Dive Brief:
- Real estate website Redfin has identified the 10 cities in the Northeast region of the U.S. with the most potential for solar development and found that Providence, RI, tops the list.
- The three New York cities of Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo, along with Worcester, MA, rounded out the top five in a region of the country that many believe is not the optimal location for solar due to the limited sun exposure, particularly during the winter when power usage is high.
- To determine the solar potential, Redfin and Department of Energy-funded startup Sun Number only looked at cities with a score above 70 out of a possible 100 — the higher the score, or Sun Number, the more estimated benefit available from solar. Then the two selected the cities in that group with the lowest number of Redfin listings mentioning solar panels.
Dive Insight:
The rooftop potential is still great in many Northeastern cities, and installing solar, according to the Dept. of Energy, is likely to increase a property's value.
Solar use has also grown under federal government programs and private industry initiatives. The DOE's Better Buildings Zero Energy Schools Accelerator promotes energy efficient school design, and Wilde Lake Middle School in Columbia, MD, used 2,000 solar panels — 1,400 on the roof and 600 on the ground — to become Maryland's first net-zero school.
Electric car maker Tesla announced in 2015 that it was going net-zero and has since begun installation of what will be the largest solar farm in the world on top of its $5 billion electric battery factory in Nevada. The company designed the roof to accommodate a large array and has plans to position additional solar installations in the hills around the factory. Tesla purchased solar panel manufacturer and installer SolarCity last year, and that company has started a line of lower-priced solar shingles that the company hopes will drive more homeowners to utilize solar power.
Energy-related projects are a significant boon for construction employment, as the Department of Energy reported last month that they have provided more than 2 million construction jobs. The majority of those positions are in the energy efficiency sector.
