With federal clean energy programs facing potential cuts, solar installers are speaking up. But what can small- and medium-sized solar installers do to protect their businesses?
Rarely do these solar installers have their own in-house lobbyist able to craft communications or speak with policymakers. Influencing federal legislation and regulations often requires major clout and major cash. Among the biggest players, the American Clean Power Association spent over $2 million in 2024 in its political action campaigns, while the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) spent $1.8 million, according to OpenSecrets, a watchdog group.
With the House Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives beginning to draft legislation that may result in cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), some prominent national organizations have made it easier for local solar companies to communicate with their representatives in Washington, D.C.
SEIA recently launched a new platform for grassroots advocacy called Solar Powers America, while industry powerhouse Enphase Energy pioneered a letter-writing campaign that solar installers can sign on behalf of their company. Stephen K. Irvin, CEO of the Amicus Solar Cooperative, a national organization of smaller solar installers, told pv magazine USA that his organization has stepped up its own advocacy work at the federal level, including action alerts for its members to reach out to their representatives.
Solar installers need to tell the story of how important the IRA is to their business, but that’s not enough. As Lindsay Bourgoine, director of policy and government affairs at ReVision Energy emphasized to pv magazine USA, “it’s important that decision makers hear from the families, municipalities, schools, businesses, etc. who benefit from these policies to ensure their voices are included in future policy decisions.” Solar installers can support that process by alerting their customers and potential customers to Solar United Neighbors’ (SUN) campaign to easily allow them to contact their members of Congress.
Roughly half of the U.S. states are without a solar organization affiliated with SEIA—or any solar organization at all. pv magazine USA spoke with Steve Weems, president of the Dirigo Community Solar Group, a Maine-based organization representing individual co-owners of community solar farms. He lamented the fact the Solar Energy Association of Maine, of which he was a co-founder, “has run its course” and is no longer active.
Those states without state solar organizations tend to be places where support for solar is weak but where the benefits of the IRA have predominantly flowed. With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, Andy Newbold, senior director of corporate communications at Enphase, told pv magazine USA that the company’s letter writing campaign was targeting key Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee. Irvin of Amicus said the same thing. For one national organization, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, engaging Republican policymakers is their primary reason for being.
Appealing to conservative representatives might require solar advocates to tailor their message to a more hostile audience. Yet today, saving money is the biggest driver of residential solar adoption, and cheap electricity are not be a partisan issue. Arguments for increasing energy self-reliance, reducing red tape and defending property rights are all issues that cross party lines. So is defending small businesses, and now more than ever is it time for small solar installers to speak up for their own interests.
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Electrical power generation is wealth generation. Impairing the creation of wealth, especially at its most basic, granular level near the point of use is incomprehensible.