In the tech world, big data means opportunity. For solar, it’s no different.

With solar securitization dominating the news, it’s hard to imagine that only a few years ago, the PV industry experienced a major upheaval on its way to maturity.

2010 began with a clash of the titans as big solar players like SunPower, First Solar, and SunEdison clung to survival, riding out market saturation, panel price drops and the resulting margin squeeze.

This survival-of-the-fittest bloodbath, while ugly, was the sign of healthy market maturation as PV struggled to break into the mainstream. After all, similar shakeouts have occurred in every emerging technology market from color televisions to automobiles to penicillin. With PV panel prices now projected to increase in 2014, we may be seeing the leveling of the market.