Solar energy is here to stay, efficiently and reliably harnessing the sun’s energy to provide a clean, renewable source of electricity that can help power our homes and businesses. For many Pennsylvanians interested in going solar, however—whether purchasing their own system for on-site usage; hosting a third-party-owned system and purchasing the solar power through a long-term power purchase agreement; subscribing to a community solar garden; or leasing out their land to host a large-scale solar system that feeds its electrical output into the energy grid—the past decade has been somewhat frustrating. While solar markets in many other states have flourished, Pennsylvania has been left largely in the shade, with less than 1% of the commonwealth’s electricity generated by solar.

This has not gone unnoticed. In 2018, after more than a year of intense and ongoing focus and expert collaboration on this issue that continues today, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Energy Programs Office, released “Pennsylvania’s Solar Future,” an effort to identify and explore strategies to achieve an aggressive but realistic goal—generating 10% of Pennsylvania’s electricity from in-state solar by 2030. Given the current trajectory of Pennsylvania’s solar market, only half of 1% of Pennsylvania’s electricity would come from solar by 2021, and the commonwealth would likely fall far short of its 2030 goal.