PV is short for Photovoltaics, an advanced energy technology that converts solar energy into electricity. If New York adopts the right supportive policies today, PV will play an increasingly significant role in meeting our growing energy demand and addressing a number of our most chronic environmental and quality of life challenges.
I Heart PV is a citizen-led, grassroots advocacy campaign that seeks to drive legislative and regulatory support for the development of clean, renewable photovoltaic power in the world’s greatest city and throughout the Empire State.
Building the Grassroots Groundwork for
An Empire State Solar Initiative.
I Heart PV is helping lead a statewide effort to make New York State a national leader in solar adoption and development. Be a part of the effort!
THE NEW YORK SOLAR INITIATIVE: A BLUEPRINT TO MOVE SOLAR INTO THE MAINSTREAM.
New York State’s large population, ample sunlight, progressive values, high electricity costs and dynamic base of hi-tech and research and development industries place it in a strong position to become a national leader in solar photovoltaic adoption and industrial development. However, the state currently lacks a longterm policy blueprint that would effectively establish its leadership in the emerging clean energy economy.
Recent legislative victories in the New York State Legislature have delivered both expanded net metering for large commercial and industrial properties, as well as a special property tax abatement for owners of solar systems in New York City. These positive steps forward will spur solar growth rates in the short term, and help open the door for more in-state solar power capacity and business development.
However, moving solar into the mainstream, making it cost-competitive with conventional electricity sources, and establishing a robust solar industry here in New York will only occur if strong, sustained incentives are introduced. States such as California, Colorado and New Jersey have or are in the process of advancing different versions of such a blueprint, but New York has not. As a result, the state’s natural competitive advantages remain under-exploited, while other regions are taking the lead.
To help bring the Empire State to the forefront of solar implementation, this summer I Heart PV is launching the New York Solar Initiative campaign. This new effort aims to build public and political support for an extensive, 10-year rebate initiative that would:
1. Scale the state’s solar capacity up to 2000 megawatts from a current level of approximately 15megawatts. Solar would then constitute 5% of New York’s electricity supply. Today solar photovoltaics contribute a mere .02% of the city’s total electricity supply. (Source: New York City’s Solar Energy Future, Pt. I (2006). The City University of New York).
2. Establish New York as a regional center for solar business, industry and research and development.
3. Make solar cost competitive with conventional electricity sources within a decade.
A TEN-YEAR SOLAR INCENTIVE INITIATIVE
Such a rebate initiative would augment and expand the state’s existing program. Rebates would help buy down the upfront cost of solar for would-be owners of various property types and sizes. As the overall amount of solar installed throughout the state increased, the market price would continue to drop, as has been the trend internationally. As costs dropped, so too would the size of the rebates. At the end of the ten-year period, rebates would be discontinued as the price of solar would have reached or exceeded cost-competitiveness with conventional fossil fuel and nuclear sources of electricity.
In order to bring about such a dramatic increase in solar capacity in New York State, the resources to fund the rebate program must be sufficiently large and made available for a sustained period of time. Funds would be raised through the addition of a special ratepayer fee added to monthly electricity bills. To create a pool of resources that would be adequate to reach the New York Solar Initiative’s ten-year goal, it is estimated that the total cost per individual ratepayer would not exceed $10 per year.
