Yesterday we reported on Governor Schwarzenegger's executive order that mandates a 33 percent renewable standard by 2020 for the state of California.
Not long after that news came out, research house iSuppli shot out a press release which stated that based on its research, installation of photovoltaic solar power systems in California are set to more than double in 2009, compared to 2008.
Despite a downturn in the global market, incentives from the stimulus are enabling this growth.
According to iSuppli, California installations are set to grow by 120.1 percent, compared to a 26.9 percent decline for the entire global marketplace. The research firm also expects to see California installations hit 350 megawatts, compared to 132 megawatts across the rest of the country.
Of course, 2010 and beyond is likely to be even more impressive if the California Public Utilities Commission institutes a new solar feed-in tariff - which could actually happen. With this revised feed-in tariff, higher prices would be guaranteed for solar. The original feed-in tariff that was initiated in 2008 only allowed customers to get the same price for their renewable power as utilities pay for power from a gas turbine.
This new system would be similar to what has been used in Germany, which today is the market leader in solar. Oddly enough, Germany doesn't have anywhere near the solar resource found in California.
According to reports, such a feed-in plan would likely include pricing mechanisms that would create market-driven pricing. Certainly healthy competition in this space is a good thing for consumers.
If this new feed-in tariff happens, companies like SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) and Suntech (NYSE:STP) will see a serious increase in sales. And the state of California will see a serious increase in solar installations.
Jeff
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