Report: U.S. solar $6 billion industry in 2010

The U.S. solar market grew 67 percent from a $3.6 billion market in 2009 to $6 billion in 2010, according to "U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2010 Year in Review," a report released this month by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research.

California installed the most photovoltaics last year, with 258.9 megawatts of direct current (MWdc), followed by New Jersey in second place with 137.1, and Nevada with 61.4. Others on the Top 10 list in order of greatest installations included Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas.

The SEIA estimates that the U.S. now has a cumulative solar capacity of 2.6 gigawatts. Of that 2.6 gigawatts, there are 152,516 PV systems totaling 2.1 gigawatts (direct current) connected to the power grid. The U.S. also now has 17 concentrated solar plants totaling about 507 megawatts (alternating current), according to the SEIA.

The biggest reason for this growth could be attributed to the large amount of utility installations. There were a total of 113 megawatts as of 2009, and that increased to 242 megawatts by the end of 2010. The SEIA attributes a lot of those projects to the Department of Energy Loan program and says future growth outlook will depend in part on that program's fate.

Still, despite growth, the U.S. actually fell behind other countries in 2010 in terms of global photovoltaic installation. The U.S. was home to only 5 percent of the world's installed photovoltaics in 2010, compared with 6.5 percent in 2009. The SEIA attributed this to the European solar boom caused by government incentives that pushed countries like Spain, Italy, and Germany to install more solar plants.

Solar CIGS reach 15.7 percent efficiency

The Department of Energy has confirmed that MiaSole's thin-film photovoltaic solar modules have reached an efficiency of 15.7 percent, the company announced today.

That is an efficiency improvement of more than 1 percent since last year when the company was given a 14.3 percent efficiency rating from the DOE's 's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, according to MiaSole.

Solar panel efficiency ratings signify how much power one gets out of a solar panel per square inch, something obviously of great interest to companies and consumers evaluating which solar panels to purchase for projects.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based MiaSole makes flexible copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic panels with integrated electronics--an alternative to traditional solar panels made from polycrystalline silicon.

CIGS solar panels have traditionally been less efficient at converting solar rays into electricity than silicon solar panels, but can be built on flexible forms making them less expensive to manufacture and offering more choices as to how they can be integrated with a building.

"An almost 1.5 percent absolute increase in efficiency in such a short time on a continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing line is impressive and demonstrates good process control and a validation of the MiaSole approach," Rommel Noufi, a solar researcher at NREL, said in MiaSole's press release.

Noufi pointed out that the rating brings the company closer to achieving the DOE's goal of "$1 per watt."

Many corporate consumers and utilities, while they do look at efficiency rating, evaluate solar modules based on their total cost per watt, including installation costs, and exactly how many kilowatt-hours a given system can produce annually. The DOE announced in August that for solar panels to be competitive without government subsidies against traditional electricity, solar panels will likely have to cost $1 per watt to install and acheive greater efficiency.

It's estimated the solar industry will get to $2 per watt within the next five years, though currently large-scale solar systems still cost between $3 and $4 per watt, according to the DOE's August assessment (PDF).

This new upgrade in efficiency certainly helps MiaSole's crusade to compete with traditional silicon solar cells. And it comes at a time when many CIGS companies are struggling to compete against silicon, which has become significantly cheaper and more efficient than it once was, according to analysts like Lux Research.

Silicon panels on the market generally have efficiency ratings of at least 15 percent efficiency or better. SunPower, for example, announced in May its SunPower E19 Series silicon solar panels have an efficiency of 19 percent. Others have claimed that they're testing solar panels in laboratories with efficiencies as high as 41 percent.

MiaSole already got one boost this year from Wal-Mart. The retail giant announced in September it would use First Solar and MiaSole solar panels as it continues its program to add solar panels to Wal-Mart store roofs in sunny places like Arizona, California, and Hawaii.