May 26 2010
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has introduced a study indicating the positive economic effect of the Solar Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit and the Department of Treasury Grant Program (TGP).
The study concluded that by extending the period of TGP by 24 months and including solar production in the existing tax credit of the industry can add 200,000 new local job opportunities to the solar as well as the other supporting sectors in the U.S. Moreover, this can result in 10 GW capacity of novel solar installations by the year 2016, sufficient for powering 2 million homes.
SEIA’s CEO and President Rhone Resch commented that at a day and age in which unemployment throughout the U.S. hovers around 10%, the solar industry created 17,000 new jobs in the U.S. in 2009.
State-wise new solar jobs include New Jersey, Tennessee and Nevada (over 3,000 each); Pennsylvania, Washington, North Carolina, New York, Massachusetts and New Mexico (around 5,000 each); Florida, Colorado and Arizona (10,000 each); Ohio, Texas and Oregon (over 13,000 each); Michigan (24,000); and California (60,000).
State-wise novel solar installations till 2016 include Texas, North Carolina, New York and Oregon (over 100 MW each); Nevada, New Jersey, Florida, Connecticut and Colorado (300 MW each); Arizona (more than 1,400 MW); and California (more than 4,400 MW).
Source: http://seia.org/