According to the White House, last year, the United States brought online as much solar energy every three weeks as it did in all of 2008. Meanwhile, research from the Solar Foundation has revealed that the solar industry may be creating jobs almost 20% faster than the rest of the economy.

The ultimate goal of the Government’s Clean Power Plan is to help reduce the harmful emissions related to our nation’s power production and shift our investment and dependency to clean, renewable sources of energy. It’s clear that Solar energy is a great fit with this new prerogative, and that the government is investing strongly in emerging technology to make solar energy affordable for everyone.

Millions of Dollars in New Funding

As part of the new Climate Action Plan, the federal government will spend over $100 million dollars to support the growth and development of solar power in the U.S. About half of that will go to universities and other organizations dedicated to finding ways to reduce the cost of solar energy. The other half will go to the development of new solar photovoltaic technologies.

Add into the equation independent commitments from various organizations, totaling over $520 million dollars, and you have a recipe for major breakthroughs and expansion for renewable solar energy.

The Clean Power Plan requires states to reduce carbon emissions by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030, and according to the SEIA, is expected to drive 10 times more solar than proposed (from 2 to 20GW of new solar). As part of the plan the EPA has enacted a Clean Energy Incentive Program to help states invest in wind and solar technologies as soon as possible.

The program will economically incentivize a state’s early investment in solar technologies, driving the shift towards clean, renewable energy forward and making zero-emission energy sources like solar accessible and affordable to more Americans than ever before.

How This Investment Affects Home and Business Owners

The obvious question is how these hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment in clean, renewable solar energy will affect the average American who’s considering making the transition to solar power. The answer is simple: major savings.

As solar technology and implementation grows throughout the country, the cost of everything from installation to the manufacturing of hardware goes down. Combined with direct subsidization of some parts of the industry to stimulate growth, the savings will be enormous.

As it stands currently, the costs of adding a solar system to your home or business are relatively low and offer a great ROI within a decade or less. As the cost of installation continues to decline and new technologies are introduced to the market to improve the efficiency of solar systems, the cost of investing in solar energy continues to decline as well.

Programs like the FHA’s PowerSaver energy efficiency retrofit loan program have also gotten a boost from the Clean Power Plan — making these loans available to even more homeowners. Strong government investment in solar is just one of the growing number of reasons that now is a better time than ever to go solar.

If you’d like to find out how installing solar panels on your roof can help you drive your electric bill down to zero, contact us today for a free quote.