Rocky Hill, Conn., May 18, 2012 —The Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) announced today a “Race to the Rooftop” for Residential Solar Installers that will provide greater support and a longer time-horizon for installers to continue to build their business in Connecticut while providing new market participants greater opportunity to enter the State and hire and invest locally. 

The “Race to the Rooftop” provides $10 million in incentives to support an additional 5.6MW of new residential solar PV systems.  If the target is not achieved by April 1, 2013 CEFIA will move to the next phase of the Race, which will be based on additional market analysis.  The development of the “Race to the rooftop” is a demonstration of CEFIA’s commitment to capture data from the marketplace, and to craft programs with incentives based on metrics and evaluation developed to get the most “bang for the buck” for ratepayer’s money invested.

Bryan Garcia, President of CEFIA stated, "The ultimate objective is to provide a smooth transition from ratepayer incentives to financing solutions--leveraging a greater investment from private capital sources.  The Race is on to create jobs, support the local economy and ramp up the deployment of cleaner and cheaper energy throughout Connecticut".  CEFIA will continue to engage industry stakeholders and will announce the next phase of the Program well in advance of implementation.

The Residential Solar Program, established by Public Act 11-80, requires CEFIA to achieve 30 MW of new residential solar PV installations by 2022. Step 1 of the Program reached over 200 households. As a result, nearly 1.5 megawatts of new clean energy resources will be deployed in Connecticut. Of the $2.5 million in incentives provided in Step 1, nearly $5.0 million of additional investment was made into these projects – helping to maximize the installation of systems and generation of clean energy per dollar of ratepayer incentive. Historically, for every $1 provided by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, $1 of additional investment was made into residential solar PV projects.
 
About the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority
CEFIA was established by Connecticut’s General Assembly on July 1, 2011 as a part of Public Act 11-80. This new quasi-public agency supersedes the former Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. CEFIA’s mission is to help ensure Connecticut’s energy security and community prosperity by realizing its environmental and economic opportunities through clean energy finance and investments. As the nation’s first full-scale clean energy finance authority, CEFIA will leverage public and private funds to drive investment and scale-up clean energy deployment in Connecticut. For more information about CEFIA, please visit www.ctcleanenergy.com.