10,000 Solar Rebates Awarded!

Lila Sevener, Solar Fellow

The MassCEC Commonwealth Solar II Rebate Program has awarded over 10,000 rebates to Massachusetts residents, totaling over $28 million toward solar for homes and businesses.

The success of this program is representative of the success of solar throughout the state. In 2014, Massachusetts ranked 4^th in the country for solar installations, adding over 308 megawatts of solar electric capacity.  There are over 26,000 residential solar systems in the state today, contributing to a total of over 841 megawatts of installed capacity.

Massachusetts is now over halfway to achieving its goal of 1,600 megawatts of solar installed by 2020!

This program successfully closed in January 2015, after five years of providing rebates to Massachusetts residents. It grew over its course, increasing from 137 installed systems during the first round of funding, to over 1,000 in the final rounds. The incentives decreased from an average of about 20 percent of the total system cost during the first round to an average of about 6 percent of the cost during the last round.

Increased participation, despite lower incentive levels, shows that the program was successful in stimulating the solar industry, and that the solar market is on the rise.  The industry now employs over 12,000 workers.  Since 2010, prices of solar installations have dropped by 49 percent in Massachusetts, making solar a more competitive, attainable renewable resource for homeowners.

For more information on solar PV technology or incentives, visit our program page.