Fairfax County, Virginia, USA developed the Solar Switch program to expedite permitting and lower costs for prospective solar-powered home owners. Many homeowners want solar panels but are discouraged by the high, up-front costs. Other homeowners who have the cash in the bank may be discouraged by costly, and lengthy local government solar permitting processes.
Fairfax County’s Solar Switch program invited homeowners interested in going solar to join a pool that was further organized by locality and presented as bundles of potential customers to a pre-vetted, reputable, solar panel vendor. This small act of organization by a local government lowered two major hurdles to obtaining solar power for participating county residents.
- Bundling lowered the costs for all homeowners in the program as well as the solar vendors. Knowing that they would have multiple customers within a specific locality allowed the contract-winning solar vendor to cut installation and material costs. Participants in the Fairfax Solar Switch program also qualified for Federal tax refunds under the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act.
- Bundling allowed the county to waive permitting costs and expedite the inspections of newly solar-equipped homes. Because multiple homeowners in close proximity to each other would be installing solar panels during the same timeframe from a single, contract-winning vendor; local government inspectors could schedule inspections more efficiently, and expect that there would be consistency in the materials and handiwork.
While political polarization hinders many national-level governments from making major investments in clean energy, many concerned citizens may turn to their local government. However, many local governments are not designed or funded to build major infrastructure. What many effective local governments can do, is use their more-intimate knowledge of their communities to help residents and local businesses organize ways to create a valuable symbiotic relationships. Much in the same way local governments coordinate trash pickup between city wards and waste management contractors, Fairfax County was an effective, and cost-reducing organizer for its residents who wanted solar, and the companies that could provide the service. Ask your local council to organize a solar bundling program in your community.
Contributed by a volunteer in The Carbon Almanac Community. This Daily Difference is from a guest author sharing the story of how a local government implemented simple organizational policies to encourage solar development Virginia, USA.
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