Solar 2

[Kristy Suzuki]

TheSolar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) accelerates the advancement and deployment of solar technology in support of an equitable transition to a decarbonized economy. Learn more about the office's work at our events and webinars.

Every day, Americans are making the choice to power their lives with solar energy. SETO is connecting the dots for you, demonstrating how solar energy investments accrue over years to benefit individuals, communities, and the nation.

Solar for All aims to bring the benefits of solar energy to 100,000 low to moderate income families in the District. DOEE is partnering with organizations across the District to install solar on single family homes and develop community solar projects to benefit renters and residents in multi-family buildings. All Solar for All participants should expect to see a 50% savings on their electricity bill over 15 years and can be proud to have gone solar! In order to be eligible, residents must meet the income guidelines below.

- 4 Steps To Going Solar Info Sheet

Solar for All Single-Family Solar:

DOEE is working with the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) on the Solar for All program. Single-family DC residents can apply to get solar systems installed directly on their roofs by working with the DCSEU. Contact the DCSEU at (202) 479-2222 or visit DCSEU - Solar For All to find out more and apply.

For current Solar for All Subscribers

Solar for All subscribers who need help with their subscription and benefits can contact the Solar for All hotline (202) 299-5271 or by email at [email protected].

Eligibility

District residents can participate in Solar for All single family solar or community solar options if the household income is below 80% of the area median income (AMI) threshold, as listed below.

Household income amounts listed in the eligibility table are effective as of 08/30/23, but may change.

Please visit the US Dept of Housing and Urban Development website for the most up-to-date numbers.

Innovation and Expansion Authorized Vendors

To verify whether a solar developer / contractor is operating a DOEE Solar for All program, please email [email protected] or call 202.299.5271.

#DCSolarStories

Solar for All celebrates the successes and documents the challenges of the first two years of implementing Solar For All, Mayor Muriel Bowser's initiative to provide 100,000 low-to-moderate income families with the benefits of locally generated clean energy. One of the most progressive solar mandates in the U.S., #DCSolarStories exhibits how the District is using innovation and the concept of equity or "equal access" to local, clean energy to slash resident's utility burdens and protect underserved communities in the face of the changing climate.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Sunny Awards for Equitable Community Solar (The Sunny Awards) recognize community solar projects and programs that employ or develop best practices to increase equitable access to the meaningful benefits of community solar for subscribers and their communities.

Solar energy is the fastest growing and most affordable source of new electricity in America. As the cost of solar energy systems dropped significantly, more Americans and businesses have taken advantage of clean energy.

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) funds research and development across the solar energy spectrum to drive innovation, lower costs, and support the transition to a decarbonized power sector by 2035 and a decarbonized economy by 2050.

Solar technologies convert sunlight into electrical energy either through photovoltaic (PV) panels or through mirrors that concentrate solar radiation. Learn how this energy can be used to generate electricity.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) presents the California Solar Consumer Protection Guide. The CPUC recommends that solar providers give out this guide during their first contact with potential customers.

Solar providers submitting applications to interconnect residential solar customers in the service areas of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Bear Valley Electric Service (BVES), and PacifiCorp are required to collect customer initials and a signature on the California Solar Consumer Protection Guide.

Version 3 of the Solar Consumer Protection Guide contains a reference to standardized inputs and assumptions for bill savings estimates (see page 19). Please note that the CPUC and CSLB have not yet published an updated Solar Energy System Disclosure Document containing these inputs and assumptions.

D.18-09-044 requires that solar providers upload three documents before interconnecting a residential solar customer to the electric grid in PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E territories. These documents include: signed pages of the CPUC solar information packet, the solar installation contract, and the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) Solar Disclosure Document.

D.18-09-44 authorizes an evaluation of the NEM successor tariff (NEM 2.0). As part of this evaluation, focus groups were conducted about the California Solar Consumer Protection Guide, version 2. The focus group methods and findings are presented in this Solar Consumer Protection Guide Research Findings Memo. They are also summarized in these slides from the public workshop about the study.

Free legal assistance is now available for customers experiencing legal or financing challenges with Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. PACE is commonly used to finance rooftop solar projects and energy efficiency upgrades. If customers believe their PACE contracts are unfair or that their contractors misrepresented this program or failed to perform the required work, those consumers can obtain legal advice regarding their rights and potential remedies.

You can also file a complaint with the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation, which oversees PACE program administrators. And as appropriate, you should consider filing a complaint with the Contractors State Licensing Board, which oversees contractor issues.

Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture.[1][2][3] It is an essential source of renewable energy, and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries' energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible, and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating global warming .... these advantages are global".[1][4]

The total solar energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 122 PWyear = 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ) per year.[12] In 2002 (2019), this was more energy in one hour (one hour and 25 minutes) than the world used in one year.[13][14] Photosynthesis captures approximately 3,000 EJ per year in biomass.[15]

Solar technologies are categorized as either passive or active depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight and enable solar energy to be harnessed at different levels around the world, mostly depending on the distance from the Equator. Although solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for practical ends, all types of renewable energy, other than geothermal power and tidal power, are derived either directly or indirectly from the Sun.

Active solar techniques use photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, solar thermal collectors, pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful output. Passive solar techniques include selecting materials with favorable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate air, and referencing[clarification needed] the position of a building to the Sun. Active solar technologies increase the supply of energy and are considered supply side technologies, while passive solar technologies reduce the need for alternative resources and are generally considered demand-side technologies.[21]

In 2000, the United Nations Development Programme, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and World Energy Council published an estimate of the potential solar energy that could be used by humans each year. This took into account factors such as insolation, cloud cover, and the land that is usable by humans. It was stated that solar energy has a global potential of 1,600 to 49,800 exajoules (4.41014 to 1.41016 kWh) per year (see table below).[22]

In 1897, Frank Shuman, a US inventor, engineer and solar energy pioneer built a small demonstration solar engine that worked by reflecting solar energy onto square boxes filled with ether, which has a lower boiling point than water and were fitted internally with black pipes which in turn powered a steam engine. In 1908 Shuman formed the Sun Power Company with the intent of building larger solar power plants. He, along with his technical advisor A.S.E. Ackermann and British physicist Sir Charles Vernon Boys,[24] developed an improved system using mirrors to reflect solar energy upon collector boxes, increasing heating capacity to the extent that water could now be used instead of ether. Shuman then constructed a full-scale steam engine powered by low-pressure water, enabling him to patent the entire solar engine system by 1912.

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