Solar Leases Launched By Sena Christian
For thousands of years, people throughout civilizations around the world have harnessed the sun's immense energy to power their lives. The sun's solar rays were used to cook food, and much later, to power calculators, increase the productivity of crops, and generate electricity for homes, schools and office buildings. This ancient practice is now experiencing a revival in American suburbia, as some homeowners have the chance to lease solar rooftop panels, with what's being called a "residential solar lease."
This no-money-down, low-monthly plan makes solar electricity much less expensive than it typically costs: Buying and installing a solar panel system costs a homeowner between $20,000 and $50,000.
Wall Street developed this new financing plan as a way to make solar energy more financially feasible and desirable for homeowners. Proponents of the residential solar lease compare the plan to a car lease: Homeowners don't have to buy and install the solar panels. Instead, they rent a rooftop solar array for a monthly fee. Customers sign a contract that binds them to this agreement for a specific period of time, and at the end of the contract they have the option to either extend the lease or buy the panels. Currently, companies charge about $100 a month for a solar lease over a 15-year contract period.
Proponents of residential solar leases expect that these leases will take off in sun-drenched states, which already suffer from rising utility rates. California, for instance, has one of the highest electricity rates in the United States and boasts the world's third-largest solar-power market. As the sun shines on and energy costs continue to rise, leasing solar rooftop panels may end up making a lot of financial and environmental sense.
Assuming these proponents are correct, the United States is going to need a workforce to meet the demand. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that solar energy could create more than 1 million new jobs by the year 2030. On January 6, the U.S. Department of Labor announced nearly $100 million in green jobs training grants authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The money will support job-training programs to assist unemployed people with finding careers in green industries. The goal of the grant is to prepare workers for jobs as (among other professions) solar panel installers.
"[This] announcement is part of the administration's long-term commitment to fostering both immediate economic revitalization and a clean energy future. It's an investment that will help American workers succeed while doing good," said Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in a press release.
This recent grant funding is part of a much larger Recovery Act initiative of $500 million to fund workforce development projects that prepare workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries to promote economic growth. This news from President Obama's administration clearly shows the direction of America's future: A shift to a low-carbon, clean way of powering our houses, cars and lives, and an investment in the workforce to get us there.
Buildings in the United States use one-third of all energy consumed and two-thirds of all electricity. This massive amount of energy use contributes to climate change and pollution, by accounting for 49 percent of sulfur-dioxide emissions, 25 percent of nitrous-oxide emissions and 10 percent of particulate emissions.
Solar rooftop panels allow people to implement measures to green their houses and reduce their energy use. Greening our nation's buildings is critical to the fight against climate change. In the United States alone, buildings account for 38 percent of all carbon-dioxide emissions, and residential buildings are no small part of this statistic. Rooftop solar panels offer a solution to energy consumption and the high economic and ecological cost of using fossil fuel to power our lifestyles.
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