Residential Solar Trends and Solarize in New York

Transcription

1 Residential Solar Trends and Solarize in New York Successes, Next Steps, and Why 2015 is on Track to be the Best Year Yet for Residential Solar Adam Flint, Program Manager, Southern Tier Solar Works, Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition (BRSC) Melissa Kemp, Program Director, Solar Tompkins

2 New York has a rapidly growing solar market. After years of being the 9 th or 10 th state in the US, its working to be in the top 5 in the country. New York has about 350 MW of installed solar PV to date across the state 0.5% of electricity usage. Current Context NY Sun is the state-lead initiative to develop at least 3,000 MW of new solar PV in New York in the next 5 years

3 NY has a good solar resource, and strong policies and financial incentives supporting solar, but the NY residential and commercial solar markets are still growing slightly more slowly than other states and countries. Upstate NY in particular is in need of a strong and sustained market boost to move to scale. For comparison, California the leading solar state in the US with double NY s population currently has 8,544 MW of solar (compared to NY s 350 MW).

4 500 Solar PV Installed Per Person Through 2014 (W/Person) Tompkins County New York California Germany

5 100.org We need a faster rate than this to be on any serious track of achieving the plan of 100% renewable energy by 2050, which is needed to address the serious climate and sustainability problems we re facing. In order for New York to reach 100% renewable energy by 2050, solar PV needs to make up around 40% of New York s energy supply and that will require over 150,000 MW of solar PV.

6 Residential Trends Rapid drop in solar prices across all sectors (66% from 2008 to 2013) Level prices now but continued efforts to reduce soft costs including Solarize programs. Direct incentives and tax breaks exist now, but not indefinitely and are decreasing, particularly after Only regions that act will benefit.

7 Incentives currently cover around 60% of system costs. These policies are evolving from incentive programs to truly valuing the benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency in our rate structures. There are a large and growing number of long term financing options for solar requiring no upfront investment and that result in a monthly cost competitive with what families are paying for conventional electricity. Community shared solar is underway and is expected to formally be approved in 2015.

8 What is Solarize? Solarize Programs work to eliminate the few remaining barriers to solar adoption by providing: Attractive 20% lower-than-market pricing that decreases another 10% through a tier structure as more people go solar through the program A simple process with vetted technology and installation partners County-wide educational outreach events on the affordability and accessibility of solar PV and how it works A community-wide program with deadlines to build enthusiasm and generate the impetus for adoption now!

9 History and Success Solarize has a proven track record of permanently boosting the level of solar adoption in regions across the country. Data out of NREL and DOE show changes in long term behavior Developed by DOE to simplify the process, and reduce costs. Started in in Portland. Moved next to MA, CT, and NY Madison 2012 first, 2013 Solar Tompkins SE, Brooklyn

10 Solar Tompkins 2014 Large county-wide program 60 events, 1325 families enrolled, and 400 families went solar totaling over 3 MW Well exceeded our goal of doubling the amount of residential solar in Tompkins County in 2014 Multiple installer and local carve-out design resulted in many economic benefits and over 40 new jobs

11 Formed Solar Tompkins Board of Directors to develop and administer program - volunteer representatives from each of the 10 towns/city, one from Tompkins Planning Dept, and one from Cornell Cooperative Extension Had early meeting with potential installers, learned that the size, in terms of geography (over 300,000 acres) and number of installations ( ), did not fit solarize model easily How to achieve big goals and still make it easy for consumers while not hurting local installers? Wrestled with this for 6 months before moving ahead and hiring Program Director to work with installers to find solution Incredibly fortunate to find former installer with relationships in community

12

13

14 Southern Tier Solar Works 2014 STSW is a program of the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition (BRSC) First solarize program in Broome/Tioga 18 events, 996 participants, 252 families enrolled, and 46 families went solar totaling over 385 KW Exceeded our goal of doubling the amount of residential solar in the two counties over the previous year. Renewable NY SE Awarded $1.85m Cleaner Greener Communities grant to build solar & energy efficiency market, and create clean energy education & careers pathway featuring our solar OJT and Energy Corp Internship programs

15 STSW PROGRAM LAUNCH

16 Our First Installation is launched!

17 What s Next in 2015 Community Solar NY launched in late 2014 Over a dozen large programs proposed in New York in 2015 Southern Tier Solar Works launches Solarize Southern Tier East in late March in Broome, Tioga, Chenango, Delaware and Otsego Counties with a goal of doubling existing residential solar pv in one year. BRSC has partnered with Taitem Engineering, TRC and Huron to study, design and build a microgrid in Endicott through NY Prize BRSC and our partners are promoting K-solar schools program with a webinar on March 11, 9am, and through BOCES superintendents. BRSC will continue working with SUNY Best and other partners stakeholders to promote cleantech research, development, manufacturing and adoption as a core strategic economic and employment driver in our region.

18 2015 Regional Solarize Programs in Solarize CNY Upstate NY Solarize Southern Tier East Solarize Buffalo Solarize Southern Tier West Solarize Fingerlakes Solarize Ulster

19 What s Next for Solar Tompkins Solar Tompkins will be launching a Renewable Heating and Building Efficiency Program in this same Solarize model in 2015 Home heating is the largest part of an average family s home energy usage in Tompkins County Program will focus on ground source and air source heatpumps, and building insulation and air-sealing

20 The renewable heating and home energy performance industry needs the same simplification, standardization, and cost reduction improvements as solar, and in some senses even more work is needed The timing of this would coincide perfectly with important events currently going on in and around Tompkins County including decisions about whether to expand fossil fuel infrastructure and the development of the County Energy Roadmap

21 Ways to Get Involved Advocacy on the key 2015 state policy issues mentioned above via your legislators, contacts in the Governor s Office, or the Public Service Commissioners and Staff Support of local Solarize programs Support of smart local zoning and building permit requirements for solar Provide land for solar development Invest in large-scale solar projects Work with us to build the regional clean tech economy

22 Questions and Contact Info Questions? More information is available on our websites and Please also feel free to contact us directly with any questions or interest Adam Flint, Program Manager, Southern Tier Solar Works, BRSC, Melissa Kemp, Program Director, Solar Tompkins