Forget Solar Incentives Think Solar Initiatives

In 2010, the SunShot Initiative fueled renewable energy growth while moving away from solar incentives and working toward solar initiatives.

Scientists driven to increasing efficiency rates and making technology advancements whilst businesses and residents were being egged on to install solar by solar incentives were previously propelling the solar industry. The SunShot Initiative set out to make solar power cost-competitive with traditional energy sources, without solar incentives by 2020. It’s no surprise then that while the price of installing solar power has been declining, solar incentives provided through state governments and utility companies have been dropping off substantially when compared to those from ten years ago. This data comes from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab who surveyed eighty percent of all U.S. residential and non-residential photovoltaic systems.

Are Solar Incentives Dead?

While, in general, solar incentives are trending downward, some states are still pushing for new programs to sustain renewable energy growth to restore shrinking businesses and fuel job growth.

Not too long ago, New Jersey was second in the country as a solar state; the state is now in seventh place. To give the states solar industry another boost, New Jersey Assemblyman Tim Eustace wants to jumpstart New Jersey’s fading solar energy effort with new incentives for areas of the state where solar is most needed. Under his bill, homeowners and businesses in five areas of New Jersey where electric grid congestion is at its worst would be offered a 15 percent incentive to install a solar system, and $1.50 per watt of energy produced by that system.

New Jersey’s incentives fit nicely in with the executive actions and private sector commitments President Obama recently announced. These initiatives will not only continue to promote the use and development of smart, simple, low-cost technologies to help Americans save on their energy bills, but they will also help enable all income classes access to solar while helping the country transition to cleaner, and more distributed energy resources.

Miller Bros. Solar (MBS) is a chosen leader in operations and maintenance (O&M) solutions due to the company’s project expertise, full construction capabilities, and 160+ pieces of heavy equipment. MBS is one of the few electrical contractors that can simultaneously self-perform multiple utility scale solar projects while exceeding client expectations, controlling costs and adhering to timelines and customer schedules.

Miller Bros. Solar provides O&M services for solar projects in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

For more information, visit http://millerbrossolar.com or call 610-832-1000.