IBISWorld, which specialises in industry research, has estimated that the Solar Power Industry in the US will grow annually at an average rate of 11.4% to $145.9 million till the year 2016. According to IBISWorld, this growth will be caused by rising demand and supportive government legislations.
The company also estimates that, through 2016, the increase in the production of solar panels will also lead to a decrease in the prices of solar panels. Indirectly, this will cause an increase the income of the consumer and business investments will also increase. As more and more companies are forced to choose greener alternatives the demand for solar power will increase in proportion to demand for electricity.
Over the past five years, the Government has literally propelled the growth of the solar power market by providing tax credits for companies that invest in solar power and by enforcing renewable portfolio standards which require the participating states to generate a certain percentage of their total energy from renewable resources. Major companies that have benefited from such legislations are Abengoa Solar, NextEra Energy and MEMC Electronic Materials.
Solar power producers were able to purchase solar panels at cheaper prices from China due to the fall in prices during global recession and this led to the companies seeing higher profit margins. Although the outlook for the US solar power market is positive till 2016, after this period it will highly depend on the kind of congress and the new President of the country. This could slow down the growth of the industry.
Source: http://www.ibisworld.com