There’s also the value of word-of-mouth marketing, which is more effective than corporate advertising in getting people to go solar, according to a growing body of research. Solar adoption has also increased through what research has identified as that“solar contagion” effect — seeing the panels spring up on neighbors’ houses can increase local adoption rates by significant margins.
Consumer protection, consumer education
In addition to lowering solar costs and encouraging higher adoption rates, a well-designed cooperative solar program should also provide consumer protection, Mitchell said. that“We help people every step of the way,” he says, from understanding how laws and regulations in their region affect the economics of rooftop solar to how to combine competing proposals. installer.
Dallefeld agrees with that that“having another intermediary with the installers” helps give customers more confidence in the deals they make. that“It’s the Wild West with solar — people are knocking on doors, selling,” he said, referring to the door-to-door sales tactics that drive a significant portion of the residential solar business— that’s in the US.
“[If] you’re signing up someone who knocks on your door, it’s a crapshoot,” he said. that“If they don’t do due diligence, the customer could lose out. If you have co-ops popping up everywhere and setting standards, you’re less of a dark horse solar industry.
That’s especially true in Puerto Rico, Sutch said, where, in the years since Hurricane Maria destroyed the island’s power grid, the solar market has grown rapidly, with 2,000 on 3,000 installation per month. that“But there are a lot of people who don’t know where to start” when it comes to evaluating the deals they offer, and that“many solar tactics that are unfriendly to the Puerto Rico customer and the market in general,” incl that“high prices, customer-unfriendly rentals. ”
Without an independent third party viz DAY, that“You’re on your own when dealing with the private solar market, which is quite aggressive in many cases,” said Cathy Kunkel, Cambio’s energy program manager. PRan environmental group based in Puerto Rico working with DAY on the island. that“Companies try to sell systems that are more, more than people need, and don’t necessarily have a good third-party source of information to go to.
David Ortiz, a longtime community organizer and activist in Puerto Rico, works alongside DAY to launch their first co-op on the island of 2020 and is now helping to build a second one. He said he personally witnessed the confusion of the customers. In a recent information meeting for the second co-op, there was a woman who became part of 2020 group but at the last minute decided not to buy solar panels. Ortiz said he told her, “‘I got flyers from every solar company you can think of ever 2020and I waited two years because I wouldn’t go with anybody until there was another information session.’”
Along with consumer protection, co-op participants have the benefit of receiving hyper-local advice, Ortiz said. Puerto Rico’s unreliable power grid is pushing many potential solar owners to add batteries to their homes, which are more expensive than solar alone. In another co-op meeting, that“someone shared with the rest of the group that, where they live, there are a lot of flooding issues,” he said. The cure is that“put the battery on the second floor, so if there is a flood, his system will continue. That’s something people learn from being part of the co-op. ”
In this sense, the members of the co-op are like that“solar ambassadors” to the wider community, Sutch said. that“Someone who has gone through the process knows how the interconnection works, knows how to look at a proposal. We mobilize and amplify their voices in the community.
Build more equity in the cooperative solar model
Getting solar to customers regardless of income will take more than the cost reductions that can be achieved through cooperative purchasing. In more than 6,000 families installing solar through SUN-sponsored co-ops, only 117 are in the low to moderate income category, according to the group 2021 annual report.
Mitchell cited a lack of access to capital and credit as the main barrier for low-income customers seeking to participate in DAYresidential solar model. As the groups negotiated prices and terms, and DAY works with a set of credit unions that offer loans across the country, individual families must qualify for the loans, he said.
DAY partnered with a nonprofit decarbonization think tank RMI to study the demographic and economic factors that prevent greater solar uptake in lower income and poor communities. on 2020, RMI published a summary of its research, which found that cooperative models can increase the adoption of solar in communities that have been largely barred from it in the past, and highlighted how partnerships with governments, financial institutions and nonprofit entity. (Canary Media is an independent affiliate of RMI.)
RMI working with 20 city governments to launch Solarize campaigns, including Boston, Columbus, Louisville, Kansas City and others, said Ryan Shea, a manager with RMIThe Urban Transformation team and co-authors of 2020 group findings article. One of the key factors in successful programs is that“with strong community partnerships,” he said.
“Bringing frontline-community-based organizations in the beginning is important,” he said. This ensures that equity is included in the development of the program from the beginning. that“Those trusted organizations can spread the word about the benefits of the campaign. ”
But the initial costs are still prohibitive, he said. that“For moderate-income residents, low-interest, quick financing is needed to spread the upfront cost,” he said. that“But for low-income residents, campaigns must raise funds to cover the cost directly. “
RMIThe article cited the example of the Solar for All Campaign. A partnership between Connecticut Green Bank and PosiGen, a solar installer specializing in serving homeowners with limited means and credit access, brings solar to more than 900 low income households in the state between 2015 and 2021 through a combination of higher incentives and targeted outreach.
Green banks — entities that use public funds to make low-cost, long-term loans in underserved markets — play a similar role in other states. In Orlando, Florida, DAY partnered with the Solar Energy Loan Fund, the state’s version of a green bank, to extend affordable solar installations to hundreds of low-income residents. The Inflation Reduction Act will bring $27 billion in federal funds to expand the scope of green bank lending nationwide, making these entities a potential source of significant growth for cooperative solar purchase models.
DAYof 2021 The annual report contains Q&A with Yesenia Rivera, the group’s former director of equity and inclusion, where she listed many other methods of serving low-income and poor communities. In Colorado, the success of a solar rebate program in the Mountain Village community has secured follow-on funding from city and county sources, he said. DAY partnered with Habitat for Humanity in Nebraska, Texas and Virginia, and community development nonprofits in Pittsburgh and other cities to bring solar to low-income homeowners.
Rivera pointed out that financing is the biggest barrier to low-income solar adoption. that“Who pays for these systems? We know it has to be a combination of philanthropy, tax credits and loans.
More than that, DAYThe model of pooling homeowners to access rooftop solar is also leaving out renters, he said. Community solar programs, which allow people to subscribe to solar power generated at sites off their property, are a way to increase access to those who cannot install it on their property. own roofs, he said. Rivera is now the executive director of the Solstice Initiative, a nonprofit that helps communities looking to build such shared solar projects.
Kunkel pointed out that in Puerto Rico, rooftop solar, community solar and community microgrid projects are all potential solutions to solving the energy-cost and reliability problems faced by the island’s residents. that“Relatively wealthy people who want to go solar are doing it, and everyone else is left with this expensive and unstable electricity grid,” he said.
As more and more people gain access to solar, they join political activism to keep it affordable. DAY The members were among a coalition that helped defeat a proposal by Puerto Rico’s centralized utility to increase surcharges on solar systems to customers, Kunkel said.
While several US states face debates over whether rooftop-solar incentives discriminate against low-income customers, that“those debates don’t really exist in Puerto Rico,” he said. that“Everyone knows the value of rooftop solar and is disappointed with the electrical system that it is. The key is to make it accessible to low-income families. “
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