The report showed that US solar market is an overall net exporter of solar technology and that the market expanded in 2010 and is likely to expand into 2011 and beyond.
“The industry is creating significant wealth in the United States and jobs in all 50 states,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. “We’re pleased that the solar industry is helping to reduce the U.S. trade deficit through significant exports of solar energy products.”
From now on the report will be released annual to provide industry professionals and lawmakers with a comprehensive analysis of the complex dynamics of international trade in the solar industry.
“This trade report is a first of its kind and I think it shows two things,” said Tom Kimbis, director of policy and research at SEIA. “The first is that the US is a net exporter of solar; the second is that the solar sector is driving economic growth in the US.”
In addition to providing a look at the industry from a 10,000-foot perspective, the report also looked at the value of the various elements of a solar project, including labour and site prep, the kinds of things that are sometimes overlooked when people talk about a sector based on new technology.
“A significant portion of the revenue generated by solar projects resides beyond the physical components—as site preparation, installation labour, permitting, financing and other soft costs comprise nearly 50 percent of the total cost,” said Shayle Kann, managing director of solar research at GTM Research.
Overall, the solar industry created a combined $3.6 billion in direct value, of which 74 percent, or $2.6 billion, accrued in the US.
Of that, 81 percent, or $2.1 billion, was directly related to photovoltaics (PV); 16 percent, or $431 million, came from the solar heating and cooling market; and 3 percent, or $76 million, was related to the concentrated solar power market. The report said significant value also comes from US exports of polysilicon.
But for all that, the analysis also found that the US imported more PV modules than it exported in 2009, most of those imports of PV modules came from China and Mexico, the report said.
Kimbis also predicted that domestic development of solar power plants is about to take off in the US, especially in light of recent project approvals by the US Bureau of Land Management.
For additional information:
Solar Energy Industries Association
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