Resources

Solar water heating is a clean, reliable and cost-effective technology that is reducing utility bills for thousands of homes and businesses. Today, Americans across the country are at work manufacturing and installing these systems that significantly reduce our dependence on imported fuels. We need smart policies to expand this fast-growing, job-producing sector.

Relatively little research exists estimating the marginal impacts of photovoltaic (PV) energy systems on home sale prices.

Worldwide interest in the deployment of photovoltaic generation (PV) is rapidly increasing. Operating experience with large PV plants, however, demonstrates that large, rapid changes in the output of PV plants are possible. Early studies of PV grid impacts suggested that short-term variability could be a potential limiting factor in deploying PV.

Among the available options for encouraging the increased deployment of renewable electricity, renewables portfolio standards (RPS) have become increasingly popular. The RPS is a relatively new policy mechanism, however, and experience with its use is only beginning to emerge.

Installations of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States have increased dramatically in recent years, growing from less than 20 MW in 2000 to nearly 500 MW at the end of 2007, a compound average annual growth rate of 59%.