The factors driving commerical solar adoption fall into 5 key areas:
Economic:
- Volatile global energy prices and rising global energy demand
- Incentives; feed-in tariffs, net metering, rebate programs geared towards making solar more financially viable
- Solar approaches the cost convergence zone; large scale utility projects moving closer to economic viability (without rebates)
Political:
- Geo-political climate: Kyoto Protocol, emission goals, cap-and-trade policies and green house gas initiatives driving global adoption trends
- U.S. Federal Government activity; Key incentive programs serve as short/medium term stimulus
- Individual State initiatives such as the California Solar Initiative
- 2008 Presidential Politics
Technological:
- New, more cost effective and efficient solar module manufacturing technologies are emerging that make solar more economically viable
- There is also significant investment in alternatives to silicon
Social:
- Clean energy consumer revolution
- The Hollywood effect; Al Gore’s movie - “An Inconvenient Truth”
Environmental:
- No noise
- No pollutants
- No ongoing fuel requirements
