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Energy Storage On Pace To Double Its Installed Capacity By The End Of The Year, CEO Says

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As you might imagine, the word on everyone’s lips at Intersolar North America – in addition to solar – is storage. Specifically, the question is how much storage can the United States expect to have installed and how quickly it can come. Fortunately, Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the Energy Storage Association, was attending the show to answer exactly those kinds of questions.

Speakes-Backman informed the audience at the insanely broadly titled “The Future of PV” session that the United States installed 1 GW of storage last year and is on pace to double that this year to 2 GW, though she was quick to emphasize time and again that she is not just talking batteries – the storage method on which most people in the room and in the general solar industry are focused.

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“Battery storage is growing exponentially,” Speakes-Backman told the crowd. “But that is not the only technology out there. We represent everything from pumped storage to flywheel to lithium-ion batteries, so it’s important to note that because everyone assumes you’re only talking batteries when you start talking storage in this kind of setting.”

She noted she has been talking to Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, frequently about what binds the two industries together and what policy initiatives on which the two associations can collaborate. The two have decided they can collaborate on tax treatment and permitting, streamlining both tax credit eligibility and cutting back on the regulatory headaches associated with the latter.

“It’s great that people can get the investment tax credit if they pair solar + storage, but we believe that storage should be able to get the tax credit by itself,” Speakes-Backman said. “That’s important, and that’s something on which we’re working.”

By 2023, Speakes-Backman said the majority of new energy storage installs will be behind the meter, and by 2025 that number will blossom to 50%.

But storage has so much more to offer than than the spread of renewable energy. She said the energy storage industry could create more than 167,000 new jobs if the regulatory structures are put in place to make it happen. The goal, she says, is 35 GW of energy storage capacity by 2025 – and she believes that goal is eminently reachable. You can see how she proposes to do that below.

This is a great roadmap on how to get the 35 GW of storage by 2025, courtesy of Kelly Speakes-Backman, the CEO of the Energy Storage Association.

Beyond Baseload: California Solar Advocate Says Grid Needs Flexibility Instead Of Baseload Power

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

One of the many things I learned from a former colleague of mine (he knows who he is) is the importance of baseload power. Or, as he would say, the absolute non-importance of baseload power.

Basically, distributed resources like solar and wind make traditional electricity producers crazy. So crazy, in fact, that they say things like, “What happens if the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing? We need baseload power supplies so we can keep the lights on 24/7.”

To which Angelina M. Galiteva, founder and board chair of Renewables 100 Policy Institute, an organization dedicated to accelerating the global transition to 100% renewable energy, says, “Baloney.” (A sentiment with which my former colleague and I agree.)

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Galiteva was one of the featured speakers in a broadly titled session called “The Future of PV,” and her presentation centered on what California has done and is doing to integrate solar into the grid. And generally speaking, she said, the state has done a great job – so great, in fat, that baseload power has become a myth.

“Solar and wind aren’t a niche play anymore,” Galiteva told the audience. “Wind and solar are the norm. And as prices for storage continue to go down, integrating those resources on the grid are going to become ever easier.

“We don’t need baseload power anymore,” she continued. “What we need is flexibility. Batteries and other storage mechanisms will help us do that.”

It’s not as if Galiveta is unaware that challenges to 100% renewables exist. The “Duck Curve” is, for better and worse, real, and it’s not something that can be ignored.

“We need to figure out how to smooth the Duck Curve,” Galiteva said. “We have the resources to do 100% renewable grid – not just in California but in the entire United States. But there are ramping issues we have to deal with before that can happen. I’m confident we can get there, and I believe that time is coming soon.”

She also said the Western states need to integrate their grids entirely to help reduce the amount of curtailment. Currently, California is curtailing approximately 3% of its renewable resources. An integrated grid would provide a market for the excess power without curtailment, which would help stabilize the grid and make it more reliable for everyone.

Could Solar Generate 100% Of U.S. Energy In 12 Years? Tony Seba Thinks It Could

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Tony Seba set the Intersolar North America crowd on fire at his opening session, saying that if the trend in battery prices continue their downward plunge, solar + storage could supply 100% of the U.S. electricity supply by 2030.

“That’s not too bad for an industry in crisis, is it?” Seba told the crowd to hearty laughter. “But as the country becomes ever-more electrified, it’s going to happen.”

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Seba predicted that as battery prices continue to plunge, solar + storage will be lower than transmission costs, making solar the only logical choice for businesses and homes. The electrification of the transportation system will help push the Solar Revolution forward, too. How would this work?

Well, think about this: If Seba is right, there will be no new cars sold in the United States by 2025 that won’t be electric. But since cars are parked 94% of the time, they become instant storage capacity for individual homeowners.

The sticking point, however, will be the utilities.

“It’s time to break up the utilities,” Seba said, expanding on his presentation during a post-keynote speech. “We need a new electricity-generation structure that comes from the bottom up, not the top down.”

He believes consumers should have the right to generate their own electricity without having to ask permission from utilities to do so. He believes transmission should be decoupled from energy generation.

“Don’t subsidize anyone, don’t support anyone,” Seba said. “Let the market work. People should have the absolute right to own and generate their own electricity. Utilities shouldn’t just be able to control the electricity.”

Seba also weighed in on the issue that has continued to fascinate me: the issue of what a transition to solar will look like. In many states, natural gas has been the transition fuel of choice. But as solar + storage prices continue to fall, natural gas is losing ground. In California, for example, there’s been an increasing reluctance to allow utilities to build natural gas plants, and the same dynamic is starting to occur in otehr states.

Seba offered the prediction that there won’t be another peaker plant built in the United States after 2020 because the electrification of everything will make them obsolete.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 2:43 pm on 7/10/18 to reflect that Tony Seba said 2030, not 2020. Thanks to Suzanne Murley for the assist.

The Solar Foundation Releases Its Solar Workforce Development Toolkit

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

We can all agree that the solar industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States, right? Heck, The Solar Foundation tells us so every year with its National Solar Jobs Census (well, except for this year, because tariffs, but for the past decade or so it’s been on a huge growth trajectory – and we believe will shortly be again). But how can you find workers for this specialized industry and bring them into this well-paying career?

Well, the trick is workforce development, and now The Solar Foundation has released a 94-page Solar Workforce Development Toolkit designed to help solar companies develop their workforces with a series a proven strategies that every business can implement in their day-to-day business practices.

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According to the Foundation, the document is intended to start conversations among employers, with engagement from all stakeholders.The implementation guide and action plan promotecollaborative, regional and adaptive strategies as markets evolve and solar continues to become a mainstream part of the American energy sector.

In the toolkit, solar employers will discover the tools they need to establish the kinds of community partnerships necessary to build a diverse talent pipeline. It shows solar employers how to turn the industry from just a “job” into a career, outlining ways to integrate solar into the public workforce development system and provides strategies to overcome real or perceived challenges. Finally, it will show employers hot to implement work-based learning models to invest in the skillsets of current and future workers.

Based on two years of Solar Training Network research that included talking to employers, trainers, industry associations and community organizations in diverse solar markets, it’s expected to giver solar employers the tools and skills they need to meet the high demand for qualified employees and build a skilled and diverse solar workforce.

The release comes approximately one year after The Solar Foundation released its first-ever diversity study, which found the industry was doing a poor job of recruiting from non-traditional solar audiences. The toolkit is the first concrete proposal to improve that diversity and widen solar’s appeal as a future profession.