{"id":1004211168,"date":"2018-03-23T03:15:10","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T11:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004211168"},"modified":"2022-12-08T18:18:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T02:18:55","slug":"how-can-the-solar-industry-benefit-from-pace-financing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/how-can-the-solar-industry-benefit-from-pace-financing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can PACE Financing Boost Solar’s Growth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Justin Dean<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Abigail<\/a>

In her keynote address at the PACENation Summit in Denver, SEIA President & CEO Abigail Hopper talks about the potential of the PACE program to open new markets.<\/p><\/div>\n

Day two of the PACENation Summit kicked off in Denver on March 20 with a keynote address from Abigail Hopper, president & CEO of SEIA, the national trade association for the solar industry. Hopper spoke on the present and future of the solar market before shifting her focus to ways that the solar industry and PACE<\/a> have worked together, and how they can grow and enhance the relationship between the two industries in the future.<\/p>\n

It has been a turbulent year for the solar industry. The current White House is more inclined to support traditional forms of energy, a position made abundantly clear when the Trump Administration announced a 30 percent tariff on solar imports in January of this year. Solar installations fell sharply in 2017, although a hefty portion of that can be attributed to the anticipation of an expiring tax credit that accelerated installation for much of 2016. Hopper also cited a \u201cplaybook on how to undermine solar<\/em>\u201d for the opponents of the solar industry to follow when engaging with state and local governments, which has arisen over the last couple of years. This is to be expected. As solar is beginning to eat into the market share of traditional energy companies, push-back was inevitable.<\/p>\n

Despite all of this, Hopper said she remains \u201cincredibly optimistic<\/em>\u201d about the solar industry, believing it can generate 15 percent of U.S. energy by 2030. Much of this optimism comes from simple economics.\u00a0 Solar installations are moving from a \u201cpolicy-driven energy source to an economic-driven energy source<\/em>,\u201d she said. Prices for photovoltaic (PV) cells have fallen drastically during this decade and are projected to fall further in the future.<\/p>\n

However, there may be more potential for solar price reduction in the so-called \u201csoft costs<\/em>,\u201d which include costs for labor, permitting, marketing, financing, supply chain and overhead. As the industry matures, there is potential for each of these costs to shrink on a per-watt-generated average as methods are standardized, new efficiencies are discovered and economies of scale are realized. The costs of solar projects as a whole should continue to decline and benefits grow due to increases in the storage capacity of batteries. Currently, in both single and multifamily residential solar projects, most of the electricity is generated during the day, when it is sunny but people are at work. As storage capacity of batteries rises, so does the potential for a solar project to save the electricity generated during the day for the evening, when people consume most of their residential electricity.<\/p>\n

Proactive Pursuits<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hopper listed the three key areas where the industry must be proactive to ensure that solar achieves a 15 percent market share by 2030:<\/p>\n