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Being an environmentally responsible member of the community is an important part of the mission of the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County in Ithaca, New York. The organization, celebrating its 150^th anniversary and with nearly 4,000 members, has been pursuing ways to reduce its carbon footprint in recent years, installing a catalyst on its HVAC system, switching out old incandescent bulbs for LEDs, upgrading the boiler that heats the pool and exploring opportunities to leverage renewable energy.

Across the nation, communities of faith are increasingly looking to solar power to reduce their environmental footprint while cashing in on solar savings. And why not? Within the last year, solar prices have dropped nearly 20% and there are now 1.4 million solar installations in the United States. Still, many churches, mosques, and synagogues don’t have buildings suitable for rooftop solar panels, nor the funds to pay the high upfront costs of buying and installing solar. In this regard, Community Solar acts as the perfect opportunity for houses of worship to go green while saving some serious green as well. 

With a record breaking 14.8 gigawatts of solar projects installed last year, 2016 marked solar’s biggest year ever, proving that solar energy is here to stay. Installed solar power production capacity in 2016 increased 97% over the previous year, resulting in the highest installed capacity totals we have ever seen. In fact, Q4 was the largest quarter on record for solar, sending the industry into 2017 with a full head of steam. Despite some recent setbacks at the federal level (EPA budget cuts, the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, etc.), solar is still poised for massive growth this year. 

Yesterday President Obama announced his Clean Energy Savings For All Initiative and its goal of bringing 1 gigawatt of solar to low- and moderate- income families by 2020. We here at Nexamp are proud to support this goal by committing to complete construction on 17 new community solar projects by the end of 2016, totalling 35 megawatts of projects that will serve nearly 2000 households, small businesses and non-profit organizations.

Earlier this month, the Nexamp community solar team took a trip out to Syracuse to attend the very first Solarize CNY Central New York Community Solar Forum to discuss the arrival of community solar in New York State. 75 national and local solar developers were face to face with over 100 community organizers and local energy managers in an effort to promote what has been called “the democratization of solar.”

One year after the net metering cap was hit, stalling hundreds of solar projects across the state, over a hundred solar employees from around the Commonwealth came together to urge legislative action to keep solar working in Massachusetts. The House and Senate have each proposed bills, but have yet to reach a consensus on several key issues, including the compensation rate for net metering and the size of the cap increase. The issue is currently being deliberated in a joint conference committee in an attempt to reconcile differences between the proposed bills.

It’s been quite the year for our community solar team - not only have we built the Northeast's largest community solar project, which is now powering 116 local residents and businesses, but we’ve also got several new community solar projects under construction and our sights set on what’s next.

A little over two months after we broke ground, we have wrapped up construction on our first community solar project, the 2.3 megawatt “Nexamp Peak,” named for our partnership with Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, the project’s host, who will also benefit from half the energy produced.

SEIA

Have you ever driven by a house with solar panels and thought to yourself, “If only my roof faced the right direction,” or “If only I had enough money to invest in solar!”? For years, adopting solar has been a challenge for many people. The benefits have been limited to homeowners with large roofs with minimal shading, who are able to pay thousands for an installation. While the costs of solar are rapidly dropping, residential solar remains feasible for only approximately 20% of homeowners in the United States.

A clean energy transformation is underway across the country, and it’s reshaping the way in which Americans think about their energy consumption. Thanks to forward-thinking policymakers in states like Massachusetts, renewable energy is not only a growing portion of the energy mix, but is also an increasing source of utility cost savings for residents and businesses alike. As importantly, solar is what the people want! At least 70% of Massachusetts residents recognize the solar industry as an important piece of the Commonwealth’s vibrant economy.