North Carolina became the fourth state to reach one gigawatt of installed solar energy power last week and leads the American southeast in providing clean energy to consumers — but the milestone comes at a challenging time for the state.
Solar energy has become a common sight recently, with solar-umbrellas making an appearance outside UNC's Student Union over the summer and solar panels being installed at Carrboro High School.
In addition to environmental concerns, advocates for clean energy emphasize job opportunities and cost-saving as reasons for the advancement of solar developments.
“The solar industry is providing the equivalent of 4,000 full-time jobs and that is just solar,” said Allison Eckley, spokesperson at the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association. “Most of the solar jobs that we are speaking of are helping in the construction period and those have been really good for particularly rural areas."
The impact of job opportunities in areas outside of major cities has also led to increased attention from other southeastern states like Georgia and South Carolina, said Steve Wall, policy research associate for the UNC Institute for the Environment.
In terms of economic costs to consumers, Eckley said the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association has only seen cost-savings. But misinformation has circulated. She said while energy rates remain high, they would have been even higher without solar energy in North Carolina.
Pro-renewable governmental policies — which Wall said were intrinsic to the growth of the solar industry — have recently undergone challenges from the N.C. General Assembly and opponents of government initiatives.
In 2007, a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard was put in place mandating utility companies to purchase part of their energy from renewable energy generators. The standard, which currently stands at 6 percent, will eventually freeze at 12.5 percent unless challenges from opponents halt it altogether.
Another measure attributed to North Carolina’s leading position in America’s clean energy economy is the Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit. The tax credit decreases the cost of producing renewable energy for production companies, which is designed to keep renewable energy competitive.
