All of New U.S. Capacity in July Came from Renewable Sources

By Solar Industry Magazine All new U.S. electrical generating capacity put into service in July came from renewable energy sources, according to the latest Energy Infrastructure Update report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Citing the FERC statistics, renewable energy advocacy group the SUN DAY Campaign says 379 MW of wind, 21 MW of solar and 5 MW of hydropower came online in the month.

For the first seven months of this year, renewables have accounted from more than half (53.8 percent) of the 4,758 MW of new U.S. electrical capacity that has entered service, with solar (25.8 percent) and wind (25.1 percent) each accounting for more than a quarter of the total. In addition, biomass provided 1.8 percent, geothermal 0.7 percent and hydropower 0.4 percent.

As for the balance, natural gas accounted for 45.9 percent, while a small fraction (0.3 percent) came from oil and “other” combined. SUN DAY notes that there has been no new electrical generating capacity from either coal or nuclear thus far in 2014. Wind turbines from the Maple Ridge Wind Farm outside of Lowville, NY. Photo: Chris Bentley /flickr

Renewable energy sources now account from 16.3 percent of total installed operating generating capacity in the U.S.: hydro – 8.57 percent, wind – 5.26 percent, biomass – 1.37 percent, solar – 0.75 percent and geothermal – 0.33 percent.

“This is not the first time in recent years that all new electrical generating capacity for a given month has come from renewable energy sources,” comments Ken Bossong , executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “And it is likely to become an ever more frequent occurrence in the months and years ahead.”

New Report Highlights Clouds in Solar Growth for North Carolina

By Dave Rogers, Environment North Carolina

Raleigh, NC – Over the last few years North Carolina has emerged as a national leader in solar power. But according to a new report by Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center titled “Lighting The Way,” the story might not be as bright as often told. While North Carolina ranks fourth for solar installation in terms of overall capacity, the state ranks tenth per capita, behind cloudier states like New Jersey and Massachusetts. The report emphasizes that it is not availability of sunlight that makes states solar leaders, but the degree to which state and local governments have created effective public policy to help capture the virtually unlimited and pollution-free energy from the sun.

North Carolina’s solar capacity more than doubled in in 2014, bringing the total capacity to 557 megawatts. Growth in the number of large scale “solar farms” built across the state is mostly responsible for the increase. North Carolina lags behind other leaders in residential and commercial rooftop systems installed.

“Solar energy is emerging as a go-to energy option here in North Carolina which exciting,” said Dave Rogers, field director with Environment North Carolina. “But there is so much more we can do. Solar panels on every possible rooftop means pollution-free power that will never run out. Solar power can also play a key role in North Carolina’s fight against global warming and meeting the requirements in the Clean Power Plan.”

Solar in the United States increased more than 120-fold in the last 10 years. In the first quarter of 2014, solar energy accounted for 74 percent of all the new electric generation capacity installed in the United States. And as the solar industry grows, the cost for installed solar decreases, making it more accessible. The price of installed solar systems fell 60 percent between the beginning of 2011 and the end of 2013. Jobs in the solar industry are also growing rapidly. In 2013, there were more than 140,000 solar jobs in the U.S., including 3,100 in North Carolina.

Another major driver for solar energy is that it produces no pollution; including climate-altering carbon emissions. According the report, solar power produces 96 percent less global warming pollution than coal-fired power plants over its entire life-cycle and 91 percent less global warming pollution than natural gas-fired power plants.

The report recommends several policies adopted by other leading solar states that would help more North Carolina homeowners and businesses to “go solar:”

• Enable third-party sales of electricity. Financing rooftop solar energy systems through third-party electricity sales significantly lowers the up-front cost of installing solar PV systems for consumers. The state should allow companies that install solar panels to sell electricity to their customers without subjecting them to the same regulations as large public utilities, such as Duke Energy.
• Improve the state’s net metering laws. Net metering helps ensure that small commercial or residential customers are fairly compensated for the solar electricity that they produce. Investor-owned utilities should be required to reduce “standby fees” to encourage large commercial customers to install solar panels, and co-op and municipal utilities should be required to offer net metering to their customers.
• Defend and strengthen the state’s renewable energy standard to require utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and to increase requirements for solar energy production. The state should also require all of the solar power that counts towards North Carolina’s renewable energy standard to be produced within the state.

“Solar is shining brightly in North Carolina,” said Rogers. “But we have so much more potential. We look forward to working with North Carolina’s leaders to put solar on top of every possible home, school and business.”

Reprinted with permission from Environment North Carolina

New Set of Rate Rules Could End the Tug-of-War Over Solar

By Michael Puttre, Solar Industry Magazine

Across the U.S., regulators and legislatures have been trying – and generally failing – to reconcile the conflicting demands of utilities and solar sector advocates over photovoltaic power. A group of analysts from the North Carolina State University’s Clean Energy Technology Centerand Meister Consultants Group says too much energy is being spent on the wrong arguments.

A new report, prepared with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative, says the issue needs to move away from regional battles over net-metering and toward comprehensive, broadly acceptable principles from public for utility rate design.

If that sounds like a tall order, Jim Kennerly, senior policy analyst at the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center and lead author of the report, says a three-pronged strategy incorporating revenue decoupling, minimum monthly bills and time-of-use pricing will enable utilities to recover costs without imposing fees and other hardships on solar customers.

Getting to Solar

As Kennerly sees it, the main bone of contention between the utility and solar advocate camps over net metering is whether distributed PV is to be regarded as a cost or benefit, invariably, whether before public utility commissions (PUCs) or, interestingly, the court of public opinion, utilities argue that rooftop solar shifts costs onto non-solar ratepayers, while PV advocates counter that utilities are failing to take the true value of solar into account.

Incorporating the value of solar, with its hard-to-quantify environmental benefits and infrastructure-deferring generation capacity close to the load, has been the most recent flank march staged by solar advocates. Earlier this year, the Minnesota PUC took a step toward quantifying the societal benefits of distributed generation solar power when approved a standard methodology for calculating the value of solar developed by the state’s Department of Commerce. Nevertheless, other PUCs have since demonstrated that value of solar considerations are a long way from becoming standard features of regulatory decisions.

“The risk of value of solar calculations is that some people will categorically disbelieve that certain benefits exist, and some will categorically disbelieve that some costs exist,” Kennerly says. “These either-or, black-or-white kinds of positions lead to a blind alley. You don’t get to a place where people agree.”

Borrowing a page from “Getting to Yes,” that negotiating primer from the deal-friendly 1980s, Kennerly says the parties need to focus on interests, not positions. Most of the wrangles over net metering that accompany arguments before PUCs center on costs, value and who might be getting a free lunch.

“Utilities talk about cost-shifts,” Kennerly says. “But their interest is in making money and making sure that they are viable as time goes on, which is totally legitimate. They’re public utilities. But there is also the public interest in trying to advance new technology. Clean technology.”

The N.C. Clean Energy Center/Meister report is an attempt to reconcile these interests – along with the interests of the solar sector to grow and thrive. The SunShot Imitative supports the effort as a means of reducing solar soft costs, which is beneficial for ratepayers and taxpayers alike. At the same time, the recommendations suggest a way utilities can shift toward getting the fixed-cost revenue they need while changing their role as time goes on.

As Kennerly envisions it, rate decoupling is the key mechanism by which utilities can recover their costs and serve their shareholders without placing barriers in the way of solar development. This essentially removes the sale of electricity as the primary drivers of the utility’s revenue stream. Under the policy, a utility goes before the PUC with an explanation of how much money it wants to make based on its assets, rate basic and other factors, such as how many customers it has and how much electricity those customer using.

“A lot of clean energy and energy efficiency advocates are very much in favor of this because what it lets the utility do is make its revenue requirement without having to sell as much electricity,” Kennerly says. “It gets rid of the throughput incentive.”

The excepted and PUC-approved revenue amount is assured by means of the minimum bill, which enables utilities to collect distribution feel, even from solar customer who would otherwise zero-out their electric bills. According the the N.C./Meister report, PUC involvement through a revenue decoupling policy is essential for a minimum bill to remain reasonable and equitable.

The report’s third key recommendation, phasing in time-of-use electricity pricing, is designed to avoid the cost shifts that attend price averaging. Kennerly points out that most people use electricity at a flat rate that represents the average cost of serving them. Billing rates based on costs at the time of use would enable PV customers to avoid periods of peak usage while still paying their fair share for what they do use.

“All of these recommendations are intended to be first steps before you look at fees or charges on PV, if you do at all,” Kennerly says. “This addresses the biggest cost shifts before you start looking at the little cost shifts, like net metering – if it is a cost shift at all.”

For a copy of the report, “Rethinking Standby and Fixed Cost Charges: Regulatory & Rate Design Pathways to Deeper Solar PV Costs Reductions,” click here.

Lighting the Way: Top 10 States that Helped Drive America’s Solar Energy Boom in 2013

By Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center

Solar energy is on the rise. Over the course of the last decade, the amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the United States has increased more than 120-fold, from 97 megawatts in 2003 to more than 12,000 megawatts at the end of 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, solar energy accounted for 74 percent of all the new electric generation capacity installed in the United States. The cost of solar energy is declining, and each year tens of thousands more Americans begin to reap the benefits of clean energy from the sun, including energy generated right on the rooftops of their homes or places of business. America’s solar energy revolution has been led by 10 states that have the greatest amount of solar energy capacity installed per capita. These 10 states have opened the door for solar energy and are reaping the rewards as a result.

The Top 10 states with the most solar electricity installed per capita account for only 26 percent of the U.S. population but 87 percent of the nation’s total installed solar electricity capacity.* These 10 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and North Carolina – possess strong policies that are enabling increasing numbers of homeowners, businesses, communities and utilities to “go solar.”

Other rising stars include New York, Vermont and Georgia, which have large or fast-growing solar energy markets and strong new solar policies or programs implemented since mid-2013. Unfortunately, the success of solar power in these and other states has been threatened by recent attacks by fossil fuel interests and electric utilities on key solar policies, such as net metering. Despite those attacks, many states have reaffirmed and expanded their commitments to solar energy over the past year by increasing solar energy goals and implementing new policies to expand access to clean solar power.

By following the lead of these states, the United States can work toward getting at least 10 percent of our energy from the sun by 2030, resulting in cleaner air, more local jobs and reduced emissions of pollutants that cause global warming.

Figure ES-1. Cumulative U.S. Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Capacity

Figure ES-2, a-d. Solar Energy in the Top 10 Solar States versus the Rest of the U.S.

Solar energy is good for the environment, consumers and the economy.

• Solar photovoltaics (PV) produce 96 percent less global warming pollution per unit of energy than coal-fired power plants over their entire life cycle, and 91 percent less global warming pollution than natural gas-fired power plants.
• Solar energy benefits consumers by reducing the need for expensive investments in long-distance transmission lines.
• Solar energy can lower electricity costs by providing power at times of peak local demand.
• The cost of installed solar energy systems has fallen by 60 percent since the beginning of 2011.
• Solar energy creates local clean energy jobs that can’t be outsourced. More than 140,000 people currently work in America’s solar energy industry, about half of them in jobs such as installation that are located in close proximity to the places where solar panels are installed.

Solar energy is on the rise – especially in states that have adopted strong public policies to encourage solar power.

• The amount of solar photovoltaic capacity* in the United States has tripled in the past two years. (See Figure ES-1.)
• America’s solar energy revolution is being led by 10 states which have the highest per-capita solar electricity capacity* in the nation. These 10 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and North Carolina – account for 26 percent of the U.S. population and 20 percent of U.S. electricity consumption, but 87 percent of total U.S. solar electricity capacity and 89 percent of the solar electricity capacity installed in 2013. (See Figure ES-2 and Table ES-1.)

Table ES-1. Solar Electricity Capacity in the Top 10 Solar States (ranked by cumulative capacity per resident; data from the Solar Energy Industries Association)

• From 2012 to 2013, Arizona maintained its first-place ranking as the state with the largest amount of solar energy capacity per capita, with 275 Watts/person at the end of 2013. California and Massachusetts both advanced two spots in the rankings to fourth place and eighth place, respectively, significantly increasing their per-capita installed solar energy capacity. North Carolina continued its aggressive build-out of utility-scale solar energy, growing its per-capita capacity by more than 140 percent since 2012.

America’s leading solar states have adopted strong policies to encourage homeowners and businesses to “go solar.” Among the Top 10 states:

• Nine have strong net metering policies. In nearly all of the leading states, consumers are compensated at the full retail rate for the excess electricity they supply to the grid.
• Nine have strong statewide interconnection policies. Good interconnection policies reduce the time and hassle required for individuals and companies to connect solar energy systems to the grid.
• All have renewable electricity standards that set minimum requirements for the share of a utility’s electricity that must come from renewable sources, and eight of them have solar carve-outs that set specific targets for solar or other forms of clean, distributed electricity.
• Nine allow for creative financing options such as third-party power purchase agreements, and eight allow Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing.
• States in the Top 10 are far more likely to have each of these key solar policies in place than other states, reinforcing the conclusion of U.S. Department of Energy research linking the presence of key solar policies to increases in solar energy deployment.

Beyond the Top 10 states for per-capita solar energy capacity, there are several “advancing” states that have accelerated growth of their solar energy markets by embracing solar-friendly policies.

• With 250 MW of solar electricity capacity installed at the end of 2013, New York ranks ninth in the nation for cumulative solar energy capacity. New York recently expanded its commitment to solar energy by investing an additional $1 billion in its highly successful NY-Sun Initiative and extending the program through 2023. The state has also developed an innovative, market-based structure for solar energy incentives that will provide long-term funding certainty for solar energy developers.
• Vermont ranked eighth for per-capita solar energy capacity installed during 2013. Though Vermont is the only state in the Northeast not to have a renewable portfolio standard, it has many other strong policies that drive solar energy development. The state continued its track record of solar energy leadership in 2013 by raising its net metering cap from four percent of a utility’s peak load to 15 percent.
• Georgia’s per-capita solar energy capacity took a dramatic leap forward in 2013 after the state Public Service Commission voted to require the state’s largest utility to construct or procure 525 MW of solar energy capacity by the end of 2016. The state added 9 W per person in 2013 – more than eight times as much as it added in 2012.

Strong public policies at every level of government can help unlock America’s potential for clean solar energy. To achieve America’s full solar potential:

• Local governments should adopt policies guaranteeing homeowners and businesses the right to use or sell power from the sunlight that strikes their properties. They should also implement financing programs, such as property-assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, adopt bulk purchasing programs for solar installations, and adopt solar-friendly zoning and permitting rules to make it easier and cheaper for residents and businesses to “go solar.” Municipally-owned utilities should promote solar by providing net-metering, Value of Solar rates, and by making investments in community-scale and utility-scale solar projects.
• State governments should set ambitious goals for solar energy and adopt policies – including many of those described in this report – to meet them. State governments should also use their role as the primary regulators of electric utilities to encourage utility investments in solar energy, implement rate structures that maximize the benefits of solar energy to consumers, and support smart investments to move toward a more intelligent electric grid in which distributed sources of energy such as solar power play a larger role.
• The federal government should continue key tax credits for solar energy, encourage responsible development of prime solar resources on public lands in the American West, and support research, development and deployment efforts designed to reduce the cost of solar energy and smooth the incorporation of large amounts of solar energy into the electric grid.
• All levels of government should lead by example by installing solar energy technologies on all government buildings.

* In this report, “solar photovoltaic capacity” refers to installed solar photovoltaic systems, both distributed and utility-scale. “Solar electricity capacity” refers to all solar technologies that generate electricity, including concentrating solar power systems that use the sun’s heat – rather than its light – to generate electricity. The figures in this report do not include other solar energy technologies, such as solar water heating.

Reprinted with permission from Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center

Mosaic Shines as a Crowdfunding Model for Solar Projects

Mosaic is an online marketplace for investing in high-quality solar projects. In a unique crowdfunding model, Mosaic brings qualified investors, who seek steady returns, together with borrowers seeking finance for solar projects.

Holding the reins is co-founder and president of Mosaic Billy Parish. Parish co-founded and grew the Energy Action Coalition into the largest youth organization in the world focused on clean energy and climate solutions. He developed a proposal to create a Clean Energy Corps to produce 5 million green jobs, which shaped the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the largest green investment in U.S. history. Mosaic, the force behind #PutSolarOnIt, not only celebrates solar energy on the summer solstice, but every day of the year. The company’s mission is to “fundamentally change the way energy is financed.’ It also attracts some star power. Actor Mark Ruffalo is an investor and supporter of Mosaic, and appeared with Parish on Fox Business to discuss the future of clean energy.

From the Mosaic blog: “2013 was the year that solar really became mainstream and the future looks primed for more growth. Across the globe solar panels have sprouted up on rooftops from New York to Fiji as people realize that not only are solar photovoltaic (PV) panels good for the environment, but one’s bottomline as well. From established companies like Wal-Mart down to the off-the-grid villager in Kenya or the nomadic herder in Mongolia, the promise of solar is an opportunity that no one wants to squander.”

Mosaic believes you shouldn’t have to choose between making money and making a difference. Already thousands of people in the country have invested millions to finance solar projects through Mosaic’s online marketplace. Investments run the gamut between big and small, giving everyone the power to invest and make a difference in the environment.

Mosaic touts ‘Steady income from the Sun.’ And they deliver.