Article originally published by on www.pv-magazine.com in July 8th 2015.
The White House plan
involves issuing guidelines to low housing authorities explaining how they can
access monies from a $520 million pot of capital from local governments, social
impact investors and foundations, and use it to expand solar power access and
community solar programs.
White House outlines proposals to install more solar panels on more than 50,000 low-income households with the use of $520 million of federal money.
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| The White House program will steer $520 million in federal funding towards the installation of 300 MW of solar PV across low-income and community housing. |
In all, around 300 MW
of new solar PV capacity is to be installed under the new proposals, largely
across subsidized housing and public property.
A statement from the
White House said: "The Obama Administration is committed to addressing
climate change, promoting clean energy and creating good paying jobs."
Low-income housing has
so far had just a small role to play in the evolution of the residential solar
industry in the U.S., and currently amounts to less than 100 MW of the total
capacity installed. The plan is to triple that to more than 300 MW with the
installation of around 50,000 individual rooftop systems.
Another part of the
plan is to enlist 200 workers from AmeriCorps – a civil society program that
engages adults in intensive community service work – to help with the
installation of the solar systems.
Solar’s share of the
U.S. energy mix is at around 1%, and the White House is keen to increase more distributed generation.
However, around 50% of U.S. households are theoretically "shut out"
of solar, either because the properties are rented accommodation, the homes are
too small or the homeowners cannot afford to invest.
"We think it is
important for everybody to have access to solar energy and other renewable
technologies both for the energy itself and the cost savings there, and also
the employment opportunities," senior White House climate and energy
advisor Brian Deese told a press conference during the announcement of the
program, which has set a 2020 deadline for the 300 MW target.
Earlier this year, the
Obama Administration pledged to train 75,000 workers in the solar industry, and this latest action is a reminder of the president’s support for
the country’s thriving solar sector.
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