In a huge jump for the solar industry in Nevada, the US state boosts capacity by 80MW in one year, showing that despite federal disincentives to the industry, solar power is alive and well.
Only two years ago, Nevada was an example of the worst-case scenario for rooftop solar markets. Regulators abruptly dismantled the state’s net metering policy at the end of 2015, and with no reasonable level of compensation installation activity stopped, workers were laid off and large national companies left the market. However, after the passage of AB 405, which reinstated near-retail net metering in June 2017, NV Energy’s SolarGeneration program saw a 32x monthly increase in applications . This week we have received another indication of the progress in Nevada. Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) reported yesterday that the first 80 MW tier of the state’s net metering program is now fully subscribed , with 37 MW of solar installed and another 43 MW applied for. Those home and business owners who applied under Tier 1 will receive credit for the electricity that their PV systems generate at 95% of the current retail rate for a period of 20 years. Those who missed the cutoff over the weekend will go into the second tier, under which the electricity generated by their PV systems will be compensated at 88% of the retail rate. There are a total […]