Greentech Lead U.S: California is poised to regain its
dominant position in the US solar PV market in 2013 thanks to a combination of policy
initiatives, according to new research from NPD Solarbuzz.
Based on findings from the NPD Solarbuzz North
America PV Markets Quarterly, the California solar PV market will experience 60
percent Y/Y growth in 2012, continuing to lead the nation with the long-term
commitment to solar and other renewable and energy-efficient technologies.
The US solar PV market will grow 51 percent Y/Y in 2012,
but it is projected to experience slower growth in 2013 at 30 percent Y/Y, due
to the over-supply of Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) on the East
Coast and phasing out of the Treasury Cash Grant.
“NPD Solarbuzz projects that California will regain its
market share, after seeing declines in 2010 and 2011, and eventually hold more
than half of the US market share in 2013, thanks to a variety of programs,
policies, and regulations that cover the whole spectrum of the PV market
including residential, non-residential, and utility segments,” said Junko
Movellan, senior analyst for NPD Solarbuzz.
Once the dominant player in the US on-grid PV market,
California’s share gradually declined as New Jersey, Arizona, and other states
on the East Coast launched their own initiatives to deploy PV and to diversify
their energy portfolio. In 2011, California’s share dropped to 30 percent while
New Jersey’s share jumped to 17 percent.
California’s baseline market demand has been supported by
the California Solar Initiative (CSI), the nation’s largest rate-payer-funded
program. While CSI has been instrumental in the development of residential and
non-residential net-metered systems, California has instituted several other
programs to support larger systems to satisfy the state’s Renewable Portfolio
Standard (RPS) requirements.