Record year for solar power

The solar power industries in both the United States and Europe had a record year in 2008 as new installations expanded the solar capacity of many areas by significant amounts.

"Despite severe economic pressures in the U.S., demand for solar energy grew tremendously in 2008," said Rhone Resch, president and chief executive of the Solar Energies Industries Association. "Increasingly, solar energy has proven to be an economic engine for this country, creating thousands of jobs, unleashing billions in investment dollars, and building new factories from New Hampshire to Michigan to Oregon."

Much of the U.S. expansion was created by new solar power plants in California, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Tennessee.

For more info on this and the future of solar polar, check out this story from Business Green.