California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) is planning for substantial growth in 2009 and one way to meet the goal is expanding the market for photovoltaic (PV). The organization believes that the PV sector has an untapped distributed generation market, according to Executive Director Sue Kateley.
She notes that all of the renewable energy markets are poised for growth this year with the distributed solar utility segment, being a new market, scheduled to grow substantially in 2010. “As our financial markets recover and our economy gets moving again we should see an uptick in residential and commercial sales and installations.”
Kateley commented that prices within the solar technology sector were expected to drop in all levels including components and installation in order to be competitive with conventional energy producers. This will be a welcome development for many as solar energy is considered the most expensive among the renewable energy technologies with its high start-up costs hindering more widespread usage throughout the globe, particularly for under-developed nations in Africa.