While solar energy investment overall may have been down worldwide in 2009, the U.S. solar energy market continues to grow at a good clip.

2009 saw an increase in PV capacity of 38% despite the fact that the recession was still in full swing. Combining the results of both concentrating solar power and photovoltaics, solar electric capacity in the United States grew 37 percent, thanks mainly to powerful demand in the utility-scale and residential sectors.

There's much to be optimistic about in the solar energy business, and here are some facts and figures from 2009 that show why.

Gird-Tied Showing Impressive Growth

Overall, there was a 38 percent growth in grid-tied photovoltaic installations, with grid-tied residential PV doubling to 156 megawatts (MW) from 78, but non-residential showed a slower growth rate, bring 2 percent less than 2008's growth figures. The utility sector showed the most impressive grid-tied growth, tripling from 22 to 66 MW.

There were mixed results for solar thermal, with solar pool heating growth down 10 percent from 2008 and solar water heating up 10 percent over the same period. The problems affecting the housing and construction industries were said to be responsible for the decline in solar pool heating growth.

The U.S. solar thermal market is falling behind the rest of the world in growth figures, despite the fact that it has grown significantly more than in prior years. However, in the future, the market's expected to show 50 percent growth per year, most of that growth taking place in California, which is the largest part of the U.S. market.

Concentrating Solar Power On The Up-swing

Thanks in part to a development pipeline of greater than ten thousand MW, total U.S. capacity of concentrating solar power hit 432 MW, with 3 new CSP plants coming online.

Utility companies are adding more solar to their energy mix and solar is the segment showing the fastest growth, with companies planning to increase the solar segment of their mix substantially over the coming years.

More Solar Means More Solar Jobs

With the solar industry showing an overall revenue increase of 36 percent, around seventeen thousand new jobs were added to the solar industry. The total number of workers now employed in the U.S. solar industry has reached forty-six thousand, with another thirty-three thousand being employed in related sectors.

Most solar energy companies report sizable increases in employees with more jobs expected to be added in the coming year. Increases in factory jobs mean increases in jobs out in the field, such as installers and designers. This is spurred on by increased demand for solar products in the U.S.

Despite the recent economic woes and the overall downturn in the economy, the U.S. solar industry continues to grow, even if that growth is not as rapid in some sectors as in others or as significant as in prior years. Could it be that the solar industry is indeed recession-proof? Well, not quite, but the fact that it can continue to grow even in a tough economy bodes extremely well for when the economy finally gets back on track.

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