How America is Joining the Solar Movement

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Though solar power has suffered some bad press in the past, these days it seems that America has realized how important it is. Clean energy technology like solar power is indescribably important for the environment, and many American companies and individuals are joining the solar revolution.

The U.S. Government and Solar Market Pathways

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Market Pathways is an incentive which supports 15 SunShot programs. These projects are notable for their plans to spread solar energy further across and throughout the U.S. The aim of Solar Market Pathways is to make solar technology more accessible and more prevalent by helping these projects distribute it in myriad ways.

The awardees are city governments, universities, councils and coalitions, and companies. The Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ultimately wants Solar Market Pathways to fuel even more projects and incentives that learn from and improve on these initial investments.

Homeowners and Solar Panels

Image via Flickr by mikecogh

The government and U.S. companies aren’t the only entities fueling the solar power movement. Homeowners across the country are switching from traditional energy sources to solar power. Over 645,000 residences and businesses in the U.S. were at least partially powered by solar energy in 2014.

California has a significant amount of solar power when compared with the rest of the country, but that doesn’t mean other states can’t catch up. More and more individual Americans are joining the solar power movement by installing solar panels on their homes.

The Military and Solar Housing

In 2013, Fort Dix Joint Military Base got a huge solar installation on its housing. The 55,000 photovoltaic panels power about 30 percent of the base’s total housing. Just this year, Fort Huachuca finished and started using their new solar farm, which provides them with a quarter of their total energy needs.

These are just two of many solar initiatives the U.S. Military is undertaking. Fort Irwin, Fort Bliss, Nellis Air Force Base, and China Lake are all undergoing major solar projects to provide them with clean energy, and the U.S. Military is working with private companies to make it happen. SolarCity has a project called SolarStrong, the goal of which is to provide solar power to 120,000 private military housing units over a five-year period.

SolarCity and Cheap Clean Energy

What separates SolarCity from other solar energy companies is the way they do business. Manufacturers have faced business problems because of cheaper solar panels coming from other locations, such as China. Instead of focusing on manufacturing, SolarCity focuses on providing solar panels as a viable energy option for homeowners and businesses.

SolarCity buys and installs solar panels, and they focus on ensuring that solar energy is cheaper for their clients than grid power, which burns fossil fuels and is a huge source of dirty energy. They focus on the technology that’s already available and make it monetarily feasible through financing and more affordable energy costs. Eventually they want to take their model international.

CollectiveSun and Solar for Nonprofits

Image via Flickr by OregonDOT

For a number of reasons, including tax exemption and their small size, nonprofits have a hard time receiving financing from banks. For nonprofits who want to reduce their carbon footprint by installing solar panels, this lack of financing makes it almost impossible to invest in this green energy technology.

A company called CollectiveSun has created a way for nonprofits to find investors in their communities which will essentially finance their solar energy projects. CollectiveSun arranges it so that the nonprofits pay the investors back over a period of several years, and they note many benefits of this system. First, nonprofits save in energy costs, which gives them more money to focus elsewhere. Second, it fosters community involvement, both in the nonprofit and in clean energy.

From startup companies to the U.S. government, American entities are working to ensure that solar power is more accessible across the country. Every step counts, from community involvement and private financing, to large-scale projects, to individuals installing panels on their private homes. The more solar energy powers the U.S., the less dirty energy the country will need.

About Post Author

Abigail Clark

Abigail Clark is an upcoming freelance writer. She graduated from The University of South Florida with a bachelors in marketing, minoring in journalism. When she isn’t up to her neck in coupons she is enjoying the outdoors fishing. She loves doing reviews for technology, home products and beauty products. If you would like her to do a review for you look her up on twitter @downtownabby17.

downtownabby17@gmail.com