New Report: 10% solar in reach

Solar power is growing so fast in Ohio that goals once considered ambitious are now seen as readily achievable, according to a new report by Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center.
 
“We can get to 10% solar in Ohio by 2025 if we just keep our foot on the accelerator,” said Christian Adams, State Associate with Environment Ohio. “That’s a small fraction of what’s possible, but it will make a big difference in the quality of our lives and the future of our planet.”
 
The group’s researchers found that solar has grown 68% in recent years. Even if this pace slowed to 52%, solar could still generate 10% of Ohio’s electricity in just over a decade — a goal once thought improbable by many.
 
Achieving this target, the report said, would cut as much carbon pollution as 2.7 million cars emit in a year, and put Ohio more than halfway to the benchmark set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which requires cuts in power plant carbon pollution of 28 percent.
 
Solar is currently the fastest-growing industry in the country, adding 143,000 jobs nationwide in 2013. According to the latest solar jobs census from the Solar Foundation, the solar industry employed more than 3,800 people Ohio in 2013.
 
The report quantifies the state’s enormous solar energy potential using data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Already, the state is home to more than 1.2 million residential and commercial rooftops that could host solar panels, and it has enough technical potential to meet the state’s energy needs 20 times over.
 
“When it comes to solar energy, the sky’s the limit,” said Adams. “Getting to 10% solar is the just the first step to a future powered entirely by pollution-free energy.”

Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center
www.environmentohio.org