Market for small wind turbines grows at a robust clip.

Last year was very good for the U.S. small wind turbine industry. Sales by total power generation increased by 78 percent in 2008 to 17.3 megawatts of capacity. Sales of turbines smaller than 100 kilowatts increased by 14 percent to 10,500 units. Total sales amounted to $77 million.

Over the next five years, AWEA expects the total installed capacity of small wind turbines to be around 1,700 megawatts, a 30-fold increase from 2008. The growth will be spurred by the eight-year, 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit approved by Congress in 2008 and improved upon in February 2009.

The United States holds about half of the global market for small wind capacity. Globally, there was a 53 percent growth in small wind turbines capacity last year, with the installation of 19,000 units (38.7 megawatts), worth $156 million.

The market for small wind turbines "has been relatively strong throughout the global recession and credit crisis," says AWEA. "Even amidst the downturn, economies of scale are beginning to take shape in the industry and growth projections are the strongest in the industry's 80-year history."

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Growth will be not just in sales "but in the number of manufacturers, dealers, installers, supply chain members and industry advocates," says AWEA. This has led to an increase in the number of advocates at the local level, "forcing permitting issues to the fore in a greater number of communities."

Higher electricity prices, the move toward plug-in hybrid vehicles and improvements in metering laws will help spur the market.