Market Transformation

Solar America Cities is an activity of the Solar America Initiative. Twenty-five cities across the U.S. are partnering with DOE to support the goals of SAI. These cities are committed to accelerating the adoption of solar energy technologies at the local level.

This page describes the Solar America Initiative's market transformation activities. Solar market transformation involves identifying market barriers to widespread adoption of solar technologies and working with external partners to address and overcome those barriers. Market transformation activities include:

Deployment—the Solar America Cities and Solar America Showcases activities support specific solar programs and projects with funding and technical assistance.
Education and Training—development of training programs for solar installers and officials as well as ensuring a robust solar workforce for the future
Technical outreach—partnering with other organizations for targeted reduction of market barriers to solar energy technologies at the state and city levels, within utilities, and to the builder community
Issues and Public Policy—The Solar America Board for Codes and Standards identifies best practices, and recommends creating or updating product certification, codes, and standards that facilitate the installation of solar technologies, and net-metering and interconnection agreements.

An organizational chart (PDF 60 KB) of U.S. Department of Energy staff leading the solar market transformation activities is available. Download Acrobat Reader.

To learn how the Solar America Initiative addresses technical barriers to solar, visit the research and development activities section.