Resources > Benefits of Residential Solar in Colorado

Benefits of Residential Solar in Colorado

Report

Download the Benefits of Residential Solar in Colorado report in full here and the 2 page summary here. Also see the summary content below. The report was completed for Solar United Neighbors by Strategic Economic Research.

The purpose of this report is to aid decision makers in evaluating the positive impact of residential net metered solar in the State of Colorado. The basis of this analysis is to study the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of small scale residential solar on the state’s total economic output, job creation, wages, environment, and public health.

Residential net metered solar refers to solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, which use sunlight to generate electricity installed on homes and residential buildings. These can be either rented or owned by the homeowner. The home consumes some or all of the electricity generated by the panels rather than purchasing all electricity from the local utility. During hours in which the panel is not generating electricity or the amount consumed is greater than the amount produced, the household purchases electricity from the local utility. If the panels produce more electricity than is consumed by the household during a period of time, that electricity gets fed back into the local power grid and flows to the nearest neighbor in need of electricity at that time. Net metering is a billing system that credits solar owners for the power that they generate and share with their neighbors. The term net metering specifically refers to a one-to-one credit system in which the amount of electricity provided to the utility is credited to the customer at the same price as the customer purchases electricity, also called the “retail-rate.” Net metered residential solar is typically governed at the state level.

The State of Colorado was home to more than 106,000 residential solar installations in 2022 (Statista, 2023). These residential solar installations in Colorado represent a total investment in excess of $938 million over the last 13 years. This residential solar development has resulted in the following:

summary of environmental, economic & public health benefits of residential solar in Colorado. Economic includes over $2.6 billion in new gross state product, 8,700 long term jobs & $742.5 million in labor earnings. Environmental includes over 3.2 million tons of pollution reduction. Public health includes over $30 million in health incidence reduction and between $89-$132 million in national health benefits.

Economic Impacts of Net Metered Residential Solar from 2011-2023 (2024$)

Impact	Employment	Labor Income	Output
Direct	1,548	$200,506,528	$1,079,953,912
Indirect	4,313	$374,117,384	$971,142,728
Induced	2,923	$167,885,536	$526,158,172
Total	8,784	$742,509,448	$2,577,254,811

graph of annual and cumulative reduction in selected pollutants in Colorado from 2014-23 due to residential solar. the annual reduction starts at 121,169 tons per year in 2014 growing to around 750,000 tons in 2023. The cumulative reduction is 3,215,439 tons from 2014 to 2023.

chart showing the annual total monetary value of health incidence reductions in Colorado from 2014-2023. The annual amount is $1,439,037 in 2014 growing to more than $6 million in 2023. The cumulative value of health incidence reductions is more than $30 million from 2014 to 2023.

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