The value of rooftop solar is well above the net metering compensation paid to customers with rooftop solar, the solar association found.

South Carolina is set to surpass North Carolina in solar watts per customer. Georgia and Florida will exceed the Southeast average, while utilities in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi will continue to lag. Overall the states will reach 5% solar generation by 2023.

“The most efficient time to install solar panels is when the builders are on the roof in the first place,” said Bronte Payne with Environment America.

The Bureau of Land Management “has ignored most possibilities” for utility-scale solar “on its vast land holdings across the solar-rich Southwest,” says a paper. Renewable energy development accounts for less than 1% of economic activity on BLM lands, while oil and gas account for 70%, according to BLM data.

Solar hosting capacity maps, now required in seven states, show where solar can be added on a distribution circuit without incurring any grid expense—but only if those maps are accurate. California’s experience, says a policy paper, shows that best practice guidelines for validating maps are needed to aid state regulators.

The Solar Energy Industries Association makes the case for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to dismiss the petition, solely on legal grounds. A filing by Solar United Neighbors, Vote Solar and other groups makes a legal case and also rebuts the petition’s claims about net metering.

“90% by 2035 is the sweet spot” for a pathway that uses existing technology, allows “judicious use” of existing generation assets, and “achieves near-complete decarbonization in a realistic timeframe,” said study co-author Nikit Abhyankar of UC Berkeley. The resulting lower wholesale cost of electricity by 2035 “was a surprise for us.”

First Solar has backed carbon pricing in comments submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The firm also co-founded a global policy institute that supports carbon pricing as a “cost-effective, equitable and politically viable climate solution.”

Solar plants are now expected to last 32.5 years and have operational costs of $17 per kW/year, as shown by a Berkeley Lab survey of industry participants.

While applauding the rooftop solar progress of dozens of cities, a report from Environment Texas offers policy options for further progress. Per capita solar leaders are Honolulu, San Diego, Albuquerque, San Jose and Burlington, Vermont.