Whether you are new to New Bedford or a long-time resident there will never be a better time to go solar. As a city, New Bedford has continued to be a leader in solar adoption since installing more solar capacity per capita than any other city in the US besides San Diego in 2014. The installation of solar has saved city taxpayers nearly $1 million this year alone by cutting the utility bills of city departments. In total, solar projects are projected to save the city government around $22 million over 20 years. 

The City of New Bedford has continued its early solar adoption success by continuing to be a leader in setting the environmental goals below: 

• Use 100% renewable sources for the City of New Bedford’s energy by 2050. 
• Reduce residential, municipal, and commercial energy consumption by 35% by 2030, using 2013 as a baseline. 
• Reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions 35% below 2017 levels by 2030, toward a path to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. 
• Work with partners to reduce the vulnerability of the energy system due to extreme weather or peak demand. the move to solar and the town departments have made the transition easy for its residents. 

These goals that have been set will take the City, its residents, and businesses all working together to accomplish 

A huge step towards these goals has been to increase the number of homes with solar panels. To date, the city of New Bedford has over 400 residential homes that have installed solar panels and counting. 

The adoption of solar for homeowners is helpful to the environment but also to residents considering New Bedford has some of the highest energy prices in the country since it’s a city in Massachusetts. Due to these prices, Massachusetts is one of the leading states in the country for solar adoption as installing solar panels creates immediate savings for homeowners. 

Here are some specific advantages that your fellow New Bedford residents are taking advantage of: 

Benefits Of Going Solar As A New Bedford Resident 

1. The town hall and associated departments move quickly in New Bedford, meaning customers generally have shorter timelines for approvals and permits.
   • The solar installation process takes time and we ask for your patience as our team handles all of the necessary paperwork and approvals. Living in a city that works quickly to complete this process means solar panels on your roof and savings in your pockets sooner than later. 
2. For utilities, New Bedford is an Eversource territory and the company has ample incentive money from the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target Program (SMART) solar program for residential and commercial customers 
   • The SMART program is an incentive-based program that was established to support the development of solar in Massachusetts. This program benefits New Bedford homeowners by setting up an incentive payment directly from Eversource, based on how much energy they produce every month. Homeowners will receive their payment every month for 10 or 20 years. This program is exclusive to Massachusetts residents.
3. There are a large number of investment properties in the city and if you own an investment property solar panels can be installed on that home and all excess energy production there can be sent to the home you live at within the same grid
   • This is a major attraction to homeowners that want to take advantage of solar benefits but can not or do not want solar at the home they live at. With this option you can maximize the production at an investment property and transfer the benefits to your own home or other properties. We think that is the perfect definition of killing two birds with one stone. In addition to this, property investors who have gone solar with Isaksen have also been able to divert electricity costs for their tenants every month away from the electricity company and into their monthly rent payment. For our customers, this increases their total rental income, and will pay for the cost of switching to solar completely. Solar is a win-win for landlords and tenants! 

If you are curious if solar is a good fit for your home give us a call, or get started on your free quote!