Massachusetts has vast solar potential, according to new state report
Last year, the state unveiled a climate plan that made clear Massachusetts needs vast amounts of clean energy to reach its 2050 net-zero target.
But when it came to solar, many clean energy advocates and state officials worried that reaching the state’s lofty target would be difficult due to a shortage of places to put large numbers of solar panels.
Now, a new, detailed analysis puts some of those fears to bed, concluding the state has ample room to dramatically expand solar energy, enough to support some 52 gigawatts of electricity — double what the climate plan called for to be in place by 2050 — and possibly much more if sites with potential downsides such as adverse environmental impacts were put to use.
Even when connections are available, there can be another vexing obstacle: long delays by the state Department of Public Utilities, which must grant regulatory approval for certain solar projects.
That process can drag on for years and “end up making this big, long interconnection backlog at the DPU,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director at the clean energy advocacy group Acadia Center.
To read the full article from the Boston Globe, click here.
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