Future Fears Drove Late-2011 Solar Surge

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src=”http://www.earthtechling.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/solarreport1-135×100.jpg” style=”border:0; float:left; margin: 0 1em .5em 0;” alt=”solarreport” title=”solarreport”/>

In its <a
href=”http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/12/uncertainty-to-cast-shadows-on-solar-in-2012/”>last quarterly report on the North American photovoltaic (PV) market, NPD Solarbuzz warned that uncertainties related to the end of the Federal Section 1603 Cash Grant program and SolarWorld’s <a
href=”http://www.earthtechling.com/2012/01/solar-energy-trade-battle-heats-up-again/”>trade dispute with China would start to reshape market supply and pricing of PV modules at the end of last year. This has <a
href=”http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9167717.htm”>turned out to be true; but that report failed to predict that the last quarter of 2011 would see record deployment of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants—with 9,300 megawatts (MW) (.93 GW) installed in North America.

According to the latest <a
href=”http://www.solarbuzz.com/our-research/reports/north-america-pv-markets-quarterly”>North American PV Markets Quarterly report, large-scale ground-mounted systems accounted for 59 percent of this total, and two-thirds of demand was represented by the big solar markets of New Jersey, California, Arizona and Ontario.

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id=”attachment_76699″ class=”wp-caption aligncenter” style=”width: 460px”><img
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class=”wp-caption-text”>image via Shutterstock

In the U.S., the increase can largely be attributed to developers scrambling to get systems installed prior to the expiration of the Section 1603 Federal Cash Grant on Dec. 31, 2011. The industry has been <a
href=”http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/12/solar-installs-boom-but-industry-worries/”>pushing lawmakers for an extension; but, so far, to no avail. California’s <a
href=”http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/10/renewables-get-new-legislation-in-california/”>$200 million refunding of the California Solar Initiative (CSI)—the nation’s largest ratepayer funded incentive program also helped bring a backlog of residential PV systems online.

But what does this mean for 2012? The U.S. faces a 25-GW pipeline of nonresidential and utility PV projects scheduled for construction this year. Lower equipment prices and the spread of solar leasing and financing programs will support residential demand; but NPD Solarbuzz warns that demand will slow in five key states that have already met their RPS requirements.

[source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Earthtechling/~3/4clVy3xtNew/]