Solar PV Power Grows 69%
A new assessment from the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research shows the US solar PV industry installing 314 MW in the second quarter of 2011 (69% more than last year; 17% more than Q1 2011). For the year, the US is set to install 1.75 GW of solar PV (double last year).
For the concentrating solar power market and concentrating photovoltaics, there are currently 600 MW under construction in the US, with an additional 7 GW at various stages of development.
The only segment of the solar power market which did not grow in the Q2 2011 was the residential PV market, which declined for the second consecutive quarter. During Q2, 60 MW were installed, a decline of 5.7% over the previous year. However, the Solar Market Insight expects the residential market to pick up, as residential solar-leasing programs expand.
A new report highlights that health, revealing that the solar industry employs over 100,000 people, and added over 6,700 jobs in the last 12 months alone. Across the solar supply chain, from installers to balance of system (BOS) manufacturers, to solar PV manufacturers, that’s a 6.8% growth rate since August 2010. The 2011 National Solar Jobs Census data.
U.S. Ties to Haqqani Network Dates Back to Reagan Administration
While Admiral Mike Mullen’s comments about Pakistan’s support for the Haqqani militant group was front-page news, little attention has been paid to the long ties between the United States and the militant group. The group’s patriarch and founder, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a legendary Mujahideen commander who worked with the Americans in the 1980s to oust the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. He once visited the White House when Ronald Reagan was president. At the time, the Reagan administration was funneling secret U.S. funds to the Mujahideen via the ISI, Pakistan’s spy agency.
Listeria Outbreak Kills 13 in U.S.
The death toll from an outbreak of Listeria in the United States has reached at least 13 people. The Centers for Disease Control says 72 infections have been reported in 18 states. The outbreak is linked to tainted cantaloupes from the Denver-based company, Jensen Farms. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group, says the outbreak reinforces the need for regulations to bar pathogens from produce. Melons are said to have caused 36 outbreaks of food-borne disease since 1990.