Solar Industry Statement on President’s FY2011 Budget

WASHINGTON, DC – Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) President and CEO Rhone Resch has released the following statement on the Obama Administration’s FY 2011 budget for the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Program.

 “This budget conveys the administration’s commitment to the continued growth of the solar industry as we help put Americans back to work across the country, especially in areas like America’s manufacturing centers that have been hit hardest by the recession. As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provisions, solar installations continued to grow by 40 percent and created nearly 20,000 jobs in 2009, highlighting that solar is one of the best policy investments around.

 “With a 22 percent increase from last year’s spending for solar, the 2011 budget will expand the industry’s ability to advance technologies that will create jobs and economic opportunities. This increase for research and innovation, as well as new funding for the DOE Loan Guarantee program will help drive continued job growth in the coming year.

 “An example of the importance of research and development funding for deploying solar technologies and producing clean energy jobs occurred last week in Arizona when the Stirling Dish Engine, which was developed through a research partnership with Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico, was deployed in its first commercial application.

 “We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to strengthen the U.S. position as a leader in high-tech research and development. As President Obama said last week in his State of the Union Address, we will ‘not accept second place’ when it comes to leading our clean energy economy.”

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Posted by Tracey A. Smith on Feb 3 2010. Filed under Solar Thermal Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry