Many are anticipating that First Solar will have a strong year in 2016 and with the contract announced this morning with Southern California Edison (SCE) it looks like that will be the case. The utility will purchase the power from four First Solar installations totaling 500 megawatts of electricity. 

Earlier this month the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a further expansion of its popular Solar Ready Vets program to train veterans for jobs in the solar industry. The program was piloted in 2014 and graduated its first class of marines from Camp Pendleton in early 2015. 

Solar is expected to have an amazing year in 2016 by most accounts. As photovoltaic equipment continues to experience high demand prices will fall albeit at a slower rate than originally predicted. Meanwhile solar installations will grow in more markets while the U.S. installs more than 10 gigawatts of new solar power. 

The solar industry is continuing to gain steam. Last year it raised $25.3 billion, only slightly less than the $26.5 billion raised in 2014, according to a new Mercom Capital report. However, certain sectors of the solar industry set records last year, particularly commercial and residential solar funds, which raised $5.5 billion. In addition venture capital invested $1.1 billion in 2015. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) delivered his state of the state and budget speech today (Jan. 13) calling for more solar power and an end to coal in the state. The state has been making significant progress in boosting the amount of solar power installed in the state and has attracted significant interest from the solar industry, including advanced manufacturing. His push for even more solar in the state was praised by solar advocates.

The solar industry in the employed 208,859 people across the U.S., according to The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census 2015, which was published today (Jan. 12).That’s more than the 187,200 people employed in the oil and gas extraction industry in 2015.

Ironically, one of the darkest spots for solar power in the U.S. is in one of the sunniest states—Nevada. Late in 2015 the Public Utilities Commission decided to drastically cut net-metering to residential solar customers and raise fees on them. Not just over time but immediately and retroactively. Solar installers fought the proposed rules tooth and nail but to no avail. Now solar installers and financiers like SolarCity and Sunrun are responding with their own knee jerk reaction by pulling out quickly. Both actions mean thousands of Nevadans will lose jobs.

Yesterday (Jan. 5) scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) announced a new world record for converting sunlight into electricity using a dual-junction photovoltaic cell. The new test cell reached 29.4 percent efficiency without concentrating the power of the sun on the cell. 

Expect another banner year of growth from solar power across the world. At least that’s what IHS Research and the  Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis(IEEFA) are anticipating. IHS is anticipating 67 gigawatts of new solar power across the world in 2016 and a whopping 71.5 gigawatts of new solar power in 2017. 

Every year about this time experts start offering up what to expect in the coming year—in just about everything. Solar is no exception, usually. This year the plethora of prognostications is lower. Perhaps that’s because the three-year extension of the the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) in the U.S. in waning days of 2015 surprised many in the industry. Still some experts had foreseen an extension and others made their prognostications known. The bottom line is expect a healthier industry going forward for the next few years—at least.