This action addresses programs that municipalities can support to engage residents and businesses in adopting solar power. Solar power is safe, reliable, and affordable. One of the obstacles to widespread adoption of solar is lack of information and lack of trust in a relatively new technology. Municipal efforts can overcome these obstacles by enabling members of the community to more easily find trusted information, trusted contractors, and in some cases, band together to get better deals. The municipal role can include outreach, education, marketing, incentives to promote solar, and organizing group purchasing programs. The fundamental characteristic common to these programs is the leadership role of the local municipality, which lends legitimacy to the program, by participating in the NJ Board of Public Utilities Community Solar Pilot Program, implementing a Community-Led Solar Purchasing Program, and/or undertaking at least one outreach activity to promote solar AND offering at least one incentive for solar. Community-led solar initiatives involve active participation of Green Teams and/or local civic or neighborhood organizations. Having municipal support is key to building the community’s trust in the program. 

Why is it important? 

Advancing adoption of solar energy is one of the most impactful strategies available for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making the energy supply more sustainable. Solar energy brings numerous economic, social, and health benefits, and can contribute to the creation of local jobs. Residential solar energy can reduce monthly utility costs for homeowners and renters alike. When residents or business owners purchase a solar system, they become eligible for various incentives and tax credits (these change over time but your partners will have the latest offerings). Small businesses that install solar can take the investment tax credit and utilize MACRS, which provides immediate tax savings, while enjoying reduced utility costs.

Community-led solar initiatives address one of the key obstacles to increasing solar power generation: the significant hurdles in terms of time and risk for an individual home or business owner to install solar. Communities can take the lead in making it easier and safer to contract for solar power. They can utilize the legitimacy and capacity of local government to enable large numbers of community members to band together to get the best deal from installers. Because community-led initiatives feature significant marketing and community outreach, installers are able to focus on core business transactions, thus saving time and money for both themselves and their customers. These savings can be offered back in the form of incentives and discounts on solar installations. Community-led solar initiatives are often structured as a "limited time only" offer for customers, a well-established marketing technique to drive consumer interest, and, importantly, decision-making. Many programs offer increasing discounts as more customers sign contracts for installations. Community-led solar initiatives have been successful around the country in creating momentum for increased adoption of solar energy both during and after the program. See the Resources section for examples of these programs.

Community-led solar initiatives can contribute to increasing the "energy literacy" of everyone in the community. Targeted outreach and educational events help business owners and homeowners alike think more about the energy they use and ways to reduce their energy use. Engaging local financial institutions early in planning for such programs can help ensure that financing products are available to enable the greatest number of residents and businesses to adopt solar. Partnering with multifamily building owners, including property managers for low income multifamily dwellings, can broaden the audience and contribute to adoption of solar for those who don’t own their own property. Multi-family building owners can reduce utility costs for shared spaces such as exterior lighting and residential laundry facilities, for example.

According to a recent report by the George Washington Solar Institute (GWSI), the growth of the solar industry will be limited if low income households, including renters and those living in multifamily dwellings, are not included in renewable energy programs. Low income residences account for less than 5% of solar installations, demonstrating the market potential of programs that provide incentives, rebates, and discounts as well as financing options to reach all members of the community. Programs that provide access to financing, as well as job training opportunities for the local community can help to bridge this solar gap and bring the benefits of renewable energy both to individual households as well as to the entire community.

Types of Solar Technologies

Solar Thermal

At this time, solar thermal (solar hot water system) is a more affordable option than solar photovoltaic (solar PV), with a return on investment in as little as 3-6 years, the lowest of any solar technology. Water heating and space heating account for 17% and 43%, respectively, of residential energy use. A recent report from the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests that solar water heating technology has the potential to reduce household energy consumption by 50% or more. Businesses that use large quantities of hot water such as laundromats, restaurants, and hotels can also reap dramatic cost savings from solar water heating.

Solar thermal systems are generally smaller than solar PV systems, and can thus be used when the available space is limited. An average residential solar thermal system will consist of 1 to 3 solar collectors, each being about 20-30 sq ft in size. Mid-level and high-rise multi-family dwellings can benefit from solar thermal installations on their rooftops, especially if the available rooftop area may be too small to host a sufficiently large solar photovoltaic system to serve the electrical needs of the building.

For more information on solar thermal system types and components, see the Resources section of this action.

Solar Photovoltaic (Solar PV)

Solar photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. The solar cells are made of a thin film of silicon assembled into modules or panels holding a number of cells. The PV panels are connected with each other to form an array. This modular structure allows for variability in how large a solar installation is, since the system can be designed to contain the number of panels that are best suited to the roof surface available. Solar PV systems have a number of components, from the racking and mounting system that attaches the panels to the roof, to inverters that convert the direct current (DC) electricity produced by the panels into alternating current (AC) used by household appliances.

Electricity produced by solar panels can be sold back to the utility via "net-metering" if all of the energy is not utilized on-site at the time it is produced. A solar PV system cannot produce more than 100% of the energy needs of the property on an annual basis. (For example, it is likely that more than 100% of needed energy will be produced in some months, while in other months, the system will not produce 100% of energy needs, resulting in a net balance credited to the utility account.) An additional financial benefit for customers who own their solar installation is the generation of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs). While the prices of SRECs vary from year to year, the owner of the solar system qualifies for SRECs for the first 15 years during which the system is operational. During 2015-2016, the average SREC price was $200 per MWh of electricity produced. One SREC equals 1 MWh of electricity. A typical family residence would use approximately 3-4 MWh of electricity per year.