According to a new study released today by Greentech Media (GTM), the U.S. market for utility-scale solar energy farms is expected to double each year between 2010 and 2015. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research group came to this conclusion after carefully reviewing all solar power projects that have been announced by developers and utilities to date.

Three main factors are expected to drive this continual uptrend in the development of big-scale solar projects: (1) federal government incentives; (2) state-mandated renewable energy requirements — like those of California, which has set a goal of 33 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources by 2020, Arizona (15 percent by 2025) and Colorado (30 percent by 2020 for investor-owned utilities);  and (3) the continued downtrend in the cost of solar panels.

Today it is estimated that the U.S. utility solar market is worth $1 billion annually. By 2015, that figure is expected to reach — and may possibly surpass — $8 billion. In 2010 alone, 274 megawatts (MW) worth of utility-scale solar farms are likely to be connected to the grid — a 370 percent increase from 2009. That number is projected to double in 2011. The study’s authors note that, by 2015, the U.S. utility-scale solar farm market will reach 5,600 megawatts.

Another reason behind the expected growth is that big name solar manufacturers are opening manufacturing plants in the United States. Arizona, for example, has been a hot location to open such facilities, as the state has developed its Renewable Energy Tax Incentive Program. Designed to attract companies and create jobs, the program offers an income tax credit of up to 10 percent and a 75 percent reduction on real and personal property taxes to manufacturers willing to open shop in state. The program has led to seven clean energy companies opening facilities in Arizona since the beginning of 2010, including the inverter manufacturer Power-One and the photovoltaic (PV) solar module maker Suntech.

How much solar power will be in demand in 2015 is still somewhat unclear. GTM estimates that, if all of the planned projects are completed and utility companies sign more contracts, demand in 2015 could top 3,000 megawatts. On the other hand, if many of the projects run into financing obstacles and are not built, utility demand for solar power could be as low as 2,250 MW. Check out this state-by-state breakdown of the GTM utility-scale solar forecast through 2015:

Notice that California will have the most installed utility-scale megawatts in the country, and will hit its peak in 2012-2013 when the state will account for over 60 percent of the nation’s utility-scale solar capacity. In 2014 and beyond, the rest of the country is expected to catch up somewhat.

In our numerous years of helping homeowners determine whether a solar electric system is right for them, we’ve found that a number of questions tend to arise. Like, how much do solar panels cost? What solar rebates, tax credits and other incentives are available in my area? Is my roof good for solar? What should I do before I get solar? And what the heck is a solar renewable energy credit, anyway?

We’re happy to help answer these and other questions — seriously, just call us at (800) 265-3646 and you’ll get a real, live, friendly and informed person. But at the end of the day, sometimes it’s helpful to take a step back from the jumble of details and revisit the basics. Why is everyone so excited about solar panels for their home? What are some of the main advantages of solar energy?

(1) First off, solar panels are quiet and unobtrusive. This might sound obvious, but it’s worth emphasizing. I’m sure anyone who has tried to put up a residential wind turbine in their neighborhood can appreciate this point…

The bottom line is that you’d probably forget you installed solar panels if it weren’t for the big monthly savings on your electric bill (see point three below).

(2) Solar panels require very little maintenance — so little, in fact, that “set it and forget it” comes to mind. Unlike wind turbines, solar energy systems have no moving parts. The main requirement is that the solar panels be periodically washed free of dust and dirt. Often, this is achieved by a rain shower. (No kidding.)

The only other major maintenance-related item tends to be inverter replacement, which is a one-time affair. You can read more under point five of this blog post. Note that inverter replacement is likely a moot point if you install a solar energy system with micro-inverters.

(3) Solar panels can substantially reduce your electricity costs. Seriously, do the math. Would you rather pay $200 a month for your electricity or $60?

After taking into consideration the 30-percent federal tax credit and any solar rebates and/or other incentives — which reduce the cost of solar installation — you may well find that these savings add up quickly enough to offer you a reasonable payback and a strong rate of return.

(4) Solar cost savings are reliable and quantifiable. A lot of solar skeptics like to point out that solar panels don’t produce much (if any) electricity when it’s really cloudy — or, for that matter, at night. This is true. But what they often fail to mention is that, while sunshine may vary considerably on a daily basis, it is highly predictable on an annual basis. The same may be said of solar electric systems. No solar installer in their right mind would ever present a project proposal without taking into consideration how much sunlight your particular location receives over the course of a year.

(5) Solar panels are warrantied for the long haul. We’re talking 20-plus years. Always read the fine print, but quality solar panels are encased in tempered glass and have passed tests for things that Mother Nature may throw at you, like hail.

(6) Solar panels can add value to your home. Don’t believe me? Check out our white paper, “Five Things Homeowners Should Know About Solar.”

(7) Solar panels help shield you from the rising cost of electricity. This point isn’t entirely self-evident (read more about how rising energy prices are actually good for solar panels). But, simply put, the more the price of electricity goes up, the more you save with your solar energy system.

So that’s our list. Please feel free to add to it — or ask questions — below.

Just days after southern California’s San Dieguito Union High School District installed solar “carports” above parking areas at two of its high schools, northern California’s Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD), just south of San Francisco, completed a similar project of its own.

JUHSD has installed solar energy systems at four of the district’s high schools: Oceana High School, Terra Nova High School, Westmoor High School and Jefferson High School. The four projects combined, according to AZO Cleantech, add up to a 1.5-megawatt (MW) installation, will use over 8,500 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and will generate over 2.3 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar energy during year one. That’s an amount of electricity roughly equal to the annual needs of 200 typical American households.

Check out this picture, courtesy of Perpetual Energy Systems, of Oceana High School’s rooftop solar installation:

Unlike the San Diego solar energy systems, which are owed outright by the school district, the San Francisco Bay Area solar projects were financed via a power purchasing agreement (PPA) with Perpetual Energy Systems (PES) — a California-based company that specializes in the financing and developing of large-scale solar energy systems. The district will buy the power from PES at a rate lower than what the local utility company would charge.

Over the next 25 years, each school is expecting the clean energy systems to help save three percent on annual energy costs. The district has been planning the solar installations for several years. But in 2008, all four were almost scratched from the district’s agenda due to the national credit crisis that made it difficult to finance any type of renewable energy project. That’s around when PES came to the table and made the projects possible by handling the financing angle. In return, PES will get tax and investment credits.

Here’s JUHSD Associate Superintendent of Business Services Steven Fuentes on how pivotal a role PES played in making these projects a reality:

“In these difficult financial times for public education in California, our district is very excited to begin working with Perpetual. [The company] will allow us to implement a program that will bring in much needed revenue while providing services to our district we would otherwise not have staff to accomplish.”

It’s no secret that California schools have installed more solar energy systems than any other state’s schools in the country. Installing on-campus solar energy systems does two things: it gives schools the opportunity to teach younger Americans about solar energy, and it helps these school districts inch closer to independence from the utility company’s electric grid.

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), a regional electricity provider in New York, has resolved a common problem that has plagued numerous utilities across the countries: too many people want to install a solar home energy system.

Since 2000, LIPA’s Solar Pioneer Program has offered a per-watt solar rebate to customers who install solar photovoltaic (PV) rooftop systems. When combined with tax incentives — a 30 percent solar tax credit from the federal government and a 25 percent credit from the state of New York — the LIPA solar rebate program had enabled property owners to install a 5-kilowatt (kW) system for under $10,000, a considerable deal. The offer was a dream come true for Long Island homeowners, but it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare for LIPA.

Last month, LIPA had to suspend its rebate program for 2010 because its $20 million budget had run dry. When LIPA looked around for help, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) couldn’t do a thing. The DOE had already dished out $15 million to large solar projects throughout Long Island, and could not afford to bail out LIPA’s solar program.

But LIPA CEO Michael Hervey had a plan. Hervey asked New York Governor David Paterson to petition the DOE to redirect $8.3 million of the $15 million for large projects to the residential sector. Governor Paterson did, and the DOE approved the request. As of Dec. 1, LIPA will end the month-long pause in its solar rebate program and fund the rest of the customer requests currently waiting in the wings.

“With this additional funding,” Paterson said said in a statement, “LIPA can now continue to fund projects that help to promote a sustainable future for Long Island and New York, while providing much-needed stimulus to the state’s economy.”

This is undeniably good news for Long Island residents looking to go solar. It’s unclear, however, how long the incentive program will be able to continue to run — in 2011 and beyond. LIPA has not released an estimated period of time that it expects the funds to last — and the utility will not be accepting any new applications for the Pioneer Program until Jan. 1, 2011. As is often the case, homeowners who act fast tend to have a higher chance at securing rebate funds than those who postpone getting a qualified solar energy quote.

La Costa Canyon High School and Canyon Crest Academy — two high schools in northern San Diego, California — have installed one-megawatt (MW) solar “carports” above parking areas that will each account for 70 percent of each school’s needs. According to Sign on San Diego, the solar energy systems are set to be fully functional by January 2011.

The San Diego solar installations have been in the works for quite some time. Back in 2007, the two schools were identified as potential host sites because of their expansive parking areas. Initially,San Dieguito Union High School District looked explored a power purchasing agreement (PPA) as a means of funding the two projects. Rather than have an outside company own and operate the systems, however, the district in the end decided it wanted to own them.

Together, the solar power systems will cost the school district $13 million, which it will pay for through a low-interest construction bond put together with both state and stimulus funding. Each system consists of 850 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

La Costa and Canyon Crest join a long list of California schools that have installed solar energy systems. In October, the Huntington Beach School District installed solar energy atop three of its elementary schools and two of its middle schools. And earlier on this year, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School district put panels atop nine of the district’s 11 elementary schools.

Southern California Edison (SCE), one of California’s three major utility service companies, is already a leading supplier of solar power out of any utility company in the country. And last week, in an effort to both cushion its distance between itself and the rest of the nation’s utilities and help meet California’s goal of 33 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources by 2020, SCE  added 245 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity to its grid.

The power is coming via 21 separate power purchasing agreements (PPAs) signed mostly with San Francisco, California-based Silverado Power, a manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. According to the San Francisco Business Times, 20 of the deals were made to purchase solar power. One of the deals was made to insert 19.5 MW of wind generating capacity to SCE’s grid.

SCE appears to be well on its way toward meeting California’s clean energy standard — by far the most ambitious of its kind in the country. Last year, SCE fed its customers 13.6 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy. By the end of the 2010, the utility hopes to have anywhere from 19 to 20 percent of its energy come from clean, renewable sources.

SCE also signed a contract with Martifer Solarto build solar PV projects in Los Angeles County near two of the utility’s major electricity lines. All of the projects are scheduled to be complete by 2012, ahead of the 2020 renewable energy standard deadline for the state. That leaves time for SCE, along with the state’s other major utilities — like Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) — to work on other projects if needed.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are once again entering the solar technology field to help solve one of solar’s most pressing questions: how can we efficiently store and transport solar energy?

MIT’s Associate Professor of Power Engineering Jeffrey Grossman is leading a research team that is developing what they hope becomes the world’s first liquid solar storage battery – able to infinitely store and transport solar power captured by photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. The research comes just three months after MIT’s SENSEable City Lab unveiled “Seaswarm“- a solar-powered, oil-sucking robot that would be able to clean up future oil spills similar to the Gulf Coast oil disaster this past summer.

The research team has discovered that fulvalene diruthenium – a molecule that comes out of the  rare transition metal, ruthenium – absorbs sunlight and changes it into what Discoverycalls a, “semi-stable condition.” Then, when a catalyst is added to the stable power, the energy reverts back to its original form and  can be used for heaters or appliances. Here’s  how Professor Grossman proposes the technology be used in liquid form:

 ”…one possible picture would be that the fuel could be placed out in the sun in deep pools, and throughout the day the fuel would get charged by the sunlight. Once charged it can be pumped and delivered (through pipes, or other means) to a point of use — that could be nearby or far away.”

Grossman’s “far away” transportation plan is the key element here. Less than a week ago, Arizona State University Assistant Research Professor Matt Croucher published his research in the Electricity Journal saying that, if the United States is ever to realize its full solar potential, Arizona would have to transport a major percentage of its solar energy to states with high utility rates.

The news out of MIT concerning the liquid battery research comes on the heels of a report released by one panel of the American Physical Association (APA) saying the United States Department of Energy (DOE) must develop grid-level energy storage with a review of different battery chemistries – much like the chemistry being used by the MIT team.

The one catch with this new method is that diruthenium is an extremely expensive molecule. So now the search is on for a cheaper alternative to replicate the process. Stay tuned…

SunEdison just flipped the switch on a 70-megawatt (MW) solar energy plant in Rovigo, a small town in northeast Italy. The Rovigo plant is currently the largest single photovoltaic (PV) plant in Europe.

Working in partnership with First Reserve, SunEdison will handle the power plant’s operations and maintenance. During its first year of operation, the 276-million Euro solar power project is projected to product enough electricity for 16,500 Italian households. The environmental benefits of the plant are also worth noting — also in its first year, the Rovigo plant will prevent 40,000 tons of CO2 from entering the air. Similar environmental benefits are expected throughout the lifetime of the system.

A host of European banks have backed the project. Unicredit Corporate Banking, Credit Agricole, Natixis, Banco Santander and other leading European banks stepped up in support of the plant. General Manager of SunEdison EMEA Pancho Perez recognized the important role these financial partners played in making the plant possible:

“The deployment of the Rovigo project within this time-frame was made possible thanks to the commitment of our project partners and local and regional authorities. This project is a fine example of SunEdison’s commitment to the continued development of the solar PV sector in Italy and the EMEA.”

Qualified California homeowners are realizing what many leaders of the solar energy industry hope is the future: free solar energy.

Main Street Power, a Colorado solar installation company, has launched a ten-year ‘no-cost’ solar pilot program across California. In partnership with Morgan Stanley, Main Street Power is working with two energy-services companies to create Solar Access California (SACA). SACA will own and operate the solar energy systems and give away the generated energy for free for a decade.

The initiative’s aim is to provide clean energy to low-income communities. In order to qualify, residents must live in multi-unit apartments — though specific income requirements are not yet known. Beyond helping lower electricity costs for participants, SACA is also meant to serve as a teaching tool. Each California solar installation will be equipped with a monitoring system, and the companies involved will train non-profit workers in those neighborhoods to read the system and install solar panels. This way, the initiative’s backers hope to impart job skills while encouraging the adoption of residential solar power.

Main Street is not new to doing business in California. In September, the company was awarded solar contracts at 36 schools in San Diego and 12 other sites in northern California’s Contra Costa County.

With some of the highest insolation rates in the country, Arizona has gained quite the reputation for its ability to generate solar power. It would only make sense, then, that the state would use all this potential within its own borders, right?

Not according to Matt Croucher, an assistant research professor at Arizona State University’s business school. Croucher recently published a research piece in the Electricity Journal saying that, if the United States ever wants to realize its full solar energy potential, Arizona will have to export more of its own solar energy.

Croucher reasons that, because of Arizona’s already relatively low electric rates, utility companies are criticized by their customers for price hikes, which are sometimes attributable to integrating more solar generating capacity within their service territories. To ease the minds of in-state critics and spread solar energy throughout the country, Croucher reasons that the Grand Canyon State’s solar energy should be exported to states with higher utility rates such as Hawaii, Maryland, Delaware, Alaska, Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, New Mexico, Massachusetts and Colorado, in no particular order.

Here’s Croucher’s explanation in his own words:

“When you add solar generation there is the criticism that it is not cost competitive with standard technology, which can have potentially negative economic impact. States with high electricity prices already, the structure of their economy is different, and they can potentially absorb any additional increases.”

Easier said than done. Croucher’s plan would be a difficult, long-term process to carry out. First of all, new transmission lines will have to constructed in order for the solar energy to be exported from Arizona to the rest of the country. A similar challenge faces wind-rich states, like the Dakotas, that are far from major population centers. Secondly, Arizona and California, two states in the top ten in the nation in installed solar capacity, both have renewable energy requirements that must be met within the next five and ten years, so they’re doing using their own energy to meet those goals.

But these factors haven’t stopped Arizona from trying to export. In fact, Arizona is the nation’s leading “exporter” of solar electricity. First Solar is in the process of constructing a new solar plant just outside of Yuma, Arizona that will generate power to be exported to (you guessed it) California.

A main problem, Croucher says, is that California only ranks 38th in the nation on the study’s list of most desired states to use solar power. Arizona stands at forty-one. The export to the Golden State is easy because California needs it — and because the close proximity of the two states means no new transmission lines are needed. In order to put Croucher’s method to work, these problems will need to be figured out throughout the country.

It bears noting that one of the nice things about residential solar energy systems in Arizona — versus large, utility-scale projects — is that the bulk of a given system’s output is used on site. That is, most of the electricity generated by a solar home energy system is used at home by the system’s owner.