Posted on 02/27/2014 12:55:02 PM PST by Theoria
Someone is installing a solar power system in the U.S. every four minutes. Generous state and federal tax credits for hooking up solar panels on roofs or in fields make solar energy attractive to homeowners and businesses.
Another bonus is that those who generate solar energy can roll over what they don’t use as credit against their next utility bills, like rollover minutes on a cellphone bill, or sell excess energy back to the utilities.
Utility companies aren’t happy.
As the solar industry thrives, states are bracing for more showdowns this year between solar advocates and utility companies over how to balance reimbursing those who generate solar energy with supporting the country’s power grid.
The battles are heating up in sun-soaked states like California, Arizona and Hawaii where solar projects are surging, but also in less expected places, such as Kansas and North Carolina.
Driving the debate is the rapid growth in solar installations, up 76 percent in 2012 from 2011, according to the most recent data available from the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Solar is still a small piece of the energy pie in the U.S., at around 1 percent of total energy produced. Just four states accounted for more than two-thirds of grid-connected solar system installations in 2011: Arizona, California, New Jersey and New Mexico.
New Jersey, while not considered as sunny as other states, has one of the most aggressive renewable portfolio standards in the country. The state, for example, requires suppliers and providers to procure at least 4.1 percent of sales from qualifying solar electric generation facilities by the year 2028.
(Excerpt) Read more at redding.com ...
Great info and sharing your post.
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