Solar Energy Shines Brightly in Competitive Markets

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) Year in Review 2009 report detailed how despite the economic downturn installed solar power capacity climbed past 2,000 megawatts (MW), enough to power a city of 350,000 homes. The top two states in 2009 and cumulative installed capacity were states with competitive power markets.
 
California topped the list in both installed capacity and cumulative installed capacity in 2009, and has utilized a mix of private investment and regulatory oversight to already reach 42 percent of its goal of 3,000 new MW of solar power by 2017. For every dollar the state has spent on solar, another $2.62 was invested from other sources. The price of solar systems in the state has dropped from $10.04/watt to $8.49/watt, and state incentives have dropped from $2.50/watt to as low as $0.65/watt since the California Solar Initiative (CSI) launched.
 
In New Jersey, the number two state in both installed capacity and cumulative installed capacity in 2009, COMPETE member Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) is providing clean energy through several innovative programs. The company’s “Solar 4 All” program is developing at least 20 solar projects in 2010 which will generate hundreds of jobs and 30 MW of new capacity. The program began in 2009 and involves more than a $500 million total investment to create 80 MW total new capacity. New solar installations are going up on former industrial brownfield sites unsuitable for other development and 160,000 panels are being installed on utility poles in residential neighborhoods.
 
California and New Jersey may lead the nation, but other competitive market states are hot on their trail with innovative new solar projects.
 
COMPETE member Exelon Corp. is garnering headlines with a new solar installation at a former industrial brownfield site in Chicago. The 10 MW facility operating in PJM’s competitive market with than 32,000 solar panels spread over 40 acres in urban Chicago, making it the nation’s largest urban solar plant.
 
In Delaware, one community’s solar panel system has been approved to sell power back to the PJM Interconnection, the first such agreement in PJM’s footprint. Innovative solar installations are also sprouting up around sports arenas. In Pennsylvania, NASCAR’s Pocono International Raceway just opened a 25-acre solar plant that will provide all the track’s electricity needs and send surplus power to the grid from nearly 37,000 solar panels – the state’s largest solar installation and 10th largest in the U.S. And in Massachusetts, 2,556 solar panels have gone online at the New England Patriot’s Gillette Stadium, contributing 525 kilowatts (KW) to the stadium’s energy needs.
 
The costs of solar energy have declined dramatically in recent years, setting the stage for market-competitive solar to soon compete head-to-head with traditional energy supply technologies. With competition, solar energy's future will dawn brighter than ever.