2011 year in review: Solar energy has a great year

[jpak]

http://redgreenandblue.org/2011/12/26/2011-year-in-review-solar-energy-has-a-great-year/

WASHINGTON – Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, today published the following review of the U.S. solar energy market in 2011:

“In contrast to some of the recent headlines, the solar energy industry is a strong, thriving industry in the United States that is creating jobs and lowering costs for the consumer. In 2011, a number of myths about the solar energy industry circulated nationally. Let’s set the record straight. Here are seven truths about this thriving American industry:

1. Solyndra did not kill the industry. In fact, the solar energy industry is expanding rapidly and has become a highly competitive, thriving industry in the United States. Solyndra’s high-profile bankruptcy in August was an anomaly in what proved to be the industry’s most successful quarter on record. Although Solyndra couldn’t compete, the rest of the industry grew by 140 percent in the last year and costs came down by 40 percent. America discovered that one company’s failure does not reflect an entire industry. In fact, 9 out of 10 Americans feel it’s important to develop and use more solar in the U.S., according to an independent national poll conducted a month after Solyndra declared bankruptcy.

2. Today, U.S. solar is an economic force: employing more than 100,000 Americans at 5,000 businesses across all 50 states. The solar industry proved itself to be a strong job creator in the United States. The vast majority of the 5,000 companies that make up the industry in the U.S. are small businesses, engines of growth for our economic recovery. These are real people in real solar jobs as reported by The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census 2011. The solar value chain includes engineers, sales people, and other administrative professionals as well installers, roofers, electricians, plumbers and contractors – skilled labor professions hit hard by rampant unemployment in recent years – now finding new opportunities to put their expertise to work in the solar industry.
Source: Red Green & Blue (http://s.tt/14ZKQ)

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