In 2007, the U.S. solar energy industry saw a glimpse of a gigawatt future. There was signi?cant growth in the commercial and residential PV markets and a new utility-scale segment for PV emerged with the fastest growth of all segments representing over 15 percent of the annual U.S. installed PV capacity. The ?rst concentrating solar power plant was built in more than 15 years with dozens more utility-scale projects in the pipeline. The expansion of the solar water heating market continued. Thousands of U.S. jobs were created and billions of dollars were invested. And, the industry strengthened its presence in Washington and our united coalition support across the country.

The Renewable Electricity Futures Study (RE Futures) is an initial investigation of the extent to which renewable energy supply can meet the electricity demands of the contiguous United States over the next several decades.

The Sustainable Energy in America 2013 Factbook offers a fresh look at the state of innovation in our U.S. energy portfolio. This Factbook - researched and produced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and commissioned by the Business Council on Sustainable Energy - offers simple, easy-to-understand benchmarks on the contributions these new energy technologies are making today.

This report recommends reforms to federal and state interconnection procedures to meet the demands of a growing national marketplace for solar photovoltaic (PV) and other small renewable generators that interconnect to electric distribution systems.