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THE FIRST WORD
Solar power can help save the world from climate doom It’s a pivotal moment in the history of the world. The Federal policy is exceedingly important for our Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported industry’s future, but regional and state policy are that at this point, some devastating impacts of climate huge drivers of deployment too. In this issue, we change are unavoidable, but there’s still a chance to stop take a look at solar policy themes in each region of things from getting worse. Doing so would require the the United States, from Puerto Rico’s opportunities world to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere to use funding to transform its grid to Oregon’s by 2050 — a goal that the Biden administration, along groundbreaking policies to bring solar + storage to with many individual states, has already set. low- and moderate-income residents. It’s the solar It’s clear the current administration believes solar industry’s time to shine, but policy paves the way. SPW power is a crucial element of preventing the world from becoming uninhabitable. The Dept. of Energy released a blueprint in September outlining solar energy’s potential to power 40% of the nation’s electricity and drive deep decarbonization of the grid by 2035. “The study illuminates the fact that solar, our cheapest and fastest-growing source of clean energy, could produce enough electricity to power all of the homes in the U.S. by 2035 and employ as many as 1.5 million people in the process,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. All these proclamations sound great, but looming in the background are trade issues that threaten to hold back the industry’s progress at a time when explosive, unprecedented growth is necessary. Enforcement actions on Xinjiang-produced polysilicon and tariff petitions on imported solar cells and panels are already causing negative Senior Editor effects to the market. SEIA and Wood Mackenzie’s kmisbrener@wtwhmedia.com latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report found supply @SolarKelseyM chain constraints have already led to price increases @SolarPowerWorld across every market segment for the first time since the groups began modeling system price data in 2014. “This is a critical moment for our climate future, but price increases, supply chain disruptions and a series of trade risks are threatening our ability to decarbonize the electric grid,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO. “If we want to incentivize domestic manufacturing and drive enough solar deployment to tackle the climate crisis, we must see action from our federal leaders.”
Kelsey Misbrener
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CONTENTS
37
20
ON THE COVER
A Pittsburgh steel mill is
revitalized by a glistening 2-MW rooftop solar project. No drill holes were allowed, and installers balanced on special webbing to get the job done.
8 NEWS BRIEFS
28
40
46
BUSINESS
TECHNOLOGY
10 SERVICE EXPANSION
24 PANELS
INSTALLATION
28 MOUNTING
Installation companies decide to add ancillary services to better serve customers
14 CASE STUDY
Scalo Solar overcomes challenges to complete an installation on the skeleton of a steel mill
TECHNOLOGY 20 INVERTERS
A new mission-driven solar module manufacturer struggles with supply chain issues A contract manufacturer decides to create its own product for the solar mounting market
32 STORAGE
Industry standards for storage systems can ensure safe and long-lasting installations
Contractors can take steps to prepare solar homes for simple storage additions later on
Photo courtesy of Scalo Solar
2 FIRST WORD
NOVEMBER 2021 • VOL 11 NO 6 w w w. s o l a r p o w e r w o r l d o n l i n e . c o m
58 CONTRACTOR’S CORNER 60 AD INDEX
SPECIAL SECTION: 2021 REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY UPDATE
A look at regional solar policy themes that are pushing the industry forward, from coast to coast and beyond. | PAGE 35
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NEWS BRIEFS
SOLAR POLICY SNAPSHOTS A guide to recent legislation and research throughout the country.
Community solar is open for business in the small state of Delaware.
California legislators push for community solar provision in new net-metering plan
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Delaware updates community solar rules to eliminate barriers
Sacramento, California
Dover, Delaware
California legislators are asking the utility commission to establish a program that compensates community solar subscribers based on the value of a project’s generation at the time it’s provided to the grid. Other community solar programs don’t consider as many solar benefits when deciding on subscriber returns.
Gov. John Carney signed a bill updating Delaware’s community solar rules to allow more development and subscriber access. The final legislation allows for multiple ownership models, increases the potential size of community solar projects, eliminates setup requirements and adds consumer protection measures.
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NOVEMBER 2021
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NEWS BRIEFS
California’s C-10 solar + storage licensing requirement on hold for at least a year
North Carolina energy bill would set carbon standards and increase renewables
Illinois sets RPS of 40% renewable energy by 2030
Sacramento, California
Raleigh, North Carolina
Springfield, Illinois
The Attorney General of California agreed to voluntarily stay enforcement of the Contractor State License Board’s decision requiring contractors to hold C-10 licenses to install solar + storage projects. Contractors carrying C-46 licenses may continue to build these systems for at least one year before the decision is revisited.
North Carolina’s governor and senate president pro tempore reached an agreement on a new bill that would establish one of the Southeast’s first carbon standards and establish a new split ownership program for solar + storage projects. The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association was involved in the legislative process.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed an energy bill into law that sets an ambitious RPS of 40% renewable energy by 2030, which will spur construction of 4,000 MW of new utility-scale and 5,800 MW of new rooftop and community solar. The bill also sets requirements for diversity in deployment and hiring in the renewable energy industry.
Ohio Republicans introduce community solar-enabling legislation
New Jersey to start designing permanent community solar program
Advocates push for largescale transmission upgrades to accommodate more solar power
Columbus, Ohio
Trenton, New Jersey
Washington, D.C.
Ohio House Republicans have introduced a bill that would allow up to 2 GW of community solar development in the state. The bill uniquely allows more capacity for projects on “distressed sites” such as brownfields and closed solid waste facilities.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) announced it’s converting the state’s Community Solar Energy Pilot Program into a permanent program by February 2022. The board will begin stakeholder input on the program design before the end of 2021.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced it will start a rulemaking process to evaluate transmission and interconnection as the country’s energy makeup evolves. SEIA and other organizations are pushing for large-scale upgrades to accommodate more renewable energy.
TM
SNAP, SLIDE & SECURE ®
TM
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by
BUSINESS Solar installers expand into new t e e m o t s e c i v r e s market needs 10
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BILLY LUDT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Adobe Stock
As
the solar industry continues to grow and enter new markets and regions, the companies selling and installing solar systems are responsible for addressing changing client challenges and keeping pace with new technology. Installers are taking on whole new services related to accessory technologies, system upkeep and worksite preparation as they determine what will be necessary to offer solar customers in the evolving market. So, how should a solar company decide when it’s time to break into a new service? Eric Domescik, co-founder and president of Renewvia Energy, an Atlanta, Georgia-based solar installer, knew it was time when he and his employees were overextending to meet operations and maintenance (O&M) calls. The company has been in business for a decade. While Domescik originally added O&M calls to his pile of daily
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responsibilities, he felt the need wasn’t being properly addressed. In any salesrelated field, maintaining relationships is important and can result in referrals for future business. “That’s why we organically had to grow, just to meet the demands of what we already had accomplished,” Domescik said. To better serve clients, Renewvia added an O&M service that it offers to existing customers and those outside its network. The key to the new service was hiring a dedicated O&M program director to answer those calls. Renewvia handles O&M with an in-house team led by program director John Thornburg, mostly in Southeast states, or what Domescik referred to as the company’s backyard. It subcontracts O&M to technicians in states outside of Renewvia’s proximity. But if there is enough demand in a certain territory,
Renewvia will consider hiring an O&M technician for that region. Integrating a new service can require involvement from existing teams at a company. In Renewvia’s case, the construction crew is talking to clients about O&M options and passing those newly installed projects to the O&M team. “To add an O&M service, it is definitely a commitment that everybody in the company has to buy into,” Domescik said. “You are making bold claims that you’re going to respond within a certain amount of time and you’re going to have the wherewithal and the resources to perform the work that you promised.” EXPANDING FACILITIES
Adding a new service to a company can also mean workspace expansion. Building or leasing a new space is
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investment that shouldn’t be taken lightly, but if services continue to grow, then the company’s footprint can grow, too. Miami, Florida-based turnkey solar company Origis Energy decided to build a new facility to accommodate a new solar service. Solar O&M was offered from the start at Origis, but the company wanted to tap potential third-party clients. In 2019, it created Origis Services, a separate branch of the company that’s strictly focused on O&M. The company built a 10,000-sq.-ft facility called the Remote Operating Center (ROC) in Austin, Texas, that dispatches O&M technicians to a multi-gigawatt portfolio of solar projects across the country. The ROC is outfitted with project monitoring software and is dedicated entirely to Origis Services’ operations. “I think it’s just a process of evolution and growth,” said Glenna Wiseman, public marketing lead for Origis. “The team always had what it needed in Miami, but the portfolio was growing and we’re moving forward. We’re seeing the need for this type of approach. It wasn’t: ‘This wasn’t working over here.’ It was: ‘We’re getting bigger, and we need more room.’” Like Renewvia, the key to Origis handing off and kickstarting the service was hiring the right person. Michael Eyman, managing director of Origis Services, spent 21 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve doing maintenance work on remote field operations and held O&M positions at MaxGen and SunPower. Hiring the staff necessary to do the work is also crucial. Origis employs 70 personnel in the ROC and another 500 O&M technicians across the country. Eyman said Origis brings senior technicians to solar sites and hires new technicians from communities to service those arrays. “The biggest challenge we have is the labor market, which is why we really fall back on hiring people that want a career,” he said. “Give them the
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training, give them longevity and since we have a long trajectory, we’re able to give those people more opportunities and really have a long-term career. We see ourselves as leaders in those communities.” ADDING SERVICES BEYOND THE SOLAR ARRAY
Sometimes a solar market can demand a service entirely outside of typical solar expertise. While a residential rooftop is a familiar place for solar installations, it isn’t common for solar installers to also offer an in-house roofing service. Palomar Solar & Roofing of Escondido, California, added a roofing division about three years ago after it found many customers required roof work before the solar installation. “We really didn’t want to start a roofing company, but it seemed like we were consistently running into people who needed roofs,” said Adam Rizzo, business development partner at Palomar. To make the roofing addition as easy as possible, Palomar sought an existing operation to join the team. George Cortes had been a roofer in the area for more than 20 years. He had existing crews and handled a lot of the day-to-day operations of his roofing business himself. Palomar brought Cortes and his crews on, gave them new work vehicles and took over the business side of operations, like payroll and bidding jobs. “If we didn’t find George, I don’t know if we’d be having this success that we’re having, because it would have been a lot more headaches trying to set it all up,” Rizzo said. “We’ve got a well-educated sales team who understands
NOVEMBER 2021
how to sell it, and now George just has to worry about coordinating installs.” Before adding a roofing service, Palomar often encountered solar installs that would void a customer’s roof warranty. With in-house roofing, the company can now offer warranties on both the roof and the solar installation and meet that particular need in sales conversations. Subcontracting roofers and coordinating their schedules with Palomar’s installers used to be a hassle too. Now, Palomar’s roofing division will prepare the roof, the solar installers will build the array and the roofers will return to frame the roof. “You just have to go into it just how we did with solar,” Rizzo said. “We’re going to make it work no matter what. We believe this is the right thing to offer customers for their peace of mind and you just have to be willing to roll with the punches.” Solar companies will continue to evolve along with the market to meet the needs of their customers. Service expansion is possible through proper planning, making deliberate hires and, if required, expanding a company’s footprint. SPW Origis
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INSTALLATION Scalo Solar installers were able to work on the roof structure thanks to suspended netting called Spider WorkWebs. Scalo Solar Solutions
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BILLY LUDT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Former steel mill COVERED IN SOLAR PANELS
SHINES NEW LIGHT ON
PITTSBURGH Abandoned
steel mills are a common sight in the Rust Belt region. Communities formed around these factories as the steel industry boomed, employing thousands of people at a time, but many suffered economic collapse and began shuttering in the 1970s. These buildings are difficult to redevelop because of their scale and corrosion from years of neglect. But one mill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is proving it’s possible. An unlikely partnership formed among public and private foundations,
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businesses and organizations to reinvigorate Mill 19, an abandoned steel mill built in the Hazelwood neighborhood in 1943 — and photovoltaic solar played an integral role in its redevelopment. The old mill now hosts the largest long-span rooftop solar array in the United States and is an indicator of Pittsburgh’s technological future. COVERING RUST WITH SOLAR
The steel manufactured at Mill 19 was used for munitions production during World War II, and the mill employed about 16,000 people at its peak. Long
after the factory shut down in 1998, residents and regional organizations still viewed it as a Pittsburgh landmark. “It was a symbol of pride for all these people,” said Mark Goyke, manager of the special projects division at Scalo Solar. “You talked to anybody in these [nearby] bars and their old man, or somebody, worked in this steel mill. To keep this building here and then to repurpose it, it’s just a fantastic thing for Pittsburgh, and it really keeps this heritage and legacy of the steel mills open. Even if it’s repurposed, this is ‘New Pittsburgh.’”
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INSTALLATION
In addition to the solar on the roof, modern office buildings are built within Mill 19’s skeletal structure. Billy Ludt/Solar Power World
Mill 19’s rusted skeletal structure sat untouched for more than a decade. It wasn’t until the 2000s that substantial plans to reinvigorate the 178-acre mill site, called Hazelwood Green, were considered. Regional organizations including the Heinz Endowments, the Richard King Mellon Foundation and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation formed a coalition called Almono with plans to redevelop Mill 19. Powering it with solar was one of their ideas. Instead of tearing down the rusted building skeleton, the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) built two commercial office buildings within the structure of the mill and has a third building underway. Almono is redeveloping the mill to create a hub for technology-focused businesses and programs.
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Almono sought a solar developer at a national scale for this project but went with the local option in Scalo Solar. It took about two years from initial planning before work started on Mill 19’s solar installation. The scale of this project becomes apparent when driving beside the quartermile building. Every possible section of the roof is covered in solar modules except where old exhaust hoods and other steel structures protrude above the roof line. Scalo Solar installed 2 MW of solar on the mill's skeleton and an additional 500 kW in carports and canopies in parking lots surrounding the mill. The entire solar buildout of Mill 19 was completed in June 2020. “This had never been done before, so there wasn’t a specification book,” said Jack Scalo, CEO of Scalo Solar Solutions and part of the Scalo Companies. “There
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wasn’t a design by someone. We really had to figure this out on our own through trial and error.” Roof access wasn’t easy, and there wasn’t a flat surface atop the mill that installers could stand on, either. To add another wrinkle, the RIDC started construction on the first building inside the mill, so there wasn’t viable floor space for scaffolding. “But as you can see, with all the support structures that are underneath it, you can’t get a lift all the way up there. You can’t get scaffolding without some massive building. The price of scaffolding, which we did actually price out, was more than the rest of the contract,” said Cab Whitaker, senior project manager at Scalo Solar. Instead, Scalo Solar commissioned worksite staging company Spider to produce four WorkWebs, suspended
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ADVERTORIAL ADVERTORIAL
SOLAR SPOTLIGHT
Gibraltar Renewable Energy Group talks customer support across entire solar project development cycle IN THIS SPECIAL EDITION of Contractors Corner, solar mounting and balance of system products manufacturer Gibraltar talks about the benefits of working with the newly consolidated company through the entire lifecycle of a solar project. Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app. Can you tell us what Terrasmart stands for? The new Terrasmart really unifies the strengths and legacies of four discrete, separate businesses that have their own proud history and have been successful in the U.S. solar market for some time. You've got RBI Solar and the former TerraSmart in ground-mount, fixed-tilt racking systems, SolarBOS for balance of system products and Sunfig optimization software. Those four discrete companies have their own proud history, but together really form a more complete portfolio that is stronger together. What customers come to realize is that we can connect with them upstream and downstream in the lifecycle of a solar site. How will the new Terrasmart differentiate itself in today's consolidated marketplace? It starts with our most important asset, which is our people. We have a dynamic group of people at TerraSmart that really make a difference. That starts with our leadership and how they have full understanding of the lifecycle of a PV project from initial inception all the way to construction all the way through to operation. It really helps to understand that full path as well as understand the different markets that we play in — the C&I space and utility — and really bring that innovation to those different areas. We're differentiating by reaching out to the customer and helping them understand their pain points so that we can help their projects succeed.
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Can you share some more details about your combined market share to help listeners get a feel for the size of the new Terrasmart? If you want to talk about the combined install base of systems, our combined companies have installed 19 GW of capacity and 4,600 systems across our history. Another way of thinking about our scale is the size of our team. We have over 600 employees all based here in the U.S. that can bring all of the services and products that we have to bear in the market. We also have powerful project optimization software as part of our portfolio, so there's over 250 GW of capacity that we've helped to optimize by running it through our optimization software. What all that means is that we've got the scale and the breadth to give a holistic project experience to our customers over time. How are you supporting your customers across the entire PV project development cycle? We start with understanding where the customer is trying to develop their project. We're able to take the portfolios of our customers and optimize our process to focus on delivering the value for their project experience and for their returns. Our integrated solar journey offers powerful ROI through each project phase depending upon our customers’ individual needs. We start with the intelligent project optimization software to help guide asset owners and developers in the beginning of a project and then we customize our racking solutions and eBOS solutions across portfolios that are in different geographies. We help to value-engineer each project to reach its performance goals. Integrating products, processes and people in a holistic project experience is how Terrasmart delivers unique value for its customers.
We have pile-driven, ballast and ground screw foundations, so any foundation, we can support for fixed-tilt as well as for trackers. We're able to deliver eBOS with wire harnesses, combiner boxes and pre-fabricated solutions to help shorten the installation time, reduce O&M costs and deliver value to the project. We are unique in the industry to offer such a diverse product portfolio that we combine with civil and installation services. This end-to-end solution allows us to deliver higher levels of optimization for stronger returns across different terrains and climates. Add to this a powerful project feasibility software platform upfront in the development cycle and achieve substantial gains ranging from 5-15% in increased project returns. How can customers benefit by working with Terrasmart? The top benefits of working with Terrasmart are really about working with a trusted, consultative advisor both now and over the long-term. What our customers are expecting is someone that can execute right now. Between the resources, the scale and the products and services we offer, we've got the ability to do that, but because of that history and that scale and footprint, we can also anticipate what's coming next. It's about being a trusted advisor that delivers greater value over the arc of time. SPW
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netting often used in bridge construction that can be walked on. The WorkWebs were secured in succession at an 80ft elevation within the mill, and as one section of the array was complete, that netting went up the line. “They were building a three-story building underneath this existing steel structure and putting solar on top of that, so it’s unprecedented,” said Jesse Ament, marketing director for Scalo Solar Solutions. Since it was such a distance to the roof, installers set up a staging area on the ground where they assembled panels into groups of nine at a time. Those modules were then hoisted by a 150-ton crane and placed atop the mill instead of taken up one panel at a time. As one crew was assembling, another was installing. Due to construction of a road along the front of the mill, Scalo was forced to hoist modules from the back side of the
building — where the crane operator could not see through or over the sloped roof. Installers radioed the crane operator and guided the modules into place. This was done along the entire quarter-mile length of Mill 19. Another challenge on this project was a requirement that installers secured the array on the mill without drilling into the steel structure since it is a historic structure. The modules are held in place using custom-designed racking with brackets and straps coming down the structure that are, at most, welded to it. “So, 4,968 panels, all mounted, not one drill hole,” Whitaker said. There’s an SMA Sunny Tripower Core inverter on nearly every other column of the mill. In conjunction with those are breaker panels that feed to the inverter and act as combiner boxes. The project uses LG 390-W bifacial modules, not for the additional backside
generation — Whitaker said there’s close to none anyway — but for their aesthetics. Having no backsheets means more light passes through a module, casting more natural light onto the buildings housed inside the mill. The array atop Mill 19 meets all of the facility’s current energy needs and will easily cover the power needs of the third office building, Whitaker said. The carports and canopies are also bonus production. REINVIGORATING HAZELWOOD GREEN
Redeveloping Mill 19 and the entire Hazelwood Green site was possible thanks to both grants and creative use of the investment tax credit. Both RK Mellon and Scalo Solar invested in the project and formed a public-private partnership that resulted in the Mill array and additional carports and canopies. Without that
Billy Ludt/Solar Power World
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INSTALLATION
collaboration, Mill 19’s solar output wouldn’t be at this scale. However, the entire solar project wouldn’t have been possible without one person: Michael Carnahan. “Mike was the engine behind this project in terms of figuring it all out in terms of design logistics. This unfortunately proved to be Mike’s swan song, but Mike was absolutely critical to this project and I doubt that anyone else in the City of Pittsburgh could have executed this project besides Mike,” Scalo said. Carnahan was general manager at Scalo Solar and had been with the company since 2011. He died in January, several months after Mill 19 was completed. “This was an iconic project. It’s our flagship and it’s Mike’s iconic project and Mike’s flagship,” Scalo said. “He really believed in renewables and in solar. He was passionate about what he did and again firmly believed in it as a way of life.” While parts of Mill 19 and Hazelwood Green are still under development, the site is already looking renewed. Two modern office buildings are completed and housed in the frame of Mill 19, with the third under construction. Current tenants include Carnegie Mellon University’s Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Institute and Manufacturing Futures Initiative. And above it all rests 2 MW of bifacial solar modules. “Ultimately, the promise of solar is future jobs. It’s industry. It’s taking that legacy of coal and mill and turning it into solar now,” said Leo Kowalski, consulting program director with the Pennsylvania Solar Center. “There’s sales jobs, there’s technical work, there’s high-level engineering, there’s business management. There’s a ton of opportunity that solar creates and this is such a visual example of that. It’s housing all this new industry and solar is tied to all of it.” SPW
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Scalo Solar
ULTIMATELY, THE PROMISE OF SOLAR IS FUTURE JOBS. IT’S INDUSTRY. IT’S TAKING THAT LEGACY OF COAL AND MILL AND TURNING IT INTO SOLAR NOW.
Scalo Solar installed bifacial solar modules atop the mill without drilling into the structure. While they don’t provide that much backside generation, the bifacial modules let more natural light into the mill. Billy Ludt/Solar Power World
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KELSEY MISBRENER SENIOR EDITOR
ENERGY
storage may still be cost-prohibitive to some homeowners, but installing solar so batteries can be added later can make the transition smooth when they’re ready to make the investment. In California, this practice will be mandatory for new single-family residential builds starting in 2023. The 2022 California Energy Code says these homes, which are already required to include solar installations, must be wired so energy storage systems can easily be added later. That includes installing a minimum 225-amp busbar, four backed-up circuits (two of which must be the refrigerator and bedroom receptacle outlet), and either a subpanel or splitbus main panel for those circuits. There are some other considerations that can make life easier for both the installer and homeowner when planning storageready solar projects.
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INVERTER CHOICE
Installers should carefully consider what type and brand of inverter to use for solar projects when storage is planned as a later addition. Hybrid or battery-enabled inverters are built ready to accept a battery on the DC side. In a grid outage, hybrid inverters connected to batteries can switch to off-grid mode temporarily and continue to power the home. “Inverters continue to get more and more sophisticated in the way they interact with the grid, so we have our advanced technology inverters that can react to grid conditions to support the health of the grid,” said Ken Boyce, senior director of principal engineering, industrial, at UL. To add storage to microinverterbased systems, an additional inverter will need to be installed to link the solar and storage together. Manufacturers of AC-coupled
systems like Tesla include both the battery and inverter in one enclosure. California contractor Renova Energy is a SunPower dealer that installs AC modules that convert the electricity at the panel. “We have to keep that same technology consistent with the way that we build our solar systems, so we immediately started looking at AC-coupled battery systems such as Tesla,” said Matthew De La Torre, VP of engineering at Renova Energy. If battery supply is unavailable or if the customer isn’t yet ready to invest in storage along with solar, Renova will sometimes upgrade the main electrical service panel, install an additional subpanel and add extra conduit to easily connect a battery when the time comes. “Some things we do are increase conduit sizes or add additional conduits between certain electrical boxes and components so that when
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INVERTER TECHNOLOGY
it’s time to install the battery, there’s going to be a lot less drywall or stucco work that has to be done,” De La Torre said. INTERCONNECTION PLANS
Batteries added on the AC side of the system will change the nameplate capacity of the project, which would change a homeowner’s interconnection agreement with the utility and require a re-evaluation. “I would hope that if folks are adding in AC-coupled storage, then they realize that is adding nameplate capacity and that requires a new connection application or a revised interconnection application. For some of these things, it might not be completely obvious that should be done,” said Brian Lydic, chief regulatory engineer at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. Even DC-coupled storage could change the hours of the day a homeowner is able to export power to the grid, so the utility should be informed of it. The utility might require additional equipment like a power control system or other proof that the battery is set up to charge only from the PV system to ensure the installation is abiding by export rules.
The Renova Energy team installs a Tesla Powerwall.
“The DC-coupled solution is probably still going to be easier from an interconnection process perspective, but you may still need a power control system in order to get through the process, depending on how flexible you want your storage to be, compared to the way you’ve been using it with your PV system,” Lydic said. Power control systems are combination hardware/software solutions that are made by specific inverter manufacturers. They’re programmed to
manage the energy exports to fit within the constraints of the distribution system and also prove compliance with netmetering rules. Solar + storage projects are generally approved by the utility faster when they have this automated system in place. “Some utilities have limitations about how energy that’s stored in an energy storage system may be put back on the grid, so there’s an option for equipment to be certified such that the power control system has been evaluated to inhibit that type of functionality,” Boyce said. “That can be really helpful to build confidence as more energy storage is being deployed.” SAFETY AND COMPATIBILITY
Whether the future storage will be ACor DC-coupled to the solar project, safety and code compliance are paramount. “It’s really important that the specific combination of the battery system and the inverter have been evaluated for safe compatibility,” Boyce said. Inverters and batteries manufactured by the same company are the easiest choice for ensuring compatibility, but different brands are often used due to existing partnerships and product preference. Compatibility can be tested
A Renova installer hooks up the AC module’s microinverter.
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INVERTER TECHNOLOGY
by labs like UL or in the field. All projects will be inspected by the local AHJ to ensure the equipment is installed up to code. “One of the challenges is, as you start to add different sources or you change the capacity of your sources or you’re adding the different components like energy storage systems, you could have a change in the electrical ratings of the system,” Boyce said. “We always want to make sure that the equipment that’s being used in that system has the appropriate electrical ratings to be able to handle the actual electrical load that’s presented.” ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Some manufacturers are offering standalone power control systems with an eye toward the smart-home future. Schneider Electric recently released its Square D Energy Control Center (ECC), an all-in-one enclosure that integrates the home’s main panel and backup panel and includes inputs for solar
inverters, batteries and IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT generators. When paired THE SPECIFIC COMBINATION OF with the company’s EcoStruxure Microgrid THE BATTERY SYSTEM AND THE Operation, the system INVERTER HAVE BEEN EVALUATED can autonomously instruct the ECC to FOR SAFE COMPATIBILITY. charge, discharge or idle a battery depending on Power control systems give the optimal use of energy throughout homeowners the flexibility to choose the day, factoring in utility tariffs, peak and change which critical appliances to demand charges and load spikes. provide backup power to when storage is “You’re putting in a solution that is added to the system. Manufacturers like expecting that you will come back and Lumin and Span make standalone smart put a generator in, it’s expecting that circuit solutions that would be helpful if you didn’t put the battery in at time for future storage additions as well, of installation, that you are going to do but Schneider’s product acts as both a that sometime in the future,” said Brad smart circuit and microgrid management Wills, director of strategic customers and solution. programs at Schneider Electric. “You’re “It’s not a one-off that someone’s literally coming back and you’re adding going to have more than one source of the battery to the existing enclosure and power. That is the new standard and it’s you’re not adding another enclosure, going to happen, so why wouldn’t you you’re not ripping up the drywall, you’re build the home to be prepared for it?” not having to re-stucco the outside of Wills said. SPW the house.” Schneider Electric's Square D Energy Center is installed on a new home build in California.
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NOVEMBER 2021
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PANEL TECHNOLOGY
KELLY PICKEREL EDITOR IN CHIEF
What it’s like starting a new solar panel factory amidst supply chain woes The U.S. solar industry is desperate for domestic manufacturing expansions, but it’s also currently difficult to get things moving. Between global supply chain interruptions due to COVID and the constant barrage of tariffs on solar products, it takes a lot of gumption to start a new venture. Crossroads Solar has a tough road ahead, but with strong community support it’s pushing for success. The new solar panel assembler in South Bend, Indiana, is small — two shifts expect to produce 12 MW of crystalline silicon solar panels annually — but its mission is mighty. Crossroads Solar’s goal is to “produce perfect solar modules with people who made mistakes.” Crossroads employees are released felons who have “served their time and earned the opportunity to re-enter the workforce with dignity.” The for-profit company’s focus is on employment more than solar output. The idea behind Crossroads comes from Patrick Regan, a political science and peace studies professor most recently at the University of Notre Dame, and technology businessman Marty Whalen, both of whom taught college classes at Westville Correctional Facility through the Moreau College Initiative. The pair wanted to find a more tangible way to transform how society thinks about crime and punishment and provide job support for the formerly incarcerated. “I wanted to create a company that could demonstrate that American manufacturing could be competitive, and most importantly, that a workforce that we far too often discard because of past crimes can be the source of that competitive capability,” Regan said. Viewing the solar industry as a 21st century business, he considered a solar module manufacturing entity as the perfect way to maximize three Ps: people, planet and profit.
All images credited to Kelly Pickerel/Solar Power World.
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PANEL TECHNOLOGY
Crossroads is starting employees at $16/ hour with insurance and retirement help. The first shift will have 12 people on the floor producing both 60- and 72-cell monocrystalline solar panels. Further growth is dependent on the market and supply — which right now is causing quite a headache, Regan said. Solar Power World traveled to Indiana to see the new factory finally getting started in September 2021, two months later than Crossroads Solar’s initial plan. We talked with Regan about the difficulties in starting a new solar panel plant today, mission-driven or not. SPW: WHAT PREVENTED CROSSROADS SOLAR FROM STARTING PRODUCTION IN JULY AS PLANNED?
Regan: This is all after producing a panel and getting it certified [which was completed in late 2020/early 2021]. I have an email from a supplier saying, “Your product will arrive on July 15,” and that was our expectation. We expected our pieces to arrive in mid-July 2021 and they arrived mid-September. I’m not a supply chain guy, but here’s my thinking with my political science background: We had built up a system that was in equilibrium
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over decades where product and containers flowed seamlessly around the planet. When they shut down in March 2020 from COVID, the containers stopped where they were. The system went out of equilibrium. When we started up again, everyone wanted Chinese product but all the containers were over here. No one wanted to send an empty ship with containers to the product. It still hasn’t resolved. It won’t until that equilibrium gets re-established. We got caught in that. WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT LIKE THE STRINGERS AND LAMINATORS?
I WANTED TO CREATE A COMPANY THAT COULD DEMONSTRATE THAT AMERICAN MANUFACTURING COULD BE COMPETITIVE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THAT A WORKFORCE THAT WE FAR TOO OFTEN DISCARD BECAUSE OF PAST CRIMES CAN BE THE SOURCE OF THAT COMPETITIVE CAPABILITY.
I shopped equipment from Spain, Mexico, Germany. I didn’t have a lot of money, and I needed to buy equipment, so I initially looked at used
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equipment. It was probably good equipment but it was already obsolete. It didn’t make sense to pay the same price for equipment that would quickly have me producing panels that nobody would want. I looked at new equipment out of Mexico, and to flesh out the place was over $1 million of equipment. So I went to China. I did some research and looked at a couple factories and it was one-quarter the price. So I bought Chinese equipment. But then COVID shut China down in January 2020, which was when our equipment was scheduled to be produced, and then we couldn’t import it. It just stretched out. HAS THE LACK OF AMERICAN-MADE SOLAR COMPONENTS SURPRISED YOU? YOU HAD TO GET SOLAR CELLS FROM VIETNAM, GLASS FROM INDIA, JUNCTION BOXES FROM CHINA, AND IT’S BEEN A STRUGGLE TO GET FRAMES.
I expected frames to be from here. We are near Elkhart, Indiana, which is a big aluminum extruder for the RV industry. I’ve reached out to them on a number of occasions, and they just tell me they’re too busy to deal with me. It surprises me that I can’t find a local aluminum extruder to make our frames. So I ship the frames in from China, which seems to be the industry standard. I paid a 111% tariff on those frames. EVA and backsheets, I purchased initially from the United States, but in the world of being a startup and small, they treated me like I wouldn’t be around tomorrow. I liked their stuff, but they sent me old product that was off the shelf. When it just bubbled, they said it’d been on the shelf for three months. And since I needed such a small quantity…I got the EVA and backsheet from India, and it doesn’t turn out to be cheaper than I can get in the United States. It’s just I have confidence in [the quality]. Until they see that I will be in business, I think they’re always just going to treat me poorly in that regard. Some stuff you’re just not going to get in the United States. I know there are no cell suppliers in the United States, so cells are going to come from overseas. I was surprised by that. On our initial webpage, I say I’m going to source everything from the United States. That was my hope. It didn’t work that way.
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PANEL TECHNOLOGY
HOW ARE THESE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES AFFECTING CROSSROADS AS IT STARTS UP AND BUILDS INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIPS?
The hard part is that everyone expects the supply chain to be more gobbled up for the Christmas holidays to the extent that Target and Home Depot have rented their own freighters to bring in their products. That just makes it hard on someone like me who brings in a single container. I’m guessing other bigger solar manufacturers are going through the same thing, they just have more ability to weather the storm.
We’re going to produce solar panels and sell them. I have been in discussions with the RV industry because I have panels certified for RVs. We are in discussions with design and installation people in the region. We’re going to sell panels to generate revenue to buy more products. I hope that can come in a time that doesn’t force us to go dormant. Once our current product runs out, to keep us producing, I have to order stuff now to get on ships. Places like Target and Home Depot are sucking up all the variation in the transport. If I don’t get in the game now, we’re going to have to
shut down for a couple months until the supply chain delivery process plays itself out. I don’t have the cash to order right now. I have to let revenue generate the cash. In the initial model, it would be doing just fine, because I have enough product now to sell panels and have cash to order. I’d be ordering in a six-week window. But now that delivery time has shifted out from six weeks to 18 or 24 weeks, someone like me…it’s really hard to do. I’m hoping it works out. SPW
MOUNTING TECHNOLOGY
BILLY LUDT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
A contract manufacturer goes first-party after years of producing solar racking for others A contract manufacturer is hired to produce the products that other companies design. BCI Engineering, a steel equipment contract manufacturer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has spent the last 13 years fabricating many solar racking and mounting solutions put in the ground around the globe — over 20 GW worth, mostly for tracker original equipment manufacturers. With a prolific output on the production side, BCI decided it was time to design and manufacture a solar racking product all in-house. The group unveiled a fixed-tilt solution called Full Tilt in April 2021. “BCI has always been fundamentally a contract manufacturer. But we are also a team of engineers and product
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developers,” said Matt Carroll, CEO of BCI Engineering. “Fixed-tilt presented itself as the right opportunity. There is plenty of room for innovation and new challenges from larger modules and difficult project sites. There hasn’t been a lot of investment in fixed-tilt.” Fixed-tilt racking isn’t the frontrunning structure choice for solar developers working at scale in terms of power output. With hundreds of acres to cover in solar modules, single-axis trackers can generate more power from the same footprint of a fixed-tilt project. However, the solar tracking market is cornered by companies like Nextracker and Array Technologies, where fixed-tilt racking has more players in the game. With that in mind, BCI decided the more
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diversified fixed-tilt market was the right choice for its first self-developed racking. GOING FULL TILT INTO THE FIXED-TILT MARKET
BCI was started by co-founders Matt Carroll and Tim Brantingham in 2006. In the beginning the company produced heavy equipment for railroad, mining and other steel-related industries. Two years later, BCI began manufacturing solar racking for other companies. Since that introduction to solar racking production, Carroll said 95% of what BCI currently produces is related to renewables. Full Tilt is the culmination of BCI’s experience producing other companies’ racking structures. The system is designed to encourage quicker
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MOUNTING TECHNOLOGY
installation by being lightweight and made of six components, but it’s still tested to withstand wind speeds of more than 100 mph. With the market shifting to larger-format modules, BCI aimed to produce fixed-tilt racking that could accommodate these panel sizes. To do so, Full Tilt has a panel rail that the company dubbed “Longhorn” that has notches in the flange of the rail that can self-align modules as they’re fed onto the track. “The flanges engage the interior surface of the module frame itself,” said Chris Bartley, VP of business development at BCI Engineering. “It slides right into position, so you don’t have to worry about micro-adjusting the module to align bolt holes. You slide it up, it falls into place and it’s in.”
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The panel rails on Full Tilt rotate. Installers can load modules onto the racking when it’s flat, and once in place, set the rails at the proper angle. Panels are secured in two-in-portrait orientation using either cinch clips, threaded fasteners or lock bolts. That pivoting panel rail also means installers or technicians can adjust the modules to access their underside. Plus, the dimensions of each Full Tilt system are determined and manufactured on a perproject basis for module adjustability. “We’re trying to make our designs as universal as we can, but we realize we can’t because the modules are all over the place these days,” Carroll said. “Full Tilt has been designed to be easily customized to fit any module size.” BCI is trying to fill a gap in solar development, especially in smaller
nations, where flat, open land is becoming scarcer. Just by having fewer to no moving parts, the logistics of installing a fixed-tilt racking on undulating topographies is simpler than single-axis trackers. The company’s geotechnical confidence in those environments stems from another solar product it helps produce. BCI has a hand in creating other solar technologies, co-founding foundations company Solar Pile International and energy storage offerings with Invinity Energy Systems. Through the former company, BCI found its footing in providing geotechnical guidance. Solar Pile International produces several ground-mount options, including a standard I-beam, but its Solar X Wing Pile and Solar X Blade Pile NOVEMBER 2021
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are designed to embed at shallower depths in loose, sandy or rocky soils, reactive clays and frost-heave zones. Pair that with Full Tilt and solar can be installed in places it might not have been otherwise. “We’re going to take advantage of that as part of this ecosystem about marrying these two things together and taking some risk away from EPCs and even the developers,” Carroll said. LEVERAGING ITS GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
BCI has 16 offices and manufacturing hubs across the globe located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Italy, Australia, India, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China. With that global presence, the company has experience with the logistics of manufacturing and shipping heavy steel equipment in an international supply chain. It also provides product testing for varied environmental conditions.
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“That skillset and that service was really needed in the racking space, particularly with these early-stage racking companies, where they knew solar, they had really good ideas on the product side, but they definitely needed that extra support on the supply chain manufacturing side,” Bartley said. Given the company’s output leading up to creating Full Tilt, Carroll said BCI is comfortable producing racking structures in the hundreds-of-megawatts range and hopes Full Tilt will eventually reach that scale. “By the way, we’re still a contract manufacturer. It’s still our bread and butter and will remain a big piece of what we do, but we’ve always approached it from a more holistic perspective. We help companies bring their companies to market. We’re not just manufacturers,” he said. SPW
WE HELP COMPANIES BRING THEIR COMPANIES TO MARKET. WE’RE NOT JUST MANUFACTURERS.
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
Industry safety codes and standards for energy storage systems The safety of an energy storage system doesn't have to be a guessing game. Both customers and installers can take comfort by choosing UL-rated systems and installing to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. Although energy storage standards from both organizations are relatively young (UL 9540 began in 2016; NFPA 855 in 2020), they received input from hundreds of stakeholders, including engineers, manufacturers, first-responders and safety policymakers — all in an effort to prevent loss of life and property. Many safety concerns, especially with lithium-based batteries, relate to thermal runaway — when a battery
experiences an increase in temperature that eventually leads to cell shortcircuiting or disintegration that can spark a fire. Batteries can go into thermal runaway through physical damage, thermal neglect and electrical abuse, but the chances of this are slim when energy storage systems are tested and installed to the industry standards explained below. UL 9540 - STANDARD FOR SAFETY OF ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT
In order to have a UL 9540-listed energy storage system (ESS), the system must use a UL 1741-certified inverter and UL 1973-certified battery packs that have been tested using UL 9540A safety
Sungrow’s large-scale energy storage system ST556KWH-250UD is UL 9540 certified.
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methods. It's quite a UL-mouthful, but basically, the batteries and inverter inside a UL 9540-certified ESS have all met product safety standards. When an ESS provider says it has completed UL 9540A test methods, that doesn't mean it's fully certified and ready to install, said Maurice Johnson, business development engineer with UL’s energy systems and e-mobility group, in a press release about the tests. "As a test method, UL 9540A testing does not provide a certification, UL Mark or pass/fail results,” he said. “The information from UL 9540A testing supports important safety decisions about how the battery ESS will be installed and used.” UL takes the results of the 9540A tests, analyzes the ESS in a few more categories and presents the system to installers as a UL 9540-certified ESS. UL 9540 covers any technology that stores energy in any size-rating — not just lithium batteries in predetermined cabinets. "UL 9540 has requirements for what we want to see going on inside the energy storage system," said Ken Boyce, UL's senior director for principal engineering, industrial. "We look at making sure the cells are appropriately proven for safety and that they're being integrated into the system the right way and have the right software and hardware controls to govern the functional safety of the unit."
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
An ESS without UL 9540 certification does not inherently mean it is not safe, but many jurisdictions now require that only certified batteries be installed. "It's certainly possible to develop a safe lithium battery energy storage system, but you have to pay attention to those safety requirements that are codified in UL 9540 because lithium-ion batteries can be susceptible to thermal runaway. It's important to manage that potential hazard in a safe manner," Boyce said.
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UL 9540A - TEST METHOD FOR EVALUATING THERMAL RUNAWAY FIRE PROPAGATION IN BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS
Although it doesn’t provide certification, the UL 9540A test method does bring some clarity to how batteries perform in fire conditions. If thermal runaway should occur, this test shows how the ESS would react. A battery can't pass or fail these tests, but the results help installers design systems for the most successful performance. "UL 9540A gives us a very scientifically-focused way to demonstrate what the consequence of a thermal runaway would be," Boyce said. "We'll simulate a thermal runaway in a single cell and see if that spreads. Sometimes that's the end right there — there's no significant effect of that cascading. But sometimes you see it happen, so then we'll go to the next level." UL 9540A tests look at the battery cell, battery module and the battery unit. The test tries to initiate thermal runaway at the cell level, then notes how it happened and how the module reacted — for example, if any off-gassing occurred. Next, researchers will consider how fire spreads from unit to unit to determine the potential for an explosion.
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
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Finally, a closed room test is performed to show how a unit-to-unit fire spreads and reacts to fire mitigation equipment. The results of these extreme tests aid fire departments and other safety organizations in both installing energy storage systems and successfully suppressing any fires or other negative outcomes that may occur during their use. Many other outside organizations, like the International Fire Code (IFC) and the NFPA, also refer to UL 9540A testing methods for their own standards. NFPA 855 - STANDARD FOR THE INSTALLATION OF STATIONARY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS
This standard from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) specifically focuses on how to prevent and extinguish ESS fires by installing systems correctly and providing
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accurate safety labeling for worst-case scenarios. NFPA's installation standards aren't enforceable unless adopted by the local jurisdiction. NFPA 855 is largely associated with nonresidential systems; the group defaults to common-sense installation practices for smaller batteries. For example, if a residential ESS is installed in a home's garage, it should be positioned where the risk of accidental impact from a vehicle is limited. There is more of a concern for large-scale storage systems installed both indoors and outdoors because of the larger risk of property and life loss. NFPA 855 requires 3 ft of space between every 50 kWh of energy storage, but the AHJ can approve closer proximities for larger storage systems based on thermal runaway test results from UL 9540A. The NFPA installation standard also uses results
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of UL 9540A testing methods to determine what safety labels and fire suppression systems are necessary. Labels will explain what type of battery is installed and what safety measures are already in place, so first responders aren't surprised when they arrive at an emergency. Different safety installation codes and standards are used in the case of huge, utility-owned energy storage sites where the inverters and batteries are housed in separate locations and the entire project is often far from other buildings — like the 1,600-MWh setup at Moss Landing in California. Although ESS fires and explosions are rare, it's important to at least acknowledge the possibility and prepare for the worst. Installing UL-certified systems to NFPA standards ensures that energy storage adoption is a safe option for everyday power needs. SPW
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2021
REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT As solar power becomes a more urgent and obvious answer to combatting global warming, renewable policy trends have started to evolve. This year in our research across the country, we found many state leaders turning toward opening community solar markets, exploring virtual power plant options benefits of solar + storage backup to underserved communities. In this special section, we dive into the standout regional solar policy issues over the past year.
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NOVEMBER 2021
Illustration eleme nts via Adobe St ock
for resilience and launching programs to bring the
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
Puerto Rico solar contractor WindMar Home installs solar + energy storage.
LACKING LEADERSHIP, BILLIONS IN SOLAR AND GRID INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING GOES UNSPENT IN PUERTO RICO BY KELSEY MISBRENER • SENIOR EDITOR
AFTER
Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico in 2017, the island endured the largest blackout in U.S. history, with the last home's electricity finally restored after 11 months of darkness. Knowing more resilient and renewable power could help avoid future blackouts, the island’s legislators passed a bill titled Act 17 in 2019 establishing parameters for a resilient, reliable and robust energy system with just and reasonable rates for all classes of customers. Puerto Rico 36
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committed to achieving 40% renewable energy by 2025, 60% by 2040 and 100% by 2050. To meet the 40% stairstep, the island will need to add 3,500 MW of new renewables over the next four years, according to the Solar Energy & Storage Association of Puerto Rico (SESA). At the same time, billions of dollars in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other entities were made available to the island to
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rebuild and strengthen its electrical infrastructure. The amounts sounded hopeful to achieve those legislative goals in theory, but meeting the federal criteria and making collaborative plans to allocate the funding was another story. "There's an unthinkable amount of theoretical money floating around that's not really flowing but has been somehow appropriated," said Javier Rúa-Jovet, chief regulatory, policy and government affairs officer at SESA.
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
Receiving government funds, especially from FEMA, comes with stipulations. At the most basic level, the administration requires Puerto Rico to file proposals for approval by the agency. Puerto Rico's single utility neglected to even take that first step when it was due in September 2021, according to residential solar installer Sunnova, which was present at the hearing. “There is $12 billion available for Puerto Rico to improve their energy system and they just haven't bothered to fill out the paperwork. There's some level of incompetence and mismanagement too that's part of all of this,” said Meghan Nutting, executive VP of government and regulatory affairs for Sunnova. The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives, urged the island's utility (known as PREPA until becoming Luma Energy in May 2021) to submit the documentation as soon as possible. Several entities have some input on the island’s electrical system. There’s the governor and state legislature, the federal government, the relatively new Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB), the Fiscal Oversight Management Board for Puerto Rico and others. The difficulty is determining who’s in charge of making sure the funding goes to the right places to support Act 17 — as well as federal renewable energy goals set by the Biden Administration. "We hope that all the money that has been appropriated or that is available for Puerto Rico not only flows at some point, but is used in ways that are compliant not only with federal statements [but also] with Puerto Rico policy," Rúa-Jovet said. Part of the problem is some of the lawmakers who championed Act 17 aren’t part of the legislature anymore. In the vacuum of leadership, the utility entities have attempted to push resident self-generation to the side in favor of more fossil fuels and investor gains. “People at the federal level need to help shepherd this through and make it happen and provide guidance to Puerto Rico,” Nutting said. “There's a lot of work to do, so we need political leadership and we also have to take advantage of the assets that we've got.”
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WE HOPE THAT ALL THE MONEY THAT HAS BEEN APPROPRIATED OR THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR PUERTO RICO NOT ONLY FLOWS AT SOME POINT, BUT IS USED IN WAYS THAT ARE COMPLIANT NOT ONLY WITH FEDERAL STATEMENTS [BUT ALSO] WITH PUERTO RICO POLICY.
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Those existing assets are the tens of thousands of residential storage systems already deployed on the island that could be aggregated to form a virtual power plant. Act 17 set in motion a new Integrated Resource Planning process requiring the utility to purchase thousands of megawatts of new renewable energy. In a historic first, PREB required the utility to include virtual power plants in the bidding, according to Rúa-Jovet. "That's definitely the largest untapped virtual power plant in the world just sitting there. Sunrun and the other market participants could very easily just put those batteries on a timer so they cycle at the same time every day and provide that service to the utility, but there's no mechanism by which to do that," said Chris Rauscher, senior director
of market development and policy at Sunrun, another solar + storage installer working on the island. It’s not yet clear if the utility will accept any of the VPP proposals. To scale residential solar + storage installations even faster and more equitably, SESA wants the utility to use federal funding to establish solar + storage tax incentives that correspond with income levels. “The market drives itself pretty well, but there's some chunks of the market that need help, like lowerincome people might not qualify for the usual run-of-the-mill solar loan or lease because of credit scores,” Rúa-Jovet said. Puerto Rico has the potential funding to electrify the island on a large scale
THE MARKET DRIVES ITSELF PRETTY WELL, BUT THERE'S SOME CHUNKS OF THE MARKET THAT NEED HELP, LIKE LOWER-INCOME PEOPLE MIGHT NOT QUALIFY FOR THE USUAL RUNOF-THE-MILL SOLAR LOAN OR LEASE BECAUSE OF CREDIT SCORES. using creative solutions, but coordination and compromise are needed to reach robust renewable goals. “It's just these huge money streams that are available out there, but you need to connect the dots and [have] people talk to each other to know what can be done," Rúa-Jovet said. SPW
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
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QUICK TO HALT STAND-ALONE SOLAR, UTILITIES ARE ASKING FOR CUSTOMERSITED STORAGE IN THE NORTHEAST Virtual power plants are making behind-the-meter storage more attractive to utilities. B Y K E L LY P I C K E R E L • E D I T O R I N C H I E F
RESIDENTIAL
energy storage adoption is growing in the Northeast, and no state mandates are behind the rising numbers. Surprisingly, utilities are the ones encouraging customers to get batteries and enroll them in virtual power plants (VPPs). Instead of being threatened by customer-sited renewable energy systems, VPPs make solar and storage an agreeable resource for utilities. The U.S. electric grid has long performed as a one-way street: Utilities 40
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supply power to customers but never demand power from customers. That's why residential solar has always been an obstacle for utilities — they aren't asking for peak solar power generation at noon when they still have to fire up fossil fuel generators to meet peak demand at 6 p.m. Only the addition of batteries allows customer-sited solar to become a dispatchable resource utilities can work with — if they have access to it through groups of distributed, behind-the-meter batteries known as VPPs.
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"Now the utility can say, 'We need those batteries to discharge between 5 and 8 p.m. on Thursday when we anticipate a spike in demand.' If they feel they can have some degree of control, then that goes a long way toward helping them feel better about storage behind the meter," said Todd Olinsky-Paul, senior project director for Clean Energy Group (CEG). CEG recently released a report on energy storage policy best practices throughout New England and found
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
that hitting battery deployment targets isn't the best use of resources. Although renewable portfolio standards require certain amounts of solar and wind be added to the grid, batteries must be incentivized with purpose. For example, the Clean Peak Energy Standard in Massachusetts requires utilities to provide clean peaking resources, which then makes all those residential batteries more attractive. "What's going to make the difference is the virtual power plant. Utilities will start to figure out they can use these customer resources rather than just be at the mercy of the resources," Olinsky-Paul said. If utilities and grid-operators are open to VPPs, they're often a win-win on both sides of the electric line. Utilities get access to thousands of mini power plants and clean energy without building their own substations, and customers get extra benefits from their emergency backup resources. And the Northeast is a shining example right now for how virtual power plants can work for all parties. "The Northeast is one of the most receptive areas [to VPPs]. They have stable foundational solar policy and they've layered storage incentives and storage grid service programs. When you put that all together, it's a very sympathetic place to do business," said Chris Rauscher, senior director of market development and policy for Sunrun, a national installer seeking out VPP programs. UTILITIES FIND VPP BENEFITS
Some utilities in the Northeast have established VPP programs. Three utilities (Eversource, National Grid, Cape Light Compact) working in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have combined forces under the ConnectedSolutions program to pay customers annual incentives to access behind-the-meter stored energy. The program is set up as a bring-your-own-
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device (BYOD) design, and payout is WindMar Home determined by the brand of battery and how much it is used. Vermont utility Green Mountain Power (GMP) has also started a BYOD program, but it really put itself on the map in 2017 as the first utility in the country to partner specifically with Tesla to use customer Powerwalls in a VPP. GMP's use of 3,000 Powerwalls installed in customers' homes, along with utilityscale batteries, resulted in more than $3 million in reduced grid and electricity costs for customers in 2020.
"Storage is one of the most important things that we can do as we tackle climate change and also work to increase resiliency for our customers and lower costs. Storage is like a Swiss Army knife when it comes to all the different benefits it can deliver," said Kristin Carlson, VP of strategy and external relations at GMP. "That's why GMP was the first to deliver a Powerwall program to our customers several years ago. Virtual power plants are a key part of how we move into the future."
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STORAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE CAN DO AS WE TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE AND ALSO WORK TO INCREASE RESILIENCY FOR OUR CUSTOMERS AND LOWER COSTS. NOVEMBER 2021
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41
REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT GMP is a relatively small utility — it serves approximately 266,000 customers across Vermont. But those customers are GMP's "North Star," Carlson said, and every program the utility develops is to help customers save money and find electricity resiliency. "We don't start a program thinking we're going to revolutionize the utility world. We start a program because we think it's going to benefit a homeowner or a renter, someone who gets power from us in Vermont," she said. "That's our focus, but there is an imperative for utilities to act and to act quickly given what we're facing with climate change and cost pressures." GMP's small size allows it to quickly implement new, aggressive programs. The success of the first Powerwall program led to the BYOD offering, which includes up to $10,500 toward a home
battery purchase in addition to usage payments. Carlson said other utilities have reached out asking for advice in starting their own VPP programs. "Our focus is always Vermont and our customers, but while we're here doing the work, we're hearing from utilities across the country who want to learn more about what we're doing and how it's working," she said. "GMP has a strong culture of innovation and a strong customer culture focus. We just deploy the programs and start doing it because we realize there's no time to waste. We hope that we can be a resource to other folks who have questions." SOLAR INSTALLERS RETHINK THEIR APPROACH
National residential solar installer Sunrun sees energy storage as an obvious business path to follow, and its policy
team is actively working throughout the country to get VPPs adopted. "You really can't talk about storage without talking about solar. Solar is the engine of storage," Rauscher said. "Something like 95% of residential batteries that are installed today are paired with solar." Rauscher said he and his Sunrun policy team are generally surprised at policymakers' easy acceptance of energy storage. After mostly experiencing pushback when promoting solar policy, Sunrun comes ready to fight for batteries. Instead, policymakers and utilities bring their own questions that demonstrate an immediate understanding of the technology’s benefits. "We thought we were going to be in a position where we try to convince them of the benefits of having aggregated distributed batteries on the [grid]
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NOVEMBER 2021
www.solarpowerworldonline.com
REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT system," he said. "It's incredible how quickly this progressed. We're not facing skeptical regulators or utilities and telling them they should have batteries on the grid. It's more like, what size, where, what function, how are they compensated?" Sunrun and other installers and thirdparty aggregators can then do the work to connect utilities with residential batteries through VPP programs. For example, Sunrun is working in the Northeast to bundle 300 of its Brightbox residential battery systems to deliver power when called upon by New York utility Orange & Rockland Utilities (O&R). Sunrun simplifies things on both sides — utilities only have to work with one aggregator, and customers don't have to go searching for incentives. Through this O&R partnership, Sunrun dispatches power to the utility when it's needed most, and Sunrun customers initially receive a discounted battery for joining the VPP and then earn compensation for participating. "The average middle-class, busy family is not going to enroll their Powerwall or LG battery into a VPP and manage it and make sure it always has the right state of charge and then seek payment," Rauscher said. "So, we do all of that for the customer. Oftentimes, the customer will not even know that the battery is being operated in real time for VPPs. But they will appreciate when they get a cash card or some other incentive from us at the end of the year." That extra compensation for helping to green the grid isn't yet a driving force for residential battery adoption. Emergency backup is still the primary reason consumers invest in storage, but utility incentives can be a bonus for those considering their options. "I wouldn't say that the average consumer is coming to us and saying they want to be part of a virtual power plant," Rauscher said. "But that's the gap we're trying to bridge — that gap between the consumer education and what the utility and the market operator needs. A customer will come to us and be
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interested in resilient solar and batteries and that value proposition, and then we'll be able to sweeten the deal by enrolling that customer's system into a VPP, sharing the revenue and bringing down the cost." Battery adoption is rising across the country, fueled by customer interest in emergency backup, and the Northeast is one of the first regions to cooperatively get energy storage to work on both sides of the meter. "Utilities, by and large, are fairly conservative by nature, but they still need to look ahead. I think they see the writing on the wall. Storage is not going to go away," Olinsky-Paul said. "Utilities see this coming and that they're going to have to deal with it. Some will deal with it by resisting as long as they can, and others are trying to get ahead and incorporate it into their portfolios." SPW
NOVEMBER 2021
YOU REALLY CAN'T TALK ABOUT STORAGE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT SOLAR. SOLAR IS THE ENGINE OF STORAGE. SunCommon
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WE HAVE YOU COVERED.
REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
Coalition for Community Solar Access
IN THE MIDWEST, COMMUNITY SOLAR ALIGNS WITH CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN VALUES BY KELSEY MISBRENER • SENIOR EDITOR
SOLAR
policy support is usually led by Democrats, from federal legislators down to local office holders. These lawmakers are driven largely by environmental concerns in their work to create progressive solar policy. But one sector of solar is not only receiving increasing attention from conservative Republicans, it's being spearheaded by them — especially in the Midwest. "Community solar seems to be the conservative option to renewables," said Jim Murray, Midwest regional director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA). 46
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In Wisconsin, GOP leaders in the state's House and Senate introduced a community solar-enabling bill; and in Michigan, a Republican and a Democratic representative, who had never before spoken to each other, joined forces to introduce a similar bill. “It’s rare these days to find an issue that is truly bipartisan and is a win-win for everyone,” said Michigan Republican Rep. Michele Hoitenga in a press release. “Community solar is one of those rare issues, and I’m proud to be working across the aisle on this important issue for our residents.”
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Community solar aligns with conservative values for a number of reasons. First, it's available to a large swath of traditionally Republican constituents — including farmers and other rural residents who stand to benefit from leasing their land for community solar projects. "As conservatives, we believe in property rights and we believe that the government shouldn't be regulating what can and can't go on the property that we own," said Tyler Duvelius, director of external affairs for the nonprofit Conservative Energy Network (CEN). www.solarpowerworldonline.com
REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
IT'S NOT INTRUSIVE, IT'S NOT A BIG GOVERNMENT MANDATE AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN TANGIBLY SEE IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES.
"Solar energy has been a tremendous economic boon for farmers and landowners that get it on their land." However, the same "property rights" tenet of conservatism is used against renewables in other Midwest states. Ohio recently passed a bill requiring all future utility-scale solar and wind farms be approved by county commissioners in addition to the state power siting board, which will subject developers to even longer approval timelines and more uncertainty. Although it targets larger utility-scale projects, it shows that same argument can be used against solar power in general just as easily. When it comes to incentivedriven sectors like rooftop solar, conservatives aren't shy about their disdain. But community solar's larger scale means it costs less to build and is also more affordable for subscribers. It's seen by Republicans as more of a free-market option. "It's not intrusive, it's not a big government mandate and it's something that they can tangibly see in their own communities," Duvelius said. State Sen. Duey Stroebel said he’s sponsoring the Wisconsin community solar bill to diversify the energy options in his state. “The issues I have with the conventional power industry today is the monopoly that they have and the regulatory environment that they have. I think both of them oftentimes are overdone and really squelch competition, and competition of course creates more reliability, lower costs and it does a better job of meeting consumer demands,” Stroebel said. He said Wisconsin has some of the highest utility rates in the Midwest
and that his constituents are eager for more energy choices beyond the major utilities. He supports community solar as an antidote to that problem because he says it can flourish without government subsidies. “I want to see these sources of energy stand on their own, and the community solar people have indicated we can stand on our own. We don't need those subsidies. We've got a model that can work by selling subscriptions and really creating competition and undercutting the big guys who have been so locked in for years,” he said. Stroebel said he initially had Democrats supporting his bill, but the utilities and unions convinced many of those lawmakers to reject it because the bill lacks union labor requirements. “They got to those Democrat legislators with the line that, ‘This isn't any good because there will be non-union people that will be running this power generation and they'll be bringing in out-of-state labor,’ which is all just a bunch of bunk, frankly,” Stroebel said. His bill also includes verbiage prohibiting subscribers from collecting community solar bill credits that exceed their average annual electric bills, and sets parameters for zoning that could be prohibitive to some projects. Democrats may also be reacting to those stipulations.
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
Coalition for Community Solar Access
With Republican majorities in the Wisconsin House and Senate, Stroebel still thinks there’s a good chance the bill will make it to the governor’s desk. Consolidating Republican support for community solar doesn't happen on its own. CCSA and CEN have worked behind the scenes in Wisconsin and Michigan to gather the coalition backing necessary to get legislation introduced. "What I've found in both states is that there were threads of community solar all over the place. There were different organizations that had community solar on their list of things that they would like to accomplish and they've never had somebody come in and say, 'OK, let's focus on community solar, let's build a coalition, let's find good sponsors, let's get some good language,'" Murray said. Those groups weren't your typical left-leaning conservation and renewable 4 8 SOLAR POWER WORLD
organizations. In Michigan, supporters of the bill include the municipal league, conservative energy groups and business councils. "The coalition of people supporting these bills looks a little different than it maybe has in the past, and so I think that's getting the attention of Republicans that are like, 'Our constituents are asking for this. This is something small businesses want, this is something that farmers want, this is something that rural voters want,'" said Matt Hargarten, campaigns director for CCSA. Along with coalition-building, CCSA and other organizations help legislators write the actual legislation to ensure all the parameters are in place for a successful program. “There are other states that have developed community solar legislation
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that didn't counsel with us, and what ends up happening is you get a program that passes but no one does anything with it because it was confusing,” Hargarten said. “We can come in and counsel the stakeholders on how to do that, how to write that legislation in a way that's going to actually get the intended outcome.” Whether these Republicanchampioned community solar bills pass, they pave the way for a new era where some sectors of renewable energy are not as politically polarizing as they once were. “If you create this energy in a green manner and environmentally friendly, and be competitive and not have to look to the taxpayers to subsidize that creation of the energy, that's a win-win for everybody. How can you be against that?” Stroebel said. SPW www.solarpowerworldonline.com
Imagine Energy
REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
POLICY CARVEOUTS GIVE LOW-INCOME SOLAR ADOPTION A BOOST IN OREGON B Y K E L LY P I C K E R E L • E D I T O R I N C H I E F
OREGON
has been fairly progressive on addressing climate change. This year, it became the eighth state to commit to 100% clean or renewable electricity. Setting 2040 as the deadline for this transition, Oregon joins New York for the quickest timeline to 100% carbon-free energy in the country. While utility-scale renewables will undoubtedly contribute the bulk of this new power, the state recognizes the benefits of solar and storage adoption for all and has included specific project 50
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rebate carveouts for low- and moderateincome (LMI) utility customers in recent legislation. “Historically, the solar industry hasn’t focused on low-income ratepayers, and that’s too bad. Those folks have decreased ability to pay the upfront costs for solar but really could benefit from the bill savings,” said Angela CrowleyKoch, executive director of the Oregon Solar + Storage Industries Association (OSSIA). “Programs that focus specifically on benefits to low-income ratepayers are really needed.”
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Oregon passed at least two House bills in 2021 that encourage small-scale solar and storage adoption with extra focus paid to LMI customers. HB 5006, the state’s omnibus spending bill, allocates $10 million to the Oregon Dept. of Energy (ODOE) for solar and storage rebates — a 500% increase on rebates awarded just two years prior. And HB 3141 increases funding available to the nonprofit Energy Trust of Oregon to support small-scale solar and other renewable energy systems. Both bills set aside 25% of the funding to serve LMI customers. www.solarpowerworldonline.com
REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
Not only is the state pushing a progressive carbon-reduction agenda, it’s also making sure everyone has access to the benefits.
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OREGON DEPT. OF ENERGY INCENTIVES
Incorporating new rebates into Oregon’s spending bill was a group effort. The state had offered some residential energy tax credits before, but most incentives before this year were coming from a $2 million rebate program through the ODOE. “We quickly ran out of funds,” CrowleyKoch said. “So this last session, we asked the legislature for more funding for the rebate program and received $10 million through the Dept. of Energy.” Although OSSIA and other energy groups patted themselves on the back for the significant boost in rebates, most of that money can likely be attributed to COVID-19. After Congress passed its COVID relief bill, Crowley-Koch said it gave the state legislature some leeway on Oregon’s budget. “The COVID relief money went to things like schools and healthcare and just relieved some pressure on other funds that the legislature had,” she said. “Clean energy is a priority, not just for the greenhouse gas reductions but also the economic development and support of small solar businesses in Oregon and job creation.” Regardless of how the money came about, this new two-year program is doling out $10 million in two release dates, with 25% set aside for LMI customers. Traditional residential customers can receive up to a 40% rebate on solar and/or storage while LMI customers have access to a 60% rebate. Lowincome service providers, such as multi-family affordable housing owners and assisted living centers, can also receive rebates for larger solar and storage systems. Right now, the ODOE rebates apply to solar-only projects or solar systems paired with storage at the initial installation. Storage add-ons to existing solar systems cannot take advantage of the rebate program. But that may change, Crowley-Koch said, as more early solar adopters look into storage. www.solarpowerworldonline.com
HISTORICALLY, THE SOLAR INDUSTRY HASN’T FOCUSED ON LOW-INCOME RATEPAYERS... THOSE FOLKS HAVE DECREASED ABILITY TO PAY THE UPFRONT COSTS FOR SOLAR BUT REALLY COULD BENEFIT FROM THE BILL SAVINGS.
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Imagine Energy
“We promoted including storage in the rebate. We have seen the demand for storage increase exponentially in Oregon,” she said. “In the past year, we have had two pretty severe power outage events. We had big wildfires on Labor Day 2020 and there were intense power outages all over the state. This last winter we had severe ice storms, and I think that was the biggest power outage that Portland General Electric ever had in their history. More people are interested in storage as a way to protect themselves and their families in case of a power outage.” OSSIA found that although the initial $2 million rebate program had a 25% carveout for LMI ratepayers, over $1 million actually went to LMI customers.
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“The program was very successful and very popular,” she said. “Half of the funds were given to lower- and moderateincome households or low-income service providers, which is more than we thought possible.” Another $5 million spent on solar and storage rebates to LMI customers over the next two years could make a big difference in the fight for equal access to clean energy. ENERGY TRUST OF OREGON INCENTIVES
Energy Trust of Oregon has been helping state residents achieve lower utility bills through energy efficiency and renewable power adoption incentives for almost 20 years. Traditionally, Energy Trust has
NOVEMBER 2021
received its funding through a public purpose charge on customer bills from the state’s major investor-owned utilities. HB 3141 has moved funding from a public purpose charge into a standard rate and extends funding through 2035. The bill also requires 25% of the funds to serve LMI customers — a focus area that Energy Trust has been transitioning to already, said Dave McClelland, senior solar program manager. “Five years ago, we had been comparing our investments to gaspowered plants, looking at the avoided cost of a gas-powered plant as the cheapest investments. In some ways, renewables had won. They were the cheapest, lowest-cost investments for the utility,” he said. “That triggered us
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT to really rethink our programs. Rooftop solar can never compete with large-scale wind or large-scale solar on a purely cost basis. This drove us to think about what is unique about rooftop solar — what are the values that rooftop solar can bring that large-scale solar projects can’t?” The group found that small-scale solar better supports equity, community resilience and grid flexibility. While focusing more on residential renewables, Energy Trust found further ways to expand equity. It launched the incentive program Solar Within Reach two years ago, which provides higher cash incentives for LMI households. “Our goal in that first year was to get 50 of those projects, and we saw 200 installations,” McClelland said. “There was definitely some pent-up demand there.” Instead of just focusing on solar adoption on LMI rooftops, Energy Trust is also helping the state develop a community solar program with an LMI carveout. “We recognize that to really serve all of our customers, we have to serve customers who are in different circumstances. Not every customer can take advantage of a rooftop incentive that is focused on homeowners because many customers rent or live in multi-family housing. Community solar that’s communityled or focused on serving particular customers also needs to be part of the solution,” McClelland said. HB 3141 cleans up some legislative language that will encourage more energy storage adoption by creating incentives for distribution-connected technology that supports reliability and resilience of the grid. McClelland
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said the LMI carveout will be applied to batteries as well. “We acknowledge in the first round of solar incentives, there were certain customers left behind. We want to make sure that while storage is a new technology and there may be a role of early adopter customers pushing that market forward and helping drive down costs, we also want to be intentional about making sure all customers at least have some opportunity to be included in this transition,” he said. In addition to recent wildfires, storms and other power shutoff events across the state, Heath Kearns, solar sales engineer with local installer Imagine Energy, said the available rebates are increasing storage interest in Oregon. “Our year-over-year interest in batteries is unbelievable. Last year I was probably quoting batteries for 20% of leads that came in, and now it’s like 80%,” he said. “If they can afford to [install storage], of course they’ll do it, but now there’s an extra $2,500 to help them pay for it plus [other incentives]. Half the cost getting covered is pretty appealing.”
The combination of various rebate offers is increasing solar + storage adoption across all income levels of Oregon, but there’s a marked increase among low- and moderate-income ratepayers. “With the [Solar Within Reach] incentive combined with the ODOE solar + storage rebate, we’re finally making solar affordable for everybody and really breaking down barriers and increasing access,” Crowley-Koch said. “I think that’s an appropriate focus. We need to be maximizing benefits for those who really could use that.” SPW
LAST YEAR I WAS PROBABLY QUOTING BATTERIES FOR 20% OF LEADS THAT CAME IN, AND NOW IT’S LIKE 80%. Imagine Energy
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MONTHS AFTER TEXAS GRID BLACKOUTS, RENEWABLES AWAIT PUC ELECTRIC MARKET DELIBERATIONS B Y B I L LY L U D T • A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R
THE
Texas electric marketplace could experience some shifts in the coming months. The state senate passed two bills in May that are supposed to spur winter weatherization for existing fossil fuel infrastructure. But industry members are waiting to see how the new legislation will affect the renewable energy market. It’s been nine months since Winter Storm Uri passed through the state and knocked out significant portions of Texas’ decentralized electrical grid, cutting off
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electricity to millions and causing the deaths of hundreds of people. Following the storm, legislators, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, falsely lambasted renewables, blaming wind and solar as the primary source of the sustained blackouts. “This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America,” Abbott said in an interview on Fox News back in February, while the state was still addressing the
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blackouts. “Texas is blessed with multiple sources of energy, such as natural gas and oil and nuclear, as well as solar and wind. But…our wind and our solar got shut down and they were collectively more than 10% of our power grid and that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power in a statewide basis.” While certain wind and solar projects did indeed cease operations during the storm, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — the organization
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
regulating Texas’ electric grid — reported that every energy source in the state was down in some capacity. Natural gas is the state’s primary energy source, and when wells and pipelines froze, swaths of the state experienced outages. As a coal, natural gas and oil-rich state, Texas seceded from the federal electric grid in 1995, deregulating the state’s entire grid except its northernmost territory, which is outside of ERCOT’s jurisdiction. It maintains several connections to Mexico and the eastern U.S. electrical grids, but remains otherwise independent. More than half of the natural gas pumps supplying power on the ERCOT grid weren’t functioning during the winter storm; and additional power line
WindMar Home congestion in certain territories kept power from getting to where it was needed. “It’s interesting at this juncture as some people are wanting to re-evaluate this whole 20-year experiment in deregulation,” said Matt Welch, state director of Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation (CTEI). “That’s where we find ourselves today with the PUC and ERCOT. It’s time to take a hard look at: Did we do it right? Where can we fix it? Where can we improve? Where can we move the ball forward?” Following the Texas blackouts, Abbott demanded
additional measures for reliability and weatherization for the state’s electrical grid. Before going on recess in May, the senate passed two bills that included language potentially detrimental to solar development in the state: Senate Bills 2 and 3. SB 2 initially intended to reform ERCOT by changing who could serve on the organization’s board. To be eligible for a seat, a power generator
IT’S TIME TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT: DID WE DO IT RIGHT? WHERE CAN WE FIX IT? WHERE CAN WE IMPROVE? WHERE CAN WE MOVE THE BALL FORWARD?
Ørsted
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REGIONAL SOLAR POLICY REPORT
DISTRIBUTED RESOURCES ARE A WAY FOR THAT TO BEGIN — THE PROCESS OF SOLVING THOSE CHALLENGES OR BUILDING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE NEXT CENTURY
had to control more than 5% of installed capacity on the ERCOT grid. Even though Texas is the country’s second-largest solar state, solar accounted for less than 3% of its electrical output as of 2020. No individual solar developer could meet that 5% qualification, leaving solar off the bench. However, the bill was revised before passage and the board will now be represented by individual members selected by a governorappointed committee. Industry groups considered SB 3 harsher toward renewables for its proposed fees on ancillary grid services — the functions responsible for keeping a consistent power supply by maintaining grid voltage and frequency. There can be fluctuations in power supply when renewables and other intermittent
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generators don’t perform on the grid as predicted, and legislators wanted to attach the costs incurred by that strictly to renewable project owners. Utility customers traditionally covered those costs. State renewable groups lobbied against the inclusion of that language and were successful in revising it to a broader interpretation, since renewables are not the sole intermittent generators on the ERCOT grid. Now, they’re waiting to see how the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) will interpret that language. After SB 2 and 3 passed in May, the legislature sent them to the PUCT for implementation. The commission will now determine the cost and recipient of the fees generated by ancillary services, as well as track other electric market alterations, including weatherization of existing infrastructure. Nothing is final at this point, and the PUCT is hosting work sessions with energy industry members several times a month to shape the state’s electrical grid. On Oct. 20, solar industry groups including SEIA, CTEI and Sunrun sent recommendations to the PUCT petitioning for ratepayer protections, greater competition and “promotion of highquality grid infrastructure.” Instead of a liability, CTEI views distributed generation sources like solar as a way to add resiliency to the grid. CTEI director Welch suggested investing in local solar + storage installations or other microgrids to act as “mini-ERCOTs” to take weight off of energy centers like West Texas that are responsible for distributing power to populated areas. “Distributed resources are a way for that to begin — the process of solving those challenges or building our infrastructure for the next century,” he said. “We need to take a hard look at that, and I think ERCOT is doing that. I just don’t know when they’re going to make it a priority.” The PUCT will deliver a final plan in December, and clean energy organizations will still require some interpretation upon publication. Regardless, the next U.S. winter approaches. SPW 56
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CONTRACTOR'S CORNER
CONTRACTOR’S CORNER:
Aurora Energy Aurora Energy has established a name for itself in the Washington, D.C., area as a risk-taking, aheadof-the-curve solar installer. The company has evolved over the last three decades and sees its specialty in commercial projects that may need a little custom engineering. In this episode of the Contractor’s Corner podcast, Cord Briggs, managing director of Aurora Energy’s D.C. office, talks about the company’s desire to take care of its customers seeking all the financial and environmental benefits that come with installing solar. This has led Aurora Energy to branch out into community
solar and take on more unique projects like green roofs. A portion of the interview is below, but be sure to listen to the full podcast for even more insight, including how the latest solar panel tariff extension battle is already affecting supply. Find the Contractor’s Corner podcast on your favorite podcast app. Aurora Energy has been around since 1994. Why did the company decide to focus exclusively on commercial solar in 2016?
We were seeing the evolving market. A lot of players were coming into the residential space who had a different model than Aurora Energy. We’ve always been a
somewhat small business, just focused on the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region. We didn’t want to compete on just scale, doing thousands of projects. We really wanted to offer customers the best solution, and we’re excited about the commercial space. It’s still one of the most underserved spaces in the PV industry. We wanted to focus on quality and address that underserved market. Aurora Energy completed an interesting installation at United Therapeutics in Silver Spring, Maryland. It’s a 1-MW project spread across rooftops, carports and even on the façade. How’d Aurora get involved with this project?
It was an RFP put out by the general contractor. There weren’t many solar
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CONTRACTOR'S CORNER
companies lining up to throw their hat in the ring. It was a very challenging project that took a lot of custom engineering. Very few solar projects out there require the amount of custom engineering work and integration with different trades that we had to put together to execute this kind of project. We’re really proud. It’s in downtown Silver Spring, and it’s a very striking installation. What’s the commercial energy storage market like in your region?
It doesn’t really exist. It saddens me to say that. I’ve had some clients who are very keen on it, and the problem really comes down to commercial buildings having a lot of load, and to economically be able to back that load up for resiliency purposes — we’re going to lose right now every time to a generator. The incentives are just not high enough to close that gap. We’d love to see the ability to play with time-of-use tariffs and demand charges, but I just have not seen the use-case yet for customers we work with. The Atlantic area here is still pretty low in terms of total solar capacity installed. So it’s not really a burning need, but as more solar gets installed, it’s going to be something that policymakers are really going to need to get in front of. SPW
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[COMMERICAL ENERGY STORAGE IS] NOT REALLY A BURNING NEED, BUT AS MORE SOLAR GETS INSTALLED, IT’S GOING TO BE SOMETHING THAT POLICYMAKERS ARE REALLY GOING TO NEED TO GET IN FRONT OF.
Podcast Alert! Listen to this and other Contractor’s Corner episodes on your favorite podcast app.
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0
0
0
0
0
7,598
7,965
2,360
2,-25
0
0
0
0
269
131
2,629
2,156
10,227
10,121
26
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10
10,253
10,131
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