These days there are simply thousands of solar power companies that are able to supply solar power equipment to homeowners who want to save money on their energy costs.

We have seen vast amounts of progress over the past few years. Today it is easier than ever to build a small scale solar energy system for your home with the reduction in the cost of solar cells. You can even find how to guides on the internet for next to nothing.

That being said, what I wanted to focus on in this article was that changes have also been taking place among the major traditional power companies around the world. Most of the major power companies are now committed to providing a diverse portfolio of CO2 free energy generation solutions to customers.

They are actively acquiring and buying into some of the smaller alternative energy suppliers. They are consistently looking for expertise in solar cell production and wind turbine plants and are even getting involved in developing biomass fueled plants. These are companies that are all but shelving their nuclear power plant programs in favor of renewable energy solutions.

The market for concentrated solar energy plants is expected to grow substantially in the next decade with an annual growth of 20%. It is estimated that the installed capacity will be in excess of 20 GW by 2020 and all of the major power companies that are looking for real growth opportunities are planning to capture a share of the market.

The world's global energy leaders are seeing the real future growth opportunities in large scale solar power. They are manufacturing solar steam boilers not only for stand-alone solar power plants but also to work alongside fossil fuel power plants.

Syria and Turkey have agreed to establish a joint company to produce solar and renewable energies equipments with plans recruit 100 specialist workers to begin producing 24,000 solar energy sets annually. The US Company Areva is acquiring 100% of the Australian Company Ausra which provides large scale concentrated solar energy solutions.

These are just two examples of major joint ventures that have taken place recently and we can be sure that more are taking place as the large solar power companies position themselves within the renewable energy market place.

These manoeuvrings can only mean a better deal not only for the ordinary consumer but for our planet too. So we shall observe carefully the emerging solar power companies and the government's plans and continuing efforts to assist in helping the ordinary homeowner to a save money on their energy cost by installing a small scale solar energy systems.