At this year's Building Energy conference of the Northeast Solar Energy Association, I saw another sign that solar is becoming a mature industry; Velux, the skylight and window company, is now offering solar hot water in the US with certified installers and modular kits. They've been using the design in Germany for a decade.
Solar is in the streets these days. We have a number of these solar trash compactors around the Boston area. This is one in Davis Square, Somerville from a couple of years ago. BigBelly Solar displayed their new model on the trade show floor.
Solar street lights are coming, available in a variety of styles from manufacturers like SolarOne.
This is the first heliostat, stand alone tracking reflector, I've seen on the market. It's from Practical Solar.
I liked Sundrum Solar's PV and hot water hybrid but neglected to take a picture.
These days, most solar looks like thin black boxes of standard sizes.
I thought it was a good sign that there were three booths with blower doors for testing building air infiltration and three other booths with infrared cameras to show heat loss.
The keynote speaker, Marc Rosenbaum of EnergySmiths, spoke on "Deep Energy Retrofits" and focused on buttoning up the building and reducing the energy load first and only after that doing renewables. Insulation, weatherization, and load reduction are not dramatic but are what needs to be done, whatever energy source you use.
More 2009 Building Energy
Solar Market Snapshot