President signs stimulus, solar industry ready for job creation

The Solar Energy Industries Association applauded President Barack Obama for signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law in Denver, Colorado adding that the solar industry is poised to create 110,000 jobs over the next two years. The solar energy provisions in this bill will help create 60,000 jobs in the solar industry in 2009 alone and a total of 110,000 over the next two years SEIA president and CEO Rhone Resch said in an SEIA press release.

SEIA also called for policies such as a national renewable portfolio standard with specific mandates for solar, investment in new transmission infrastructure and a way to address climate change that gives credit to renewables and reinvests proceeds to increase solar installation.

Before the bill's signing ceremony, the president visited the solar installation at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Representatives from Namaste Solar Electric, Inc, a Colorado-based solar electric company joined President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

The 100 KW system was financed by no-interest revolving loans from the Partnership for Sustainability, a local non-profit dedicated to supporting solar energy installation. Namaste Solar installed the solar panels on the museum's rooftop.

Colorado is home to more than solar energy companies and expects to gain 14,000 permanent jobs from the solar energy industry by 2016. There are more than 3,400 solar energy companies, from manufacturers to installers, in the country.

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