Demand for solar power is increasing worldwide with photovoltaic solar panels becoming more efficient and cost effective as technology develops at a rapid pace.
While this is true in Australia, it's certainly true in the US as well.
NPD Solarbuzz has predicted in its North America PV Markets Quarterly that demand for solar PV in the US will grow during 2013, hitting another record high of 4.3 GW, which is an increase of almost 20 per cent compared to 2012.
Now, solar PV demand in the US market contributes to more than 12 per cent of annual global demand – and three years ago that figure was at just five per cent.
A total of 70 per cent of the country's demand in the second quarter is forecast to come from California, Arizona, New Jersey, and North Carolina – traditionally sun-drenched states.
However, new solar PV incentives as well as utility-scale projects are diversifying the demand for solar PV across the US, so it's not only the typically strong solar states dominating anymore with an increasing range of participating regions.
Six out of ten of the fastest-growing states for solar PV demand this year are located in the South or the Midwest, which may prove to be the new solar stronghold for PV.
The demand for solar PV in Australia has typically been high, recently reaching the one million solar panel systems installed in households mark.
While the lowering of many incentives and feed-in tariffs around Australia may slow down this growth, solar power simply makes sense for Australia with its vast sunlight resource much like the states of California and Arizona, the strongest solar states of the US.
Posted by Mike Peacock