Reuters: Installed solar power capacity in the United States rose by 17 percent to 8,775 megawatts in 2008, the strongest growth in a single year, solar advocate Solar Energy Industries Association said in an annual review issued on Friday. It was the third straight year of record growth for the solar industry. It is widely expected that 2009 will be another record year. There are more than 6 gigawatts of concentrating solar power plants in the development pipeline, SEIA said. “Despite …