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.

Where Is The $600 Million For Clean Energy Research? NRDC Wants To Know

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

While the rest of the world was trying to solve global climate change last week at the COP24 talks, the United States held a forum to discuss how the rest of the world should use more “clean coal” and nuclear energy. To say the current U.S. administration is skeptical of climate science (even when it’s produced by its own scientists) would understate the case by a factor of 200.

But to date, the record on funding clean energy research appeared to continue apace. The Sunshot Initiative continues to release funds to research projects both on new technology on the solar and the energy storage front. So it seemed that despite their public feud with the solar industry, behind the scenes cooler heads would prevail.

Or so we thought. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), however, begs to differ.

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In a press release, the NRDC calls upon Congress to investigate why more than $600 million of funds earmarked for clean energy research hasn’t been already spent. They say that for the past two months – ever since the end of the fiscal year 2018 – the funds have not been forthcoming. An NRDC official says the delays are “uncharacteristic and concerning.”

“The consequences of the funds remaining unspent with no apparent plan for utilization is not only an insult to congressional direction but undermines U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs in developing the next generation of clean energy technologies,” she said.

Specifically, the NRDC points to the following shortfalls to support its point:

DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) office – which the Trump administration tried twice to eliminate – has not spent more than 79% of its $353 million FY18 research budget ($280 million); and

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) – which the Trump administration tried to gut by about 70% – has failed to spend more than $319 million (14%) of its $2.32 billion FY18 research budget.

The world needs clean energy research now more than ever. If the NRDC numbers are correct – and there’s no reason to think they’re not – then they’re right. Congress needs to investigate and examine why on Earth the Trump Administration is defying its will. They must demand that they follow the law and spend the money appropriated to these programs.

Q&A: What Does The California Solar Mandate Mean And Where Does It Go From Here?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

California has been working for nearly seven months on a plan to mandate solar on the roofs of all new-build homes starting in 2020. While the initial fanfare surrounding the bill took place in May, it didn’t become, in the words of Kelly Knutsen, “officially official” until yesterday. Knutsen, Director of Technology Advancement for the California Solar & Storage Association, agreed to talk to SolarWakeup about the mandate: what it means and where the California solar industry will go from here.

SolarWakeup: We thought this was a done deal. What was the vote about today?

Kelly Knutsen, director of technology advancement for the California Solar & Storage Association (Knutsen):There was always the small asterisk that the final part of the process for updating the California Building Energy Efficiency Standards is that the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) had to officially sign off on the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) May 9 vote to update the standards. As the CBSC explained before the discussion, the CBSC confirms that the CEC followed all the proper procedures in developing their updated rule. This is done every three years as one final check on the process to ensure everything is done appropriately. CBSC’s hearing and final vote yesterday confirmed the rigorous process.

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SolarWakeup: How many new homes will this affect per year?

Knutsen: California on average builds 80,000 homes per year, per this California Department of Housing and Community Development report. There are exceptions for shading (the code is flexible for these types of instances), so technically not all new homes built will have solar, but 80,000 is a good estimate of the number of new homes every year that will now have solar installed.

SolarWakeup: What affect will this have on solar penetration in California

Knutsen: Each year there are roughly 120,000 solar installs on homes and buildings, and of those installations, currently only 15,000 are on new homes. (FYI — In 2016, there were 149,422 residential solar projects installed (both new and retrofit homes. It’s been on the order of 120,000 to 150,000 annually for past couple years). So, this new rule will see an increase from 15,000 to 80,000 new solar homes (65,000) each year. If retrofit stays the same, that increases overall installations to 185,000 per year, or 54% increase over the current 120,000 installs per year.

SolarWakeup Is the grid ready to handle the influx of distributed solar?

Knutsen: Yes. The grid already safely and reliably interconnects 120,000 to 150,000 residential solar installations each year, so adding another 65,000 each year is on the order of existing installations. In fact, the addition of distributed energy resources has been shown to actually decrease the need for additional transmission lines. PG&E, one of the nation’s biggest utilities, cancelled 13 transmission projects saving ratepayers $192 million – thanks to the growth of solar – making the additional ratepayer costs unnecessary. In addition, in Fresno, the rapid growth of solar has California officials reconsidering the need for a major new transmission line, which is projected to cost between $115 and $145 million to build. Finally, the new standards include a solar plus storage option, which if given the proper price signals, will provide benefits to both the grid and the consumer.

SolarWakeup: How will this affect utilities in the state?

Knutsen: I think the position of the utilities was best summarized in quotes from Julia Pyper’s GTM article on the new standards. In her article, Erik Takayesu, director of grid modernization, planning and technology at Southern California Edison said “[w]hen we look at what we need in the future to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to get to the state’s goals of 40 percent below 1990 levels, there needs to be a lot more carbon-free resources that supply energy to the grid, and so we think that this is one component of that.” When discussing the impact to the grid, he added “[b]ut when we look across the system more holistically, when we consider the amount of electrification that’s needed with transportation, electric transportation, building electrification, we think that there will be some offset to the amount of solar that we’re seeing.”

SolarWakeup: Is the next goal to mandate energy storage and, if so, how soon will that discussion start?

Knutsen: The next goal on storage is to make it cheaper, easier and faster to install across the state. Discussions to make that happen are already underway and that will require work on multiple fronts. The state legislature just approved an extension of funding for storage incentives, and the state is working with local governments on ways to streamline the permitting processes through the implementation of AB 546. We worked hard to make the case for the inclusion of the solar plus storage option in the code, which we see as a very important step towards having all homes and businesses in California install storage – a goal we need to achieve in order to meet our ambitious climate change goals.

SolarWakeup: What advice would you give to other states that want to consider doing what California has done? What’s the most important lesson you learned through this process?

Knutsen: The key to California’s success was a well-known, inclusive and rigorous stakeholder process, with good debate, data and analysis from all parties. Like most things in life, building up working relationships over time can achieve good results that work well for all parties. The underlying framework was also there. State laws were passed over time (dating back to the 1970s) that established a state-agency-led process for increasing the energy efficiency of California’s buildings. Having a state agency implement the measure through a known three-year process developed strong buy-in from all stakeholders. Taking it in step-wise manner also helped. Solar was first option for compliance with codes (as was done in earlier versions of the standards) and then once determined to be cost-effective across all climate zones in the state it became a requirement. Flexibility for compliance, such as an understanding about shading, is important to include in a solar requirement. And finally, going back to the point at the top, make sure that it will be implemented. That means having key stakeholders like the solar industry and building community closely engaged in the process and on board with complying gives confidence that the codes will not just be paper on the books, but will provide real direction for real homes that will be built with solar.

North Carolina Releases Study On Energy Storage

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Thanks to an aggressive utility (Duke Energy) and favorable laws, North Carolina has shot up the list of solar states in terms of overall capacity, at least according to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s calculations. Other states have taken notice and are starting to emulate some of North Carolina’s policies in an effort to catch up.

Well now, the Tar Heel state is trying to lead again, this time on the subject of energy storage. And to that end, a group of experts just released a report for the state’s General Assembly to use as it tries to regulate this new energy-related market segment. To wit:

A team of experts from NC State University and N.C. Central University has released a report detailing energy storage options that the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) can use to inform energy policy. The report has short- and long-term implications for both power grid and renewable energy development in North Carolina.

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According to a press release from North Carolina State University, the report had been mandated by House Bill 589, which called for a report that would discuss how energy storage technologies would benefit the state as it moved into a more distributed energy future. The legislature demanded the study take into account factors ranging from immediate feasibility to potential job creation.

At the end of the process, the team of 12 experts received input from a variety of stakeholders and recommended a menu of policy choices that fall into one of three categories: prepare, facilitate or accelerate energy storage adoption within the state. As one expert said in the release:

“Options within these three categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive,” says Christopher Galik, a member of the team and associate professor at NC State. “In fact, they could complement each other. Much would depend on the particular set of policies chosen, not to mention the details of how policies are designed and implemented.”

What’s critical about this study is that it is one of the first outside of California to deal with energy storage head-on, and creates a framework for policymakers before the technology becomes widespread. An orderly deployment of energy storage should follow this report and lead to North Carolina being on the cutting edge of energy storage policymaking as the state moves forward in its own renewable revolution.

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Experts Lay Out Options For Future of Energy Storage in North Carolina