FW: Solar market primed for rise

http://www.pennenergy.com/index/power/display/4625724608/articles/pennenergy
/power/renewable/2012/august/solar-market_primed.html?cmpid=EnlDailyPowerAug
ust142012

Solar market primed for rise


August 13, 2012
The prevailing narrative of solar energy has been one of an industry
struggling to compete against still-cheap fossil fuels. But Forbes' Peter
Kelly-Detwiler reports that the current market actually provides an
increasingly promising outlook for solar power and other distributed
technologies.

The aging electricity transmission and distribution grid continues to make
it difficult for utilities to provide sufficient power in the areas where it
is most needed, with regions like New York and New Jersey suffering dramatic
congestion.

Meanwhile, technological advances have begun to spread much more quickly,
which has led some older companies to struggle against more efficient
competition. Kelly-Detwiler notes that even the collapse of Solyndra last
year can be attributed at least in part to the rise of newer technologies.

At the same time, an increasingly large proportion of people are giving
credence to calls to reduce carbon emissions, which can support natural
gas-fired generation to an extent, but ultimately will push carbon-free
sources like solar.

The Solar Energy Industries Association reports that the U.S. added the
second-most solar capacity of any quarter in the first three months of 2012,
despite the expiration of key subsidies.

Analysis of the U.S. solar market is available at PennEnergy's Research
area.


Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile