Solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

has been growing in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in recent years due to new technological improvements and a variety of regulatory actions and financial incentives enacted by the state government.

Government policy

The

Government of Oregon The government of the U.S. state of Oregon, as prescribed by the Oregon Constitution, is composed of three government branches: the Executive (government), executive, the Legislature, legislative, and the Judiciary, judicial. These branches opera ...

has taken a variety of actions to encourage solar energy use and manufacturing within the state. A 2017 law states that

homeowners association A homeowner association (or homeowners' association ''HOA sometimes referred to as a property owners' association ''POA common interest development ''CID or homeowner community) is a private, legally-incorporated organization that governs a h ...

s cannot ban solar panels.

Net metering

The state has a

net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly impor ...

program that allows for large installations of up to 2 MW of on-site electrical generation. A report released in 2009 by the Network for New Energy Choices and Vote Solar gave the state's net metering system an "A" grade, a rating only 9 other states received.

Renewable portfolio standard

The state adopted a

Renewable Portfolio Standard A renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is a regulation that requires the increased production of energy from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. Other common names for the same concept include Renewable Electric ...

(RPS) in 2007 which requires that 25% of Oregon's electricity come from renewable resources by 2025. The RPS was revised in 2009 to include a separate 20 MW solar

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

requirement by 2020.

Construction budget mandate

Passed in the 2007 legislative session, House Bill 2620, requires that public entities such as state and local governments spend 1.5% of the construction budget for new or renovated buildings on on-site solar technologies.

Financial incentives

Solar Within Reach

Solar Within Reach is a program through the Energy Trust of Oregon that provides incentives for income-qualified families. Adding a solar power system to your home can greatly reduce your energy bills, and this program is designed to help offset the costs of installing such a system, so you can reap the benefits without a big startup cost.

Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program

In 2019, HB 2618 was passed, which created a new ODOE solar rebate program through the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). This rebate program allows residential solar energy customers as well as low-income service providers in Oregon to receive rebates for solar energy systems, whether they are stand-alone systems or paired with a solar energy storage system.

Residential Energy Tax Credit

The Residential Energy Tax Credit (RETC) program aims to encourage residents to invest in energy efficient appliances or residential-scale power producing systems such as roof-mounted solar or small wind setups by offering a tax credit that covers a certain percentage of the cost of eligible equipment.

Business Energy Tax Credit

The Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) program aims to encourage private businesses to invest in renewable energy in Oregon by offering a tax credit that covers up to 50% of eligible renewable projects such as

power stations A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

or manufacturing factories with a maximum limit of $20 million per project.

State Energy Loan Program

The State Energy Loan Program aims to encourage investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy production by offering long-term, fixed-rate loans to all types of organizations and individuals with a maximum cap at $20 million per loan. From the time it was first authorized by voters in 1980, the program has made over 700 loans worth a total of $335 million.

Feed-in tariff

The

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper house, upper and lower chamber: the Oregon State Senate, Sena ...

established a

feed-in tariff A feed-in tariff (FIT, FiT, standard offer contract,Couture, T., Cory, K., Kreycik, C., Williams, E., (2010)Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy advanced renewable tariff, ...

for solar power modeled on

feed-in tariffs in Germany Feed-in electricity tariffs (FiT) were introduced in Germany to encourage the use of new energy technologies such as wind power, biomass, hydropower, geothermal power and solar photovoltaics. Feed-in tariffs are a policy mechanism designed to a ...

, allowing owners of solar installations to be paid for the electricity they produce. On May 28, 2010, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved the trial feed-in tariff rules. Under the approved rules, residents and businesses who install solar systems can enter a 15-year contract with investor-owned utilities in the state where they will receive guaranteed monthly payments over the life of the contract with rates ranging from $0.55 to $0.65 per kWh. Funding will come from an estimated one half of 1% increase in electricity rates. The trial program ends after four years and the entire project's size is limited to a maximum 25 MW. Program applications are accepted biannually on April 1 and October 1. The final year of the pilot program is 2013.

Manufacturing

Many solar manufacturing companies have chosen to operate in Oregon because of its cheap hydroelectric power which is important for manufacturing and because of its close proximity to California's large market. The inexpensive hydroelectric power has also contributed to the high-tech manufacturing companies located in the state's

Silicon Forest Silicon Forest is a Washington County, Oregon, Washington County cluster of computing technology, high-tech companies located in the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. The term most frequently refers to the industrial corrid ...

as well as several data centers such as Google's Project 02. Oregon was one of the only three states (along with Michigan and Ohio) to manufacture more than 100 MW of solar panels during 2009.

SolarWorld SolarWorld is a German company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of photovoltaic products worldwide by integrating all components of the solar value chain, from feedstock (polysilicon) to module production, from trade with solar panels ...

's plant in

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County, Oregon, Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many High tech, high-te ...

is the largest solar cell manufacturing factory in North America and is planned to produce 500 MW of panels annually by 2012.

Companies

Solar companies with operations in Oregon include, Sunbridge Solar, Precision Solar & Heating, Energy Solutions, Avila Solar Drafting LLC, Solar Plan Sets LLC, Power Northwest, Tesla Solar, Grape Solar, and more.

Notable projects

Solar panels on State Capitol

In 2002 Oregon became the first state to install solar panels on its state capitol building. The solar panels were installed on the

Oregon State Capitol The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the Oregon Legislative Assembly, state legislature and the offices of the Governor of Oregon, governor, Oregon Secretary of State, secretary of state, and Oregon State Treasurer, treasurer of t ...

building, although they are not visible from the street.

Solar highways

In 2008, the

Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway De ...

announced the completion of a 104 kW solar panel project along the interchange of

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

and I-205 near

Tualatin, Oregon Tualatin ( ) is a city located primarily in Washington County, Oregon, Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. A small portion of the city is also located in neighboring Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County. It is a southwestern sub ...

. The project is the first solar highway in Oregon and the first in the United States. In January 2012, the

announced the completion of its second solar highway project with a 1.75 megawatt capacity at its Baldock Safety Rest Area south of Wilsonville. A 165 kW expansion to the first project is under study, as is a potential third solar highway project with a capacity of 3 megawatts at ODOT's maintenance storage facility in West Linn. The 3 megawatt project in

West Linn, Oregon West Linn is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A southern suburb within the Portland metropolitan area, West Linn developed on the site of the former Linn City, Oregon, Linn City, which was named after U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn ...

would be the largest solar highway in the world, slightly passing the 2.8 megawatt record holder in Germany.

U.S. Department of Energy partnership

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

is one of the 25 cities in the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...

's Solar America Cities program. The program's goal is to "rapidly increase the use and integration of solar energy in communities across the country."

Statistics

Potential generation

Solar energy is the state's most abundant energy resource and estimates have placed the state's potential electricity production from solar power at 68,000,000

MWh A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a commo ...

s annually, an amount larger than the state's total electricity consumption of 46,457,000 MWh in 2005.

Installed capacity

Utility-scale generation

References

External links

Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association Official Site
– State chapter of the

Solar Energy Industries Association The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), established in 1974, is the American national non-profit trade association of the solar-energy industry in the United States. In 2019, the group reported at least 1,000 member companies. SEIA i ...

Solar Oregon Official Site
– State chapter of the

American Solar Energy Society The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization advocating for renewable energy in the United States. Founded in 1954, ASES' goal is to speed the transition toward a sustainable energy economy and 100% renewable en ...

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Energy in Oregon