Predicting the future of residential solar energy generation in Australia might seem a difficult task.
However, looking to other markets can be instructive.
Frost & Sullivan's Analysis of the US Residential Solar Power Market reveals that solar photovoltaic should continue to be the highest growth technology in the US energy sector over the next four years.
What's the reason for such a positive forecast? According to Frost & Sullivan senior industry analyst Georgina Benedetti, solar energy is becoming more and more affordable for residential customers.
That's because obstacles such as high installation costs and complex maintenance are slowly being removed.
"New financing methods, such as solar lease programs and power purchase agreements, are diminishing the main barriers to solar system installations," said Ms Benedetti.
In addition, improvements in technology, government incentives and economies of scale are all playing a part.
The report found that the US residential solar market brought in revenues of $1.73 billion (US dollars) in 2011. This annual revenue is predicted to rise to $3.04 billion by 2016.
Ms Benedetti pointed to the effect on the market of competition from low-cost Chinese competitors.
This is forcing US solar PV manufacturers to reduce their costs while increasing the quality of their products – a real win for consumers.
Posted by Mike Peacock