America Finally Joins the 1 Gigawatt PV Club
The U.S. finally enters the big leagues. Next stop: 2 gigawatts in 2012.
While Italy and Germany slug it out for the title of world’s largest solar market, the U.S. is hitting its own major photovoltaic milestone.
Last year, the U.S. solar market managed to consume 887 megawatts of solar panels.
This year, the U.S. of A. breaks the one-gigawatt bar for the first time en route to a forecasted 2011 total of 1.8 gigawatts.
The GTM Research team has crunched the numbers and, utilizing our state-of-the-art parallel processor supercomputer, the MJ-3000, has determined that the 1-gigawatt mark will be achieved on October 18. At 3:15 PM. When Mr. and Mrs. Shane McHenry install a 3-kilowatt system on their guest house.
A spectactularly detailed analysis of the U.S. market can be found in the just published GTM Research Q2 U.S. Solar Market Insight Report.

The U.S. solar energy industry continues to be one of the fastest-growing sectors of the American economy in 2011. In total, cumulative grid-connected solar electric installations have reached more than 3 gigawatts — enough to power nearly 600,000 U.S. homes.
“On the whole, the U.S. is currently the PV industry’s most attractive and stable growth market,” said Shayle Kann, Managing Director of Solar at GTM Research. “This is reflected in our report’s quarterly market data and in the comments from global suppliers, distributors, and developers, all of who see the U.S. positioned to nearly double its global market share in 2011 and support a greater diversity of installation types than has previously been seen in any leading demand center.”
U.S. Solar Market Insight™ is a collaboration between the Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA®) and GTM Research that brings high-quality, solar-specific analysis and forecasts to industry professionals in the form of quarterly and annual reports.
The billion-mark was reached only after 1800 AD. When Jesus was born, there are thought to have been around 300 million people on earth.
In the days ahead, a baby will be born who will take the global population above 7 billion for the first time, and in all probability that birth will take place in China or India, the two countries with more than a billion inhabitants.
No one is sure. There may already be 7 billion passengers on spaceship earth, as no statistician would be prepared to say exactly when this event of largely symbolic significance takes place.
The United Nations has fixed October 31 as the date of the fateful birth, but events have so often proved demographers wrong in the past that the expectation is that it will be sooner rather than later The rate of population growth has soared over the course of recorded history: When Jesus was born, there are thought to have been around 300 million people on earth.
The billion-mark was reached only after 1800. As many as a billion have been added in the eleven years of the 21st century alone, and predictions on future population growth are now treated with the same caution and scepticism as long-range weather forecasts.
David Bloom of the Harvard School of Public Health says that the multitude of unpredictable factors means that taking a global view is problematic.
“Among them are infectious diseases, war, scientific progress, political change and our capacity for global cooperation,” he says.
The general expectation is, however, that population growth will tail off, with U.N. predictions for 2050 ranging from 8.0 to 10.5 billion.
What is clear is that the proportions will shift between the continents, driven by high birth rates in Asia and Africa. Soon India, with 1.2 billion currently, will take the lead from China, with 1.3 billion, as the world’s most populous nation.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country today with 162 million, will see its population increase to almost 750 million by the middle of the century.
Another example: highly industrialised Germany and developing Ethiopia each have a little more than 80 million people. In another 40 years, there will probably be 174 million Ethiopians, while Germany’s population will decline to 72 million.
And the industrialised world is ageing rapidly.
This also means that relations of political power will change.
Countries like China, India and Brazil, with its 193 million people, are already growing in political influence.
This has led European leaders, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to warn that “in a world of 7 billion people, we 500 million Europeans will have to stick together,” or European prosperity and values will both go down the drain.
The sheer weight of numbers means increasing pressure on land, food and energy sources, and there are increasing fears of a struggle for resources. Many believe that there will be wars between neighbouring countries over water.
The environmental organisation WWF estimates that three planets will be needed by 2050 if we do not change our habits.
“In the next 40 years we will have to produce the same amount of food as over the last 8,000 years,” the WWF’s Jason Clay believes. He notes that far too much is still thrown away in the industrialised world.
The optimists note that there have been repeated apocalyptic warnings of impending doom resulting from population growth, although they have not yet been realised.
In fact, technical and medical achievements have often led to a more positive outcome than that feared – not only as a result of the Pill and condom, but also through agricultural improvements.
And even the current population mark being passed takes on a new perspective when compared with the number of people the earth has played host to over the course of human history.
It is estimated that since Homo sapiens first appeared, there have been more than 100 billion of our kind – against which the current 7 billion should be set.
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Citizenre Sales Associates,Thank you for your generous donation to the 2011 Reach The Beach cycling event benefiting the American Lung Association in Oregon. This year’s event was tremendously successful and broke all attendance and fundraising records! Your participation was a key part of this year’s achievement.
Sincerely, |
In the name of job creation and clean energy, the Obama administration has doled out billions of dollars in stimulus money to some of the nation’s biggest polluters and granted them sweeping exemptions from the most basic form of environmental oversight, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found.
Even a project at BP’s maligned refinery in Texas City, Tex. — owner of the oil industry’s worst safety record and site of a deadly 2005 explosion, as well as a benzene leak earlier this year — secured a waiver for the preliminary phase of a carbon capture and sequestration experiment involving two companies with past compliance problems. The primary firm has since dropped out of the project before it could advance to the second phase.
Agency officials who granted the exemptions told the Center that they do not have time in most cases to review the environmental compliance records of stimulus recipients, and do not believe past violations should affect polluters’ chances of winning stimulus money or the NEPA exclusions.
The so-called “stimulus” funding came from the $787-billion legislation officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February 2009.
For Third Consecutive Year, National Poll Shows More Than 9 out of 10 Americans Want Solar Now
• 94% of Americans think it is important for the nation to develop and use solar energy. This was consistent across all political party affiliations.
• 80% of Americans agree that Congress should consider reallocating federal subsidies from fossil fuels to solar.
• Over half (51%) the country would choose to work in the solar industry if they were to start working in renewable energy
• Nearly half (49%) of Americans considering solar for their home or business plan to make a decision to adopt solar in less than one year
• Nearly half (49%) of Americans are willing to pay more for clean, reliable solar energy
October 11, 2010 (Los Angeles) – On the eve of Solar Power International, North America’s largest solar energy trade show, a new national poll shows that the vast majority of Americans overwhelmingly support development and funding of solar energy, and their support for solar has remained consistent over the last three years. These and other findings were reported today in the 2010 SCHOTT Solar Barometer(TM), a nationally representative survey conducted by independent polling firm Kelton Research.
The survey found that 94 percent of Americans think it is important for the U.S. to develop and use solar energy. This strong support for solar remains unchanged since Americans were asked the same questions in the August 2009 SCHOTT Solar Barometer (92 percent) and June 2008 SCHOTT Solar Barometer (94 percent). (The difference is within the margin of error for these polls.)
This support for solar power is consistent across political party affiliation with 92 percent of Republicans, 98 percent of Democrats and 94 percent of Independents agreeing that it is important for the U.S. to develop and use solar power.
Furthermore, four out of five (80 percent of) Americans feel that Congress should reallocate federal subsidies away from fossil fuel industries towards renewable energy industries. Broken down by party affiliation, 86% of Democrats, 69% of Republicans and 81% of Independents feel this way. Americans understand the urgency of growing the solar industry themselves; nearly half (49 percent) of Americans currently considering solar power options for their home or business plan to make a decision in less than one year.
“For the third consecutive year, the SCHOTT Solar Barometer highlights American’s wide and growing support for solar energy,” said Dr. Gerald Fine, President and CEO of SCHOTT North America. “We’re dedicated to delivering clean reliable energy and have created hundreds of green jobs manufacturing solar products here in the U.S. These findings show that the vast majority of Americans share our goal of promoting and growing the new green industry in the U.S.”
“The message from the public is very clear – WE WANT MORE SOLAR ENERGY! According to this poll, solar energy is more popular than puppy dogs or ice cream. It is time for policymakers to listen to their constituents and enact measures to rapidly increase our use of solar,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “As we debate many crucial social and economic issues during this midterm election, lawmakers should consider solar, not as an issue, but as an industry they can count on to create jobs, improve U.S. competitiveness, bolster our national security and reduce harmful pollution. It’s time for Congress to see what most Americans already see; that solar is working for America today.”
When asked to choose one energy source to financially support if they were President, 45 percent of Americans would opt for solar over other sources such as wind (19 percent), natural gas (12 percent), nuclear (12 percent) and coal (2 percent).
Americans also understand the growing impact the solar industry is having on the U.S. economy and job creation. More than half (51 percent) of Americans said they would choose a job in the solar industry if they were to start working in the renewable energy sector. This was more than wind (20 percent), geothermal (9 percent), biofuels (9 percent) or hydropower (8 percent).
Nearly half (49 percent) of Americans indicated they would be willing to pay more for solar energy. In fact, the cost of solar is already on par with traditional fossil fuel options in several markets, and continues to drop as the industry scales up.
I was in Redding CA last weekend for our third Citizenre Door to Door training . Everybody had a great time and made some money . I would like to thank everybody who showed up and gave their full attention to learning the Door to Door material then went out to create amazing sales results ( 17 sales the first day !! ). We also had the chance to go out to a 7k install and get on the roof with the installers. It is an amazing feeling to finally watch a system go on a house while standing on the roof with David Gregg, Fabrice and Sam Custodio. Jerret Goodale and Ryan Tolley showed up to the class to share their sales expertise with the team and Dr. Rob picked up the pizzas. We were able to have the entire D2D class go up and see how a system is installed and later cooked out ( David did the cooking) with all of the outstanding Ecos driving the Redding market.
To see it is to believe it and it felt like a pot of Gold at the end of a long bumpy rainbow. Now is the time to make your move , Send in your W-9 and be prepared to get involved. Right now we have a Eco team from Kentucky working the L.A fair and more teams from across the country coming out to participate in the California solar rush. After speaking with many of them , they all want to be in place as we quickly expand into other markets with a team and pool of money ready to go. This is an exciting time for the company and not just because a company that was struggling to get going was a bit boring.
I really feel that we have moved from “Ahead of our time” to “It is OUR time” and the thinning of the ranks is about to begin. In a few weeks everybody that has not sent in their W-9 will be culled from the system. That means Cut out , Rolled up and Erased for all eternity. If you have not sent in your W-9 you are already not getting the corporate emails keeping you up to speed on all of the company advances.
It only takes 5 min to reactivate and at this point , “Not making a decision” is still “Making a decision” ….by default.
I know many of you feel dragged out by the Citizenre experience and I certainly understand where you are coming from. I certainly had days, weeks and months where I questioned how I was spending my time . While acknowledging that past, I am also certain that Citizenre will be the largest player in the US solar market. We have:
1) An offer that can’t be beat ( the other solar leasing programs are not even close to our AMAZING offer)
2) A sales team that can outsell the other solar companies 100 to 1.- We have done this in the past, we are doing this RIGHT NOW.
3) An executive team that has proven over and over that they can’t be kept down and that the vision that they hold will be realized come Hell or High water.
- After running businesses for the last 20 years I know that those are the 3 criteria needed to create a success story and make a difference in the world.
IRS W9 and a Direct Deposit Authorization. Forms and instructions are available here.
One more thing of note -The Monday night corporate calls are once again worth a listen. No stories, Clear agenda , Great info and when they have covered everything …they end the call.
Erika Morgan runs most of the calls and David Gregg shows up a couple of times month and they tell it like it is ( Hype free). You can sign up in the back office. Monday 8:00 CST
>If you are interested in selling solar for our cooperative partners click here
Here is the D2D sales team up on the roof in beautiful Redding California.
Sincerely,
Tim Padden
www.Houseofsolar.com
http://www.makegreenwithgreen.com
facebook.com/citizenre
Jerret Goodale , one of the top Ecos in the company, received his Citizenre solar system yesterday in Redding California. Jerret has been a driving force in the company since 2007 as RSD of the Northern California/ Hawaii territories. When asked about the system Jerret said “It went on with ease” , “I am glad to have it and start saving money ” , “It’s about time” and “Let’s get the ball rolling“. In response to the companies growth in California, sales teams are getting together all over the state to ramp up sales production and get customers on the installation calendar. Jerret had a meeting with his team right after the installation on his and reported that the team was ” Focused and ready to go sell some solar” and we believe him.
Good Job Jerret !!!
Tim Padden
House of Solar
Scaling Up Solar: The Global Implications of a New
Study that Says Solar Power Is Cost Competitive
with Nuclear Power
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Two US researchers have declared that solar electricity in their home state is now cheaper
than next-generation nuclear power. Olivia Boyd looks at their study – and its global implications.
by Olivia Boyd
The sunshine of North Carolina, a state on America’s Atlantic seaboard, has long been a draw for tourists seeking a little southern warmth on the region’s beaches. But holiday companies are not the only ones trumpeting a good local deal. The price of the state’s solar-generated electricity has fallen so far that it is now cheaper than new nuclear power, according to a report published in July by researchers at the state’s Duke University. The authors say their figures indicate a “historic crossover” that significantly strengthens the case for investment in renewable energy – and weakens the arguments for large-scale, international nuclear development.
Solar power is usually branded as a clean but expensive energy source, incapable of competing on economic grounds with more established alternatives, such as nuclear. The outspoken pro-nuclear stance adopted by a raft of iconic environmental figures – James Lovelock, Stewart Brand, Patrick Moore – has helped to instill in policy making circles the sense that this is the only power source that can restructure our energy supply at the pace, scale and price required by the pressures of rapid climate change. This study, which was co-authored by former chair of Duke University’s economics department John Blackburn and commissioned by NC Warn, a clean-energy NGO with a firm anti-nuclear bent, challenges that view. “This report should end the argument for risking billions of public dollars on new nuclear projects,” says Jim Warren, NC Warn director.






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