Sunday, June 01, 2014

Solar Energy - Do you know what a Solar Carve-Out is? Curious about the laws on Solar Easements and Solar Devices in Massachusetts?




Originally established in 1997, in 2008, the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) was renamed RPS Class I, with 3 new classes of Portfolio Standards added. In 2010, a Solar Carve-Out was added within Class I with different market parameters and qualifications. Click on this link for information on the Solar Carve Out (SRECs): Overview & Program Basics (Dec. 18, 2012)

Curious about what the current laws are about solar easements and solar devices in Massachusetts?



Click on this link to read the Governor’s most recent statement as of May 13, 2014, launching the next phase of the Commonwealth’s RPS Solar Carve-Out Program.

If you have a Law Library patron card, you can access the HeinOnline database to read the following articles:

  • Efficiency in the Regulatory Crucible: Navigating 21st Century ‘Smart’ Technology and Power by Steven Ferrey at 3 George Washington Journal of Energy & Environmental Law 1 2012 
  • Has the Sun Set on Solar Rights? Examining the Practicality of the Solar Rights Acts by Scott F. Stromberg at 50 Natural Resources Journal 211 2010
  • Solar Rights by Sara C. Bronin at 89 Boston University Law Review 1217 2009. This article covers Individual Solar Rights, Express Agreements, Governmental Allocations and Court Assignments of Rights.
You also have access to the following environmental law journals to name a few:
  • Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review
  • Harvard Environmental Law Review
  • Law Environment and Development Journal and the
  • Virginia Environmental Law Journal
Don’t have a library card yet? Stop into any of our 17 Law Library locations and fill out an application. Click here to find out where we’re located and our hours of operation.

Want to learn more about what other States are doing? Take a look at the Database of State Incentives for Renewable & Efficiency [for]Solar Incentives (DSIRE).


This link will get you to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program Publication and Product Library. A search of their solar publications database provides you access to fact sheets, reports, and technical papers about the Solar Program's activities on photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP), systems integration, and market transformation.