By Rhone Resch

As election season in the U.S. kicks in to high gear, we are already seeing renewable energy – and solar in particular – become a political football for candidates trying to score a few points. Through television ads in swing states, stump speeches and candidate surrogates on cable news, the campaigns of both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama have used the failure of a few solar energy companies to criticize each other.

This is unfortunate, because it misses the real story we should be telling our policymakers and the public: solar energy is driving job creation and economic growth as it continues to become more affordable for American homeowners and businesses with every passing day. There are now more than 100,000 Americans employed at over 5,600 solar businesses in all 50 states. Many of these are small businesses that are finding new opportunity for growth in the solar industry.