US solar industry revenue ''hit $4bn last year''

Posted by Robert Shields.

Last year saw the US solar power industry''s revenue hit $4 billion, figures reveal.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), this marked a yearly rise of 36 per cent.

The association has looked at the recent prospects of PV solar panels and concentrating solar power in its 2009 US Solar Industry Year in Review.

During the period covered by the report, around 17,000 new employment opportunities are said to have arisen as a result of developments within the solar power sector.

The SEIA''s chief executive officer and president Rhone Resch suggested that consumers appear to be turning their attentions towards solar power.

He commented: ''When the president looks back at how stimulus dollars were invested, he''s going to see that solar was one of the best returns on investments in 2009 for the American taxpayers.''

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Going Solar co-founder James Meynell recently noted that PV solar panels may prove appealing to people because of the government''s feed-in tariff scheme.