As some of you may have heard, Massachusetts has once again been named to the top of a nationally-ranked list. Last week, Governor Deval Patrick announced that Massachusetts has surpassed its original goal of installing 250 megawatts (MW) of solar energy by 2017 – four years early may I add. A benchmark created in 2009 when just 16MW of solar was installed an operating, the Bay State has outdone itself once again, with the solar power now installed in Massachusetts can generate enough electricity to power 37,000 homes for a year. Now a new goal has been established to install 1,600 MW (or 1.6 gigawatts) by the end of 2020.

While solar has been growing fast pretty much everywhere, Massachusetts has seen one of the fastest growth rates in the industry, as the Commonwealth installed 129 MW of solar power in 2012 alone, the sixth most of any state.

Part of this success is due to the Patrick Administration and the State Legislature’s established incentive programs which include requirements for utilities to boost their renewable energy sources, the Green Communities Act, the Global Warming Solutions Act and the Green Jobs Act. Currently there are 110 Green Communities in Massachusetts, with countless others working hard towards to earn the designation.

It seems that Massachusetts realized the importance of solar early, and took advantage of all that it has to offer by creating a number of incentives and programs for residents and businesses of the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the Green Communities Division of the MA Department of Energy Resources have created Solarize Mass, by partnering with communities across Massachusetts, such as Lee, Brookline, and Northampton to name a few, in order to bring competitively-priced solar electricity to home and business owners in the Commonwealth. Solarize Mass is an incentive  program that encourages the adoption of small-scale solar projects through a coordinated education, marketing and outreach effort, combined with a group purchasing model that provides increased savings as more people in the community go solar.

But the other half of the Bay State’s solar energy boom is due to the private sector placing a premium on environmental sustainability and a cost-competitive energy economy. As a company in the industry, we watch the trends closely and recognized the initiatives put in place in Massachusetts, which led us to employ a Project Manager who is very versed in solar installation.  He holds both a LEED AP and NABCEP certification, which allows us the ability to execute a number of different PV projects. As reported in the Boston Globe last fall, some of the state’s larger retailers have also taken advantage of Massachusetts’ green economy:

• Whole Foods has over 300 kilowatts (kW) of solar capacity across four of its locations in Bellingham, Cambridge, Dedham and Framingham.
• Kohl’s has a 358 kW operational system at its location in Plymouth.
• REI installed a 201 kW system at its store in Framingham

As seen on the map provided by the Solar Energy Industries Association, these retailers combine to provide 887 kW of solar energy capacity, with only more to come in the near future.