Considering that our Governor is such a huge supporter of solar energy you would think our Attorney General would be as well, especially with the state law 40A Section 3 that reads as follows: No zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare. When asked Ms. Coakley refused to answer why the Ag approved anti-solar bylaws and deferred it to Margaret Hurley, Dir. of Municipal Law Unit. Ms. Hurley responded by saying the AG has limited power to disapprove local zoning, “[i]t is fundamental that every presumption is to be made in favor of the validity of municipal by-laws.” Adding “we regularly include a caution in our solar by-law decisions along the following lines: General Laws Chapter 40A, § 3 protects solar energy systems and the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy … there are no court decisions to guide the Town and this Office in determining what qualifies as an unreasonable regulation of solar uses in contravention of G.L. c. 40A, § 3. However, the Town should be mindful of this requirement in applying [the zoning by-law] and consult closely with Town Counsel during the process.”

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In the last few months’ solar PV growth has been under attack from a variety of sources beginning with the DOER whose new proposed legislation is designed to severely slow new solar growth through proposed changes in the SREC2 program (members see more on this at “Member Pages”). Now it is Net Metering that is facing new proposed legislation designed to restrict new solar growth, and would require current Net Metering participants to pay fees to continue to receive net metering credit. Senator Rodrigues has filed bill S2030 under the misleading title “An act reducing the cost of solar power through increased competition.” Those of you who are familiar with the Orwellian term doublespeak will understand after reading this proposed legislation that the reduction of cost of solar energy means the elimination of solar net meter incentives and the reference of increased competition actually means allowing fossil fuels to again be the utilities dominate energy source unfettered by Net Metering or REC/SREC pollution penalties. Another bill S2019, while far from what MASOA would like to see, keeps Net Metering capacity open for two years until such time a “committee” determines new percentage caps (members can see full versions of these bills and MASOA response). A Senate/House joint committee begins review of both bills March 11th. MASOA encourages all solar owners to contact their senators and representatives to stand up against the utilities attempt to end Net Metering. MAKE NO MISTAKE … if you own solar, this new legislation affects YOU! Now is the time to join MASOA (click here), with your support we can keep solar growing in Massachusetts.

After beginning our new member campaign in earnest in December 2013 we are getting new sign ups every week and we are well on the way to getting the required membership to go the next phase of becoming a non-profit organization. So if you have been saying to yourself, I really should join MASOA, this would be a great time to go ahead and become a member. It is truly easy, just click on membership from our home page, go to Member levels and click, the rest takes less than five minutes including payment by PayPal.

On January 24th Founders John Livermore and Tom Thompson along with Interim Treasurer, Chris Kilfoyle and Secretary, Chris Smith attended a hearing at the State House on proposed new SRECII regulations. Mr. Smith voiced MASOA overview of proposed changes and submitted more detailed remarks to the DOER. In summary MASOA is very concerned that overall the amount of solar growth will decline drastically undermining the Governor’s goal of 1600 MW by 2020. The proposed changes will only encourage unregulated solar leasing by out-of-state large capital investors as Commonwealth Solar incentives end in June 2014 and threaten the future of small solar installers and solar ownership in Massachusetts. As a member you may read these issues in full in our January member newsletter.

You have, or are about to, or planning to install solar electric (Photovoltaics) and/or solar hotwater (Thermal) … congratulations … together we are making the world, our environment and our children’s future better. So what is the next best thing for you to do? Well, we hope you have made your dwelling or business as energy efficient as possible, recycle, and conserve our limited resources such as water, lands, etc. There is one more thing you need to do, and it is easy, quick and very low cost, plus it will make your solar investment even more worthwhile. Join the Massachusetts Solar Owners Association!

Simply click on Membership and you go to Membership Levels. Here you can choose between Member at $25 or Associate Member $10. If you own a solar installation you can become a Member with voting privileges and access to special member only web pages. As a Associate Member you will get email alerts and other web page features such as the latest solar technologies and upcoming changes to state policies and incentives.

So why not join right now. We won’t even ask you for personal information other than your email address, and when you donate through PayPal your privacy and personal info is guaranteed secure. And we promise your email will not be sold or given to anyone or any other organization.

As the saying goes … “help us to help you.” For the past ten years those of us who heard the calls for change because our planet climate is changing, not for the better, and our use of fossil fuels is in large part the reason. We, both pioneers (pre 2010) and current investors in solar energy have for the most part “gone it alone.” When we chose an installer we looked in the yellow pages, or with luck, knew someone who could make a recommendation, and if we chose the wrong installer … we were on our own. But it is after the installation, the system is running well, that we are truly alone in deciding who to broker our Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) or after 2010 Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs), who to turn to when the electric utility decides to not credit your Net-Metering, or the town Assessors tax you for personal property on your solar installation.