By Danielle Smith, Keystone State News Service
Photo courtesy of Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Solar energy is the fastest-growing source of electricity in America, and a new report showed Pennsylvania has an enormous, untapped opportunity for clean energy right on top of its warehouses.
According to Keystone Research Center, the state’s warehouse rooftops could generate enough solar power to supply more than 924,000 homes each year.
Stephen Herzenberg, executive director emeritus and economist at the center, said Pennsylvania’s many warehouses are ideal for solar and noted House Bill 1260, which would help make it happen, has already passed the state House and needs Senate approval.
“We find that Pennsylvania has 580 million square feet of warehouse rooftop space, suitable for solar,” Herzenberg reported. “This could more than triple the current solar electricity generated in Pennsylvania.”
Herzenberg pointed out that warehouses across Pennsylvania, from Central to the Lehigh Valley to communities along Routes 80 and 81, offer significant potential for rooftop solar. Herzenberg added nearly two-thirds of the potential is in Republican House and Senate districts. House Bill 1260 awaits action in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.
Herzenberg stressed rooftop solar on warehouses provides low-cost energy amid rising electricity costs while boosting the economy in rural Pennsylvania, adding that supportive public policies are key to solar expansion.
“The suburban and rural areas where warehouses concentrate are some of the places that most need well-paid construction jobs,” Herzenberg underscored.
Herzenberg recommended lawmakers move quickly on the common-sense solar on warehouses bill, adding that the legislation would establish solar-ready standards for new large warehouse construction and authorize local incentives to retrofit existing warehouses with solar arrays.
