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Solutions for Overcoming Barriers to Solar Adoption in Communities of Concern

Advocacy
August 3, 2021
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3
 min
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by 
Karinna Gonzalez
Image of a happy family in front of an ongoing solar installation at their home

As California, America’s leading solar state, continues to evaluate its future solar agreement (net energy metering), it is important to acknowledge the current gaps in adoption of clean energy technologies. Although rooftop solar has become increasingly accessible to low-and-moderate income households in recent years due to a decrease in solar prices, increased financing options and an attractive current solar agreement known as net energy metering 2.0, there are still a number of barriers to adoption. The state has said that California needs to triple the amount of rooftop solar in order to meet our climate goals and that will not happen if we don’t include solutions for our communities of concern. 


1. Overcoming the barrier of homeownership through on-bill financing, community solar and incentives for multifamily solar

The primary barrier to the adoption of solar is home ownership and in order to overcome this barrier, we need to be creative and rethink the traditional financing structures for solar. Thankfully, other states have already addressed this barrier successfully and have developed innovative financing structures that allow renters to receive the benefits of solar. The first strategy is on-bill solar financing which ties re-payment for solar and energy efficiency upgrades to the meter, rather than an individual. Hawaii has successfully created the Green Money $aver program (GEM$), which is the first on-bill financing program that requires no upfront cost or credit check which are two other large barriers to adoption. Renters will enjoy an estimated 10 percent reduction on their utility bill at no upfront cost to the tenant or property owner and the credit can be transferred to the next renter. Another innovative way to overcome the barrier of homeownership is community solar, where renters can subscribe to a portion of a community solar project which will then credit against their utility bill, saving them money and letting them get their energy from clean sources. While California has excelled as the nation's number one solar state, we have fallen behind in our ability to enact legislation that supports community solar projects. Finally, the market for multifamily solar, which makes up about 30 percent of California’s housing market, cannot be ignored. Previous statewide incentive programs played a huge role in rapidly accelerating adoption for single family homes but the adoption for multifamily hasn’t had as much success. The Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (“SOMAH”) program is addressing this barrier by providing incentives for multifamily affordable housing that can cover the entire cost of the system. The program is funded through state cap-and-trade funds and has a billion dollar budget over the next 10 years. 

2. Addressing cost barriers through upfront incentive payments 

Another large barrier is high upfront costs for rooftop solar for cash purchases or for portions of state rebates and the 26 percent federal tax credit. California has put billions of dollars behind incentive programs that offer rebates for going solar, however rebates are usually distributed once the system has been installed and interconnected and usually after a lengthy application process, leaving homeowners and property owners to pay the costs for installation and permitting before they ever see a rebate check. Offering upfront payments for incentive programs can eliminate this barrier altogether. Since incentive programs for single family homeowners are beginning to sunset, it's important to also consider no upfront cost financing to address this barrier moving forward, especially for the multifamily sector. Jurisdictions could offer bridge financing programs to address this barrier, which some philanthropists and foundations are currently working to address on a smaller level. 

3. Mending relationships and lack of trust in communities of concern through partnerships with community based organizations

While many solar companies have good intentions, the solar industry has created a barrier because of the lack of trust they have created in communities of concern, which has been plagued by misinformation about solar programs and issues with some less than reputable contractors. Those few bad apples have given the industry a black eye and it’s hurting solar adoption in communities that could benefit from solar the most. It is extremely important that the solar and storage industry, along with program administrators, begin to repair the relationship with communities of concern by partnering with trusted community voices who can provide reliable information to community members in ways that are culturally appropriate and in native languages. The states’ Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing program has done a good job recognizing this barrier and contracts with local and statewide community-based organizations to conduct education and outreach to property owners and tenants to provide information about the program and overall benefits of clean energy. Partnering with trusted community partners, in addition to offering solar marketing materials, proposals and contracts in various languages, is a starting point to start building trust. 

4. Protecting existing solar customers from evolving solar policies

Finally, expanding access to rooftop solar will not happen when statewide legislation and changing statewide solar policies continue to threaten the investment that people have made or are considering making. Fighting for strong policies for new solar customers and ensuring that solar continues to grow is one fight, but when policies threaten the contracts that people have signed and been promised, it creates a distrust in the government and cities who have pushed for people to go solar and solar companies who promised customers their contracts would last for 20 years. The investor-owned utilities are getting bolder in their attempts to kill rooftop solar, weaponizing communities of concern in their attempts to kill rooftop solar, forcing utility-scale solar to be a main solution to meeting 100 percent clean energy targets, which would increase rates for all ratepayers. 

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Overcoming the barriers to solar adoption won’t be easy, but they are necessary in order to ensure that we are meeting local climate action plans and statewide climate goals. Hammond Climate Solutions along with partners at Protect Our Communities Foundation, Brevian Energy and the San Diego Urban Sustainability Coalition, recently submitted a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Grant with a proposal for a program that will expand solar in communities of concern using tactics highlighted earlier in this blog. Communities of concern have long been left out of the clean energy transition and its time to invest resources to accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies for communities who suffer disportionately from the effects of climate injustices and the climate crisis and are also paying a disproportionate amount of income towards skyrocketing energy bills. Learn more about the current attacks on solar and how you can help defend rooftop solar and expand equitable access to all ratepayers. 

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Image of a ground-mounted solar system at a farm that was funded by the Solar Moonshot Program
Solar Moonshot Program - 2021 Highlights
Foundation
December 28, 2021
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3
 min

Solar Moonshot Program - 2021 Highlights

Over the last year, our team had the privilege of managing the Solar Moonshot Program for the second year in a row. In 2021, 42 nonprofit organizations were able to afford the switch to solar thanks to the $1,000,000 budget from Left Coast Fund, collectively installing 42 clean energy projects in 13 states. The Solar Moonshot Program helped energize 1,115.4kW of rooftop and ground-mounted solar and three solar thermal units, which collectively offset 27,800.5 metric tons of carbon, equivalent to over three million gallons of gasoline consumed or the energy usage of over 3,000 homes. These solar projects are creating healthier communities that have cleaner air, a greater quality of life, more green jobs and workforce training opportunities and reduced likelihood of developing health problems such as asthma that occur as a result of pollution.

Over the last year, our team had the privilege of managing the Solar Moonshot Program for the second year in a row.  In 2021, 42 nonprofit organizations were able to afford the switch to solar thanks to the $1,000,000 budget from Left Coast Fund, collectively installing 42 clean energy projects in 13 states.  The Solar Moonshot Program helped energize 1,115.4kW of rooftop and ground-mounted solar and three solar thermal units, which collectively offset 27,800.5 metric tons of carbon, equivalent to over three million gallons of gasoline consumed or the energy usage of over 3,000 homes.  These solar projects are creating healthier communities that have cleaner air, a greater quality of life, more green jobs and workforce training opportunities and reduced likelihood of developing health problems such as asthma that occur as a result of pollution.


Through the generous funding from Left Coast Fund and the partnerships that made these projects possible, communities are reducing their reliance on dirty fossil fuels, supporting the green economy, saving money that is being reinvested in the nonprofits’ missions and creating educational opportunities for community members.  The solar photovoltaic and solar thermal projects simultaneously demonstrate the feasibility of clean energy for community members, many who do not have equitable access to these key climate solutions.


While the Solar Moonshot Program is intended to help nonprofit organizations go solar, tribal nations and communities as a whole can benefit from the funds available through partnerships with 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.  Funding from the 2021 budget year assisted a wide range of recipients, from community resilience hubs and community land trusts, to Indigenous communities, school districts and nonprofit organizations providing long-term solutions for houseless folx.


As noted in our Solar Moonshot Program - 2020 Highlights blog post, in early 2020, Hammond Climate Solutions was brought on to manage the “50 Solar States Project” by a San Diego-based philanthropist who provides funding through Left Coast Fund.  This project was the original initiative behind the Solar Moonshot Program and intended to fund one solar project in each state in the U.S.  The urgency of the climate crisis encouraged a pivot to focus on deploying solar as quickly as possible, rather than location, and the Solar Moonshot Program came to fruition as a result.


Along with last year’s $1,000,000 budget commitment, our team’s goal for 2021 was to fund 40 projects, with up to $25,000 being awarded to each participant.  We reached this goal and assisted three solar thermal and 41 rooftop solar projects this year, for an average grant amount of $23,637. Since the program began in 2020, we have been able to help a total of 87 nonprofit organizations go solar!


Projects supported climate justice efforts throughout the U.S., spearheaded by 2021 grant recipients like Community Treehouse Center Detroit, a nonprofit organization that assisted 11 homeowners in the neighborhood of Jefferson Chalmers to go solar.  The community of concern is located on the southeast side of Detroit and is already experiencing disproportionate effects of the climate crisis - efforts led by the organization’s founder and president, Tammy Black, are investing in the community’s future through programs that support persons with disabilities and mental wellness, entrepreneurship, green spaces, clean energy, financial wellbeing and more.  The solar project will help reduce local climate injustices, create climate resiliency and reinvest in the organization’s mission of creating a safe and sustainable community where all folx can succeed.


The following organizations have received grants this past year and are collectively helping combat the climate crisis:



We are excited to announce that we’ll be managing the Solar Moonshot Program in 2022 thanks to generous support from Left Coast Fund and the BQuest Foundation!  Project funding levels and prioritization will be based on the projects' financial need and installation timeline. Nonprofits interested in applying for a Solar Moonshot Program grant can visit the website, www.solarmoonshot.org.  We invite you to follow us on social media to see our #SolarSaturday posts, which highlight the amazing nonprofit organizations going solar and helping create a more just and livable future.  We can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.


If you know of a foundation or philanthropist interested in supporting the Solar Moonshot Program in 2022, further expanding our impact, please reach out to Tara at tara@hammondclimatesolutions.com. 


Photo caption: Solar panel system located at Solidarity Farm in Pauma Valley, Calif., Apr. 8, 2021. (Photo/Aloha Solar Power)

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Solar advocates protesting in front of the state capitol
California Agency Proposes an 80 Percent Reduction in Benefits for Solar Customers
Policy
December 28, 2021
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3
 min

California Agency Proposes an 80 Percent Reduction in Benefits for Solar Customers

Over the course of this year, Hammond Climate Solutions has released nine blogs, numerous toolkits with calls to action and participated in countless meetings, presentations and webinars to raise awareness about how the monopoly utilities are trying to kill rooftop solar in California. We managed to help grow a local coalition consisting of cities, elected officials, environmental and climate justice organizations and schools. San Diego County residents have made their voices heard, and the message is clear - we want to see solar continue to grow. The highly-anticipated net energy metering (NEM) 3.0 proposed decision was released this week and it is very clear that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has sided with the utilities and is proposing to make drastic cuts to the benefits of going solar.

Over the course of this year, Hammond Climate Solutions has released nine blogs, numerous toolkits with calls to action and participated in countless meetings, presentations and webinars to raise awareness about how the monopoly utilities are trying to kill rooftop solar in California.  We managed to help grow a local coalition consisting of cities, elected officials, environmental and climate justice organizations and schools.  San Diego County residents have made their voices heard, and the message is clear - we want to see solar continue to grow.  The highly-anticipated net energy metering (NEM) 3.0 proposed decision was released this week and it is very clear that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has sided with the utilities and is proposing to make drastic cuts to the benefits of going solar. 


The first of many changes to the policy, which has allowed rooftop solar to become increasingly accessible to low and moderate-income families, is drastic cuts to the credit that solar customers receive for sharing their excess electricity with their neighbors.  The proposed decision cuts this credit by 80 percent, from around 25 cents per kilowatt hour all the way down to 5 cents per kilowatt hour.  This immediate change alone is enough to see a major reduction in rooftop solar installations and therefore a reduction in solar jobs across the state, however the decision goes further than making cuts to current credits. 


The CPUC has also sided with the investor-owned utilities to slap solar customers with high punitive monthly fees.  The fees themselves will depend on the system size, however an average system in the San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) utility territory will carry the monthly fee of about $64 per month, the highest in the nation.  This fee is in addition to a loan or lease payment, which disproportionately impacts families who utilize solar financing options to afford the switch to solar. 


Beyond the draconian measures the CPUC and investor-owned utilities have taken to discourage new solar customers, they have gone a step further to impose changes on existing customers as well.  The NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 agreements that apply to current customers established a 20 year transition period, whereby solar customers were permitted to remain on their applicable NEM tariff for 20 years from the date of interconnection with the grid.  Therefore, solar customers naturally used 20-year financial models to determine the economic benefit of their investment, but the proposed decision is set to negate the bankability of those projections with a 25 percent reduction in grandfathering periods for existing customers. 


As our local and statewide coalition grew, and after delivering 120,000 petition signatures to Governor Newsom, we were hopeful that the CPUC would be on our side and that we would be advocating for small changes in the proposed decision, however it is clear that the CPUC has sided with the monopoly utilities.  As California continues to see the effects of the climate crisis and fires, flooding and blackouts are becoming more and more common, now more than ever is the time to fight back against this utility profit grab! 


Call Governor Newsom today!  Call Governor Newsom directly at (916) 445-2841 or use the Solar Rights Alliance’s calling tool to call.  Press 6 to speak to a representative or press 3 to leave a voicemail.  A sample script is below: 


 “My name is ___ and I live in ____. I am against the proposal to cut the benefits of rooftop solar!  The high solar fees and cutting the benefits of solar by 80% will kill the solar market and worsen the climate crisis.  Nobody should pay a penalty for putting solar panels on their roof and California should be doing more, not less, to promote rooftop solar.  Please say no to the utilities’ profit grab, and yes to helping millions of working and middle class people get solar.“

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Image of packaging littering a beautiful beach
Celebrating the Holidays and Gift Giving Amidst the Climate and Plastic Pollution Crises
Lifestyle
December 21, 2021
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3
 min

Celebrating the Holidays and Gift Giving Amidst the Climate and Plastic Pollution Crises

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, another holiday or none at all, the holiday season brings with it an opportunity to shift societal patterns of overconsumption to sustainable giving. Every year around this time, mass consumption is incentivized more than usual with “holidays” like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Sales for the holiday season are starting earlier and earlier, and consumers are taking advantage of it. Corporations, which already have far-reaching impacts on the environment, see a dramatic sales increase during this time - Amazon alone has a 260 percent increase in usage on Black Friday each year, translating into not only more stuff in our landfills, but also more money into big businesses and more pollution with the increase in mass production and transportation.

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, another holiday or none at all, the holiday season brings with it an opportunity to shift societal patterns of overconsumption to sustainable giving.  Every year around this time, mass consumption is incentivized more than usual with “holidays” like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Sales for the holiday season are starting earlier and earlier, and consumers are taking advantage of it.  Corporations, which already have far-reaching impacts on the environment, see a dramatic sales increase during this time - Amazon alone has a 260 percent increase in usage on Black Friday each year, translating into not only more stuff in our landfills, but also more money into big businesses and more pollution with the increase in mass production and transportation.


While U.S. waste statistics are already staggering to begin with, we’re bringing this one back from last year’s holiday blog post as a reminder of just how critical it is to be mindful of waste during the holidays: from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, Americans throw away one million extra tons of trash per week.  If there is anything this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference taught us, it is that much, much more action is needed - even with COP26 pledges, the world is currently not on track to meet the Paris climate agreement’s goal.  The good news is that each of us always has the ability to make empowering choices, especially around this time.  From shopping local to participating in “Buy Nothing,” we’ve rounded up our recommendations for sustainable holiday celebrations this year, so we can give from a place of protecting future generations and mindfulness.


Food and sustainability this season


The holidays tend to be loaded with meat and if you choose to eat plant-based like many of us, it can be an awkward time.  Family members may judge, let alone simply not understand, and it isn’t fun to be the one going hungry at a gathering.  Cultural foods that are typically made with meat can still be enjoyed, too! Below are some recipes that vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters alike will enjoy, if you have the time and accessibility to create sustainable meals that will satisfy almost everyone at the table:


  • Make it low-waste by opting for the coconut oil over canola oil, and reusing the glass jar
  • Make it low-waste by adapting the recipe to use fresh hominy in bulk
  • Make them low-waste by bringing produce bags to the grocery store and shopping in bulk for quinoa and lentils!


Sustainable gift-giving guide


Selecting gifts is where it gets tough for many, but there are countless ways to reduce your climate and plastic pollution impacts with holiday shopping.  In general, we encourage shopping at local stores owned by folks from communities of concern to reinvest in the communities that are disproportionately experiencing the burden of the climate crisis.  Some of our favorite gift ideas for loved ones include:


  • Give tickets for an event or museum, supporting local artists and organizations (and aim to walk, bike or take public transportation when the time comes)
  • Purchase a visitors pass from your local aquarium or animal sanctuary to support conservation efforts close to home
  • Give a gift certificate to a local zero waste shop or favorite vegan eatery 
  • Our team’s favorite San Diego-based zero waste store is Earthwell Refill (which is Black-owned)
  • Donate to a local climate nonprofit organization on behalf of family and friends to support activists holding corporations and Big Oil accountable
  • Donate to a nonprofit news publication and earmark funds for environmental reporting
  • An example for those local to San Diego like our team, Voice of San Diego is a publication that works hard to highlight local climate issues and the critical movements fighting for climate justice


Traveling for the holidays?


Unlike last year, some of us may be traveling for the holidays this year.  With that, also comes the likelihood of opting for convenience and sometimes, not being mindful of our impact.  Here are some ways you can minimize your carbon and trash footprint if you’re planning on visiting loved ones this season:


  • If traveling to multiple areas, aim for low-carbon transportation when possible
  • Eat at sustainability-focused restaurants within reasonable distance - make it more sustainable by opting for local, organic, plant-based food and drinks
  • Carry reusable utensils with you - if you don’t have a kit, make your own, and wrap up a fork, knife, spoon, and chopsticks if desired into a reusable napkin!
  • Remember to bring a reusable water bottle - many airports have water refill stations alongside drinking fountains
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