I’ll be the first to admit it: solar panels aren’t as cool as the iPad. I mean, at the end of the day, all they do is turn sunlight into clean, predictably priced electricity, right? The iPad, meanwhile, can do just about everything short of raising your children. (To be fair, I think they’re working on an app for that.)

But just because solar panels aren’t as cool as the iPad doesn’t mean they’re insignificant.

Case in point: new analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance suggests that solar-panel installations may grow by more than 50 percent in 2011, a rate that would match Apple’s sales growth after the Cupertino, Calif.-based company launched the iPad in 2010.

According to the analysis, homeowners and project developers may install as many as 28 gigawatts (GW) of new solar generating capacity worldwide — roughly equal to 25 nuclear power plants. The projections for 2011 are:

almost equal to the generating capacity of the combined nuclear-reactor fleets of Germany and China, which took decades to build.

…

Germany, the biggest market for solar panels, will hold its No. 1 ranking this year, installing at least 6 gigawatts of panels, followed by Italy with at least 4.5 gigawatts, New Energy Finance estimated. The U.S. will see about 1.6 gigawatts plugged in.

Much of this growth will be due to continually falling prices for solar power. Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at New Energy Finance, suggests the price of solar panels is likely to fall to $1.50 per watt in the second half of 2011, compared to around $1.80 in 2010.

>> Learn how solar panels are priced

This price should translate to a fully installed cost of $5.00 per watt, the analysis suggests. While I think this price target may be a bit aggressive, Chase’s overall thesis — that falling solar panel prices will continue to boost demand — is clearly sound. Heck, U.S. solar photovoltaic (PV) installation grew over 100 percent last year. With falling solar prices and heightened sensitivity to the risks associated with nuclear power, who’s to say the global growth of solar PV installation rate won’t top Apple?

Photo cred: bfishadow.