Ben Airth -- Making Residential Solar Work

Описание: Ben Airth is the Policy Director for Freedom Forever, the largest residential solar company in the country. Freedom Forever installs solar systems in 30 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For Freedom Forever's management, Ben tracks state regulations, state legislation, and federal policies to guide program development and sales.

The conversation begins with a discussion of the fall-off of the Internal Revenue Service 25D investment tax credit for solar... an issue for residential solar companies nationwide. Ben makes the case that there are solutions such as prepaid leases that allow for commercial ownership of solar systems on homes, and that the commercial tax credit is still in place. To get this 48E tax credit, the issue is ownership. Commercially owned systems can be on residential or commercial properties. In fact, given the bonus credits possible for commercial installations, homeowners might even see a better than 30% value through this pathway.

Ted brings the discussion back to California and to Net Billing, California's regulatory policy. While a blow to the solar industry in California, Ben suggests that it may well be a good thing in the long run as it has caused consumers to add batteries to their systems. This allows consumers to self-consume solar power and to realize each solar kilowatt-hou's retail energy cost value.

Ted asks about which states provide the most value to homeowners interested in solar: Ben notes that California is the top of the list given its high power prices. The Illinois Shines program has an enhanced value stack for solar, providing homeowners there with the upfront value of Renewable Energy Credits that solar will generate. Maine is a small market but one with attractive consumer economics. Puerto Rico is also a leader for residential solar and storage given hurricanes and the great value of resilience for homeowners there. Texas's deregulated electricity market allows for virtual power plants, another revenue stream and effective means of amortizing the upfront cost of solar. Texas has also enabled third-party permitting and inspections, addressing these bottlenecks in residential installations and shortening installation times.

Ted then asks about the 20 states that Freedom Forever does not serve: In some cases, Ben explains that these are nascent markets that have prematurely adopted California's net billing as a precedent, well before any form of solar saturation and without adequately priming the solar market. States such as Idaho assigned fixed fees that destroyed the economics of consumer-owned solar.

Building on the discussion of virtual power plants and their promise for the future, the discussion shifts to the potential for vehicle-to-grid programs and the integration of e-mobility with our electric utilities. Ben notes that this, like solar and storage, has been inhibited by the One Big Beautiful Bill, but is still promising. He states the need for effective rates and tariffs to make these strategies viable for utilities as well as consumers.

The conversation ends with a discussion of what utilities call "the cost shift" related to distributed generation, and in this case residential solar. Ben discusses the unusually large amount of consumer investments in solar, a public resource that has helped to build the utility infrastructure. While the utility position it this has hurt other consumers with no solar, Ben calls it a mind set. The problem is not technical -- which can be overcome -- but instead a mind set that overlooks the great value of consumer investments that utilities do not have to make. The key is to find win-win solutions that benefit both consumers and utilities charged with providing reliable and affordable power.