Massachusetts – Commonwealth Solar

 

 

Commonwealth Solar Program Update - Oct. 23, 2009 by Carter Wall, Executive Director, Masschusetts Renewable Energy Trust.
News highlights from the update inlcuded:

  • Within the next few weeks, [the Trust] will be contacting all customers with pending applications with detailed information about the process for making final awards under the current phase of the Commonwealth Solar Rebate program.
  • The DOER has applied to DOE to reallocate some of Massachusetts’ stimulus funds to a Commonwealth Solar Stimulus rebate program. We are working through the details on this with the DOE and the DOER, and plan to make these funds available as soon as possible.
  • Received approval from the Trust’s Governing Board for a new solar PV rebate program, Commonwealth Solar II, designed to complement the introduction of an SREC market in January. We expect to invite applications for this program before the end of this year, with rebate levels to be announced at that time. This program will be designed to provide predictable funding for a fixed period of time, and current plans are for this rebate to be available for smaller systems only, as is common in other states with an SREC market.

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February 2008:  The Governor of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) recently announced a new solar PV initiative—Commonwealth Solar. 

Over the next four years, $136 million will be dedicated to the support of solar PV projects. The contributors of the funds include the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which will reserve $68 million from ratepayer funds, the MTC, which will set aside $10 million per year from the Renewable Energy Trust, and the final $28 million will come from the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources’ Alternative Compliance Payment Fund established under the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program.

The funding will be segmented in 6-month blocks to be distributed via a non-competitive application process for the installation of PV projects at residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and public facilities. The first block—$8.5 million—will reserve a minimum of $2 million for public building and $1 million for residences.

The program includes a cap on outstanding awards in order to ensure both progress and competition. This means that the MTC will not process new applications from installers that have more than $1.2 million in uncompleted PV projects or more than $400,000 in uncompleted residential PV projects. The program recommends, but does not require, that installers obtain certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).  
 
The Commonwealth Solar program includes a requirement that all applicants, prior to receiving a rebate, must perform an energy audit, or demonstrate that one has been performed within the last six years. The MTC recommends, but will not require implementation of any feasible measures recommended by the audit, with one exception; non-residential facilities requesting a rebate for a 100 kW PV system or greater, must implement the audit measures, or explain why they will not.
 
The capacity-based rebates are set at a base of $2/watt for residential installations with adders available for system components manufactured by Massachusetts companies, below moderate assessed home values, and below certain moderate income criteria. 
 
The non-residential rebate levels decrease based on the size of the system and range from $3.25/watt for smaller systems (1-25 kW) to $1.50/watt for systems > 250 kW. There also are adders for Massachusetts components and public buildings.
 
The Commonwealth Solar Program Handbook, application materials and additional information may be found at http://www.masstech.org/solar.

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