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Puerto Rico Advocates Form Solar + Storage Trade Group For Island

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

A group of solar + storage advocates has formed a new trade organization to fight for solar + storage solutions in Puerto Rico.

The Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico (SESA-PR) will promote the use of solar and energy storage to restore electricity to the entire island, something with which the U.S. protectorate has struggled since Hurricane Maria devastated the area last September.

“At this crucial moment for Puerto Rico, we are calling on the people to join this effort that aims to guide and educate around the use of solar energy to reduce dependence on the traditional electrical system,” said Patrick James Wilson, President of SESA-PR. “We have assembled a group of experts who will participate in a broad discussion on the future of energy on the island and share their perspectives from various sectors such as government, finance and economic development.”

One of the group’s executives grew up in Puerto Rico and said in a release announcing the group’s formation that the electric grid on the island has been broken since long before Maria ever visited the island.

“I was born and raised in Puerto Rico,” said Alejandro Uriarte, Director of SESA-PR and Managing Partner at New Energy Consultants. “Our electric grid was broken when I was growing up and is obviously in even worse condition today. Rebuilding after the hurricanes provides our island with a unique opportunity to upgrade our grid using better, more reliable technology like solar and battery storage that can make Puerto Rico an energy leader in the United States and across the world.”

Together, SESA-PR and partners will be hosting the inaugural SESA Puerto Rico Energy Summit on June 25 and 26. The conference will focus on the future of energy for the island and provide the perspectives from the intersecting worlds of solar, energy storage, government, finance, and economic development.

RSVP for the June 25 and 26 conference being held at the Intercontinental San Juan, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, HERE.

SESA-PR hopes to serve as the voice of the renewable and distributed energy industry in rebuilding conversations in Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and nationally.

OhmHome Introduces New Solar Mapping Project To Facilitate Solar Adoption

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

OhmHome, a website devoted to educating consumers about the Solar Revolution and other energy issues, has decided it wants to one-up Google’s Project Sunroof with its new solar mapping service called NextDoor Solar.

In addition to showing consumers what other homes in the neighborhood have solar, it will also tell them which companies have done the installations – a feature OhmHome says is important because of its long-term financial implications.

In its release, the company cites NREL research that shows local installers can offer consumers 10% more savings than large national companies. It also cites Yale research that purchasing solar is contagious, meaning the more people in a neighborhood purchase solar, the more likely it is that others will also purchase solar. As a result, OhmHome believes its mapping program can provide the final nudge for a lot of potential solar owners currently sitting on the fence.

“The problem for consumers is that it’s often hard to research local companies and know anything about their quality,” Ohmhome said in a release. “We want to make doing that research easier.”

The website based its product launch on its database of more than 500,000 residential solar projects in the United States.

According to the annual Gallup Environment poll findings, 73% of Americans want the United States to wean itself of traditional fossil fuels and pour more research into alternative energy sources like solar and wind. And more than 50% prefer to protect the environment over more fossil fuel exploration.

Senators Launch Campaign To Repeal Solar Tariffs, Mirroring Similar Effort In The House

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Mirroring the efforts in the House, two Western-state Senators have introduced a federal bill to repeal the 30% solar tariffs President Donald J. Trump imposed on imported solar modules in January.

Earlier this year, solar tariffs repeal became a federal issue when five members of the House of Representatives introduced similar legislation.

U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) have introduced the Protecting American Solar Jobs Act, which would accomplish the same goals as the House solar tariffs repeal bill, meaning it would not only eliminate the tariffs immediately but would refund money already spent on the tariffs to the companies affected.

“President Trump’s decision to impose a new import tax on solar energy equipment harms hundreds of locally-owned companies, jeopardizes tens of thousands of workers and stifles billions of dollars in investment in communities and manufacturing in New Mexico and across the country,” said Senator Heinrich in a press release announcing the bill’s introduction. “We need to look at the bigger picture of the American solar industry and its role as a major employer of American workers. The bipartisan Protecting American Solar Jobs Act would reverse the harmful tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration and put American workers first.”

Heller also weighed in, saying:

Nevada continues to be a national leader in solar innovation. In fact, solar energy powers countless homes, businesses, and even resorts and casinos across our state,” said Senator Heller. “Our bipartisan bill protects Nevadans’ jobs in this important sector by reversing the 30 percent tax on solar panels, a tariff that threatens jobs and has the potential to harm our economy. I thank Senator Heinrich for his leadership on this issue, and I look forward to working with him to pass our proposal into law so that Nevada can continue to build on its renewable energy progress.

Whether either bill has a chance to pass out of committee is an open question, but the fact that such bills have been introduced do show the increasing awareness of solar’s importance to the country and its economy. In particular, Heller’s support may show that Nevada politicians finally understand how important solar is to the state’s economic future after several years of stumbling around after an inexplicable decision to end net metering prematurely – a decision that has since been rectified.

Read the full bill here:

Heinrich-Heller Tariff Bill

More:

Bipartisan Tariff Repeal Bill Introduced In Congress – Any Chance It Passes?

Liberty Utilities Wants To Own Your Behind-The-Meter Battery System (And Why That’s A Bad Idea)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Liberty Utilities, New Hampshire’s largest utility currently has a docket before the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission that sounds like a good idea.

At issue is the state’s largest pilot program in history that would allow New Hampshire solar users to install batteries at no cost to them. Sounds good, right?

And although the intent of the program – to see how batteries will affect grid resiliency and performance – is pretty benign, solar advocates in the state have concerns about the size of the program and what it could mean for the long-term future of battery storage in the Granite State.

After all, the proposal as it is currently written gives only customers with utility-owned batteries access to time-of-use rates or monthly peak reduction payments, meaning the goal of the pilot program isn’t really to test how batteries operate on the grid. It’s to give the utility an unnecessary monopoly on battery storage, which should be granted only when a clear market failure demands it.

Instead of attempting to grab new monopoly powers where they don’t clearly exist, advocates suggest that Liberty Utilities should scale back its own pilot program and let other companies – in some cases local companies employing New Hampshire citizens – compete on a “Bring Your Own Battery” system. In other words, set rates based on performance and let the market – not a state-sponsored monopoly – decide who should handle the solar + storage systems in the state.

As it is, battery storage is something new for monopoly utilities in most cases (and most certainly in Liberty Utilities’ case), whereas multiple companies in the private sector are already deploying solar + storage in many states, giving them insights into the particular challenges and opportunities such systems provide. Why should New Hampshire residents become the guinea pigs for a large-scale pilot program that would effectively shut out the competition?

No one is suggesting Liberty Utilities shouldn’t set up a pilot program or that that the NHPUC shouldn’t grant them one. But make it a reasonably sized one that forces utilities to compete in the market – which would allow all ratepayers, solar consumers and non-solar consumers alike, to win.