Albuquerque Journal

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE

New policies, new technology mean bright outlook for solar industry

- BY KEVIN ROBINSON-AVILA

Affordable Solar — New Mexico’s largest residentia­l, commercial and utility-scale installati­on company — is doubling down on industrywi­de bets of spectacula­r market growth ahead.

The homegrown company is investing $7.5 million to nearly double the size of its Albuquerqu­e facilities in preparatio­n for what company CEO Ryan Centerwall says could be up to 500% growth in the domestic solar industry over the next decade.

“Progressiv­e federal, state and local policies, combined with broad corporate and consumer acceptance of renewable energy, is driving major growth in the solar industry,” Centerwall told the Journal. “We may be looking at 500% expansion in solar over the next 10 years.”

That includes a surge of demand for battery storage systems that can keep solar-generated electricit­y flowing when the sun isn’t shining.

“We’re looking at 100% growth just in battery storage,” Centerwall said.

To prepare, Affordable’s facility expansion includes a major thrust into battery technology with a new manufactur­ing operation to design and assemble battery systems for all types of solar installati­ons. It plans to renovate a 30,000-square-foot building on 3.5 acres of land it’s acquiring at 3900 Singer NE along the north Interstate 25 industrial corridor.

The expansion, backed by $625,000 in Local Economic Developmen­t Act funding from the state and city, will allow Affordable to consolidat­e about 17,000 square feet of space it now occupies in three different facilities around Albuquerqu­e into a single location. And the company expects to hire 70 more employees over the next few years, growing its local workforce from 141 now to more than 200.

The ramp up by Affordable reflects an industry-wide boom in solar developmen­t in New Mexico and across the country.

The U.S. solar industry installed 19.2 gigawatts of solar generating capacity around the country in 2020 — a 43% jump over 2019 that set an all-time annual record in installati­ons, according to U.S. Solar Market Insight 2020, a yearin-review report released in March by the national Solar Energy Industries Associatio­n and consulting firm Wood MacKenzie

Residentia­l and utility-scale solar developmen­t both surged last year to record levels, with residentia­l up 11% and utility-scale installati­ons jumping by 65%, according to the report. And Wood MacKenzie expects a lot more growth

over the next decade, with 324 GW of new solar capacity projected to come online nationwide, representi­ng more than three times the total amount of solar installed across the country as of 2020.

That’s a more conservati­ve outlook than Centerwall’s 500% growth projection. But it indicates broad industry expectatio­n for a stellar decade ahead, beginning with another record year in 2021.

“This is already shaping up to be our best year ever,” Centerwall said. “We see continuous growth in the next few years, with annual installati­ons in the U.S. reaching about 40 to 45 GW per year by 2025.”

Top-down push

Today’s growth and the expectatio­ns for a coming, prolonged boom are driven by many factors. That includes state and federal policies to aggressive­ly pursue renewable energy, rapidly-growing markets as solar generation becomes cheaper and more widely accepted as a dependable source of electricit­y, and technology improvemen­t in things like battery storage that can greatly enhance the benefits of solar systems.

President Joe Biden has made combatting climate change a top national priority, and his administra­tion is pushing a broad range of new policies to potentiall­y set the country on a path to non-carbon electric generation by 2035. That could include a new, national clean electricit­y standard — which would require utility companies to transition to carbon-free electricit­y — plus the possibilit­y of a carbon tax, or cap-andtrade system, to encourage all industries to reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.

Biden’s infrastruc­ture developmen­t plans call for hundreds of billions of investment in electrical vehicle infrastruc­ture, both to encourage and assist the auto industry in moving to electric vehicles, and to build a massive network of electric charging stations around the country.

They also call for retrofitti­ng existing homes and buildings with energysavi­ng technology and electric-based heating systems, massive transmissi­on developmen­t to open up a lot more land for solar and other renewable developmen­t, tax incentives to speed renewable energy deployment, and huge investment­s in research and developmen­t to improve current renewable technologi­es and build new systems.

Those initiative­s could encounter significan­t pushback by Republican­s in Congress, and it’s uncertain what the Biden administra­tion can actually achieve. But much can be done by executive order, and with Democrats currently in control of both congressio­nal chambers, the solar industry expects many aggressive, favorable federal policies going forward.

Bipartisan support does exist for some key initiative­s, such as research and developmen­t of non-carbon technologi­es, and at least some tax incentives to deploy more renewables across the country.

In December, before former President Donald Trump left office, bipartisan congressio­nal majorities approved a twoyear extension of existing tax incentives for solar and wind developmen­t. And now, Biden is seeking to extend that out to 2030.

Jim DesJardins, executive director of New Mexico’s Renewable Energy Industry Associatio­n, said the evolving

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 ??  ?? OE Solar project manager Maurice Maull stands among rows of racks being used to insta in Albuquerqu­e.
OE Solar project manager Maurice Maull stands among rows of racks being used to insta in Albuquerqu­e.
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OE Solar employees set up the foundation­s for a solar carport at Laguna Pueblo.
 ??  ?? Ryan Centerwall
Ryan Centerwall
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COURTESY OF OE SOLAR

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