://www.greentechmedia.com.

About SEIA:

Established in 1974, the Solar Energy Industries Association is the national trade association of the U.S. solar energy industry. Through advocacy and education, SEIA and its 1,100 member companies are building a strong solar industry to power America. As the voice of the industry, SEIA works to make solar a mainstream and significant energy source by expanding markets, removing market barriers, strengthening the industry and educating the public on the benefits of solar energy. http://www.seia.org

Background Resources:

U.S. Solar Market Insight: 3rd Quarter 2011 Executive Summary: http://forms.greentechmedia.com/af2?LinkID=CH00095679eR00000030AD

Info on purchasing the full U.S. Solar Market Insight: 3rd Quarter 2011 report: http://www.seia.org/cs/research/SolarInsight

Background on the Department of Treasury 1603 Program: http://www.seia.org/cs/solar_policies/1603_treasury_program

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]]> http://bayareasolargroup.com/2010/01/shcri-com-research-report-of-chinese-wind-power-industry-2009/feed/ 51 http://bayareasolargroup.com/2009/11/what-to-konw-about-ethanol-industry-and-the-result-of-this-political-idea-another-state-plan/ http://bayareasolargroup.com/2009/11/what-to-konw-about-ethanol-industry-and-the-result-of-this-political-idea-another-state-plan/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:43:15 +0000 admin http://bayareasolargroup.com/2009/11/what-to-konw-about-ethanol-industry-and-the-result-of-this-political-idea-another-state-plan/ Each year in early October my grandfather summoned my entire family to come to his farm and harvest potatoes. Hunched over on all fours, each person quietly filled their buckets with these “earth apples.” Each year he used a different field for his crop. One year he would plant potatoes, the next year beets or wheat. The potato replaced the grain diet on the European continent. It became survival food, especially during the two World Wars. Dumplings, potato salad and mashed potatoes are only a few potato dishes found in a long list in the European cuisine. The easy adaptability of the potato to grow almost anywhere in the world can produce an annual crop of 322 million tons of potatoes. Many African countries greatly benefit from growing the potatoes because they make them more self-sufficient in their food production.
In the age of nation building, stamping out of global warming, and driving for energy self-sufficiency, the new state appointed rival of the potato is maize, which is better known as corn – the yellow cob-born grain used in the production of ethanol fuel. As a blend with gasoline, biofuel powers automobiles and farm equipment. Its environmental friendly side effect is to reduce greenhouse gases, and some say it is the key to everlasting energy security in the future.
Ethanol fuel production received its first stimulus after the Arab oil crisis in 1973. During 1978 the US federal government sealed the project with the Energy Tax Act authorizing tax exemptions by blending gasoline with 10 percent ethanol. A floodgate of free money opened up for farmers and ethanol producers as the energy and agricultural departments spent billions of dollars on subsidies. This year’s estimates are between $5.5 billion to $7.3 billion of our tax dollars to be handed out to corn growers.
The incentives for farmers to grow corn in the US is not to meet the needs of a market that entails a healthy profit. Instead, they plant corn because they get paid to do so by a federal government interested in ethanol production. And as it turns out, producing ethanol is an expensive process. Archer Daniels Midland Corporation (ADM) out of Illinois, one of the largest producers of ethanol, received as much as $10 billion in subsidies between 1980 through 1997 along with favorable tax breaks costing taxpayers an average of $30 for every dollar ADM earns in profits. Add to that the $500 of federal and state subsidies it takes to reduce one metric ton of CO2-equivalent, one can literarily say that it is governments who heat up the globe by burning cash.
This year corn production has already increased by 15 percent over last year. Even President Bush, not a green lover but excited about ethanol, is expecting that farmers will plant 90.5 millions of acres of corn in 2007 in order to meet the demands of ethanol production of 132 billion liters by 2017. Corn prices already went up by 50 percent. The average price per bushel of $1.95, which had held steady over the past eight years, jumped up to $3.05 in January of this year, and is expected to rise as high as $3.40.
Corn is feedstock. It is consumed not only by humans but also by hogs, chickens and cattle. The drastic side-effect of higher corn prices is now reflected in the higher prices in the grocery store. The price of food went up 3.9 percent last year – faster than the inflation rate, which ranges around 2.7 in 2007. In particular, pork, beef, milk, eggs and poultry show drastic increases in their prices. So do fruits and vegetables. Considering that most people spend an average of 10 percent of their disposable income on food, higher prices in grocery reduces the spending on cars, homes or clothing. Health Nazis should also be concerned, since these higher prices drive people to cheaper processed foods that add to increased health risks in the poor segment of the population.
The US Federal Government’s targeted goal is to replace gasoline with corn-based fuel as an alternative energy source. This has caught the attention of poorer countries. Mexico, for example, is gradually replacing agave, a spiky-leaved, large plant which grows on high and arid land and takes eight years to reach maturity, with corn. Agave is the main ingredient for Tequila. Mexico produced 25 to 35 percent less agave this year and farmers take less care of their agave crop in favor of higher corn prices. The World Food Program (WFP), which recently stated that it can no longer feed the poor due to the impact of biofuel demand on food prices, is foolishly encouraging African and Latin American countries to take advantage of the rising demand of biofuels by planting corn; a popular world practice that is now devastating 900 million of the world’s poorest which rely on the UN feeding program.
It is quite clear that the state-inflated demand for corn is causing a global imbalance in food production. Farmers are replacing a variety of vegetables and fruits with corn due to the higher profit-per-acre corn brings. The two-year practice of crop rotation for corn drains the soil and requires more fertilizers on the following soybean crop. The additional cost ends up with the consumer. As food prices rise, it is the poor who suffer most from this inflated demand for biofuel. It is a burden that most people cannot afford as inflation keeps rising because of irresponsible spending and government debt.
The federal budget for the fiscal year beginning this October called for $2.9 trillion dollars in government spending. It includes increases for all the various cabinet-level departments. Among them were a 5.4 percent increase for the Department of Energy and 3.6 percent increase for Agriculture. According to Richard M. Ebeling, President of The Freeman, the average US household would have to shell out approximately $25,845 in taxes to cover the budget. Include with it the US federal government’s pre-existing liabilities of several trillion, and the average US household would have to pay an additional $31,000 a year for 75 years to pay off the debt already incurred by government spending. How can an average income household cover the basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter when tax burdens already devour the wages of a lower income population? Poor people only become poorer as spending continues.
Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul seems to be the only congressional member who understands the global effects of subsidies. During his second presidential debate the question came up about oil profits. His response was: “I don’t think the profits are the issue. The profits are okay if they’re legitimately earned in a free market. What I object to are subsidies to big corporations when we subsidize them and give them R&D (Research & Development) money. I don’t think that should be that way. They should take it out of the funds that they earn…”
Here lies the answer to many of the energy questions. Let the private sector find a solution to new energy sources. Already technology advances at a rapid speed and its products remain ultimately competitive on the market where prices drop and become affordable to the average consumer. Just think of recent changes from VCRs and phonograph records to DVD’s and CD players, and the addition of cell phones and portable computers to modern life. All are now available at reasonable prices to low-income households. Industry continually comes up with new inventions that contribute highly to communication, organization and entertainment. The only sectors that remain high in cost with outrageous prices are sectors that are under government regulation and control: health care, medicine, education, housing, and now food prices. It would be a life-saving act of mercy to close these various departments of government, if people want to have a future for the next generation.
The trouble caused on the global market by the federal government’s sponsored ethanol industry increasingly outweighs the good it does. The idea of sacrificing food production in the name of biofuel as a future source of energy is an irrational concept. The consequence of higher food prices due to corn production hasn’t come from consumer choice but from government coercion. If the demand for energy is increasing, and biofuel is the answer, then where will the world grow its food? The big believers in a government supported biofuel industry might have to prepare for another big tsunami to hit the shores of Third World countries and at home if this insanity isn’t stopped. Just don’t blame capitalism if and when it comes.
July 21, 2007
Sabine Barnhart