(task) How to Spark a Residential Renewable Revolution | HuffPost

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> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-spark-a-residential-renewable-revolution_us_599dabfee4b0b87d38cbe6aa <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-spark-a-residential-renewable-revolution_us_599dabfee4b0b87d38cbe6aa>
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> How to Spark a Residential Renewable Revolution
> </author/regina-wheeler>Regina Wheeler, Contributor Sunpower by Positive Energy Solar CEO </author/regina-wheeler>
> From reduced emissions and ​lower cost to greater energy independence and local self-reliance, the advantages of solar power are self-evident. With installation costs falling rapidly, Americans are now averaging one new residential solar project every 100 seconds.
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> But America’s transition from fossil fuels to clean​ and​ affordable renewables can and should be even faster.
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> Today, the hurdle to growth isn’t technology or cost. Home solar systems are incredibly advanced, and prices are less than half what they were just a decade ago.
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> State and local governments need to rewrite the rules to allow renters, condominium owners, and homeowners without sunny roof or lawn space the ability to access clean and affordable solar power.
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> There’s a simple and effective solution: Community Solar.
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> These shared energy projects allow a group of people to own a stake ​in and purchase power​ from local solar farms or “solar gardens”​. These projects​ are a win-win: they create jobs, cut costs, boost local economies, and often allow lower-income communities to access the benefits of renewable power.
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> The idea is starting to take hold. There are 26 US states with one or more Community Solar project <https://www.communitysolarhub.com/>​​​. At least 14 states and DC <http://www.sharedrenewables.org/community-energy-projects/> have established policies to encourage the growth of Community Solar. Some estimates show a rapid ramp-up of Community Solar in the coming years: adding as much as 3  <https://www.greentechmedia.com/research/report/us-community-solar-outlook-2017>gigawatts <https://www.greentechmedia.com/research/report/us-community-solar-outlook-2017> across the country, compared to only 66 megawatts through the end of 2014​. That’s a 45-fold increase!
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> But there’s an obstacle in the way of this renewable revolution: policies that block Community Solar in order to protect investor-owned utility monopolies from healthy competition.
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> In my state, New Mexico, legislators again failed this year to pass legislation to legalize solar gardens and other shared clean generation facilities. As Christopher Ramirez of Juntos, a New Mexico nonprofit, put it: “We are misled to believe that the dirtiest energy is the cheapest option.” And New Mexico is not alone. Nearly two dozen states—including several of the sunniest—still need policy reforms to allow Community Solar.
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> In many areas of the country, utilities are actually angling to get in on the Community Solar action—providing their ratepayers with the option of purchasing solar power from a shared facility. While this can be a step in the right direction, we should still aspire for something better: community-owned, community-driven power that boosts local self-reliance and ​provides everyone access to the cheapest energy available today.
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> Community Solar should be a right. This is a cause that can unite environmentalists, advocates for ​under-served and low-income​ communities, and people who believe in free market competition. With an estimated 101 projects and 108 cumulative megawatts of installed capacity as of this year, Community Solar is already ascendant.
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> States and localities should rewrite unfair anti-solar rules and let solar gardens bloom.