Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/solar-energy-industry-maintains-footing-amid-recession Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Amid the economic slump, there may be a silver lining for solar energy businesses that have withstood the recession so far. NewsHour special correspondent Spencer Michels reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. SPENCER MICHELS, NewsHour Correspondent: From the hills of Berkeley, California, the solar revolution looks as though it's in full swing. Two teams of installers for a young firm called Sungevity work every day, mounting photovoltaic solar panels on roofs, so the homeowners can provide most or all of their own electricity.Danny Kennedy, a longtime environmental activist, now is a business man, running the firm in a time of economic turmoil. DANNY KENNEDY, Sungevity Solar: It's going great. Really, in the big-picture, long-term sense, the only way is up, because we need it. And this year might see a bit of a slowdown in the growth. SPENCER MICHELS: Kennedy says costs of rooftop solar are coming down, partly because of strong competition. After federal tax credits and state rebates, installations average about $12,300, depending on the size. DANNY KENNEDY: On most systems we're installing, we're seeing a three- to seven-year payback period.