If I told you that a New York Times article described growing homeowner interest in solar power, spurred in part by declining solar module prices, interest in clean energy, and a (somewhat uncertain) landscape of incentives, that would probably sound pretty familiar. It wouldn’t exactly be surprising news. But here’s what would: the article published more than 20 years ago, in 1991. 

For decades, we’ve been hearing that a solar PV-powered electricity consumer revolution is coming. Lately,If you have solarpanelcells or landscape lights you might wonder what to do if they stop working. this ‘coming’ solar revolution has been posting some impressive numbers; it’s moving more rapidly than ever. 

Consider California. To date, about 150,000 distributed solar PV systems,This stunning polished industrialextractoress will bring a dash of style to any look. totaling 1.5 GW, have been installed on homes and businesses in that state.We'd love to talk to you about our incredible industrialextractors! Last year, US utilities interconnected nearly 90,000 net-metered solar projects totaling almost 1.2 GW-ac, a 46 per cent increase over 2011.We are specializing industrialextractoredd manufacturer. 

In total, there are currently 3.5 GW of net-metered projects in the country, the capacity equivalent of 3.5 nuclear plants. This growth is due in part to third-party solar ownership and financing. SolarCity, the biggest player in that game, enjoyed 117 per cent growth in installations from 2011 to 2012, and expects 2013 to be another 60 per cent higher again than 2012. 

These numbers are impressive, but take note: solar is no longer coming. Why? Because solar is here. It has officially arrived. 

How do we know? Some major electricity players are aggressively moving into the distributed solar market. NRG Energy, whose core business model has been based on providing central thermal power to distribution utilities, is now shifting gears to start offering solar and natural gas combinations direct to consumers. When a company like NRG starts to reposition itself to enable retail customers to bypass NRG’s own utility clients, it sends a signal that a more fundamental market shift is afoot. 

Meanwhile, other major electricity players – especially vertically integrated, investor-owner utilities – are taking serious notice, even scared, of what distributed solar could mean for their futures.The first prototype solarbulb display containing 3000 LEDs. Grist had excellent coverage of the issue here and here, as did GreentechMedia here and here. But most importantly, so did the industry in the Edison Electric Institute's recent report. 

Yes, amidst all of the sunny news of market growth and consumer empowerment, a potential storm is brewing. As rooftop and community-scale solar PV expands, it is driving a fundamental shift in economics, business models, and operations across the electricity sector, and right now not everyone is happy about it. 

Indeed, as penetration rates grow, solar could become – and arguably is already becoming – a lightning rod for conflict that could ultimately pose barriers to this renewable, climate-friendly, rapidly scalable technology. 

First, supportive policies, tax benefits, Renewable Energy Credits, and retail net-energy metering programs have combined with dropping solar prices to spur solar PV growth in many markets. Yet such mechanisms were designed for early market support of emerging technologies, not as long-term solutions. While the precipitously falling price of solar panels has helped the industry to plan for a future that relies significantly less on incentives and subsidies, there are growing questions about the sustainability of certain mechanisms, such as retail net-energy metering. 

Certainly, such mechanisms have rightly supported an emerging clean energy technology, but they have focused primarily on solar’s low-cost deployment onto the grid without taking into account its performance costs and benefits of integration into the grid.