DOE Announces $27 Million to Reduce Costs of Solar Energy Projects & Streamline Permitting and Installations
June 15, 2011
The U.S. Department of Energy has just made a major move to boost America’s transition to clean energy. Today, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a $27 million investment aimed at reducing costs for solar energy projects and streamlining the permitting and installation processes. This funding represents a significant step forward in making solar power more accessible and affordable for American homeowners and businesses.
Breaking Down the Cost Barriers
The DOE’s new initiative directly targets one of the biggest obstacles to widespread solar adoption: non-hardware costs. While the price of solar panels has dropped dramatically in recent years, these “soft costs” still account for up to 40% of the total expense of a rooftop solar energy system. These costs include permitting, installation, design, and maintenance.
“Even as the cost of solar panels continues to fall, we need to tackle these soft costs to make solar fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources,” Secretary Chu explained during today’s announcement. Moreover, he emphasized that streamlining the permitting process could significantly reduce the time and expense of solar installations.
The funding will support the DOE’s SunShot Initiative, which aims to reduce the total costs of solar energy by 75% before the end of the decade. Consequently, this would make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity without subsidies.
Rooftop Solar Made Easier
A major portion of the new funding—$12.5 million—will go toward the Rooftop Solar Challenge. This challenge encourages cities, states, and regions to compete to streamline and standardize permitting processes, zoning, connection to the electric grid, and financing for residential rooftop solar installations.
The challenge will create a race to the top among local jurisdictions, with the goal of making solar installations faster, easier, and cheaper for homeowners and small businesses. Furthermore, successful models can then be replicated across the country, creating a more uniform and efficient approach to solar deployment.
“The process of installing solar varies greatly across jurisdictions, and can be a major headache for homeowners and businesses,” said a DOE spokesperson. “By standardizing these processes, we’re removing one of the significant barriers to solar adoption.”
Supporting Solar Industry Growth
The remaining $14.5 million will go toward improving tools and processes that reduce non-hardware costs, making the U.S. solar industry more competitive internationally. This includes developing software tools to streamline the application process and creating standardized design tools for solar installers.
Additionally, the funding will support training programs to develop a skilled workforce for the growing solar industry. As a result, more Americans will be able to find jobs in this expanding green energy sector.
“The solar industry already employs more than 100,000 Americans and is one of the fastest-growing sectors of our economy,” Secretary Chu noted. “These investments will help ensure American workers and businesses maintain a competitive edge in this rapidly advancing market.”
What This Means for Consumers
For the average homeowner considering solar, this initiative promises to make the process less complicated and less expensive in the coming years. Presently, the permitting process alone can add weeks to a solar installation timeline and thousands of dollars to the total cost.
By standardizing these processes across jurisdictions, the DOE hopes to make going solar as straightforward as any other home improvement project. Subsequently, more Americans will be able to take advantage of this clean, renewable energy source.
“When we remove these bureaucratic obstacles, we’re not just making life easier for solar companies—we’re helping American families save money on their energy bills while reducing their environmental impact,” said a solar industry representative.
The DOE expects that successful implementation of these programs could cut the non-hardware costs of solar installations by up to 50%. Therefore, this would represent a major step toward achieving the SunShot Initiative’s goal of making solar energy cost-competitive with conventional energy sources by 2020.
