![]()
- Strong Banks, Weak Credit: Treasury Rethinks TARP
- Weak Dollar Is Golden for Mining Companies
- How Many US Consumers Will Shop this Weekend?
- Tuesday's Heavy Dose of Data to Dictate 'Risk' Behavior
- GE Capital Losses May See Dramatic Fall: JP Morgan
- Galleon's Rajaratnam Denies Inside Trading Charges
- Hormel Profit Jumps Despite Declining Sales
- Heinz Profit Falls, Raises Full-Year View
- Playboy to Outsource Most Magazine Operations: Report
- 5 Stocks That Benefit from Health Care Legislation: Analysts
- Can Murdoch Help Bing Challenge Google and Shift the Content Equation?
- HP's Mark Hurd
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- 9 Stocks That Play Rising Water Costs: Strategists
- Weis' Deal Likely Won't Change Big Money Contracts
- Gold Prices Can Double in 3 Years: Portfolio Manager
- Nov. 23: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Help Wanted—Please Run $4 Billion University
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Why Amazon Rules Retail
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- China Eastern to Complete Shanghai Air Buy by End '09
- Gold Will Collapse Like Oil Did in 2008: Charts
- Paul: Audit the Fed
- JAL Slides to Record Low on Bankruptcy Jitters
- Nielsen Ratings Coming to Video Games
- Weak Dollar Is Golden for Mining Companies
- Trading Block
The solar energy industry will grow faster than expected during the next few years as American utilities invest heavily in large-scale solar farms, analysts with Barclays Capital said Tuesday in a research note.
![]() |
Mark Lennihan / AP |
Solar power is still a tiny player on the American electrical grid, however.
The utility-scale projects currently in operation in the U.S. provide 444 megawatts of energy to the grid according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. That's enough to power 2.8 million homes, and it's only a fraction of the power generated by another alternative energy source, the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Phoenix.
That amount is expected to jump more than 12-fold in the next few years, however, with dozens of new solar plants under development in California, Arizona, Florida and Hawaii.
Shah said SunPower [SPWRA Loading... ()], First Solar [FSLR Loading... ()], Suntech Power Holdings [STP Loading... ()] and Yingli Green Energy [YGE Loading... ()] will be the primary players in utility-scale projects in coming years.
![]() |
Power companies have had trouble raising money for major projects, and they still don't yet know how they can access federal grants and loan guarantees.
SEIA spokeswoman Monique Hanis said the Treasury Department and the Department of Energy are expected provide more information this summer.
"The sooner we can get some guidance, the sooner we can get moving on these projects," Hanis said.
- A diet high in fat and sugar might actually be good for your portfolio.
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates discuss the economy and other subjects with CNBC's Becky Quick.
- From the AIG&T to the Merrill Lychee, Jane Wells lists this year's fashionable holiday cocktails.
- One shopper explains why – aside from the prices – he gets up at 3am on the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping every year.
- Congressman Ron Paul explains to Squawk Box why he’s pushing legislation to audit the Federal Reserve.
- …you'll want to be prepared. Tips for getting the most out of the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy.















