solar access for all americans. thank you, president obama

[DemocratSinceBirth]

White House: Fact Sheet: Administration Announces New Initiative To Increase Solar Access For All Americans
The Obama Administration is committed to addressing climate change, promoting clean energy, and creating good paying jobs. That is why the Administration is announcing a new initiative to increase access to solar energy for all Americans, in particular low- and moderate- income communities, while expanding opportunities to join the solar workforce. Last year, the United States brought online as much solar energy every three weeks as it did in all of 2008, and the solar industry added jobs 10 times faster than the rest of the economy. And since the beginning of 2010, the average cost of a solar electric system has dropped by 50 percent. The executive actions and private sector commitments that we are announcing today will help continue to scale up solar for all Americans, including those who are renters, lack the startup capital to invest in solar, or do not have adequate information on how to transition to solar energy. The key components of the initiative that the Administration is announcing today are:

Launching a National Community Solar Partnership to unlock access to solar for the nearly 50 percent of households and business that are renters or do not have adequate roof space to install solar systems, including issuing a guide to Support States In Developing Community Solar Programs; Setting a goal to install 300 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy in federally subsidized housing and providing technical assistance to make it easier to install solar, including clarifying how to use Federal funding; Housing authorities, rural electric co-ops, power companies, and organizations in more than 20 states across the country are committing to put in place more than 260 solar energy projects, including projects to help low- and moderate- income communities save on their energy bills and further community solar; and More than $520 million in independent commitments from philanthropic and impact investors, states, and cities to advance community solar and scale up solar and energy efficiency for low- and moderate- income households.

http://theobamadiary.com/

[freshwest]

1. Recently talked to HUD in my area and new housing is being built with this already!

The representative has said that Obama has made housing a priority and worked closely with HUD on all matters.

He said Obama really cares about housing and he had been very encouraged with the HUD leadership.

Now we must build on his work by electing Democrats!

[yeoman6987]

3. I'd love Solar but it's 30 grand

And even with tax refunds and everything else, it's still around 12 grand. I hope the end up refunding it all then I can do it.

[freshwest]

4. What region? My friend went solar and it cost her less than $20K total. She was in the process of

refinancing and really wanted it to reduce her light bill. Her appliances are electric.

She has a woodstove in case the power goes out but the light company made underground power a priority to stop outages during the fall and winter from falling trees. There is a burn ban but it does not apply to those with wood as their primary heat source here.

Part of her installation was that electricians come out to send excess power to the grid to reduce her bill. The light company gave her a rebate, just as they have for all conservation measures.

We can also pick to donate to wind, water and solar power as a sources. Even for watermills. It's not the same as a windmill but will produce power.

And buildings with HUD residents, even if they are not HUD housing but have some residents with HUD assistance may use this too. I'm not able to live in public housing. But there are several housing projects being built by HUD here.

This is a reversal of the Reagan era cuts and it's what FDR did. This is long term change Obama is making but gets no publicity.

I also know rural Texans who have taken advantage of the wind power subsidies put in by PBO and although they don't like him they appreciated the manufacturing and installation jobs. Some farms and ranches are now completely off the grid thanks to Obama.

[pansypoo53219]

2. if we have postal service + telephones, this is the new must have. also DSL. just DO IT! UPGRADE!

[NightWatcher]

5. I'd like to see subsidies make finacing for a solar system the same as your regular power bill

for a period of between 2-5 years.

Imagine if people who lived in the parts of the US where solar is plentiful could finance their solar pv system and make payments to the government or solar company instead of their previous power utility for a period of 2-5 years and then after that, have no power bill aside from system maintenance after that time. You could even build up credit for overages that you sold back to the utility via net metering and pay your system off quicker or save the credit for maintenance costs.

Solar is the future and all we have to do is catch it.