Success Story Of Residential Solar Massachusetts
With solar energy being the buzz word everywhere Massachusetts has taken up efforts and a number of initiatives to make it a reality among the maximum number of its residences.
To motivate themselves first for the Residential Solar Massachusetts, the state has set a goal of installing 250 MW solar power systems by the year 2017 which would be further enhanced to 500 MW by the year 2020.
To pitch in more investors into switching over to solar energy rebates are being provided by the state for the installations. The first of its kind was launched in 2007 through a program named Commonwealth Solar Rebate Program with a budget of $68 million. The response from residents for switching over to Residential Solar Massachusetts was so overwhelming that the fund was utilized within a span of 2 years.
The other attraction for Residential Solar Massachusetts comes by way of SREC Program. Under this, every house owner who are into generating solar energy would receive Solar Renewable Energy Credits. 1 MWH (Mega Watt Per hour) generation would attract one SREC. These credits can be sold out on the SREC market.
Who would buy these SREC?
Electricity suppliers have been given a target of generating solar energy. In case they fail to achieve this target they are to pay a penalty called the Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP). To avoid such penalty, these electricity suppliers buy the SREC from the Residential Solar Massachusetts for a certain price.
What would be the price?
There is no fixed price. The price keeps fluctuating and the factors influencing the price are market availability and SACP Price.
The next interesting initiative is the net metering policy. Under this, when the Residential Solar Massachusetts generation is more than the required amount, the electric meter begins to run backward. This helps in reducing the customer's electricity bill which is reflected at the end of the month. This facility is available for those who have installed solar energy systems and is capped at 2 MW. The net metering rate for such credits was initially set at the wholesale price but to attract more customers into using clean renewable energy it has been set at a price that is close to the retail rates.
It also has the facility of carrying forward the credits and roll over to the next month.
All these initiatives and efforts to implement Residential Solar Massachusetts has gone far to make it a successful project and today, Massachusetts boasts of being one of the state with the highest rate of alternative energy generation and reduced environmental pollution.
