Report shines light on solar benefits

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2015/06/report_shines_light_on_solar_benefits



RISING SUN: A worker installs rooftop solar panels. The solar industry supports more than 12,000 jobs in Massachusetts and offers other benefits as well.

Report shines light on solar benefits
Marie Szaniszlo
Thursday, June 25, 2015

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The benefits of the solar industry, which supports more than 12,000 jobs in the state, include lowered demand for electricity from the grid at times when the price is higher, avoided investments in costly transmission and generation infrastructure, and reductions in fossil fuel emissions, according to the report. The report, citing a study, claims solar panels return 29 cents per kilowatt hour in benefits, compared to the 17 cent-per-KWH average cost of retail electricity.

“Shining Rewards: The Value of Rooftop Solar Power for Consumers and Society” analyzes 11 studies on the benefits and costs of solar, and concludes that net meter­ing is a fair way to compensate solar panel owners for the electricity they provide to the grid.

But in March, a state cap on the program was hit for about half of Massachusetts’ cities and towns, preventing many local governments, businesses and nonprofits from being able to install solar­ panels.

In an email yesterday, Billy Pitman, a spokesman for Gov. Charlie Baker, said: “While the administration does not support raising the net metering caps without long-term sustainable solutions, we are committed to using the recommendations and analysis we have to reform the solar incentive system in a manner that balances the commonwealth’s solar market and achieves the state’s solar objectives.”