Rooftop Solar

Studies

While studies have shown that rooftop photovoltaics (PV) adoption is more common among households that are wealthy, that doesn’t mean that poorer households can’t benefit from the technology. If these policies are implemented, more low income households will be able to adopt rooftop solar.

PD

The PD recommends a $600 million equity fund for low income households that want to install solar. They also propose that the fund should not expire after four years.

Proposed

In addition, the proposed tariff will create a funding stream that can help low-income households recoup their costs in ten years or less. By doing so, it will spur investment in disadvantaged areas.

Compared

Compared to majority-white census tracts, the study found that majority-black and majority-American Indian census tracts have higher rooftop potential. However, they have lower adoption rates.

Study

The study also looked at how the distribution of single-family rooftop potential differed by racial diversity. By addressing both factors, it is possible to develop more comprehensive, holistic solutions.

Results

The results of the study suggest that the key to achieving equitable rooftop solar adoption is to address both the supply and demand sides of the equation.

Advantages

One of the main advantages of solar energy is that it is renewable. Solar technology is not only becoming more popular, it is also becoming more efficient. Some solar batteries have even been developed, which can store heat, and control the ramp up and down of the power output.

Difficult

It is not difficult to imagine how much power could be stored in such a device. Various battery systems are being developed to slow the ramp up and down to a rate of 10% per minute. The most impressive part is that the cost of storing this much energy is not prohibitive.

In fact, the price of concentrating solar power, which is a good source of clean energy, is expected to range between 10 and 13.5 cents/kWh in 2035.

While that is a lot less than the price of a gallon of gas, it is still two to three times more than the price of conventional sources of electricity.

Solar Power

This solar power is being used in several applications. It is not only being used in homes, but also in agriculture and salt production.

Despite

Despite the growing popularity of this renewable energy, there are still plenty of reasons to be concerned.

Price

Moreover, the price of building a PV plant has increased by more than 50% in the past four years.

For example

For example, while a solar panel can generate a lot of energy, it only does so when the sun is shining.

Cloud cover

Cloud cover can reduce the output by 70% in a minute. Other technological advancements in solar technology include the ability to store heat in molten salt. A 2.2 GWe solar PV farm in China claims to have a storage capacity of 203 MWh.