Solar Power’s Growth Depends on Key Policy Changes

Solar Power’s Growth Depends on Key Policy Changes

Matt Painter

For Immediate Release

More Info: Matthew Painter 212/991.1831

Chris Cooper 212/991.1830

After a comprehensive analysis of the obstacles to solar power’s growth, the Network for New Energy Choices (NNEC) has put forth key policy suggestions to advance the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar America Initiative (SAI). The NNEC recommends the removal of infrastructural barriers and the implementation of policy changes that will expand net metering’s potential as a solar incentive.

Net metering is crucial to increasing the demand for solar power while decreasing the cost to consumers. It allows customers who utilize solar power to sell electricity back to the utility, helping them recoup their capital expenditures. Currently, 35 states offer net metering. However, not all states offer equal incentives. New Jersey, California, Colorado and New Mexico have the best net metering regulations.

“If the DOE’s initiative is serious about promoting solar power, it should take best practices from net metering successes in these states and push them to be norm nation-wide,” said NNEC Research Director James Rose.

The Network is calling for the SAI to do that by:

• Making interconnection standards uniform

Consistent interconnection standards are the best way to ensure a safe and fair connection to the electrical grid. Without them, utilities and state regulators can create burdensome and unnecessary requirements that make solar photovoltaic systems prohibitively expensive.

• Making net metering a part of a broader incentives system

Net metering should be paired with rebates and tax credits that help offset the initial start-up costs of a solar electric system.

• Creating a streamlined and transparent application and installation process for net metering

Getting approval for a net metering project should be simple and quick—without the burdening bureaucracy that many states impose.

• Thinking of net metering as a demand reduction strategy rather than a supply strategy

Net metering’s primary function is demand reduction—solar is especially effective at reducing demand during peak hours. Electric distribution companies should compensate net metering consumers at the same rate as customers who reduce their own demand by measures such as conservation: the retail rate.

In addition to these suggestions, the NNEC also recommends a high net metering size limit, allowing all customer classes to participate, allowing a one year roll over period for excess power, not limiting total net metering capacity and covering all on-site generation methods.

“By following these suggestions, New Jersey went from virtually no solar power a few years ago to being able to realistically meet 20 percent of its energy needs with renewables by 2020,” said Rose. “To ensure clean, reliable electricity, the entire country must follow—and improve on—the Garden State’s example.”

The $148 million Solar America Initiative seeks to accelerate the development of advanced solar electric technologies while reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels and improving the environment.

The Network for New Energy Choices is committed to providing local governments with ideas and information on generating clean, affordable power from local, renewable energy sources. Working with a growing coalition of nonprofit organizations, municipal officials, business leaders and academics, NNEC promotes creative ideas for financing community-based clean energy, helping to dispel misinformation about renewable energy in the media and advocating for critical utility policy reforms that will usher in a new world of energy choices for all Americans.