ROLE OF STATE POLICIES IN PROMOTING DEPLOYMENT OF RESIDENTIAL PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS AND EVALUATION OF USE OF STATE SOLAR “CARVE-OUTS” IN REDUCING STATE CO2 EMISSIONS

Abstract

This paper focuses on addressing questions including the impact of state policies on residential solar deployment, the impact of residential solar on U.S. emission and the justification for state photovoltaic (PV) “carve-outs” in view of that impact. Official estimated value of solar panel, independent grading systems for state solar policies and value of social cost of carbon (SCC) are used. Results find that state policies generally promote the deployment of residential solar but the impact vary depending on kinds and support levels of policies. After analyzing the physical benefit of a typical solar system in each state and its social value, result shows that the current Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC) prices created by solar carve-outs are not justified by the value of the emission reductions resulting from residential solar PV.