At two renewable energy conferences held last week, PV America, in Philadelphia, and the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Conference in New York, N.Y., solar and the U.S.’s commitment to it was the hot topic.

At the Bloomberg conference, a panel discussed the implications of a new study, “Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race?” by Pew Charitable Trusts showed that the U.S. fell behind both Germany and China in terms of private clean energy investments in 2010. The U.S. has increased its spending on renewables, particularly solar, but the 39 percent increase in Chinese spending and Germany’s doubling of renewable energy spending outpaced spending increases in the U.S.

Despite that lackluster news, at PV America, Solar Energy Industries Association CEO Rhone Resch had a better feeling about the U.S. solar industry. “I am thrilled to announce that the solar energy industry is now the fastest growing industry in America,” He said.

Also at PV America, leading clean energy tax-equity finance investors, from institutions including J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo discussed their concern over the U.S. commitment to renewables. They’re looking to expand the portfolio of solar projects their companies invest in, but they also want to see companies with large projects or project pipelines. The biggest problem for the solar industry is financing, they said.

Even as the discussions were being held, the U.S. government announced new investments in solar through its SunShot Initiative to reduce the cost of solar to $1 per installed watt over the next 10 years. In a new round of funding, it announced $112.5 million to support development of advanced solar photovoltaic manufacturing processes.

Leading solar companies, like SunPower, forged ahead with their business. The company last week signed a deal with a large construction firm Fluor Corp. to build a 20-megawatt solar farm in Pinal County, Ariz. It represents the first time Fluor has installed a photovoltaic system, though not the first time it has installed solar.

SunPower, which has been one of the leading producers and installers of photovoltaics, may soon see a lot more competition from some the electronics industry’s biggest hitters. Last week, both General Electronics (GE) and Westinghouse announced new photovoltaics.

GE announced its plan for mass-producing its new thin-film photovoltaics. It said that at nearly 13 percent conversion efficiency, they are the most efficient cadmium tellurium-based photovoltaics in the world. The company plans to produce 400 megawatts of modules annually.

At PV America, Westinghouse introduced its second-generation approach to all-in-one solar modules. The modules include micro-inverters and racking materials and are designed to significantly reduce installation materials and install times. Despite the additional materials, the company said the modules will be cost-competitive with other solar.

Costco dipped its feet further into the solar market as well. The wholesaler has expanded its offerings of Grape Solar’s grid-tied solar kits in stores and now online. Costco members can purchase a system at the store and choose to install it themselves or find a local installer to do it for them.

Hawaii is quickly forging ahead with plans to introduce more renewables. Hawaii’s plan calls for 40 percent renewables by 2030. The state is adding in more electronic vehicles as it seeks to move from oil, its main power source. Hawaii Electric is now offering residents incentives to purchase electric vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf it recently purchased.

Image courtesy of DOE.