Despite a recession, manufacturing capacity for solar panels will rise at a rate of 45 percent each year, from 875 megawatts in 2008 to 3,880 megawatts in 2012, according to a recent report.

GTM Research’s report, "PV Manufacturing in the United States: Market Outlook, Incentives and Supply Chain Opportunities," found manufacturing capacity for solar cells will exhibit similarly strong growth, rising 50 percent each year from 785 megawatts in 2008 to 4,001 megawatts by the end of 2012.

Overall, the U.S.’s share of global solar manufacturing capacity will increase from just 5 percent in 2008 to 14 percent in 2012, the report found.

Massachusetts is among the 10 states which will have some form of manufacturing presence in photovoltaics by 2012 and have production in excess of 100 megawatts by 2012, the report found.

Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania make up the other nine states. In 2009, Ohio, Michigan, Oregon were the only states to produce such green manufacturing, the report found.

"The re-emergence of a strong solar manufacturing industry in the U.S. may come as a surprise to some, but it is a direct consequence of expectations by manufacturers of a strong domestic market for solar panels over the next half-decade," said Shyam Mehta, senior analyst at GTM Research and the author of the report. "Historically, production has tended to follow markets, and this is no exception. With stimulus funds and massive utility deployment expected to drive 1.6 gigawatts in U.S. demand by 2012, domestic, Chinese and European companies are making major investments in solar factories over the next five years, particularly in panel manufacturing."

The build-out of domestic solar component production will result in significant job creation potential in states where these plants will be based; the report estimates that as many as 20,000 manufacturing jobs could be created over the next four years.