SEIA President Resch announces industry goal to power 2 million homes and spur enormous job growth in the U.S. in next 5 Years

HONOLULU, HAWAII - Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), released the following statement today after announcing an industry-wide goal of installing 10 gigawatts of solar capacity annually by 2015. Resch made the announcement during a presentation at the 35th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii:

"Over the last few months, we have seen disaster after disaster caused by the fossil fuel industries and Americans are calling for a new direction for our energy future. And in communities across America, people are asking for an energy source that is clean, reliable, safe and creates economic opportunity. That energy source is solar.

"Even during the recession, the solar industry grew by 37 percent in 2009 and created 17,000 new American jobs. We are confident that we can reach 10 gigawatts of new installations annually by 2015, which will power two million households with clean, safe solar energy and support 440,000 domestic jobs. As the U.S. rapidly becomes the largest solar market in the world, the solar industry will help usher in a new era of clean, reliable power that will be the backbone of America's economy.

"The leaders of the solar industry have set this target to show Americans that solar can and will become the nation's largest source of new electricity generation by 2013. We are already cost competitive with fossil fuels, and by 2015 we expect solar energy to be the lowest cost source of retail electricity in all fifty states. But to reach our goal, we need to ensure that effective policy mechanisms are in place to give consumers the choice to go solar - a choice more than 90 percent of Americans support.

"The solar energy industry - invented and commercialized in the U.S. - is the solution for our country's addiction to fossil fuels. It's time we get this country moving in the right direction."

Background Materials

2009 Solar Year In Review

About SEIA:
Established in 1974, the Solar Energy Industries Association is the national trade association of solar energy industry. As the voice of the industry, SEIA works with its 1,000 members to make solar a mainstream and significant energy source by expanding markets, removing market barriers, strengthening the industry and educating the public on the benefits of solar energy. Learn more at http://www.seia.org.

SEIA President & CEO Rhone Resch is on Twitter. SEIA is also on YouTube and Facebook.