Solar power in Connecticut
Solar power in Connecticut makes Connecticut the second state in the USA to reach grid parity, after Hawaii, due to the high average cost of electricity.[1] Installing solar panels for a home provides an estimated 15.6% return on investment.[2]
CT Solar Lease was a program to install solar panels at no upfront cost, and a fixed lease price for 15 years, with an option to extend the lease for 5 years at a reduced cost. CT Solar Lease owns and sells the RECs generated by the system, but turns over all but $15/REC plus 100% of the sale over $30 or 50% of the sale of the REC up to $30/REC to the homeowner in a Solar Dividends account for maintenance and to allow the purchase of the system at the end of the lease. RECs have been selling for from $18 to $24 each. Applications ended on August 19, 2011.[3]
Contents
Regulations
Connecticut's renewable portfolio standard requires 7% of power in the state will be from renewable resources by 2010, and 23% by 2020.[4] A bill passed in 2011 requires incentives that will produce at least 30 MW of new residential PV installed by the end of 2022.[5] Net metering is available for all up to 2 MW sites, and is reconciled annually at either the avoided cost or the time of use/generation rate, which is higher but requires time of use metering.[6]
Statistics
Potential generation
The average insolation in Connecticut is about 4 sun hours per day, and ranges from less than 2 in the winter to over 5 in the summer.[7]
Connecticut electricity consumption in 2005 was 33,095 million kWh.[8]
Installed capacity
| Connecticut Grid-Connected PV Capacity (MW)[9][10][11][12][13] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Capacity | Installed | % Change | |||||||||
| 2008 | 8.8 | 6.0 | 214% | |||||||||
| 2009 | 19.7 | 10.9 | 124% | |||||||||
| 2010 | 24.6 | 4.9 | 25% | |||||||||
| 2011 | 31.1 | 4.5 | 26% | |||||||||
| 2012 | 39.6 | 7.5 | 24% | |||||||||
| 2013 | 77.1 | 37.5 | 95% | |||||||||
| 2014 | 118.8 | 41.7 | 54% | |||||||||
| 2015 | 219 | 91 | 71% | |||||||||
See also
References
- ↑ Exhibit 3
- ↑ Solar Power Rocks
- ↑ CT Solar Lease
- ↑ Renewable Energy
- ↑ Brief Summary of SB 1243
- ↑ Financial Incentives
- ↑ Solar Insolation Levels In North America
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- ↑ Connecticut Solar
