It's the Middle Class Driving Solar Growth

Seven Solar Installations in a Northern California Neighborhood, March 29, 2016. Photo by Charity Vargas

Who’s going solar? A recent study by Kevala - Income Distribution of Rooftop Solar covering 2008-2015 points to California’s middle class.  As solar costs have decreased and competitive new financing options have increased, more and more middle class homeowners are adding solar to their roofs. As many as 65% of California’s solar systems were installed in zip codes where the median owner-occupied income is less than $70,000 per year. Discussing the study with Solar Industry, Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association, suggests that “middle-class consumers are seeking to generate their own power as part of a tangible solution to rising electricity costs.”

The Kevala study also found that moderate-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles County (between $40,000– $70,000) have seen “very strong growth” up 30% year over year. And in Fresno, zip codes with homeowner-median-income of $40,000- $55,000 consistently represented half the solar deployment. What is driving this eight year trend?  Savings. The study concluded that  “10-20% savings in their electricity costs is meaningful enough to drive investment in alternative electricity supplies.”

How much can your customers save? With Genability Switch solar companies can calculate and present their customers savings, helping them install solar where it makes sense - increasingly for moderate and middle income homes.