Thoughts on Solar by Run on Sun's Founder & CEO, Jim Jenal

Is it possible to provide 10% of the nation’s energy needs - not just electricity but all energy consumption - from Solar by 2030? A timely new study says that we can - and we must. Details after the break.

The report:  Building a Solar Future - Repowering America’s Homes, Businesses and Industry with Solar Energy, (read it here) was just released by Environment America’s Research & Policy Center and it examines the role of the entire gamut of solar energy technologies from passive solar design to PV.  The authors describe each technology in an introductory section devoted to “The Tools” of solar and then applies those tools as appropriate in describing a Solar Future for America which envisions Solar for Homes, Businesses, Factories, Farms, in Transportation and Communities and in the Grid itself.  When combined with appropriate energy efficiency measures, the authors conclude that a full 10% of all of our energy needs could be met by Solar by 2030.

As attractive as this sounds, the authors are quick to point out that a positive Solar Future won’t just happen by itself.  Rather there are policies needed to turn potential into reality.  For those of us in California, we are fortunate that many of these policies are already in place, such as:

• Financial incentives - utilities in California pay generous rebates (particularly the small municipal utilities) and these are an important part of the equation.  (As for those who complain about subsidies, the authors note that between 2002 and 2008, the fossil fuel industry received some $72 billion in subsidies from the federal government compared with $29 billion for all renewables - and the bulk of that went to subsidize corn ethanol.)  
  Incentives can include:
  • Rebates
  • Tax credits
  • Feed-in tariffs
• Putting a price on global warming pollution - increasing the cost of such emissions would make conventional energy generators incorporate the true cost of the power that they produce.  That in turn would improve the financial benefit of alternative energy sources such as solar.
• Renewable Electricity Standards - as utilities are required to get more of their electricity from renewable sources, a specific solar carve-out could spur investment in solar facilities.
• Government purchasing requirements - like RES’s but these require the federal government to get increasing shares of its energy from renewables, especially solar.
• Municipal or PACE financing - as with California’s AB 811 Program, PACE funding (for Property-Assessed Clean Energy) allows municipal entities to use their bond issuing power to provide loans to property owners to install clean energy systems, including solar.  The cost is then assessed against the property and payments are made annually as part of the property tax bill.  (For earlier posts on AB 811, see here.)
• Federal Renewable Energy Bonds - are another vehicle for securing low-cost financing for solar projects.
• Public education and outreach - since “going solar” starts with “learning about solar,” more is needed in this area - hence this blog!

The authors present their information in a straight-forward and matter-of-fact style that makes its vision both bold and believable.   This is a must-read for legislators and policy-makers throughout America.