Solar for All

How can households achieve meaningful savings from solar? The U.S. Department of Energy-initiated meaningful household savings Community of Practice and this report focus on electricity bill savings, other household savings, wealth-building opportunities, and other benefits such as tenant services provided to residents in master-metered buildings. The authors and their partners collected information about ways meaningful household savings have been achieved; researched best practices to define, achieve, and quantify meaningful household savings; and identified strategies to scale the adoption and implementation of successful methods. The report includes six case studies and information about savings verification. 

This document, part of CESA’s IRA Explainers and Guides Series for States, answers questions about the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act and the domestic content bonus tax credit program requirements for awardees of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All program. It will be useful to other stakeholders as well to understand how BABA will apply to Solar for All and the differences between BABA and the tax credit requirements.

This deck is a short series of recommendations to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that wish to better understand the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All competition and how to engage with the Solar for All opportunities. It briefly introduces the Solar for All competition, offers a realistic timeline for programs and funding deployment, and suggests concrete steps and resources for CBOs to support states in ensuring the success of the program.

Solar For All List of Programmatic Functions is a comprehensive list of the functions needed to design and deploy a low- and moderate-income solar program as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All competition. This list can help states clarify which functions are needed and which are not for each program/sector, evaluate which functions to keep in-house vs. procure externally, and negotiate with EPA with a clearer understanding of next steps.

The Clean Energy States Alliance has published a report summarizing trends and calculating the potential impact of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s $7 billion Solar for All competition. This report, Empowering Tomorrow: A Preview of States’ Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All Programs, provides the first public visibility into the range of state proposals that have been submitted in response to this competition. The report can serve as a market readiness tool, to help states prepare for a massive and historic influx of LMI solar funding.

CESA’s 2023 Solar for All Program Design Guidance for States and accompanying Template Request for Proposals offer a blueprint as well as insights and recommendations to state agencies to design and launch single-family homes solar lease Solar for All programs in their state, while maximizing tax credits and IRA tax credit bonuses. This package was developed as a plug and play resource with funding from DOE.

CESA’s Multifamily Affordable Housing Solar and Solar+Storage: Solar for All Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Program Design Options for States offers simple options for states to design and deploy multifamily affordable housing solar and/or solar+storage to their Solar for All programs portfolio. It can be used in states that do not already have MFAH solar or solar+storage policies and programs in place, and in states that wish to expand their current program offerings to reach LMI households or provide additional benefits to disadvantaged communities.

There are many available models of community solar throughout the country, but not all will meet the goals of EPA’s Solar for All competition. Community Solar for Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities: Solar for All Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Program Design Options for States streamlines design choices for states and presents three community solar models, with a few variations, that states and territories could use to shape state community solar programs.

This Davis-Bacon (DBA) Primer for States Implementing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All Program is an explainer in the form of a question-and-answer document. It provides a plain English overview of DBA for state staff who will implement the Inflation Reduction Act.

Solar for Manufactured Homes: An Assessment of the Opportunities and Challenges in 14 States is a three-part report addressing the critically underserved manufactured homes solar sector. It was produced by CESA with input from states and utilities between 2019 and 2023.

Community Outreach and Solar Equity: A Guide for States on Collaborating with Community-Based Organizations, is aimed at state energy agencies that are looking to strengthen their relationships with local under-resourced communities or are beginning to engage in energy justice work. The guide is a collection of best practices, ideas, and principles that provide states a foundation for building equitable relationships with community-based organizations and for working with them on solar development.

Community Outreach and Solar Equity: A Guide for States on Collaborating with Community-Based Organizations, is aimed at state energy agencies that are looking to strengthen their relationships with local under-resourced communities or are beginning to engage in energy justice work. The guide is a collection of best practices, ideas, and principles that provide states a foundation for building equitable relationships with community-based organizations and for working with them on solar development.

This 2017 guidebook and associated webinar discuss the consumer protection issues that may arise in community solar projects for residential consumers and the role that states can play in ensuring appropriate protections.

The Energize Your Impact report explores how philanthropic foundations have supported the deployment of solar and solar+storage at LMI-serving community institutions, including multifamily affordable housing, community centers, senior care facilities, educational facilities, and health centers. It provides a menu of strategies for foundations to bring clean energy benefits to LMI households and communities.

Solar with Justice: Strategies for Powering Up Under-Resourced Communities and Growing an Inclusive Solar Market provides recommendations on how to deliver meaningful, long-lasting benefits to disadvantaged communities with solar. It was produced by CESA in partnership with the Jackson State University Department of Urban & Regional Planning, the Partnership for Southern Equity, PaulosAnalysis, the University of Michigan School for Environment & Sustainability, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, and The Solutions Project following more than 90 policymakers, community group leaders, solar experts, and energy equity advocates interviews.