A new national polling data released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) revealed that 75% of the surveyed indicated their support for utilizing public lands other than reserved for natural reserves or for national parks for the development of solar power plants. Gotham Research Group had conducted the poll.
Rhone Resch, President and CEO of SEIA, said the public in America supports the solar energy development overwhelmingly and appealed to the elected representative to respond to this significant public demand and enact laws that will provide a level playing field for solar power to compete with other sources of energy.
The polling data revealed that 38% supported solar power as the best for use in public land. About 22% of the respondents also indicated that government should support wind power and solar farms followed by natural gas, nuclear and oil, and coal.
The future for solar power in the U.S. looks bright. In 2009, five new solar plants with a total capacity of 58 MW came online. Utility-scale solar power projects numbering over 100 are under development. These projects with a total capacity of 17 GW is enough meet the electricity needs of 3.4 million homes and will also create over 100,000 jobs in America.