Beacon Hill’s clean energy caucus briefed on rooftop solar

On Tuesday, February 27, Environment Massachusetts acting director, Johanna Neumann, briefed members of the Massachusetts legislature’s clean energy caucus about the role rooftop solar can play in the state’s energy future.

Neumann touched on the environmental and public health problems associated with fossil fuel dependence, explained the Bay State’s vast renewable energy potential, the unique benefits that rooftop solar brings to our electric system, and then laid out the potential for rooftop solar on superstores, warehouses and homes across the commonwealth and policies lawmakers can pursue to harness that potential.

In 2022, Massachusetts generated 3,419 GWh of power from small-scale solar generation, enough electricity to power 318,966 average U.S. households. Massachusetts ranked 4th in the nation for growth of small-scale solar generation from 2012-2022 and ranked 4th in the nation for overall small-scale solar generation in 2022. As of 2022, Massachusetts has tapped 10.8 percent of its rooftop solar generation potential. 

“Today, in Massachusetts, you can get your energy straight from your roof,” Neumann told lawmakers. “It’s making less and less sense to pay for power from a distant plant spewing pollution when we can soak up the sun on our rooftops.”

Neumann urged lawmakers to enact a goal of installing the equivalent of a million solar roofs, or 10GW of solar, in Massachusetts by 2030. You can support this campaign by adding your name to the petition below.