The Business Innovations Legal Clinic of the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock noted in February that the solar economy created 85 new jobs in Arkansas in 2018, and predicted the new law might double or even triple the number of solar installation jobs in the state.
The SEIA report found that through the end of 2018, Arkansas had 1490 megawatts of solar power installed, though that amounts to only 0.34 percent of the state’s electricity total, enough to power about 17,000 homes. The trade group found that Arkansas has seven solar manufacturing companies, 18 installers/developers, and nine other related businesses. The total solar investment in the state was put at $181 million. The third-party leasing law is expected to make solar projects more attractive to nontaxed organizations like nonprofits, cities and counties, government agencies and schools.
“States with third-party leasing have two or more times the number of solar jobs than states without,” said the Bowen report, called “2019 Snapshot of Findings: Potential Effects of Third-Party Solar Leasing in Arkansas.” (Mar. 15, 2019.)
