CT’s energy programs spur solar demand
Photo | Pablo Robles
Rebecca and Stephen Pelton, who run EcoSmart Home Services in East Berlin, say one of their biggest challenges today is finding qualified people to handle the increased workload from rising solar energy demand in the state.
Nearly three years after Connecticut enacted a landmark energy law, demand for solar installations is rising — not at the same pace of neighboring Massachusetts, but giving the industry here all the work it can handle for now.
Today, more than 100 businesses are authorized to install solar photovoltaic systems under varying Connecticut incentive programs, which businesses and residents have snapped up even as installers have struggled to keep up with burgeoning demand.
As such, a dual market has coalesced quickly in Connecticut — larger suppliers that can handle volume work and complicated contracts with utilities, and a cottage industry of smaller vendors that have carved out a niche catering to the needs of individual homeowners.
In 2013, Connecticut businesses and homeowners installed 37 megawatts of solar capacity at a cost of $143 million, according to a March report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
While that was a 150-percent megawatt increase from 2012, ranking Connecticut 15th nationally, it was only a fraction of the total installed in neighboring Massachusetts, which put 237 megawatts of new capacity on rooftops and fields in a bid to install 1,600 megawatts by 2020.
Still, increased solar demand has created business opportunities for companies like EcoSmart Home Services in East Berlin, which was founded in 2009 as a division of R. Pelton Builders. Stephen Pelton, EcoSmart's president, said his company has won business by following up on home energy audit referrals and upgrades with subsequent work under Connecticut's new Residential Solar Investment program.
The program allows homeowners to receive rebates for using solar power. Under one sample scenario, a homeowner could receive a $7,750 rebate covering the life of a typical photovoltaic system.
“If you couple energy efficiency along with the solar for return on investment, I think that's a very palatable combination,” said Pelton, who sits on the board of Efficiency First, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that lobbies on behalf of the home efficiency industry. “That's where we are pushing out business — energy efficiency first, and then solar where it makes sense.”
Overseeing the residential market's evolution is the Clean Energy Finance & Investment Authority (CEFIA), a quasi-public entity that is seeking legislative approval to adopt the name “Connecticut's Green Bank.”
CEFIA CEO Bryan Garcia said the state should hit its 30 megawatt target under the Residential Solar Investment program in 2014, seven years ahead of schedule. That is sufficient capacity to furnish power to nearly 4,000 homes.
Helping spur demand further has been the Solarize Connecticut program, under which installers bid to win preferred status from various towns. It allows installers to swoop in on a small cluster of customers in a specific locale, reducing the need for advertising spending and consolidating work to cut operating costs.
Garcia said the program cuts an installer's marketing overhead to about $500 for the average residential system, as opposed to roughly $3,500 for solar systems marketed outside the program.
Also spurring growth of Connecticut's solar market are the financing programs managed by Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating. Under Connecticut's Zero-Emissions Renewable Energy Credit (ZREC), another program enacted in 2011, utility customers that install solar panels and other systems can get credit for the electricity generated by those systems under 15-year contracts with the utilities.
Those deals are awarded through reverse-bid auctions, including one scheduled for April covering mid- and large-scale projects. The state is requiring CL&P and UI to commit $720 million to the program, funded by a surcharge on all customer bills.
Pelton credited ZREC for nudging Oxford Academy in Westbrook to add a solar system.
There are, however, some issues with the program, including a cascading series of contracts that confuse commercial customers, said Dwayne Escola, a founder of Northeast Smart Energy, which lists locations in Ridgefield and Hartford.
New Jersey, where Escola's company focused its energies prior to 2012, has a comparatively streamlined process, he said.
Similar complaints have been aired about the new Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program, which allows property owners to receive an upfront payment to cover the cost of installing systems that promote energy efficiency including renewables, paid back over time through tax assessments.
Some contractors have complained about a C-PACE review process they deem too demanding, said Jessica Bailey, C-PACE director.
If Connecticut is still finding its way through a myriad of new solar installation programs, it beats the landscape in the years leading up to 2012, Pelton said.
Pelton said his biggest problem today is finding qualified people to handle the workload, which requires training both in electrical systems and rooftop work.
Escola said the new energy offerings in Connecticut have made things more attractive for his company.
“We're working at home now instead of in New Jersey,” Escola said.n
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