Cross posted from Scaling Green.

Need any more evidence that the solar industry is not just surviving, but thriving, in the United States?  How about this?

For the sixth time, U.S. Bancorp has put up major funding to partner with SolarCity in the rapidly expanding third-party ownership sector of the rooftop solar PV business.

“It speaks volumes about the value of investing in solar,” noted SolarCity spokesperson Jonathan Bass about U.S. Bancorp’s re-investment. This funding, the bank’s largest in its three-year relationship with the solar provider, is enough to finance as much as $250 million in PV projects for residences, businesses and public buildings.

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Newly released numbers from Greentech Media Research on the U.S. solar industry’s first quarter in 2012 show the industry growing at an 85 percent year-on-year clip. “They’re exciting,” Bass said of the numbers. “They show growth in every segment of the industry. And this U.S. Bancorp deal shows that private capital continues to flow into the space.”

This news comes as the solar industry just announced its best Q1 ever, as industry employment has reached more than 100,000 Americans, and as the solar sector attracts $147 billion in global private investment.  That's whyTigercomm's Brian Mahar wrote the other day that there's "good reason why we need to celebrate solar more," get over any lingering "PTSD (Post Traumatic Solyndra Disorder)," and keep our focus on "scaling the industry into an economic force in the United States and globally."