Solar Strong Despite Economy
Today, about 92 percent of Americans want the United States to develop solar energy resources. And, 77 percent think that the government should make the development of solar power a national priority. Even with the recession, the number of solar installations in the U.S. is rising. Data gathered by the Solar Energy Industries Association shows the the total solar electric capacity from concentrating solar power technologies and photovoltaic surpassed 2,000 megawatts in 2009.
Despite the economy, solar revenues has surged in the industry climbing 36 percent. Another hopeful sign is that venture capitalists invested more money in solar energy than any other technology in 2009, over $1.4 billion. Currently, the solar industry makes up around 46,000 jobs and that number is expected to rise to around 60,000 by the end of the year.
One state that has embraced the development of renewable energy is North Carolina. The state projects that it will have as many as 28,000 new jobs by 2030 and a reduction of 10 million tons in greenhouse emissions. However, these predictions rely on the state being able to get 14 percent of its power from solar sources by 2030.