RPS Collaborative Webinar: The Effect of State Policy Suites on Solar Markets

The Effect of State Policy Suites on the Development of Solar Markets, a recent report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, examined policy-related and non-policy-based factors that have influenced state solar markets. Among the policies considered were RPSs and solar carve-outs. Among the report’s conclusions were that:

• States that have matched their suite of best-practice policies to their unique context have excelled.
• Both the number of solar policies and the length of time the policies have been in place are important indicators of market success.
• Support for solar leasing and other third-party ownership models seems to be a distinguishing factor in the success of solar markets in some states, but usually economic factors must also be favorable.

In this webinar, Elizabeth Doris, one of the report’s two authors along with Darlene Steward, discussed the report’s methodology, findings, and implications for state policy. Because the report is part of a series of analyses on the relationship between demographic and economic contexts, state policies, and distributed solar capacity, she brought in relevant information from the other analyses in the series.