The report, which is funded by the US Dept. of Energy, covers regulatory issues, policies and incentives, installation and market data, and clean energy workforce development and training.
“Pulling all of these issues together, IREC stays focused on developing strong, fair, safe and sustainable market and policy conditions that will move renewable energy into the mainstream,” said Jane Weissman, the IREC’s executive director. “However, we also stand committed to the identification of new issues, and to overcoming the challenges that arise.”
Among the highlights of the report is a chapter on emerging strategies for making renewable energy more accessible and affordable to more people.
“Some of the exiting emerging opportunities are community solar and net metering meter aggregation, third-party ownership, the integration of advanced energy storage, and the smart grid,” Weissman said.
The report’s authors found that even against the backdrop of a weak global economy, solar markets continued to grow in the US, with the number of US grid-connected PV installations growing by 40% compared to 2008.
That said the authors believe that solar policy development faced several challenges over the past year. According to the staff of the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy at the North Carolina Solar Center at NC State University in the US, renewable portfolio standards, direct cash incentive programs, and net metering and interconnection rules continue to move forward with improvements.
However, feed-in tariff polices slowed in 2009, and property-assed clean energy financing basically came to a standstill, they said.
On the workforce development and training front, Weissman said, “This is an exciting time of heightened awareness of the importance of clean technologies to our economy and environment.”
“A competent workforce is critical to the continued growth of renewable energy,” she continued. “It is essential that the development of this workforce includes industry-accepted competency standards and job availability.”
For additional information:
IREC 2010 Annual Update & Trends Report
____________________________________________________________________
