Solar For All

While the price of solar has fallen, rooftop panels remain out of budget for many Americans—but the Environmental Protection Agency has a bold solution. With an injection of $7 Billion USD in funding, the EPA is about to provide solar power to more than 900,000 low-income households.

Solar panels on a roof. Photo by Albert Bridge (CC SA 2.0).

This project, called “Solar For All”, is one of many efforts to lower carbon emissions under the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Solar For All will focus much of the funds on providing solar power to states and communities which have not yet had access to a low-income solar option—including Puerto Rico and the Hopi Reservation.

Solar For All will be more than just solar panels. The funds will also provide batteries to store electricity and create community solar farms for people whose homes don’t have a roof with a broad southern face.

The carbon emissions prevented by this initiative will be significant. 4 gigawatts of solar energy will be added. All communities receiving this clean energy include households least able to afford solar on their own budget—these are the people who would need to wait years, watching the price drop further before they could switch to solar. Some of these communities have many homes not connected to the grid, homes which rely on dirty diesel generators for electricity.

Providing solar now—at no upfront cost—to those who would be last to access green energy helps. It reduces carbon emissions now and for years to come. And when families see the savings on their energy bills, they’ll tell their friends and neighbors how good it is to go green.