Fall has officially struck, and with it some of the programs that have made solar red-hot this summer are sunsetting. These include the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Loan Guarantee program. The program helped many solar projects get underway but has come under fire for its first investment, the $535 million loan guarantee and subsequent loan issued to Solyndra, which has since gone bankrupt.

But the U.S. solar industry is continuing to grow as recent studies are showing, and overall there are few signs that solar is cooling down.

A new report shows that the U.S. solar industry grew 69 percent in the first half of 2011. The U.S. Solar Market Insight quarterly report, from the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research found that during the first half of 2011, nearly 575 megawatts of photovoltaics were installed. But that will be outpaced in the second half of 2011, since a total of 1,750 megawatts is expected to be installed in the U.S. in 2011.

Preliminary data from another report, The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census 2011, found that the U.S. solar industry remains a jobs creator. The industry employed 100,237 people as of August 2011. That’s an increase of 6,735 people over the 93,000 workers it employed at the same time in 2010. The results show that the industry remains one of the biggest jobs creators today. The full report will be unveiled in October.

Growth in the industry is spurred partly by falling prices and partly by continuing incentives. A new study by the Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory, Tracking the Sun IV, found that the installed cost of photovoltaics has dropped by 17 percent in 2010. It’s the most dramatic drop that the authors of the report have seen and the first time in years that the lab saw a significant drop on the soft costs of solar, which includes costs related to permitting and construction.

Incentive programs remain imperative to the continued growth of solar. And California is starting up its solar incentives program again—after running out of funds in December 2010. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed S.B. 585, which refunded the California Solar Initiative with $200 million. The governor signed the legislation, along with two other solar bills, A.B. 1150 and S.B. 16 at Marshall Elementary School in Fowler, Calif., which will benefit from the legislation. The other bills fund the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) with $83 million in rebates annually and speed the permitting process.

A Vermont non-profit is pushing for legislation that would seek to unseat California as the greenest state. After all, it’s known as the green mountain state. Renewable Energy Vermont is supporting the state’s draft comprehensive energy plan. Under the proposal, Vermont would source 90 percent of its electricity from renewables like solar by 2050.

Also expanding on the ‘green’ in its name is Walgreens. The pharmacy chain is installing solar on 90 stores, in just one state, Ohio. The first phase of the installations, covering 53 stores, is slated for completion on Nov. 11.

NASA’s been increasing its interest in solar in a number of ways recently. First of all, it’s looking to photovoltaics to provide propulsion for deep space satellites using ion thrusters as opposed to conventional liquid or solar rocket fuels. Six companies are now looking into using PV-powered ion-thrusters to propel spaceships farther than they’ve ever gone before.

NASA’s also working with CleanTech Open to speed the development of storage solutions for solar power on earth—as well as in space. Under its Night Rover Challenge, NASA is offering up to $1.5 million to an inventor or entrepreneur that can come up with an effective solar energy storage solution to power a rover with energy stored from a solar array.

In more terrestrial news, residential solar leases are skyrocketing—at least for Solar Universe, which launched its residential solar lease service just two months ago. Already it’s accounting for 40 percent of the solar-franchise company’s new business. It’s a testament to the popularity of the option, which an increasing number of companies are now offering.

Image courtesy of NREL.