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Colorado’s sunny skies are an endless vein we can tap to supply clean energy to meet growing demand for pollution free power and move us toward energy independence. According to our latest report, On the Rise, Colorado has the potential to be a national leader in developing solar power plants.   See our full report On the Rise

How You Can Help

Colorado has the resources. During the past legislative session, Environment Colorado passed a “Go Solar!” package of bills that makes Colorado a national leader as a solar friendly state. We still need your help to make sure that our state’s potential becomes a reality.

In order fully capitalize on our excellent solar resources we need to create a stable and lasting market. While we have done our part in state, we need the Federal government to extend the renewable energy tax credit. Right now Congress is standing in the way. Write to your representative telling them to flip-the-switch on Colorado’s solar power by voting to extend the Federal tax credit.

Background

With over 300 days of sunshine every year, our state’s energy future rises every morning. We need to plug-in to this power by developing large-scale solar power plants, building more solar homes, and investing in solar hot water heaters.

In addition to being rich in solar power, we also have access to some of the nation's best and brightest scientists and researchers at NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), CU-Boulder and the Colorado School of Mines to help us develop that potential. Tapping into this clean, homegrown resource will bring more reliable energy, cleaner air, new jobs and greater energy independence for all Coloradans to enjoy.

Solar Power Plants

Colorado ranks among the top states in country for solar power plant potential.  For more than twenty years now, solar power plants in the United States have been generating clean, reliable electricity. With the ability to store power for six hours or more, solar power plants can generate electricity in the evening and at night and provide a pollution-free alternative to natural gas now and to coal in the future.

Using only 2 percent of the best resources for solar power plants in Colorado would meet half the state’s peak demand, or about 5.5 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, enough to power 1.7 million homes. This would reduce global warming pollution by an amount equal to taking 1.9 million cars off the road.

In addition to supplying power that is free of global warming pollution and other toxins, solar plants bring economic development opportunities, especially to states like Colorado which could be among the first to deploy the technology. Environment Colorado’s research shows that developing 1 GW of concentrating solar power would bring between 3,000 and 4,000 construction jobs, over a thousand permanent, green-collar jobs, and between $2 and $4 billion in private investment.

Solar Hot Water

Solar hot water systems provide an excellent opportunity for Colorado to reduce our consumption of natural gas and propane and take advantage of a simple renewable energy technology.

Solar hot water systems use sunlight heating water without pollution. A typical, two panel system, with an 80–120 gallon tank, can provide 80 percent of the daily hot water needs for a family of four.

Solar hot water systems are even more effective at reducing gas and propane consumption when combined with other energy efficient technologies such as Energy-Star appliances, efficient insulation and condensing furnaces.

A study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that installing solar thermal technologies on 75 percent of building and homes across the U.S. would cut more than 300 million tons of CO2 pollution annually.

Solar hot water systems are a popular technology worldwide. By the end of 2005, 46 million houses across the globe had these systems. Spain mandates them on all new developments and the European Union has a total installed capacity of 9,500 MW, about 600 times the solar thermal capacity in the U.S.