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Massachusetts To Receive Influx Of Community Solar Projects

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Community solar is one of the fastest growing segments of the solar industry right now despite only 19 states having active governmental support through policies and incentives to encourage community solar projects.

Massachusetts is one of those states, however, with its SMART incentive program having specific enticements to bring community solar to the Bay State – and it’s attracted one of the strongest national firms in the country to build a series of projects there.

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CleanChoice Energy, a renewable energy company that provides wind and solar energy products to customers across the country, has launched CleanChoice Energy Community Solar in Massachusetts with 3.489 MW of proposed community solar capacity. The launch opens hundreds of new subscriber allocations for Bay State residents that live in the National Grid service area.

CleanChoice Energy Community Solar customers have the opportunity to save up to 10% on their utility bills with no upfront costs while supporting local solar projects. Customers outside of the National Grid service area that want to make the switch to clean energy can sign-up for a Community Solar waiting list or choose one of the company’s other clean energy options.

“We know that Massachusetts residents want to do their part on climate and the environment. Community solar allows people to make an impact by supporting local solar projects and helping reduce carbon emissions,” said Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice Energy. “CleanChoice Energy Community Solar makes it easy. Bay State residents can sign-up online in just a few minutes and save money on their utility bills.”

Community Solar offers landowners, farmers, and others the opportunity to receive additional revenue to install solar panels, while opening the benefits of solar to the hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents and businesses that either do not own their own home or do not have a roof that works for solar.

The CleanChoice Energy Community Solar platform connects people to local Community Solar projects, allowing residents and businesses to sign-up to support local solar in minutes and to see up to 10% savings on their utility bills with no upfront investment, setup fees or installation.

Massachusetts Finally Begins To Accept SMART Applications

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

After several years of fits and starts, Massachusetts yesterday began to accept applications to it’s Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, or SMART, program.

Billed as a successor to the state’s former solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program, the SMART program is designed to encourage solar development in the state within the context of its three major utilities.

According to the SMART website:

The SMART Program is a 1600MW declining block incentive program. Eligible projects must be interconnected by one of three investor owned utility companies in Massachusetts: Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil. Each utility has established blocks that decline in incentive rates between each block.

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One commissioner, Judith Judson, explained to MassLive why they needed to move away from the SREC program:

“It was a volatile, market-traded program,” said Judson. “National companies, or even an individual homeowner, didn’t know what they would be getting from the SREC market. We’ve changed it to a predictable revenue stream.”

Applications submitted within the next five days will be considered as part of the same capacity block. Further, according to the SMART website:

Applications for facilities less than or equal to 25 kW AC will be reviewed and placed into Capacity Blocks in the order that their contract was executed

Applications for facilities greater than 25 kW AC will be reviewed and placed into Capacity Blocks in the order that their Interconnection Services Agreement was executed

All applications received on or after 12:00 AM ET December 1, 2018 will be reviewed and placed into Capacity Blocks on a first come, first served basis.

The program still allows Massachusetts residents to enter into leasing agreements. Under the old rules, leasing companies could claim the SRECs. Under the new program, they will just be able to collect the tariff payments instead.

The launch of Massachusetts’ SMART program is exciting to those of us who have been waiting for the Massachusetts market to take off. Now that a successor to the SREC program is finally in place, that may finally happen.

More:

Massachusetts accepts first applications for new solar SMART incentives

East Meets West: Boston Expands Community Solar Access To New Territories

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Massachusetts is still working out its solar future, but at least for residents of Boston and the eastern part of the state, community solar has become much easier to access, thanks to the efforts of a company called Ampion.

Under a new agreement with Eversource, the area’s primary utility, residents living in the eastern half of Massachusetts will now be able to purchase solar electricity from community solar farms in the western part of the state. Prior to this agreement, the two segments of Eversource’s customer base were considered separately, severely hindering the spread of community solar programs throughout the state.

Ampion facilitates community solar farms by working with current Massachusetts solar developers. As these farms produce power, subscribers receive “solar credits” on their electric bill that offset their balance. In addition to supporting clean power, subscribers save money through the program, as each credit is sold at a discount from their value on the electric bill.

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“This is one of the most advantageous customer programs the Commonwealth has ever seen,” said Nate Owen, CEO of Ampion. “Bostonians can simply sign up for a clean energy offering that cuts their utility costs. The benefits of solar are now available to people who never before had the option: lower prices, cleaner air, and safer energy. We’ve already had hundreds of residents and businesses sign up.”

Eversource customers can learn more and sign up by visiting signup.ampion.io. Capacity is limited, so residents and businesses are encouraged to enroll their meters while there is still availability.

“As a Bostonian, I can experience the benefits of community solar as both an advocate and a customer,” says Chris Mills, head of outreach at Ampion. “As a tenant, I could never go solar, but now it’s easier than ever. Even if I move, I can take my subscription with me anywhere in the city. It’s a point I like to make to my friends who rent their apartments.”

Utility-Scale Storage Comes To Massachusetts

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

After receiving a grant from Massachusetts of $875,000, National Grid has added its first battery – a vanadium redox-flow battery (VRB) – in connection with its 1 MW solar farm outside of Shirley, Massachusetts, according to reports in the RTO Insider newsletter.

The battery setup is designed to demonstrate how utility-scale storage can work in this state, which is currently ranked No. 7 in the country in overall solar deployment.

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As RTO Insider reports, “Carlos Nouel, vice president of innovation and development at National Grid, told RTO Insider that ‘the Shirley project will serve as a test bed for integrating storage and solar through the use of flow batteries, and support the development of new frameworks for dispatching stored solar power.'”

Integrating storage into the grid is the biggest challenge facing, and the group that won the grant decided to go with VRB instead of traditional lithium because of the utility-scale size. As RTO Insider explains:

A VRB stores chemical energy in the form of vanadium-based electrolyte and generates electricity by inducing a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction: that is, a transformation of matter by electron transfer across an ion exchange membrane, within a battery stack. The reaction is achieved by either applying an electrical load (discharge) or an electrical supply (charge) to the battery stack as the electrolyte is flowing or being pumped across the membrane.

“Lithium is dominating the storage market, but it is not always the best tool for the job,” said Jonathan Milley, director of business development at Vionx, is quoted by RTO Insider as saying. “Lithium batteries are really for power applications, best-suited for short duration purposes, while vanadium flow batteries are for energy applications, and are therefore a more serious tool for keeping the lights on overnight.”

There are two important things to remember with RTO’s great story about Massachusetts:

1) There are actually markets outside of California where battery storage is being tested successfully. The hope is that this initial deployment will lead to more battery storage being installed in Massachusetts and, therefore, more solar along with it.

2) There are other battery technologies than lithium ion being deployed. While it’s easy to focus on lithium-ion batteries because it’s something with which we’re all familiar, there are other technologies out there, some of which may be better suited for different applications.

More:

Massachusetts Deploys Utility-Scale Energy Storage