Solar Market Pathways
The Pace Energy and Climate Center is participating in the US Department of Energy's Solar Market Pathways program through the creation of the Northeast Solar Energy Market Coalition (NESEMC). NESEMC brings together solar energy business associations and other stakeholders in the Northeast to harmonize regional solar energy policy and advance the solar energy market. Solar Market Pathways is an effort funded by the US Department of Energy to drive down the cost of solar energy and accelerate deployment in communities across the United States. The program is part of the larger SunShot Initiative, which seeks to make solar cost competitive by 2020. Over the next three years, 14 Solar Market Pathways Awardees will develop strategies that expand solar electricity use for residential, community and commercial properties. Awardees use a wide range of tools, including special financing mechanisms like Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), and the integration of solar energy generation in local emergency response plans. The tools and strategies developed through the program will be invaluable models that can be replicated in hundreds of US communities.