NEWS RELEASE APRIL 2011
New Plants Verify Solar Energy Market
The construction of many new plants to produce the silicon, solar cells and modules needed in solar energy point to the rapid acceptance of this technology. Each month in McIlvaine’s monthly Renewable Energy Update six to ten new facilities are announced. It’s hard to imagine another industry building that many new plants each month.
Along with the many familiar forms of solar energy such as rooftop PV and concentrated solar plants, new ways of harnessing solar energy are announced each month. Solar cells imbedded in pavement, solar washing machines, solar orchards, solar cell phone chargers are just a few of the innovative ideas tracked in recent Renewable Energy Updates.
As a further sign of the acceptance of this technology Del Webb is including solar and other enhanced energy-efficient features at its two new home Sun City communities in the Phoenix metro area. Del Webb already offers solar as an option on new homes to thousands of prospective homebuyers at Woodbridge by Del Webb in northern California; Sun City Shadow Hills in Southern California; and Del Webb River Pointe in New Jersey.
Developers are continually finding new places to place solar panels. Apartment Building Rooftops are seen as the latest opportunity to generate solar power. It is easier to generate great quantities of solar power from multi-family roofs than from single family homes. Solar Panels have already been installed on many of the large commercial buildings.
To further illustrate the gains being made by this technology, solar power kits are now available from Costco.
The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) recently announced unprecedented first-quarter growth in its utility membership for 2011. So far this year, five major utility groups have joined SEPA increasing its membership by more than 100 percent. SEPA’s utility membership now represents more than 95 percent of the nation’s annual installed solar capacity and 47 percent of all U.S. electric customers. This increase in membership reflects growth in the larger solar industry.
Renewable Energy has moved into the main stream and two reports from McIlvaine provide subscribers with the information needed to stay abreast of this rapidly changing industry. Renewable Energy Update and Projects, as the name suggests, provides a monthly summary of the industry as well as detailed information on wind, solar, biomass, hydro, geothermal and marine projects. Renewable Energy World Markets includes the above as well as market forecasts for countries around the world through the year 2014 for wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal. MWs installed, capital expenditures and kWh of electricity generated are included in the forecasts.
Further details may be found at: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Renewable_Energy_Brochure/renewable_energy_WM_brochure.htm.
The McIlvaine Company has been tracking the Energy field since 1974 and has been following the renewable energy field for the last five years.
