In the U.S., solar enjoys more public support than any other form of energy. That’s just one smattering of news from the world of solar last week. While that’s positive news for the industry it doesn’t mean solar’s in the clear yet. Solar manufacturers are still in a tough spot, which requires drastic action. States are still trying to develop the best approach to incentivizing solar. But solar’s big black eye, Solyndra, made a significant step forward by starting to auction off its equipment last week.

Nearly 90 percent of all U.S. residents support solar and developing more solar in the U.S. That’s according to “The 2011 SCHOTT Solar Barometer,” a report in its fourth annual rendition, published by SCHOTT and the Solar Energy Industries Association. The report also found that most respondents, including nearly three-quarters of Republicans, supported granting permanent incentives to solar akin to those enjoyed by other energy in the U.S.

The future of solar installations is continuing to evolve. There’s large focus on utility-scale solar projects. But tomorrow that focus is likely to be dispersed more evenly with distributed generation projects in the near future. By 2015, the market for distributed photovoltaics is projected to triple from $66 billion in 2010, to $154 billion annually in 2015, according to “Distributed Solar Energy Generation”, a new report from Pike Research.

How distributed generation projects will play out over the coming years will depend on how states incentivize solar. Illinois took a step toward increasing distributed generation when its legislature overrode Gov. Pat Quinn’s (D) veto of the Energy Infrastructure Improvement Act. Details are still being worked out, but the bill includes a carve-out for distributed generation solar projects below 25 kilowatts in size. It also provides incentives for solar projects between 40 kilowatts and 2 megawatts in size.

Meanwhile New Jersey’s solar players debated how best to move forward with the Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) system in the state. At CleanTech NJ solar professionals discussed the rapidly falling price of SRECs in the market. They said Gov. Chris Christie (R) should pass S2371 to increase the number of SRECs utilities the state must purchase in 2013.

Last week the Department of the Interior issued a supplemental update to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development (Solar PEIS). The Solar PEIS will determine how solar is developed on federal lands in the U.S. Southwest over 285,000 acres. The supplement showed improvement over the Solar PEIS, conservationist groups like the Sierra Club said.

The epic story of Solyndra’s failure has been grabbing national headlines more than three months after declaring bankruptcy. Solyndra started auctioning off its assets last week. The auction was limited to items in its Fab 1 plant. The company is still looking for buyers for its intellectual property, its Fab 2 plant and other items.

To avoid similar fates, companies like First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) are changing their corporate strategies to remain competitive. During its third-quarter earnings 2011 conference call interim CEO Michael Ahearn said that going forward the company will focus on new markets and conversion efficiency increases, rather than expanding production capacity.

One of the world’s largest electronics companies, General Electric (NYSE: GE) said it plan to cut the installed cost of rooftop solar to $4 a watt next year. The company won $3.5 million from the DOE’s SunShot Initiative to bring the cost of rooftop solar down from an average of $6.50 per watt—without incentives—this year.