3 straight years of job growth, SRECs at an all-time high, and nearly 500 MW of solar installed!

by Jackson Kusiak

Before Solar States was founded in 2008, there was less than 1 MW of solar installed in the entire state of Pennsylvania¹. Despite the challenges of a tough market, Solar States was founded in Philadelphia with the idea that we need to be installing solar locally, creating good jobs for our city, and educating the next generation of solar professionals to grow the green economy. Over the last decade, we have come a long way towards achieving that goal! 

As of 2020, there are almost 500MW of solar installed in Pennsylvania², and Philadelphia was named one of the fastest growing solar cities in the country³! Since 2008, Solar States has installed over 500 Residential and Commercial solar projects, totaling 7.1 MW! In addition, we have graduated dozens of classes of solar installers through our solar training programs. (Learn more about our solar training classes Here.)

Net Metering – Laying the Foundation for Solar in PA

Installing solar in Pennsylvania is a great value to home and business owners. This is largely due to legislation called “Net Metering” which makes utility companies credit you for energy you send to the grid! This allows solar to pay itself off and generate tens of thousands of dollars in energy savings over the life of the system. 

After your solar installation, your utility company will install a bi-directional meter. This means, as you generate solar electricity and push it out to the grid your meter will spin backwards! You will get credited at a 1:1 ratio for any electric generation under 100% of your usage⁴. 

Across the state, electricity rates continue to rise as the cost of coal of nuclear power increases⁵. In addition, Pennsylvania energy companies are doubling down on their investments in the fracking industry and making costly infrastructure changes to grow the share of the electricity market generated by natural gas. These dirty industries are polluting our water, destroying PA’s natural resources and they’re making us pay for it! 

Solar power gives us a way out. You can create your own electricity with free energy from the sun, own your personal solar power plant, and stop paying for dirty energy. With Net Metering, as these electric rates increase, solar systems pay themselves off even quicker! This makes solar a fantastic investment for your pocketbook and for the planet!

Solar Incentives – SRECs and the ITC

One of the main reasons solar has been growing so rapidly in PA is the state-mandated incentives known as SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates). In 2019, SREC values hit an all time high ($45/SREC)! An SREC is produced every time a solar system produces a MWh of electricity. An average customer could make between $200-$400 per year on SREC’s, meaning that it’s possible to make thousands of dollars on SRECs over the life of a system!

It is important for state and local incentives to grow as the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) drops from 30% in 2019 to 26% in 2020. The ITC will continue to step down, if the Federal government doesn’t take some action to reinstate it. If we want our society to transition to renewable energy, we need our government to help make solar affordable to home and business owners. Statewide action to increase SREC values will help fill in the gaps, but can’t replace decisive action from the Federal government!

Raise Up the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard!

SREC values are determined by PA state legislation known as the AEPS (Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard). The current AEPS law set the target of 18% renewable energy resources by 2020 with a carve out for solar of 0.5%. By any account, this a VERY low target for solar energy production. Looking at neighboring states, PA is lagging far behind. For example, New Jersey’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) set a target of 22.5% of electric generation from renewable sources, with 5.1% coming from solar by 2021. This has driven a huge growth in the solar industry in New Jersey⁶. This program is set to change in New Jersey in June of 2020 to create a new renewable energy target for the next decade. We know that ultimately, we need to transition to 100% renewable energy to avoid catastrophic climate change! This means we have to raise up these renewable energy standards across the country if we hope to move towards that goal!

There are currently two bills being considered by the Pennsylvania legislature which would increase the AEPS. Our goal is to push for 30% Renewable energy by 2030 with a 10% Carveout for Solar. The bills (SB600 and HB1195) would push for that AEPS goal and would grow the renewable energy industry considerably. If these bills were to be passed, it is likely that the value of SRECs would more than DOUBLE in PA.

Thousand of New Jobs in the Green Collar Economy

In a state that is desperately in need of good jobs, solar jobs have been growing across the state of Pennsylvania. Even as solar jobs declined nationwide, in Pennsylvania, solar jobs climbed by about 10 percent, from 3,848 in 2017 to 4,219 in 2018⁷. This was the third consecutive year of job growth in the industry in Pennsylvania.

Picture Source: The Solar Foundation http://www.thesolarfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/TSF_Pennsylvania_State-Fact-Sheet-2018.pdf

Pennsylvania added more than 1150 solar industry jobs over two years, outpacing growth in other energy industries like coal. The Philadelphia area has seen the majority of that growth, and Solar States is proud to say that we have been at the forefront of growing the solar industry and training people for these jobs! As we move these renewable energy bills forward and push for a Just Transition, we are excited to see solar deployed throughout the state and tens of thousands of good jobs be created in the process! 

A Just Transition to a Renewable Energy Future!

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to go solar for their home and business and we know that we have the know-how right here in our city to deploy this technology and build the renewable energy future we deserve! After centuries of being an energy producing state for the coal, oil, gas, and nuclear industries – we are ready to power up our society on the free resources all around us – the sun, the wind and the water. We know that we can transition our economy to renewable energy and re-train and employ people in the Green Collar Economy. Now is the time to invest in solar and speed up a Just Transition to a renewable energy future!

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Pennsylvania
2. https://www.seia.org/sites/default/files/2019-06/Factsheet_Pennsylvania.pdf
3. https://www.ohmhomenow.com/las-vegas-miami-top-ohm-analytics-2017-fastest-growing-solar-cities-list/
4. If you exceed 100% of your consumption, you will only be credited for the “Generation Rate” (typically about half of the combined Distribution/Generation Rate).
5. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=19&t=3
6. https://www.state.nj.us/dep/aqes/opea-renewable-portfolio.html
7. https://www.pennlive.com/life/2019/02/where-does-pennsylvania-rank-in-solar-jobs.html