Providing power to less affluent is aim of solar plan
WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday announced an array of new measures to extend access to the most rapidly growing source of U.S. energy — solar — to a much broader group of Americans, including low-income communities and individuals who rent, rather than owning their own homes.
That includes a new initiative to ramp up socalled “community solar” projects across the country — programs in which one solar installation supplies energy to multiple different homes or individuals — with a focus on serving low- and middle- income Americans. It also includes a pledge to install a total of 300 megawatts of solar and other renewables in federally subsidized housing developments by the year 2020 (each megawatt represents roughly enough solar to power 164 homes).
More and more voices are airing concerns on equal access to solar energy.
“The rapid decline of solar panel costs in recent years has ushered in a solar boom that has not spread uniformly across the spectrum of U.S. household incomes,” notes a recent paper from the George Washington University Solar Institute. “Despite being more vulnerable to energy costs, lower income Americans have lagged behind more affluent households in adopting solar and realizing its numerous benefits.”
Who owns the roof ?
Chief among those benefits is lower electricity bills, something that would make a much bigger difference in the lives of lower-income Americans than of more affluent ones. But if you rent in an apartment, you can’t put solar on your roof — you don’t own the roof. Meanwhile, those with lower income or savings also often can’t qualify for the advantageous financing deals that have played a key role in expanding installations.
The result is a solar access gap.
“The 49.1 million households that earn less than $40,000 of income per year make up 40 percent of all U.S. households but only account for less than 5 percent of solar installations,” the George Washington report notes.
To change this situation, the initiatives announced Tuesday include both administrative actions and also moves by states, cities and the private sector.
The initiatives include $520 million in pledges from states, localities and the private sector to make new investments in community solar, focused on low-income communities, and 260 new projects by power companies, rural electric co-ops, and housing authorities to expand low-income and other forms of solar access.
SolarCity, the top U.S. installer, recently announced what it called the nation’s largest community solar project — as many as 100 “solar gardens” in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area that would let renters, lowincome families and others buy part of the energy generated, and lower their bills.
Gaining access
In addition, the White House declared new initiatives on Tuesday to open up pathways into the solar workforce for lower income Americans. That includes a new AmeriCorps project to install solar in low-income communities.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who represents Baltimore, said that he receives calls at his office from constituents who cannot pay all their utility bills, and that the programs would not only help the planet but also save money for those who could not otherwise gain access to renewable energy.
“The difference in a monthly bill of $10 or $15 means a lot to the people who live on my block,” Cummings said.