“The solar powe PV industry has reached a critical tipping point, with end-market demand hitting record levels almost every quarter,” said NPD Solarbuzz Vice President Finlay Colville. This is great news for the planet as our Earth needs a clean break from carbon emitting power.

Taken together, China and the United States make up almost two-thirds of the global wind power market, and both saw recent policy disruptions that contributed heavily to wind’s stall. China, which obviously relies much more heavily on state guidance of the economy, recently tightened its standards for wind turbines, it has not kept up with infrastructure investment, and there’s been grumbling among the country’s developers that its feed-in tariff for offshore wind is inadequate.

America’s solar installations have been chugging their way to new heights. 2013′s second quarter saw 832 megawatts installed, making it the second-best quarter on record, and installation prices are dropping across the country.