"Cracking the code" on residential solar

September 27, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

A new report issued by the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) and SmartPower, a non-profit that engages communities in energy efficiency and clean energy to promote behavior change, reveals a way to reduce the soft costs that have traditionally been an obstacle to residential solar power. The report calls the model "proven" for dramatically reducing the cost barrier that has stood in the way of wide-scale adoption of residential solar power in the United States.

Credit: United States Dept. of Agriculture

The cost of the hardware required for residential solar power has declined significantly in recent years, but a way to reign in solar soft costs has remained elusive. The report concludes that it is possible reduce those soft costs and make residential solar power attractive not only to those who are naturally drawn to alternative energy sources but also to those who simply want to stabilize their energy costs.

The report details the results of Phase 1 of Solarize Connecticut -- a partnership between CEFIA and SmartPower as part of the Energize Connecticut initiative -- over a 20-week four-town initiative to advance the adoption of residential solar photovoltaic systems by lowering acquisition costs and making solar more affordable to residents using the Solarize model.

The rate of adoption for residential solar installations over 20 weeks was between 24 and 64 times greater than the previous seven years, and more than 2 MW of new solar photovoltaic capacity was deployed across the four communities -- close to triple that of the preceding seven years.

The average Solarize customer saved approximately $7500 on their system compared to current market averages and drops were realized in customer acquisition costs, with "all in" costs of approximately $135 per kW -- significantly less than the industry average of $670/kW.

The Solarize model consists of the four key components: 1) Tiered group buying discounts, resulting in a continuous drop in pricing as more customers sign up; 2) Outreach provided by participating towns and volunteers; 3) Competitively-selected solar installers, using pre-approved equipment; 4) An end date for the offer, motivating customers to take action.

"We think we've cracked the code for residential solar power," said Brian F. Keane, president of SmartPower. "It shows that the costs of acquiring solar power systems can be reduced to a level where public demand increases significantly and even includes those who had not expected to be interested."

A second phase in five additional communities was recently completed. Official results are pending. However, preliminary results reveal that approximately 175 contracts were executed, with each town seeing more than twice as many residential solar installations as they had in the last seven years. Phase three is currently underway.

For more:
- see this report

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/cracking-code-residential-solar/2013-09-27