Legislative incentives could boost the United States' solar market into the number one spot globally within the next few years, according to a Monday report in MIT Technology Review.

It would surpass current leader Germany, which has also benefited from government incentives. The U.S. Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 included an 8-year extension of the 30 percent investment tax credit for businesses and homeowners that install solar power systems.

The economic downturn has also caused the price of solar panels to drop by 25 percent from last summer, according to Solar Energy Industry Association estimates. This increased the affordability could cause production to double within the next year, reaching one gigawatt.

"That's a big number," said Roger Efird, chairman of the Solar Energy Industry Association and managing director of SunTech Power. "If you are in the solar business, you were talking watts 15 years ago, you were talking kilowatts 10 years ago, and you have trouble even talking megawatts today."

The American Clean Energy Act, passed by the House of Representatives in June, invested $190 billion into clean energy technologies and energy efficiency. It also set a 20 percent by 2020 RES and aimed to reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent in that time period.