Once again the green media are being transported into flights of ecstasy over the fact that the US solar industry now employs more people than the US oil, gas and coal industries. The data, however, show that the solar industry contributes virtually nothing to US energy supply, which is still filled dominantly by fossil fuels. Reviews also show that the problem of accurately estimating annual US solar generation has still not been solved.
First we will take a brief look at the US solar industry. How many companies are involved in it? It seems that no one has ever counted them, but as illustrated in Figure 1 they probably number in the thousands. (An interesting feature is the absence of solar companies in much of North and South Dakota. Could this have to do with the fact that these are the most productive areas of the Bakken Shale?):
Figure 1
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