The drought for community solar, rooftop solar, and home energy storage that began with increasing tariffs and regulatory changes to California’s solar program could be coming to an end thanks to the $7 billion Solar For All initiative announced by the Environmental Protection Agency on Earth Day.
The EPA’s $7 billion Solar For All program is set to have a transformative impact on the U.S. solar industry, benefiting companies involved in residential and community solar projects. This initiative is designed to extend the reach of solar energy to low-income and disadvantaged communities by providing funding to states, tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits to deploy or expand solar energy systems.
Companies that specialize in the manufacture and installation of solar panels, batteries, and home power management businesses, as well as those involved in community solar projects, are likely to see significant opportunities.
These are energy storage businesses like Lunar Energy and Span.io or ConnectDER, which make home energy management and battery equipment. The dirty secret of many homes in the U.S. is that they’re not equipped for solar energy installations and those installations can come with pricey upgrades to electrical panels or systems to support the new equipment.
Companies like Span.io, Lunar, and ConnectDER allow homes to manage new electrical demand and production from solar without the need for expensive utility upgrades, according to the businesses.
Meanwhile, community solar developers will see a boost in activity thanks to the Solar For All campaign’s infusion of cash specifically for these projects across all 50 states.
In its market outlook for 2023, the Solar Energy Industry Association predicted 8% groowth in the community solar market from 2024 to 2028, but those projections could not fully take into account the infusions of cash directly from the Solar For All program.
The EPA estimates that the 60 Solar for All recipients will enable over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed solar energy, according to a statement. And the program will reduce 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions cumulatively, from over four gigawatts of solar energy capacity unlocked for low-income communities over five years, the agency said. Furthermore, these solar and distributed energy resources help improve electric grid reliability and climate resilience, which is especially important in disadvantaged communities that have long been underserved.
To learn how your company may benefit from these incentive programs and other federal financing options, reach out to Energy Transition Finance.
