Now that the first full week of 2012 has come and passed, we’re starting to get a real glimpse of what 2012 will hold for the solar industry. And it looks like the training wheels are coming off. While times aren’t certainly likely to be easy for the industry as it goes through a major growth spurt, it’s also not showing signs of slowing down.

Last year saw a lot of tumult in the solar industry as companies struggled to gain marketshare. The result was lower prices that make it harder for many manufacturers to compete, spurring trade complaints, solar manufacturer bankruptcies and more. Meanwhile, lowered prices mean a bigger potential market for installers.

Installers are also challenged by incentive programs that are over-subscribed or ending. New Jersey—the second-largest solar market in the U.S.—is struggling to keep incentives for solar even though its solar renewable energy credit program was fully subscribed through 2013 by the end of 2011.

There’s a strong desire for more power generation in New Jersey, and solar is coming into direct competition with new natural gas power plants in the state. The state’s rate-payers pay Solar Alternative Compliance Payments to help support solar incentives in the state, but some industry advocates say those payments should be reduced. Gov. Chris Christie (R) wants to subsidize development of new natural gas power plants in the state. Such a move would show the falling price of solar and the additional cost of natural gas.

Other states, among them, Indiana, Vermont and Tennessee are all pushing for more solar. Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s feed-in tariff pilot program has seen a lot of interest, with about 1 megawatt of solar installed since the program’s launch last year and with another megawatt on the way.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Solar Institute found that 6,400 people were employed in the solar industry. The state wants to bring more solar jobs into the state in areas like manufacturing. But to do so the state will need to support the industry by supporting more education among other things.

Vermont’s new residential permitting law makes it much easier for homeowners to go solar in the state. Under the new law, utilities have up to 10 days to protest against a photovoltaic installation, otherwise it’s considered approved. The new law should help increase installations in the state.

The biggest deals in solar are happening on the installation side. Last month, MidAmerican Energy Holdings announced that it purchased stakes in two photovoltaic projects, purchasing a 49 percent stake in NRG’s 290 megawatt Agua Caliente project in Arizona and First Solar’s 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm.

One thing that’s been helping speed adoption of solar power is the prominent display of solar technologies at a growing number of facilities. Chief among these are sports stadiums, which are turning to solar to further green their image. Most recently the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium announced that it will triple the amount of renewable energy produced at the stadium and the adjacent Patriot Place.