US Reaches for the Sun with New Legislation: Ten Million Solar Roofs by 2020
06-09-2011
The sun is beating harshly on Washington, D.C. this summer, possibly reminding our Congress that we are falling way behind other countries on deployment of solar energy systems. If we are to even come close to approaching the goals for renewable energy in the coming years, we need to develop stable policies to support the development of solar energy in the US. You may recall from SolarTown solar news that last year Senator Bernie Sanders introduced an initiative to place home solar panels on ten million roofs. In a year of intense bipartisan bickering, Sanders' initiative did not get very far. Undeterred, Sanders has recast his initiative as the 10 Million Solar Roofs Act of 2011and to the surprise of some, is even getting some bipartisan support.
The widespread deployment of solar energy in the United States faces some serious hurdles, one of which is the "soft costs" such as permitting. The Act would reduce permit costs and create hundreds of thousands of "green collar" jobs. In the past few years the cost of solar panel systems and installments have decreased; however, permit and registration fees do not follow that same pattern.
Some say this bill could lower the overall cost of installing solar power by as much as $2,500 for a normal residential installation. Permit costs are so high because each municipal, city, and state has its own rules and regulations letting the cost rise without any nation-wide regulation. This bill will appropriate $50 million each fiscal year from 2012 through 2016 to develop best practices for solar permitting says the Clean Energy Authority. Under this act, the government will award grants and subsidies to communities that adapt to the new permit rules quickly, adding huge incentive to both the community and the individual.
This time around to get the 10 Million Solar Roofs Act through, Sanders is getting some surprising support. As reported yesterday on Reuters, "The adept Vermont independent has lured New Mexico Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Arkansas Republican Sen. John Boozman into co-sponsoring his reinvented measure aimed at sparking installation of solar power systems atop 10 million homes and businesses within the next decade." The article points out that the Act "is designed to be executed in tandem with SunShot, a Department of Energy initiative unveiled in February. SunShot is geared at dropping the price of homegrown solar so it is competitive with coal and other conventional fuels. In a nutshell, Sanders's bill would recognize and reward communities intent on streamlining cumbersome solar energy permitting processes into economical and efficient models."
So how did Sanders gain Boozman's report. According to the Reuters' article: "One, he emphasized the jobs angle for small-scale solar entrepreneurs. And two, he found a funding mechanism that doesn't require new money. This incarnation of the bill carries a total price tag of $250 million over a five-year span beginning in 2012. DOE would ‘borrow' that $50 million annual cost from a pot of money already designated for energy storage projects in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007."
The solar industry is waiting for some leadership to create a long term strategy for solar energy in the US, and this bill may possibly be the first brick in building that strategy.
