Effective Residential Solar Energy Incentive Policies in the United States

 

James T. Clemens
Dr. Christine Harker and Dr. Bridget Thomas, Faculty Mentors

In recent years, residential solar photovoltaic energy has become one of the fastest-growing parts of the New Renewable Energy (NRE) market. This growth, however, does not occur without economic support in the form of government policy. In order to keep solar power competitive in the United States, federal and state governments have implemented different policies to encourage the development of the solar industry. This paper examines several different federal and state policies intended to expand the production and installation of solar photovoltaic power for residential consumption. Using examples such as Property-Assessed Clean Energy in California, I will analyze how geographic, political, economic, and demographic characteristics influence the success of such policies and produce a recommendation as to which policies are best equipped to equitably expand the nation’s residential solar photovoltaic capacity.

Keywords: Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Policy, Government Subsidies

Topic(s):Interdisciplinary Studies
Environmental Studies
Political Science

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA