Some of the biggest issues facing society in the new year will involve finding solutions to our energy and climate problems, and how the growing tension over power production plays out. As the calendar turns to 2015, the Arizona Solar Center takes a look back at some of the major solar stories that made headlines in 2014.

January 2014:

The year began with a question: Can the strong grassroots support for solar overcome the political clout of utilities in policy battles across the country?  All eyes had been on Arizona as 2013 came to an end and the Arizona Corporation Commission grappled with net metering policies for rooftop solar homeowners.  As we turned the page to 2014, the net metering debate that began in Arizona spread to other states as utilities proposed new fees for households that install rooftop solar.

Additional newsmakers:

February 2014:

The Solar Foundation released its annual Solar Jobs Census. The report ranked Arizona second in the U.S. for solar jobs despite a 13 percent decline in 2013.  The decline was attributed to the completion of the 280 megawatt Solana project near Gila Bend. The forecast for 2014 was one of job growth in the solar sector.

Additional newsmakers:

year-end-2014.jpg

March 2014:

Minnesota became the first state in the nation to legislatively mandate and Public Utlity Commission-approve a value-of-solar-tariff.  In 2013, the legislature created the process for determining a "value of solar" tariff that would calculate the appropriate rate utilities should pay solar customers based on their generation mix, the environmental attributes and the technology's ability to offset more expensive forms of generation. In March 2014, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted in favor of establishing the tariff, which included economic costs associated with climate change in the “solar value.”

Additional newsmakers:

April 2014:

The silicon solar cell celebrated its 60th birthday on April 25.  In 1954, researchers from Bell Laboratories impressed reporters by hooking up a hand-sized silicon panel to a toy Ferris wheel, aiming light at the device and making the wheel turn. Sixty years later, solar is turning the wheels of our economy, employing 143,000 people in the U.S. and generating enough energy to power 2.2 million homes. According to Greentech Media, in 2006, one solar system was installed every 80 minutes in the US. Today, a system goes live every four minutes.

Additional newsmakers:

May 2014:

Before adjourning for the year, Arizona lawmakers failed to address a new Arizona Department of Revenue interpretation that could result in thousands of homeowners who lease solar panels being assessed property taxes. State law says solar panels that generate power primarily used on-site do not add value to property and are not included in the valuation for property tax purposes. However, the Arizona Department of Revenue changed its interpretation of this law in 2013 to mean that solar panels that are leased should be subject to valuation for tax purposes, because leased panels are not owned by the property owner. The new interpretation will tax homeowners an estimated $152 a year for their leased residential solar array.

Additional newsmakers:

June 2014:

More than 200 solar advocates rallied at the State Capitol in Phoenix to protest a 2013 decision by the Arizona Department of Revenue to begin assessing property tax on leased solar rooftop systems. The decision was a change to how leased systems had been treated in previous tax years.  The protestors called upon Governor Brewer to halt the tax. The Governor rejected the protestors demand saying that there was nothing she could do and that it was the legislature’s problem. In May, the legislature adjourned without approving a bill to eliminate the taxes on leased solar panels.

Additional newsmakers:

July 2014:

Electricity demand in Arizona reached record highs: SRP's 970,000 customers required 6,707 megawatts of electricity after 4 p.m., on July 23, surpassing the record at the utility of 6,663 megawatts set Aug. 8, 2012. The utility called upon large business customers in their demand response program to curtail about 50 megawatts of electricity. APS saw a maximum demand of about 7,050 megawatts from its 1.1 million customers. The APS record peak of 7,236 megawatts was set July 21, 2006. Without the contributions of its more than 35,000 solar partners, demand would have easily set new record highs for both utilities.

Additional newsmakers:

August 2014:

According to new projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. will get 1.6 percent of its electricity from solar in 2014. In Japan, that figure is 2.4 percent; among most European countries, it's 6.1 percent. Arizona has the greatest solar capacity per ratepayer in the U.S. Arizona's installed solar capacity is 765 watts per utility customer, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association. That's two-thirds more than neighboring Nevada, almost three times as much as New Mexico and 80 times as much as Utah.

Additional newsmakers:

September 2014:

A new study published by the Solar Foundation shows rapid growth of solar energy being harvested in K-12 schools across the nation, with Arizona ranked third for overall photovoltaic capacity. Two-hundred and twenty-six Arizona schools have solar rooftop units. Nearly 40 percent of these systems, 89 schools, received their solar units through a grant from federal stimulus program known as ARRA.

Additional newsmakers:

October 2014:

Leasing giant SolarCity began offering a new solar loan package to Arizona customers based only on the electricity that the panels produce. The loans will be offered at 4.5 percent over 30 years. But customers won't pay a fixed amount every month. Instead, they will re-pay the loan in monthly installments based on the power the panels produce. Industry analysts say the loan program could reshape the market for rooftop solar and further propel its rapid adoption. It also provides a work-around to the property tax fee being assessed on leased systems in Arizona.

Additional newsmakers:

November 2014:

The Arizona Corporation Commission grabbed headlines all month as Republican candidates Tom Forese and Doug Little beat out the two Democratic candidates for four-year terms on the Commission. In other news, ACC staff proposed eliminating the state's efficiency standard that requires electric utilities to reduce the amount of power they sell by 22 percent by 2020 by helping customers conserve. The staff recommendation is a follow-up to outgoing Commissioner Gary Pierce’s comments that the standard is not cost-effective and that all the low-hanging fruit has been harvested. The ACC’s staff also recommended that commissioners reject a controversial proposal from APS to install and own rooftop PV solar systems on 3,000 homes, saying the plans are too costly. At the same time, staff recommended commissioners approve a similar TEP plan to build and own 3.5 MW of residential rooftop solar.

Additional newsmakers:

December 2014:

Arizona utility regulators tabled a discussion and decision until next year on whether to continue to require Arizona utilities to obtain a portion of their electricity from "distributed" renewable energy sources. Current rules require Arizona utilities get increasing amounts of their power from renewable sources. The Arizona standard calls for 15 percent renewables by 2025, 30 percent of which must come from distributed generation resources. This DG carve-out amounts to 4.5 percent of the total energy load. Postponing the discussion until next year ensures any decision will be decided by the new Commission and its two newly elected commissioners.

Additional newsmakers:

Happy New Year!

Jim Arwood
Communications Director
Arizona Solar Center

Question:

What do you think was the most significant event related to solar this year?