Solar Energy In Business

Today energy crises is increasing day by day, specially the countries like Pakistan.

With the growth in the number of plants being built and the increasing cost competitiveness, 2011 looks like solar energy could start to come into its own in the U.S.

Even with the entrance of a Republican-controlled Congress, some see a reasonably bright future for solar in the U.S., as many of the subsidies are "baked in" to existing programs, many of which are at the state level, says Joel Silver man of Arete Research Services. State-level programs are less vulnerable to changes in Congress.

The big swing factor, he says, isn't going to be direct subsidies to the industry as much as the growth rates of installations. In Germany, he says, the growth of photovoltaic installed capacity was far more than anyone expected - and more than policymakers really wanted. "There could be a crippling oversupply there," he said.

But even with the dangers of a small-scale asset bubble, there are a number of companies that have shown they can do well. He cites that First Solar as one that built a business model that kept costs down, as it sells to solar project developers. Now if we will not work on this lines then the day may come when this world will again go into the stone age.

In its earnings forecast, the company said it expects 2011 sales ranging from $3.7 billion to $3.9 billion and earnings of $8.75 to $9.50 a share. First Solar also agreed to sell a 290-megawatt solar farm it plans to build in Arizona to NRG Energy Inc.

Adam Krop, analyst at Ardour Capital Investments, says that in 2010 there was 900 megawatts of installed solar power capacity - largely photovoltaics - in the U.S. he estimates that will double in 2011. It's still a small part of the total power market - renewables of any kind were only 4.2 percent of the generation capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and solar would account for less than that. Even with the small capacity, though, the growth is healthy, Krop says, and that bodes well for solar's longer-term future.

According to data from the Solar Electric Power Association, an industry group, of the top 25 solar photovoltaic projects, 13 were completed in 2010. That includes the largest currently running plant to date, the Copper Mountain Solar Facility in Colorado. That adds up to 141.6 megawatts. In 2009, only four of the top 25 were completed.

There are currently seven solar plants that will be in the hundreds of megawatts planned in the United States. The 200-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR), which will sell power to Pacific Gas & Electric, is the only one that is planned for completion in 2011. But there are several smaller projects in the under-100 megawatt range that should start generating power by the beginning of 2012. As everybody is aware of this power crises but only few countries are seriously working on this alternate source of energy.