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State Policies to Increase Low-Income Communities’ Access to Solar Power

State Policies to Increase Low-Income Communities’ Access to Solar Power

Full Title: State Policies to Increase Low-Income Communities’ Access to Solar Power
Author(s): Ben Bovarnick and Darryl Banks
Publisher(s): Center for American Progress
Publication Date: September 1, 2014
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

Supportive state and national policies for solar power, coupled with more available and affordable technology, have spurred a strong solar market. Residential photovoltaic solar installations increased 60 percent from 2012 to 2013, reaching 792 megawatts of electricity. Market projections of solar panel investments for the first quarter of 2014 anticipate another 60 percent increase in solar installations. Moreover, some analyses project that more than 1 million residential solar installations could be installed by 2017—triple the current market. Over the past year, prices for residential photovoltaic systems fell 7 percent, and installation prices declined in major residential markets, including California, New York, Massachusetts, and Arizona. These factors have resulted in an expansion of solar deployment to middle- and upper-income households. However, the same benefits have not yet accrued for low-income households on a large scale.

Low-income households in the United States spend a higher percentage of household income on energy costs than their higher-income peers: Their energy spending is more than twice the average for non-low-income households—8.3 percent compared to 2.9 percent—and four times the median national household energy cost burden—a median of 13.3 percent compared to 3.3 percent. Access to solar power could significantly reduce the energy burden of low-income households by providing electricity below local utility rates. Furthermore, as residential solar systems become increasingly common and significant sources of renewable energy, policies that increase low-income solar adoption will help alleviate the risk of a so-called electrical divide in which low-income consumers who do not have access to renewable energy sources increasingly carry the burden of financing antiquated utility systems.

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