November 2023
www.solarpowerworldonline.com
Technology • Development • Installation
FEDERAL POLICY BOOSTS U.S. INDUSTRY
UTAH SOLAR PROJECT OPTS FOR PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT U.S. INVERTER MANUFACTURING RAMPS UP ENERGY STORAGE CREDITS INCREASE DOMESTIC DEMAND
Cover FINAL 11-23_SPW_v1.indd 1
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05-372
#05-330 - 2023 NEC POPULAR ITEM
#05-233 - 2023 NEC 690.7(D) DC COMBINER BOX
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#05-323 - 2023 NEC 110.22(A)
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#02-316 - 2023 NEC 690.12(D)(2)
#05-217 - 2023 NEC 690.31(E)
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#03-308 - 2023 NEC 690.7(D) & 690.8(A)(1) THE DISCONNECTION OF THE GROUNDED CONDUCTOR(S) MAY RESULT IN OVERVOLTAGE ON THE EQUIPMENT pvlabels.com
05-217
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#05-803 - 2023 NEC 690.31(B)(2)
NOMINAL OPERATING AC VOLTAGE NOMINAL OPERATING AC FREQUENCY
ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD
A
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DC JUNCTION BOX
MAXIMUM VOLTAGE MAX CIRCUIT CURRENT pvlabels.com
ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD DO NOT DISCONNECT UNDER LOAD
MAXIMUM DC VOLTAGE OF VOLTS PV SYSTEM: 05-234
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05-806 05-806 05-806 05-806 05-806 05-805 05-805
#03-305 - 2023 NEC 706.15(C) ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM DISCONNECT
#05-322 - 2023 NEC 690.4(B)
#03-303 - 2023 NEC 690.7(D)
ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD DO NOT DISCONNECT UNDER LOAD pvlabels.com
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DC JUNCTION BOX
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE
05-805
#03-327 - 2023 NEC 690.13(B) PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM DISCONNECT
VDC AMPS
#05-327 - 2023 NEC 690.13(B)
MAXIMUM DC VOLTAGE
#05-406 - 2023 NEC 690.15(B)
05-232 05-406
Includes 2023 Placement Guide
NOT FOR CURRENT INTERRUPTING
#03-326 - 2023 NEC 690.15(B) DO NOT DISCONNECT UNDER LOAD
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PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE
#03-396 - 2023 NEC 225.41(C) EMERGENCY DISCONNECT
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DIRECT CURRENT PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE
#05-232 - 2023 NEC 690.15(B)
#05-234 - 2023 NEC 690.7(D) DC DISCONNECT
Hz VA A
MAXIMUM OVERCURRENT DEVICE RATING FOR AC MODULE PROTECTION PER CIRCUIT
#05-208 - 2023 NEC 690.7(D)
#05-326 - 2023 NEC 690.15(B)
05-326
V
MAXIMUM AC POWER MAXIMUM AC CURRENT
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DO NOT TOUCH TERMINALS TERMINALS ON BOTH THE LINE AND LOAD SIDES MAY BE ENERGIZED pvlabels.com IN THE OPEN POSITION 05-219
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#03-309 - 2023 NEC 690.7(D)
AC JUNCTION BOX
CAUTION SOLAR CIRCUIT
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#05-219 - 2023 NEC 690.13(B)
2023 NEC #05-347 #05-342 #05-345 #05-343 690.31(D)(2) 690.4(B)
05-342
WARNING
SINGLE 120-VOLT SUPPLY DO NOT CONNECT MULTIWIRE BRANCH CIRCUITS
05-307
MULTIPLE SOURCES OF POWER
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SOURCES: UTILITY GRID AND PV SOLAR ELECTRIC SYSTEM
#05-355 - 2023 NEC 690.4(B)
05-307
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#05-411 - 2023 NEC POPULAR ITEM
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#05-213 - 2023 NEC 705.82
#05-346 - 2023 NEC POPULAR ITEM
05-346
03-313
MULTIPLE SOURCES OF POWER
05-235
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05-216
SOLAR PV DC CIRCUIT #05-307 - 2023 NEC 705.10(3)
#05-216 - 2023 NEC 705.12(B)(2) POWER SOURCE OUTPUT CONNECTION DO NOT RELOCATE THIS OVERCURRENT DEVICE
03-313
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MAXIMUM DC VOLTAGE OF VOLTS PV SYSTEM: pvlabels.com
#05-809 2023 NEC 690.13(B)
03-313
SOLAR PV DC CIRCUIT
05-233
#05-235 - 2023 NEC 690.7(D) SOLAR INVERTER
NEGATIVE
03-305
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THIS EQUIPMENT FED BY MULTIPLE SOURCES. TOTAL RATING OF ALL OVERCURRENT DEVICES, EXCLUDING MAIN SUPPLY OVERCURRENT DEVICE, SHALL NOT EXCEED AMPACITY OF BUSBAR.
05-330
NEGATIVE
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OF PV SYSTEM
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MAXIMUM DC VOLTAGE
03-326
#05-108 - 2023 NEC 705.12(B)(3)
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NEGATIVE
SOLAR PV DC CIRCUIT
#05-324 - 2023 NEC 110.22(A)
05-213
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05-330
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
05-347
MAXIMUM DC VOLTAGE OF VOLTS PV SYSTEM:
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POSITIVE NEGATIVE
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05-112
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#03-313 - 2023 NEC 690.31(D)(2)
POSITIVE
05-805
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INVERTER OUTPUT CIRCUIT
05-215
03-315
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE
VOLTS
POSITIVE
05-805
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AMPS
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ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD TERMINALS ON THE LINE AND LOAD SIDES MAY BE ENERGIZED IN THE OPEN POSITION
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RATED AC OUTPUT CURRENT NOMINAL OPERATING AC VOLTAGE
03-315
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM POWER SOURCE
05-215
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POSITIVE
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03-315
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE
#03-306 - 2023 NEC 690.31(D)(2)(c) AC DISCONNECT
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#05-383 - 2023 NEC 690.31(B)(1)
ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD TERMINALS ON THE LINE AND LOAD SIDES MAY BE ENERGIZED IN THE OPEN POSITION
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05-341
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#05-379 - 2023 NEC 690.31(B)(1)
#05-215 - 2023 NEC 690.13(B)
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THIS IS BUILDING IS SUPPLIED BY MULTIPLE SOURCES OF POWER WITH DISCONNECTS LOCATED AS SHOWN:
05-109
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CAUTION
ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD TERMINALS ON THE LINE AND LOAD SIDES MAY BE ENERGIZED IN THE OPEN POSITION
TURN RAPID SHUTDOWN SWITCH TO THE “OFF” POSITION TO SHUT DOWN PV SYSTEM AND REDUCE SHOCK HAZARD IN THE ARRAY
#05-805 & 05-806 2023 NEC 690.31(B)(2)
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MADE IN USA
PV SYSTEM kWh METER
PV SYSTEM DISCONNECT
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PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SOURCE
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Reflective
Largest Selection
#05-341 - 2023 NEC 690.4(B)
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Metal Signs
#03-315 315 - 2023 NEC 690.31(D)(2) SOLAR ELECTRIC PV PANELS
05-109
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Code Compliance
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Vinyl Labels
ELECTRIC SHOCK HAZARD TERMINALS ON THE LINE AND LOAD SIDES MAY BE ENERGIZED IN THE OPEN POSITION
Special Price
WARNING
TURN OFF PHOTOVOLTAIC AC DISCONNECT PRIOR TO WORKING INSIDE PANEL
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Same Day Service
SOLAR PV SYSTEM EQUIPPED WITH RAPID SHUTDOWN
SALE
$39.00
#05-372 - 2023 NEC 110.27(C)
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Plastic Placards
#05-112 - 2023 NEC 690.12(D)
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UV Film Lamination
#05-109 - 2023 NEC 690.13(B) PV SYSTEM DISCONNECT
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Custom Items
2023 Pack - 88 Pieces
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NEC 2023 PACKS NEC 2020 PACKS NEC 2017 PACKS NEC 2014 PACKS NEC 2011 PACKS IN STOCK - NOW
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OF PV SYSTEM
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STAFF PUBLISHER Courtney Nagle cseel@wtwhmedia.com 440.523.1685
EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Kelly Pickerel kpickerel@wtwhmedia.com @SolarKellyP Managing Editor Kelsey Misbrener kmisbrener@wtwhmedia.com @SolarKelseyM Senior Editor Billy Ludt bludt@wtwhmedia.com @SolarBillyL
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2
SOLAR POWER WORLD
THE FIRST WORD
Collaboration is the crucial next step in green energy transition The solar industry is used to being the scrappy underdog. This sector has spent over a decade fighting utilities on net-metering credits, AHJs on permitting timelines and environmentalists on large-scale solar project siting plans. But if the renewable energy industry is set to grow to the scale the government plans in the next 10 years, it’s time to find common ground with traditional adversaries. It’s starting to happen. Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment convened a 20-month dialogue between solar developers and conservationists that resulted in an agreement to improve large-scale solar development based on the “3C’s” — climate, conservation and community. “Major U.S. solar projects are critical to fighting climate change but are increasingly opposed across the nation due to significant community and land conservation concerns,” said Stanford energy scholar Dan Reicher, who led the effort. “It’s exciting how motivated the parties are to avoid these conflicts and develop high-impact solutions — a triple play for climate, conservation and community.” These discussions have also paved the way for a new dialogue to address electricity transmission development for large renewable projects. While it’s hard to believe the investor-owned utility sector could find common ground with solar advocates, evolving technology could change that. Virtual power plant capabilities, which transform home solar + storage systems into assets that utilities can tap into for power, can provide a win-win to both system owners and the grid. More states are shifting away from offering netmetering credits as their solar markets mature, but fair incentives for opting into virtual power plant scenarios can offset the system costs for homeowners and also provide big benefits to the utilities. “There’s actually a number of essential services that the solar industry can provide very quickly to help utility companies integrate EV load, manufacturing load, all this load growth that we’re experiencing now,” DOE Loan Programs Office director Jigar Shah told me at RE+. “It’s time for the utility companies to depend on the solar industry to provide the services, and the solar industry to find out from the utility companies how they might be able to invest and install faster.” The solar workforce is also undergoing changes that require teamwork, with the IRA’s prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements bringing unions into the solar fold like never before. Partnering with unions is the easiest way to hit apprenticeship metrics for large projects. Three major unions involved in the solar industry — the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Laborers International Union of North America and International Union of Operating Engineers — released a “national tri-trade solar agreement” to outline each union’s role on solar projects, with the goal of making it easier for organized labor and solar developers to form partnerships. Collaboration with many different entities will be crucial to building out the solar + storagepowered grid that will help offset carbon emissions, provide good-paying jobs to Americans Kelsey Misbrener and prioritize protection of native animals and Managing Editor plants. I’m heartened by the early signs of this shift and look forward to what’s ahead. I hope you enjoy reading about these advancements and other developments in federal solar policy in this special issue of Solar Power World. SPW
NOVEMBER 2023
www.solarpowerworldonline.com
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solar power world nov-2023 full-page.indd 1
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CONTENTS
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NOVEMBER 2023 • VOL 13 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
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BUSINESS
ON THE COVER Apprentices like Maryssa Navaro, a member of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, will play a key role in utility-scale projects under the IRA’s new requirements.
09 IRA SOFTWARE
New services help developers secure and transfer IRA credits
INSTALLATION
13 CASE STUDY
Utah project is among the first to choose the PTC for solar
TECHNOLOGY
25
28
20 INVERTERS
Inverter manufacturers jump into domestic market with IRA assist
25 MOUNTING
Fixed solar racking sees indirect boost from new tax credits
28 STORAGE
American energy storage flourishes with high demand and new incentives
16 PANELS
Longtime U.S. panel makers work to stand apart from new entrants
Credit: NABTU
SPECIAL SECTION: FEDERAL SOLAR POLICY
The IRA’s promise of a boosted U.S. solar industry has materialized, with manufacturers planning domestic factories and incentives reshaping the utility solar workforce. In this special section, we look at these and other federal solar policy issues that impacted the solar industry in 2023. | PAGE 31
02 FIRST WORD
06 SOLAR POLICY SCOOP
46 CONTRACTOR’S CORNER 48 AD INDEX
4
SOLAR POWER WORLD
NOVEMBER 2023
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FOR SOLAR CONTRACTORS WHO PUT QUALITY FIRST. info@scanifly.com Call or text: 863.591.6138
NOVEMBER 2023
VOL. 12 NO. 6
A G U I D E T O R E C E N T L E G I S L AT I O N A N D R E S E A R C H T H R O U G H O U T T H E C O U N T R Y.
Environmental advocates and solar developers came together to chart a path forward on best practices for siting large solar projects like this one by Origis Energy in Mississippi. Origis Energy
6
Developers and environmental orgs release shared vision on solar deployment
Sunnova signs $3.3 billion loan agreement with DOE for virtual power plants
Gov. Gavin Newsom signs slate of clean energy bills into law
T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S
W A S H I N G T O N , D .C .
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
Solar developers and environmental advocates are often at odds when it comes to land development, but the groups came together for a 20-month dialogue to find a shared vision for the path forward. The outcome was a signed agreement that prioritizes climate, conservation and community.
Sunnova officially signed a $3.3 billion loan guarantee agreement with the Dept. of Energy to support virtual power plant-enabled solar install loans through Project Hestia. A portion of the loans are required to go to disadvantaged homeowners and communities in Puerto Rico and on the mainland.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a number of clean energyrelated bills into law, including one that opens the state’s highways to solar installations. Other signed bills require large companies to disclose carbon emissions and allow the state to make its own clean energy purchases.
SOLAR POWER WORLD
NOVEMBER 2023
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Expedited solar permitting deadline passes for California cities
DOE invests in longduration energy storage technologies
Solar + storage property tax abatement expanded for NYC
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
W A S H I N G T O N , D .C .
N E W Y O R K C I T Y, N E W Y O R K
The deadline in the Solar Access Act that requires California cities and counties to adopt instant online permitting for residential solar and storage has now passed. Solar advocates published an interactive map to display the cities that have complied and those that still haven’t.
As the Dept. of Energy works toward a goal of reducing the cost of longduration energy storage by 90% by 2030, the agency announced an investment of up to $325 million in 15 projects that help demonstrate this technology. The projects span 17 states and one tribal nation.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill that increases the New York City solar property tax abatement from 20 to 30% and extends it through 2034. The bill, supported by NYSEIA, also allows the incentive to apply to energy storage systems and parking canopies.
Gov. Hochul releases new plan to expand New York renewable energy industry
Community solar testimonies heard in Ohio and Michigan
Berkeley Lab finds utilityscale solar had higher value last year
A L B A N Y, N E W Y O R K
THE MIDWEST
T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S
New York has released a new 10-point plan to expand renewable energy across the state, including investments in workforce development and training, accelerated procurement processes for renewable projects and more. Gov. Hochul said the goal is to provide affordable and clean energy to all New Yorkers.
Community solar bills in Ohio and Michigan are advancing through the state legislatures. The Coalition for Community Solar Access and other advocates recently provided testimony in support of Ohio’s HB 197 and Michigan’s SB 152 and 153, bills that would open each state’s community solar market.
In a new report analyzing large solar projects, Berkeley Lab found the country added 10.4 GWAC in 2022, with installed costs falling to $1.32/WAC despite inflation. Solar’s market value also exceeded average electricity prices in more than half of the electrical operating regions the lab examined.
DOE begins accepting lowincome solar bonus credit applications
California regulators to release amended “Virtual Net Metering” proposal
Biden Administration announces new American Climate Corps
WA S H I N G T O N , D .C .
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
WA S H I N G T O N , D .C .
The Treasury Dept. began accepting applications for the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program in October. An informational webinar and other materials to help applicants prepare submissions are available on the Dept. of Energy landing page.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for the second time postponed its vote regulating how solar power is used and credited on multimeter properties. The rescheduled vote was not yet complete by the time of printing.
The federal government announced a new initiative to place 20,000 people into low-carbon energy and climate resilience jobs under the program “American Climate Corps.” Details are still sparse, but the paid training program is open for sign-ups now.
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NOVEMBER 2023
SOLAR POWER WORLD
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E X C E E D S E X P E C TAT I O N S T H R O U G H E XCELLENCE IN D ESIGN, E NGINEERING, S U P P LY , A N D I N S T A L L A T I O N N A T I O N W I D E . C OME J OIN U S AND E XPERIENCE THE
W A Y…
Empact Tech
SERVICES
and software are materializing to guide the solar industry through the learning curve of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its clean energy provisions. The IRA was devised as an aid to the U.S. solar industry, with provisions containing tax credits available to installers, manufacturers and system owners. The legislation has been enacted for a little more than a year, but many questions remain about how to comply with the various new credit requirements. Policy-savvy entrepreneurs are building businesses focused on helping eligible companies and system owners receive those new government benefits and transfer the tax credits to other entities if they choose. Qualifying for IRA credits Prior to the IRA, individuals or businesses had to file a form with the IRS to claim the solar ITC on a project. The enhanced tax benefits included in the IRA can work in conjunction with the ITC and require verifying and filing new sets of information. With whole new compliance requirements to consider and significant subsidies on the line, outside companies have emerged to handle that process for solar contractors. One new service in that space is Empact Technologies. Empact was adapted from founder
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BUSINESS
NEW COMPANIES STEP IN TO HELP CONTRACTORS SECURE IRA’S MANY TAX BENEFITS
nologies
Charles Dauber’s previous business, Warm Commerce, which helps industrial companies manage their supply chains. He recognized the two most important factors in qualifying for IRA tax credits were verifying the origin of hardware used in projects and meeting labor requirements, which were services Warm Commerce already offered. Empact now works with utility and community-scale solar developers to establish what tax credits to pursue on a project and ensure compliance. The base credit could be the ITC, which requires contractors to pay a prevailing wage for that region and employ a certain number of apprentices during construction for the full credit. Empact uses payroll data from the developer’s EPC to verify that those wage and employment conditions are met. With the ITC as a foundation, developers can branch out to other tax credits from there. The next could be domestic content, a 10% bonus credit for projects that use American-made components, like racking with 100% U.S. steel. Then depending on the project’s location, it could be eligible for incentives for building in low-income or energy communities. “EPCs are going to have to figure out how to go and deliver this compliance if they want to work on these projects. The suppliers are going to have to figure out
B I L LY L U D T | S E N I O R E D I T O R
how to provide the data so they can meet these domestic content requirements,” Dauber said. “And then the developers and their investors have to figure out how to work with somebody like us to put all this together to make sure they can actually take advantage of these tax incentives.” At its core, Empact is a data management company. The company ensures projects don’t have noncompliance issues to reduce the risk of forfeiting tax credits. If something is filed incorrectly with the IRS on a large-scale solar project, developers could lose tens of millions of dollars. “For tax incentives that are worth 30% or 40% of the entire value of the project, it’s our view that the industry could use something that is very professionally managed and goes through the entire process,” Dauber said. “The default right now would be people just trying to use whatever tools they happen to have in their offices.” Transferring clean energy credits The IRA has also given clean energy tax credit recipients the option to transfer or sell those credits to other parties. But the transaction isn’t as simple as a cash exchange. The tax credit isn’t a product on a shelf — it’s equity that can apply to a business or individual’s annual tax liability. That means there’s more
NOVEMBER 2023
SOLAR POWER WORLD
9
BUSINESS
documents involved and oversight from the IRS during the transaction. Then, there’s the question of finding someone willing to buy a tax credit. Companies facilitating these transactions are hoping to make that experience simpler through online marketplaces. “If it happens offline, then it makes it very hard for a buyer and seller to actually meet each other. You’re going to have to rely on either intermediaries or brokers, and that relies on their personal networks,” said Leng Lee, co-founder of tax credit marketplace Atheva. “Therefore, if you’re a seller, the chances of finding the best buyer for your credit and getting the best price is lower, or the fee that you have to pay that particular intermediary is a lot higher.” Lee said Atheva can be described as the “eBay of tax credits,” because it functions similarly to the popular auction website. People who have registered tax credits with the IRS can sign up and list them from solar and other clean
energy projects. The listing includes any documents relevant to the credits. Interested buyers can bid on or outright purchase a credit and then file it with their annual taxes once it’s in their possession. Another feature of transferability is that tax credits do not need to be purchased in full; percentages of tax credits can be bought. But it’s important to note these credits aren’t received as cash — they can only be applied to lower a company’s annual tax bill. “You’re buying a way to pay off your tax bill. This tax credit can’t be used for anything else, so it’s not money,” Lee said. “It can only be used to reduce your taxes.” The value of tax credits for the seller varies, but transactions have been valued at 80¢ per dollar and higher on Basis Climate, another marketplace for transferable IRA credits, according to cofounder and chief product officer Derek Silverman. For sellers with low tax bills, this extra cash is much more useful than
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extra tax credits they may or may not be able to apply to their tax filings. “We know there are sales that don’t get closed by installers because when they start talking about the financial structure and say, ‘You’re going to qualify for this tax credit,’ [the project owner] might not have an appetite for tax credits this year,” Silverman said. “They’re like, ‘OK, then we can sell them, and we get you cash when it’s placed in service, which you could apply to the [project] loan.’” Basis Climate is also giving credit holders the tools to list their tax credits for sale and works with buyers to determine their tax load and connect them to the appropriate credits. Basis Climate lists information on each project, like the development company’s history, the project’s address and photos of the system itself, to give buyers confidence that the credits are legitimate. “We think that there is value in having a central player creating a navigable path,” said Erik Underwood, co-founder and CEO of Basis Climate. “More than anything, it’s the fact that we think that somebody needs to put in effort on, ‘How do you focus on getting this done efficiently at the small transactional level?’ Otherwise, you’re going to be stuck in the tax equity world with expensive accountants, lawyers and really long, painful deal processes.” Atheva and Basis Climate do both take a percentage of each transaction, but believe the cost is reasonable, and more convenient, compared to alternative services. There will undoubtedly be more questions about qualifying for tax credits, but despite the intricacies of its legislative language, the IRA is already fueling unprecedented installation growth in the U.S. solar industry. “It’s massive — it’s as big of a game changer you could ever imagine as an industry,” Empact’s Dauber said. “Every single person that’s reading your publication will be impacted by this in some way, shape or form. It’s everywhere.” SPW
SOLAR POWER WORLD
NOVEMBER 2023
ADVERTORIAL
SOLAR SPOTLIGHT:
Meeting the growing demand for solar racking DOMESTIC SOLAR IS consistently breaking installation records year over year and is slated to keep that pace. Yet, manufacturers and suppliers are still feeling the effects of pandemic supply chain delays. In this episode of Solar Spotlight, Unirac’s new VP of operations and supply chain, Lee Ingram, and former guest and VP of Unirac’s commercial division, Brandon Carrasco, are here to discuss how the manufacturer is keeping a steady supply of racking for its clientele. A written portion of this podcast is below but be sure to listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast service. Could you share some strategies that have been particularly effective in mitigating supply chain interruptions? Lee Ingram: We’ve got a global supply chain. We’re sourcing in multiple continents, which gives us that diversity and sort of risk mitigation. The nature of our relationships with our suppliers is also super critical. I mean, it’s not a one-way street. There is significant collaboration and partnership with our supply pool. And then at the end of the day, you live and die by your people — and Unirac has great people — and it’s just the real hustle and determination of our team and working with our suppliers and being able to react and be
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agile that helped us survive and thrive, really, in that environment. What is Unirac’s view on meeting the guidance set forth by the IRS? Brandon Carrasco: Everybody is anxious to start claiming these credits. And I think we, right along with everybody else, really wish that the IRS guidance was more clear, that it could move faster, but it just takes time for those things to shake out. So, I think there’s a wide range of the ways that people are looking at it out there. We are working hard to stay on top of it and keep our eyes out and to be able to educate and inform and support our customers in the best way that we can from our vantage point and with our resources that we can bring to the table. How does Unirac balance cost-saving measures with environmental responsibility in its supply chain and commercial operations? Ingram: Obviously, we’re in a renewable business, so that’s a real significant focus for us. But for me, sustainability really touches all three of the ESG pillars, which are environmental, social and governance. We work hard with our suppliers abroad to make sure that our suppliers are doing the right
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things as they deal with their sub-suppliers, as they deal with their employees, which creates a sustainable relationship. Beyond reliable material supply, what else are you doing to support the needs of solar installers and remain competitive? Carrasco: So, Unirac has put a strong emphasis on maintaining consistently short lead times, as well as localizing material. Localizing material feeds into that, but it’s really about how we deliver those products. We keep a strong stocking position as a company that requires an investment, but it leads to a competitive advantage, and it differentiates Unirac from somebody who is hand to mouth or they’ve got long lead times. You might have six to eight, maybe 10-week lead times if you’re customizing or stamping a project individually, where Unirac has put the time and the energy and the money into making sure that we’ve got inventory. SPW THIS ADVERTORIAL IS SPONSORED BY
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Utah solar project among first to choose PTC post-IRA Iron
first PV projects in the United States to opt for the production tax credit (PTC) following the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Appaloosa was originally developed by renewable energy contractor rPlus Energies and started construction in September 2022. It was later acquired by renewable energy asset manager Greenbacker Capital Management, which is Appaloosa’s long-term owner and operator. “When we were analyzing the
project, given that it’s in southwest Utah and generally has a very high solar resource — meaning that per-megawatt installed, there’s a pretty high yield compared to a project in Maine, for example — a credit that is based on ongoing production of the site rather than the investment upfront was a more desirable structure,” said Donal Mahoney, assistant VP of Greenbacker. Before the IRA, the PTC wasn’t available to solar PV projects in the United States. Unlike the investment tax
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County, Utah, is achieving some firsts for solar in 2023. The county has hosted several largescale solar projects since the early 2010s, and by year’s end it will have close to 1.5 GW of PV production within its borders. The latest project approaching completion there is Appaloosa Solar 1, a 200-MW array built about 15 miles northwest of Cedar City. Appaloosa is not only one of the largest projects in Iron County, but it is also among the
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credit (ITC) that provides a 30% credit on an energy project’s total cost, the PTC gives system owners an ongoing credit of 2.75¢ per megawatt-hour of production for 10 years. “It all comes down to a cost-benefit analysis of how much resource there is from a production credit vs. the capital expenditure required to build the project,” said Ben Tillar, CFA and principal at Greenbacker. Appaloosa’s site conditions convinced Greenbacker to opt for the PTC, along with the company’s prior experience with this version of tax credit on wind projects. Appaloosa is in the high desert of the Colorado Plateau at an elevation of approximately 5,800 ft. As elevation increases, the amount of atmosphere that light must pass through decreases, leading to greater power generation in solar panels. That was the case with Three Peaks Solar, an 80-MW array that was built on the same site as Appaloosa in 2015. That prior experience of developing and building Three Peaks and other solar
projects in Iron County streamlined the permitting process for new large-scale solar projects like Appaloosa, said Luigi Resta, president of rPlus Energies. “These are some of the highestperforming solar projects in the country,” he said. “If you look at the data, because of high elevation, low thermal degradation during the summertime, because it’s cooler than the low deserts where it gets really hot, you have a high solar resource. And then the modules are kept clean.” Not a single solar panel on Three Peaks has ever been cleaned by hand, and what little dust that has rested there is wiped away by rain and snowfall. Appaloosa was installed so that it wraps around Three Peaks on three sides of the existing array, so it’s expected to have similar levels of production and upkeep. Site preparations for the system were minimal. It follows the contours of land that’s inhabited by low-growing sage and desert grass, including an area protected for native prairie dog habitat. “We recently took a group of Bureau
of Land Management and Dept. of Natural Resources folks to see what it looks like post-construction, and they were amazed because of how little disruption was made to the actual environment,” Resta said. “Now that the native grasses are growing back, they can see that it’s not just scorched earth underneath a solar project.”
These are some of the highest-performing projects in the country. Solar’s presence in Iron County has been tangible beyond generating energy and tax credits. The array was built by a local workforce of upwards of 200 people. The site was once only accessible by a dirt road, but the project developers paved three miles of that street. Appaloosa and Three Peaks are both installed on a family-owned plot of land. “Appaloosa Solar 1 was a product of those relationships within the community,”
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INSTALLATION
Resta said. “A lot of the workforce in the subcontract has come from the region, which is really important to us, and it has been to Iron County, as well.” Appaloosa is composed of ET Solar 540-W modules, Nextracker Horizon single-axis trackers, Sungrow 3600UDMV inverters and Shoals combiner boxes. Sundt Construction, which previously worked with rPlus on another solar project in the state, provided EPC services for this project. At the time of writing, construction of Appaloosa was complete, and the project was awaiting backfeed approval from the utility. Once it’s online and interconnected, the array will support Facebook’s parent company, Meta, through two long-term power purchase agreements. One family-owned plot of land in Iron County now hosts 280 MW of solar production. Both solar projects will feed electricity into the same substation but opted for different tax incentives. Regardless of subsidies, Iron County is greener for its solar presence.
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“The industry is aware of the challenges with interconnection queues, with procurement, with RFP responses,” Resta said. “So, when we can bring a project to start of construction and then completion — and successful completion on time, on schedule and on budget — it helps the overall industry to be successful, to go into the next project, to say, ‘Yes, we can do this.’” SPW
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America’s ‘original’ solar manufacturers manufa look to grow with IRA 16
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The Inflation Reduction Act’s domestic manufacturing tax credits have led to many solar panel manufacturing announcements in the last year. Global companies like Canadian Solar, Trina and Longi are starting 5-GW solar panel factories in the United States — gigantic facilities for a country that considered 400-MW sites to be the giants of manufacturing just a few years ago. The federal government’s promise of production subsidies is allowing a manufacturing renaissance on a scale never thought possible.
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The U.S. solar panel manufacturing industry will soon grow from a handful of players to several dozen. But those original players don’t want to get lost in the sea of new, sometimes-morerecognizable names entering the country, so they’re also taking advantage of IRA credits to grow. Their hope is that their long-standing commitment to the American market and domestic relationships will cement their legacy status in the accelerating U.S. solar manufacturing industry.
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Heliene’s 420-MW facility in Minnesota. Solar Power World
Heliene Started U.S. manufacturing in 2015 Before the IRA, Canadian manufacturer Heliene operated a 150-MW solar panel factory in northern Minnesota. The company took a big leap in 2021 when it ventured to add 420 MW of capacity on-site without any promise of government assistance. Heliene president Martin Pochtaruk said this expansion was due to the great relationships with the company’s long-term customers. “The one thing that has characterized us from the very beginning, what has allowed us to not only survive but also grow over the years, is that we work in close collaboration with our clients,” he said. “We manufacture for orders. If a client has a project, we make them orders for that project and supply them just-in-time to the project site. That’s been the difference working with us vs. a 100-times-larger supplier.” But demand has always been bigger than production for the small manufacturer that started in Ontario in 2010. Unable to access working capital,
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Heliene has been limited to half-agigawatt of solar panel manufacturing ability. That all changed with the IRA. “There is a 7¢/watt [module manufacturing credit] from Treasury eventually. That gives certainty to lenders, and that’s why suddenly our phones are ringing with people offering money, which never happened before,” Pochtaruk said. Heliene recently raised $170 million, with backing from Orion Infrastructure Capital. The funds will allow the company to expand its existing Canadian and U.S. plants as well as start a new 1.5-GW solar cell and 1-GW panel factory in Minnesota. Heliene always wanted to grow, but the IRA has accelerated its plans. “I’ve been called many names, but the only one I’m proud of is ‘cautious,’” Pochtaruk said. “We’ve never had one bite that we couldn’t chew. We’re going faster than we ever planned thanks to the IRA.” Rather than compete with all the new market entrants on capacity, Heliene is promoting its existing domestic relationships. Heliene solar panels
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today use all domestic subcomponents except for glass, ribbons and silicon cells — and the manufacturer will soon be making cells of its own. The company is continuing to shore up its supply chain while it waits on final domestic content rules from Treasury. Pochtaruk expects this well-established support of American manufacturing to set Heliene apart from other suppliers. “[Chinese companies] have had the support, financing, rebates and exports of the Chinese government since Day 1, so of course they have the means and the shoulders [on which] to build a multigigawatt facility. However, they’re not offering any domestic components. That’s the main difference,” he said. “We’ve always been a bit of a niche supplier, and we sell to those that appreciate value. Working with us brings clarity that they know the [tariffs], the supply, the accessibility. You can drive to our factories and see your module being made. Some companies do value that — if they’re happy, we’re happy.” Silfab Solar Started U.S. manufacturing in 2018 Another Canadian manufacturer, Silfab Solar began making solar panels in Ontario in 2010. The company invested in American manufacturing when it bought Washington-based Itek Energy in 2018 and expanded the factory’s 150-MW capacity to 400 MW within two years. In 2021, Silfab opened a second 400-MW factory nearby, securely positioning itself as the second-largest silicon solar panel manufacturer in the United States (behind only Qcells). Around the same time ideas for the Inflation Reduction Act began brewing, Silfab received an investment from ARC Financial Corp. to make further enhancements at the Washington facilities to “deploy next-generation PV modules” to the North American market. With the global market shifting to larger wafer sizes and advanced technologies, it was going to take some help to get
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American brands ready to take the next technological leap. “ARC spent extensive effort evaluating the solar industry for long-term investment opportunities that support and drive the global energy transition,” said Brian Boulanger, CEO of ARC, at the time of the initial investment in Silfab in 2021. “Based on current demand forecasts for PV solar, Silfab is ideally positioned for significant growth and this investment ensures the company is properly capitalized to execute on its plan.” Silfab began exploring cell manufacturing options in the United States, especially after it developed a solar panel using proprietary cell designs. The IRA helped catapult that decision, along with ARC’s full $125 million investment. “Silfab has grown more than 40% since ARC’s initial support. We are thankful for our collaborative relationship with ARC and with the Biden Administration and its Inflation Reduction Act, both enabling us to accelerate our U.S. manufacturing strategy,” said Silfab Solar CEO Paolo Maccario in a press release confirming the company’s plan to start a 1-GW solar cell factory in South Carolina. Just like Heliene, Silfab will start its own solar cell manufacturing outfit to boost the domestic bill of materials for its Made-in-America modules. The company has also taken steps further up the supply
chain, agreeing to purchase silicon wafers from NorSun, a Norwegian wafer manufacturer currently shopping sites in America for a new factory. “Silfab Solar has always focused our design, engineering and manufacturing specifically for the North American solar market, and that, combined with our sustainable growth strategy, has resulted in Silfab becoming one of the three largest solar panel manufacturers in the United States,” said Geoff Atkins, Silfab executive advisor. “Silfab has utilized our 40+ years in the solar industry combined with more than 10 years of manufacturing experience within the United States to develop and grow a competitive infrastructure that is well positioned as a leading solar PV module supplier in the growing U.S. clean energy market.” SPW
Read about the country’s oldest continuously operating silicon solar panel factory — Mission Solar Energy in San Antonio, Texas — in our extended story online.
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IRA-fueled domestic solar inverter manufacturing takes off Although the solar industry is still awaiting final rules on IRA manufacturing incentives, inverter companies are working ahead to anticipate what the Dept. of the Treasury will require in the end. For some inverter-makers, this includes moving manufacturing operations stateside, while others already operating here consider expanding their facilities to meet new demand. In August, Siemens announced a contract manufacturing partnership with Sanmina to make utility-scale solar string inverters in Wisconsin. The manufacturer will produce Blueplanet inverters at the new site, a product Seimens acquired from KACO in 2019.
As a multinational company, Siemens pays U.S. taxes but likely couldn’t fully capture the IRA’s 45X manufacturing tax credit by opening its own U.S. plant, according to Rudy Wodrich, director of PV business at Siemens USA. Instead, Siemens opted for contract manufacturing with Sanmina, with an agreement to split the tax credits. Microinverter manufacturer Enphase is now producing IQ8 inverters with three U.S. contract manufacturers as well — in South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. Unlike Siemens, Enphase captures 100% of the IRA manufacturing credits through agreements with its manufacturing partners.
“Partnership terms with contract manufacturing partners are negotiated with many factors in mind, with tax credits being one. But the benefits are shared with the partners,” said Andy Newbold, senior director of corporate communications for Enphase. Enphase expects to have the capacity to produce 18 million microinverters per year with these partners, for a total of about 7 GW. In addition to receiving manufacturing tax credits, Siemens and other brands were motivated to start U.S. manufacturing operations because of customer demand — many community-solar and small-utility-scale
Yaskawa Solectria’s inverter manufacturing operations in Illinois.
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EPC Power’s factory in Poway, California.
developers that buy Siemens inverters are now seeking the IRA’s domestic content bonus credit. In 2024, a solar project can achieve this 10% bonus if 100% of the structural steel and iron are manufactured in the United States and 40% of all manufactured products used in the project are American-made. Inverters could play a crucial role in reaching that metric. “Some are able to do it by having sourced the right module that will get them to the 40 or 45% threshold immediately. Others who didn’t move fast enough are now scrambling to figure out, ‘OK, how do I get to that threshold with other components?’” Wodrich said. “The inverter, or inverter station, as it may be, can be part of that mix to help them get to the content threshold on their side.” Another string inverter manufacturer with existing U.S. manufacturing, Yaskawa Solectria Solar, is expecting this IRA momentum to lead to a big boost in sales too. In the past, general manager Mark Goodreau said Yaskawa’s “Made in America” selling point was not always
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enough to beat out lower-priced Chinese inverter competitors. “What we found is that even having that designation didn’t really compel our customers to buy from us, as opposed to a Chinese company, I think because the [desire for American-made products] wasn’t really a hard requirement,” Goodreau said. Its main production line of XGI 1500 inverters in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, can expand to 2 GW per year with additional shifts and test equipment. Beyond that, Yaskawa would have to add an additional line. Spanish utility-scale solar + storage inverter manufacturer Power Electronics is also bringing operations to the United States, with plans to open its own factory in Houston. Power Electronics expects to begin shipments of HEM and PCSM inverters in mid-2025, starting with a 5-GW capacity and eventually ramping up to 20 GW. Domestic content makeup Simply assembling products in the United States doesn’t necessarily mean they
will count toward the domestic content requirements — the Treasury Dept. will consider the origin of a product’s subcomponents too. Only parts made in America or those that undergo a “substantial transformation” during the manufacturing process before final assembly are applicable. Siemens is aware the U.S. content requirements could still change in future announcements from Treasury, but the company feels secure in its manufacturing plans. “That doesn’t concern us greatly, because what we are actually trying to do as we domesticate this product is to find mechanisms and means by which we can localize some of the supply of components that are going into the product anyway,” Wodrich said. To anticipate any additional requirements as well as lessen some typically cumbersome supply chain issues, Siemens is working to source as many components as possible from the United States. Switching suppliers for sheet metal, nuts, bolts, copper busbars and cable harnesses is relatively simple, but things become more complicated if Siemens changes any major components related to the electrical circuit of the product, which could trigger a retest and recertification by a nationally recognized testing laboratory (NRTL) to ensure inverter safety to the UL 1741 standard — which takes both time and money. “We would have to build the samples, send them to Europe, have them tested to the UL standards and certify the new components in the supply chain that we’ve modified,” Wodrich said. So Siemens is starting by finding U.S. partners for those smaller, simpler components, and also looking at “valueadded processing” for other parts. That means taking a group of components from another country and processing them domestically in a way that substantially transforms them.
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“I could have five components that are made in Europe, three components that are made in the U.S; I make a subassembly out of them in which I do some welding, some forming, some soldering, some painting, and then I can call that sub-assembly U.S. content,” Wodrich said. Utility-scale solar + storage inverter manufacturer EPC Power also feels confident in the percentage of U.S. components in its products, but is still working to locally source even more parts. “Our goal is to maximize that as much as possible,” said Adam Kabulski, VP of sales and marketing at EPC Power. EPC Power has always made inverters in the United States, first at a facility in Poway, California, and now at a second plant that opened in Greenville, South Carolina, in late 2022. Current production capacity between both factories is 6 GW annually but will double to 12 GW by 2027. The company is especially focused on incorporating more U.S. components in its forthcoming 500-kW inverter for solar + storage applications. “The new M inverter will be
more vertically integrated, with more manufacturing processes performed by EPC Power at our facilities, vs. previous inverters,” Kabulski said. “This will increase the domestic content portion of the bill of materials.” Capacity agreements Siemens is aiming for a March 2024 production start for U.S. string inverters out of Wisconsin, with full ramp-up by May. The company is asking customers to make reservations now for the limited inventory. “We wanted to make sure that our key customers had an opportunity to reserve that capacity. It still is a bit of a seller’s market in the inverter space. There are more projects than there is capacity,” Wodrich said. Capacity agreements are also a new reality for Yaskawa Solectria. The company had a few long-term supply agreements in the past, but now it’s working on numerous new long-term agreements with companies interested in its XGI 1500 inverter line, which the company said has between 50 to 60% U.S. content.
“We expect to be supply-constrained as we ramp up our capacity over the next couple of years, so that’s the purpose of these supply agreements — so that we have a good understanding of the demand for a particular customer,” Goodreau said. EPC Power also uses supply agreements with customers, but always keeps some stock unclaimed so the company can respond to changes in the market. “It’s a balance. We want to have strategic customers; we want to have certainty of who we’re working with, people that value what we bring. But we don’t want to be 100% MSAs (master supply agreements) that don’t allow us to respond to new developments,” Kabulski said. Whether manufacturers have been producing inverters in the United States for years or they’re just setting out now, the IRA is incentivizing domestic operations and increasing customer demand for American-made products. SPW
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MOUNTING TECHNOLOGY
Solar Foundations USA
Solar racking may not see IRA incentives, but still benefits from overall industry boost The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) aims to expand both solar manufacturing and installation in the United States, with most provisions geared toward largescale solar projects and the components used in them. Solar trackers are the only type of solar racking included in the Sec. 45X manufacturing production tax credits in the IRA, leaving out other structures
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used in commercial and residential projects. These incentivized single-axis solar trackers are popular on utility- or large-scale solar projects because of the additional production they garner from pointing modules toward the sun throughout the day. Arrays on rooftops, in parking lots and fixed-tilt ground mounts in smaller applications may not compare to trackers
in terms of production, but those markets are still necessary for decarbonizing the grid. In the 2023 Top Solar Contractors List from Solar Power World, 288 of the 420 companies represented work in the residential market. “There’s been no real direct correlation between the tax incentives and the cost of manufacturing the racking,” said Mike Zuritis, president of
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ground-mount racking manufacturer Solar Foundations USA. “I think it’s just a leg of the overall incentive programs that have been out there to help move the solar industry forward; and then just by that, the growth in the solar industry increases the demand on the racking, which flows down to us.” The two direct incentives available to solar manufacturers are the 45X credits and the Advanced Energy Project ITC (Sec. 48C). 45X credits are available to tracker manufacturers based on the kilogram-weight of the torque tubes and structural fasteners they produce. The 48C credit is an incentive for companies starting new factories that produce solar modules, batteries and inverters; and existing factories that update facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or implement other green practices like recycling programs. The latter doesn’t include incentives for new racking factories either. “We’re left on the sideline on those particular manufacturing credits,” said Andrew Strickland, general counsel for
Unirac, a rooftop racking manufacturer. “Where we have been active looking at the IRA lately has been the domestic content bonus adder, and really that’s more a function of our customers asking for information from us so they can claim it.” Solar projects that use domestically produced components are eligible for a 10% bonus credit when they opt for the PTC or ITC. Structural steel and iron products, which racking falls under, must be entirely made in the United States to qualify for this bonus credit. Other products in the array, considered “manufactured products,” must meet a certain threshold to be considered American-made. To verify that every component on an array qualifies for the domestic content credit, each manufacturer must provide production cost data for their respective product. If complete cost data of all the hardware isn’t gathered, then the array is ineligible for the bonus credit. “So, everyone plays, or no one gets the credit,” he said.
Unirac’s clientele showed initial interest in qualifying for domestic content, but that has waned in the last few months, likely due to the complicated cost data requirements and uncertainty in IRS guidance. Additionally, manufacturers might be hesitant to share product cost data with clients because it can disclose a company’s profit margins, Strickland said. Despite the lack of IRA assistance for smaller-scale products, numerous U.S. rooftop solar racking manufacturers have been operating successfully without manufacturing incentives prior to the IRA. SPW spoke to many of these companies at RE+ 2023, and the general impression of the IRA is that, despite its lack of direct incentives for their products, it is still a benefit to the solar industry. “It’s not perfect, but no piece of sweeping legislation is,” Strickland said. “You have to take time to iron some details out. For a lot of people in our position, we want to make sure it stays in place and we’re just part of it. It helps the industry as a whole, which helps us. Our benefits are indirect, but they’re real.” SPW
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
KELLY PICKEREL • EDITOR IN CHIEF
New battery tax credits create opportunities for U.S. manufacturers and installers While much attention has been paid to the growing solar panel manufacturing market in the United States and the domestic content bonus credits that come with installing American modules, energy storage systems are experiencing the same boost in U.S. manufacturing and deployment. Battery storage’s biggest win from the IRA was receiving its own investment tax credit, but credits for domestic manufacturing of battery cells and modules are just as significant to the burgeoning market. The advanced manufacturing production tax credit (Sec. 45X) is available to manufacturers of electrode active materials, battery cells and battery modules. Electrode materials, such as cathodes, anodes, solvents and additives, can receive a credit of 10% of the cost of production; battery cells that have a capacity greater than 12 Wh can receive a $35/kWh credit; and battery modules that have a capacity greater than 7 kWh can receive a $10/kWh credit (or a $45 credit if the module does not use battery cells).
Additionally, energy storage systems are one of the “manufactured products” listed under the domestic content bonus credit for projects claiming either the production tax credit (Sec. 45 or 45Y) or investment tax credit (Sec. 48 or 48E). Made-in-America battery packs (including cells and battery management systems), enclosures and inverters used in energy storage systems all contribute to the manufactured products calculation used for the domestic content bonus. The industry awaits further clarification of IRA credits from the Dept. of the Treasury, but one thing is sure: There has never been a more lucrative time to manufacture or install domestically made energy storage systems. Supporting domestic battery manufacturing Manufacturing tax credits for batteries have encouraged many new U.S. factories to break ground and make products solely for stand-alone systems.
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EnerVenue is building a 1-GWh factory for metal-hydrogen energy storage systems in Kentucky, Pomega is starting a 3-GWh lithium battery manufacturing plant in South Carolina and American Battery Factory (ABF) is developing its first lithium cell gigafactory in Arizona, to name a few. But established battery makers in the United States plan to improve their operations with the 45X credits too. Founded in 2008, zinc-battery maker Eos has two manufacturing centers in Pennsylvania, and 80% of its materials and components can be sourced within a day’s drive of the manufacturing sites. Eos’s systems for large-scale, mid-duration applications use aqueous zinc battery technology instead of traditional lithium-ion designs. The zinc batteries are still configured into cells and modules, so the company expects to qualify for $45/kWh in 45X credits. Eos reps told Solar Power World the company has already been booking the 45X credits in its financials as an offset to cost of goods sold in 2023 and expects this to be an additional source of cash received as direct pay when the company files its taxes. Eos is using this “extra cash” and has also applied for a Dept. of Energy loan to increase its Pennsylvania manufacturing capacity to 8 GWh annually. “Project AMAZE (American Made Zinc Energy)” is a $500 million planned expansion to accelerate production of Eos’s next-generation Eos Z3 energy storage systems. “The IRA implementation requires us to move with speed and urgency if the energy industry is going to meet the demand for long-duration energy
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
storage,” said Joe Mastrangelo, CEO of Eos, in a press release. “At such a crucial moment in our global energy transition, time is of the essence.” ESS Inc. also plans to use the manufacturing credits to scale production of iron-flow long-duration energy storage systems at its plant in Oregon. The company, which formed in 2011, recently began producing systems at scale after being certified to the UL 9540 standard earlier in 2023. Now with a proven and certified system, ESS Inc. plans to install a fully automated manufacturing line at its 250,000-sq.-ft facility to bring annual capacity to 1 GWh. “The storage ITC incentivizes demand, which helps to scale production. 45X helps the economics to scale,” said Hugh McDermott, senior VP of business development and sales at ESS Inc. With no lithium, cells or modules to worry about, McDermott said ESS Inc. should have no issue qualifying for domestic content adders with its iron-flow system, which will make the Americanmade batteries even more attractive to U.S. project developers. Searching for American-made ESS Project developers are already searching for the “most domestic” battery storage systems to gain extra credits in the future. With lithium mining and processing still mainly a non-American endeavor, the easiest way to ensure domestic-content compliance in the immediate future is through lithium-alternatives. “While we’re still waiting for the implementation of regulations to be finalized, the 10% bonus for domestic content should represent a strategic advantage for Eos resulting from our near-sourcing and Made-in-America strategy,” Eos reps said. “Eos’s supply chain is increasingly domestic, and we are working to achieve 100% U.S. sourced material by 2026.” Eos reps said the company has
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Burns & McDonnell
kept an active dialogue with project developers as everyone awaits final domestic content guidance from Treasury. They said it’s clear developers are focused on working with partners that help them realize the 10% bonus, and Eos should be well-positioned to supply that market. Utility-scale engineering and construction firm Burns & McDonnell has experience installing lithium- and flow-battery storage and is currently working on a gigawatt-hour-scale lithium project in the Southwest. Adam Bernardi, director of renewables for Burns & McDonnell, said although projects are unlikely to qualify for the domestic content bonus in the immediate future, the contractor is determining which manufacturers may reach that goal first. “As an EPC contractor, we are not in control of the supply chain. But we are working with suppliers to understand what they’re doing from a material and manufacturing perspective, how they’re thinking about compliance, supply chain, onshoring production facilities, and the documentation they will be willing and able to provide,” Bernardi said. Not ruling out lithium completely from domestic-product procurement
plans, Chris Ruckman, VP of energy storage at Burns & McDonnell, said his team is even exploring recycled and second-use systems. “Right now, [the country is] really focused on the production of batteries to install for energy storage and EVs, but one area of great opportunity we’re starting to see interest pick up in is the recycling of these batteries. Lithium is nearly 95% recyclable, and as batteries degrade, having the infrastructure in place to recycle and reuse the material to build new batteries can help solve some of the challenges of sourcing the material domestically,” he said. “While the incentives are great in the short-term, there’s a long play here that is important to remember even though it might not be truly realized for five or more years.” While the new tax benefits may not be obtainable this year or next, the preparation the industry is taking now means more American batteries will be connected to our grid very soon. SPW
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Special Section:
Federal Solar Policy A worker produces tracker torque tubes at a new Unimacts factory in Las Vegas. Nextracker
The IRA promised big changes to the U.S. solar industry. Over a year in, the legislation has delivered. From manufacturers announcing domestic factory plans to a changing solar workforce, the incentives available in the IRA are driving an industry transformation. But that’s not the only policy-related factor affecting daily work for the nation’s solar contractors and developers. In this special federal policy section, we look at some of the issues affecting solar installers and developers today — including government investment in virtual power plants, trade policies affecting solar panel supply and more. www.solarpowerworldonline.com
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FEDERAL SOLAR POLICY | SPECIAL SECTION
DOE bets on virtual power plants By Kelsey Misbrener
Sunnova solar installations in Puerto Rico.
While huge utility-scale solar projects capture most of the headlines, the residential market also has an important role to play in the country’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable electricity. Individual home solar + storage systems may not necessarily help the grid, but when aggregated together into virtual power plants, that changes. Virtual power plant (VPP) technology combines many smaller solar, storage, EV chargers and other renewable energy sources to supply the electrical grid with
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near-instantaneous power and other grid services when called upon. “Any smart device that is capable of providing load control can contribute to the VPP future,” said Sarah Delisle, VP of government affairs and communications for VPP aggregator Swell Energy. Instead of these installations just serving as backup power or rate arbitrage tools for the homeowner, they can help the grid function better and even replace traditional fossil fuel peaker plants that
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would typically be employed in highenergy-demand scenarios. In 2023, the Dept. of Energy made its faith in VPP technology clear. The DOE’s Loan Programs Office, led by Jigar Shah, entered into a $3 billion partial loan guarantee agreement with Sunnova via its Project Hestia program to help the company expand solar, storage and VPP investments. “The goal for us is for the solar industry not to look like it’s ‘other’ and outside of the electricity system, where
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ADVERTORIAL
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Butyl mounts rooftop solar projects in a flash completely proven. It’s been used for decades in a lot of different industries. It’s actually been used for over 30 years in the field around the world as a solar mount flashing, whether it was for domestic hot water panels, and more recently for photovoltaic panels. It’s field-tested and it’s proven. It’s got great low permeability, meaning it’s not only watertight, it’s airtight. Butyl as a material does not chemically bond to materials. It’s a mechanical bond, and it’s a great mechanical bond. So, the advantage of that is it’s really compatible with different materials. As a mount, one of the things we want to offer to our customers is something that they can put on the shelf, whether it’s a distributor, or it’s an installer, and they can use it in multiple different ways.
NOT ONLY ARE THE SHAPES of solar mounts changing, but the way they’re attached to roofs tops is too. K2 Systems, a solar racking manufacturer, has integrated a butyl sealant onto a new line of roof mounts. On this episode of Solar Spotlight, Brett Nielsen, VP of products and services at K2, is here to share the rationale behind adopting this sticky new flashing for mounting purposes. A written portion of this podcast is below but be sure to listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast service. SPW: What is K2’s current development strategy for mounts and flashings? Brett Nielsen: What’s exciting today is that with some new technologies and flashings and some new data that we have in direct-to-deck mounting, we’re starting to see customers, installers and engineering firms come around on these things, and it’s opening up a tremendous amount of possibilities. Our strategy right now is to focus on: What great flexible flashing materials that work well for us? That means our EverSeal product line. And then exploring and optimizing fastener values, whether that’s into www.solarpowerworldonline.com
rafter or direct-to-deck. Five or 10 years ago, if you said either of those things, like a flexible flashing, non-metal flashing or direct-to-deck. Most installers in the country would probably shun you or not be interested in the technology, and today that’s really changed. What is EverSeal? EverSeal is our trademarked flexible flashing product. It’s a proprietary formula that we’ve been working with. Butyl is a synthetic rubber. It’s been around for almost 100 years. It’s a really common material that’s used in tires and rubber gloves, and you can mess around with the formula of it to add solvents. You can make it more of a liquid or injectable type of butyl, or you can add fillers and polymers to it to add different types of properties to the materials so that it can be more tacky, can be more UVresistant and offer better temperature ranges. That’s the type of butyl that we’re working with.
How is K2 using butyl in its new products? With the success of some of the earlier products that we made — so that’s really Splice Foot X and XL — we’ve now launched an additional version of that product, which is Flex Foot. Not only does the butyl adhesive allow us to make for a much easier and more reliable installation, but our customers are also looking at different types of fasteners. So, a lot of the new products we’re going to launch are going to give the option of like roofing material; you can use this mount on a comp roof, you can use it on the flat roof, you can use it on a metal roof or a concrete roof. We’re going to allow our customers to then select the appropriate fastener for that, so that might mean a particular wind zone or snow load. SPW THIS ADVERTORIAL IS SPONSORED BY
Why is butyl such an ideal material for solar flashings? I would say the No. 1 reason it’s a great product for this application is that it’s
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FEDERAL SOLAR POLICY | SPECIAL SECTION it’s sort of like a backup generator for homeowners,” Shah told Solar Power World at RE+. “The goal is for solar, and then all of these other pieces, whether it’s smart inverters, smart panels [or] batteries — for those to be integrated into the entire way in which the electric grid operates.” Project Hestia Project Hestia systems must include both solar power and Sunnova’s proprietary VPP aggregation software, but can also include storage and other distributed energy technologies. VPP capabilities give customers the chance to receive additional incentives for participating in utility demand response or grid services programs. “We’re looking forward to building out our fleet and giving the customers that we work with through Project Hestia the opportunity to further monetize their investment,” said Meghan Nutting, executive VP of government and regulatory affairs at Sunnova. The purpose of the VPP loan guarantee agreement between the Loan Programs Office (LPO) and Sunnova is to expand access to renewable energy for underserved populations. The $3 billion federal loan guarantee means Sunnova’s investors will receive a return on investment even if solar customers default on their loans, allowing Sunnova to take on traditionally riskier clients. Sunnova doesn’t need income verification for solar customers, but it does have credit score requirements. The company’s agreement with the LPO requires that at least 20% of Project Hestia loans are given to homeowners with low credit scores and at least 20% to homeowners in Puerto Rico. “This concept of a credit backstop is something that utilities currently have. Even if people default on their electricity bills, [utilities are] still made whole on that and that allows them to serve customers without prejudice. We, on the
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Swell Energy
other hand — private companies — have to raise equity, raise money to serve the customers that we serve,” Nutting said. LPO’s loan assistance is especially important as loan interest rates climb higher and higher. “Especially at a time like right now, where the cost of borrowing money is extremely expensive, any additional things that the federal government can do to help bring down that cost of capital is going to in turn be passed on to customers, and that’s a really helpful thing,” Swell’s Delisle said. VPP roadblocks Loan guarantee programs like Project Hestia are crucial for making solar and VPP technology available to underserved populations, but widespread utility incentives for VPP participation could also help make systems pencil out for more homeowners. The DOE outlines seven different values VPPs offer to utilities, including resource adequacy, reliability, decarbonization, transmission and distribution relief. Yet historically, utilities are compensated for large capital expenditures like building new natural gas plants, Shah said. VPPs are low-capital solutions that typically don’t yield the same profits for utilities, so embracing this technology could require adjustments to
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how regulated utilities are compensated. “Utilities have an opportunity to be the heroes of this story,” said Shah in an email. “By supporting increased electrification, they’re enabling consumers’ home efficiency upgrades, enabling economic growth, reducing emissions from enterprises and more.” Some major utilities have already worked with their regulators to revise frameworks and make VPPs possible, he said — including Duke Energy, Portland General Electric and Green Mountain Power. Along with utility changes, more work is needed from private companies to increase accessibility of VPP programs for more homeowners across the country. “In addition to, what do the incentive structures look like on the utility and the PUC side, what is the process like for a customer who wants to participate in a virtual power plant, and how do we make that as simple and elegant and carefree as possible — and almost invisible?” Delisle said. Virtual power plants are a way for both homeowners and utilities to reap more benefits from solar, storage and other residential load control technology. Government support, utility acceptance and technological advancements can expand the market and speed up decarbonization of the electric grid. SPW
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How solar contractors can meet IRA apprenticeship requirements By Kelsey Misbrener
The solar workforce is changing because of IRA apprenticeship and prevailing wage requirements that went into effect in January. Contractors that haven’t yet made a long-term recruitment plan have a few options available to help them do so. To collect the full 30% ITC for projects 1 MWAC and larger, contractors with four or more workers on a jobsite must employ apprentices for a certain percentage of labor-hours and pay prevailing wages to all workers. For projects starting in 2023, registered apprentices must make up 12.5% of the
on-site labor during the construction phase. That number increases to 15% for projects that start construction in 2024 and after. Since this is a new initiative for the clean energy industry, the Dept. of Labor (DOL) is working with a few partners to coach and acclimate contractors to the country’s wellestablished apprenticeship system. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) was contracted by the DOL to lead the Apprenticeships in Clean Energy (ACE) Network, a national coalition of industry, education
Maryssa Navaro, Laborers’ Local 17 Solar Apprentice in New York. NABTU
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and workforce development leaders working to create, expand and diversify Registered Apprenticeship opportunities in the clean energy industry. “The intermediaries can help understand what that process of registering a program is, what the requirements are, navigate that process, and also navigate where additional funding may be available to support programs,” said Richard Lawrence, program director at IREC. IREC is specifically tasked with recruiting more veterans into the clean energy industry. Veterans in Registered Apprenticeship programs can access a monthly housing allowance benefit through the GI Bill, making apprenticeships appealing for this population. IREC is also working to bring other diverse workers into the industry who may not have access to green employment without an apprenticeship program. “Being an ‘earn-while-you-learn’ model, as they say, is a great way to attract diverse candidates. You remove a lot of the barriers that are associated with similar pathways, like getting a college degree, where you’re having to often pay for those courses up-front,” Lawrence said. While it was unclear whether the DOL would create an entirely new “solar installer” Registered Apprenticeship at the start of the IRA rollout, the DOL has now issued a memo clarifying that the solar industry should instead use existing apprenticeship and prevailing
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FEDERAL SOLAR POLICY | SPECIAL SECTION
SPECIAL SECTION | FEDERAL SOLAR POLICY
wage occupations that already fit the job roles on a solar construction site. Those can include construction craft laborers, electricians, pile drivers and wiremen. “That makes it easier to fit into the prevailing wage scale side of things,” Lawrence said. “Because if you start recognizing new occupations in the apprenticeship system, it may meet the apprenticeship’s piece of it, but [you may find out] that occupation hasn’t been approved for prevailing wage.” Using these established roles instead of a solar-specific apprenticeship can also help workers with job security and skill transferability — foundational tenets of apprenticeship programs for North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU). “We want to make sure that they are able to, in a hypothetical world, go from
working on a nuclear power plant one day to an offshore wind facility the next to a solar farm on the third,” said Trevor Falk, special assistant to the president for energy policy at NABTU. Compliance options Companies have a few options to bring on apprentices, including creating an internal program and registering it with the DOL, hiring a workforce firm to establish the program or access the firm’s external program, or forming a partnership with a union or other workforce development body. Setting up an internal Registered Apprenticeship program is the most difficult route. “It does require, obviously, effort to manage the apprenticeship program that is registered with the Dept. of Labor.
There’s some oversight and certainly compliance activities there. That step of registering your training programs there and following those standards does take some additional effort,” Lawrence said. Some states offer funding or tax credits to support Registered Apprenticeship programs, which IREC and other DOL partners can help companies identify. But successfully running these programs and complying with regulations to ensure investors get the return they’re expecting takes a lot of cooperation with various groups, said Nicholas Morgan, president of employment and training services provider Adaptive Construction Solutions (ACS). “The most successful apprenticeship programs in the country got there through collaboration. It’s not something
FEDERALSOLAR SOLARPOLICY POLICY | SPECIAL SECTION FEDERAL | SPECIAL SECTION
you do by yourself, either. Even if you have a team, you’ve got to work with the workforce system; you’ve got to work with nonprofits, community-based organizations [and] training providers,” Morgan said.
The most successful apprenticeship programs in the country got there through collaboration. Like IREC, ACS is also working with the DOL on this effort — the company won an $8 million grant from the agency in 2022 to expand apprenticeships in energy, especially for veterans and other underserved populations. Morgan is a veteran who was wounded in the Iraq War and is now dedicated to bringing
veterans into apprenticeship programs. Companies can hire ACS to start and manage internal RA programs, or they can sign up to hire ACS’s own apprentices. Morgan said ACS walks stakeholders through the process from start to finish, showing them the reports they’ll get to ensure they’re hitting their apprenticeship percentages and milestones along the way. “We’re seeing now where contracts aren’t being signed with the project owner until they see an apprenticeship and a compliance plan,” Morgan said. “That then makes everyone comfortable, especially equity tax investors who are transferring these tax credits.” If an internal program is too much work or money, contractors can join existing group programs like those offered by college programs or trade associations. For example, the Florida
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Solar Energy Industries Association is a co-sponsor of a state-approved Florida Solar Energy Apprenticeship program. But perhaps the simplest option to ensure compliance is to sign up with a union. “We call that the ‘easy button,’ because they’ve got the systems very well in place. You’re going to be sure that your compliance is on track because they know how to do it,” Lawrence said. NABTU is the umbrella organization for many unions applicable to the solar industry. The association has found solar developers working with quick project timelines have turned to unions to recruit the apprentices needed to meet IRA requirements. “Going into a program that’s already established and has shown for eight, nine, 10 decades that it’s done right would be the right way to go, in our opinion,” said Falk at NABTU. “Starting something from scratch, getting DOL approval — it’s quite a few hoops to jump through.” NABTU and its associated building trades unions have around 1,600 training centers across the country training registered apprentices. Contractors looking to tap into those resources should search for their local Building Trades Union Council to start a conversation. Unions will likely require contractors to switch most of their laborers over to union workers, according to Lawrence, but establishing Project Labor Agreements that require union labor only for specific projects is also an option for IRA compliance. “There’s always trepidation toward folks changing, wanting to meet these incentives. But with proper education and engagement, we’ll show folks that [union workers are] the highest-skilled, highest-trained workforce in this country, and we’re happy to get the job done for them,” Falk said. SPW
SOLAR POWER WORLD
NOVEMBER 2023
FEDERAL SOLAR POLICY | SPECIAL SECTION
SPECIAL SECTION | FEDERAL SOLAR POLICY
Non-IRA trade policies create biggest impact on today’s solar panel supply By Kelly Pickerel
While the solar industry tries to wait patiently for further clarification on new tax credit policies within the Inflation Reduction Act, there are, of course, other trade policies affecting project commissioning in a more immediate way. Solar panel supply in particular is facing a barrage of trade issues, including extended antidumping/countervailing
www.solarpowerworldonline.com
duties (AD/CVD) on imports from Southeast Asia and product detentions under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Until domestic manufacturing ramps up, these two issues will disrupt supply and delay project timelines within the United States — but with varying intensity. The AD/CVD investigation that
plagued the industry for over two years is not nearly as significant as the UFLPA, said Max Macpherson, data and analytics report manager at PVEL. “The concern with UFLPA is not just that there’s not a lot of transparency, but also that it’s probably going to intensify,” she said. “It seems like they’re not satisfied with what has
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FEDERALSOLAR SOLARPOLICY POLICY | SPECIAL SECTION FEDERAL | SPECIAL SECTION
already been detained, and they think some Chinese modules have come through that [should have been stopped]. If they kept the standards consistent, then we could probably be on more steady ground, but it feels like one step forward, five steps back.” Initiated in June 2022, the UFLPA bans all imported goods from Xinjiang, an area in China that the United States determined uses slave labor of the Uyghur people, a racial minority in the region. China is the world’s leading provider of polysilicon, with much of that production focused in Xinjiang, including from companies like Hoshine, Daqo, GCL and East Hope. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is detaining any import assumed to have product made in Xinjiang, with a “guilty until proven innocent” presumption. Solar panels from Canadian Solar, Jinko, Longi and Trina were among early detentions, even though many did not use polysilicon made in Xinjiang. CBP requires importers complying with UFLPA to provide complete supply chain documentation, including a list of all entities associated with each step of production. Solar panel companies have gathered their documents, and Jinko even sold its Xinjiang ingot factory to further distance itself from the region, but Chinese solar panels are still having a difficult time getting through Customs. The impression from industry reps has been that a few Chinese companies, regardless of any affiliation with Xinjiang, have been deemed high-risk and continue to be stopped by CBP. Although the agency isn’t supposed to be working down a list, CBP initially only focused on Tier 1 brands. That changed in July 2023 when Customs blocked a shipment of Astronergy panels from entering the United States, which suggests CBP is expanding its focus to more brands. “There’ll be a lot of disruption as importers get hit that haven’t been used
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to it,” said Alex Barrows, head of PV at market intelligence firm Exawatt. “Some of the companies like Jinko are used to getting stopped and they have what [documentation] is needed. But smaller importers haven’t been stopped yet, and they’re not used to the process. I think there will be a lot of friction if smaller importers start to get hit.” Longi appears to be the most affected, with many of its shipments being detained for close to a year. Longi panels using Tongwei polysilicon have been specifically earmarked by CBP, even though Tongwei has no direct presence in Xinjiang, further insinuating a de facto ban on all Chinese polysilicon (panels using polysilicon from Hemlock and Wacker are passing through). Longi, still the second-largest panel supplier in the world, was previously the top silicon panel supplier for the U.S. utilityscale market. With an annual module manufacturing capacity of 85 GW, Longi reported only being able to ship 700 MW into the United States in the first half of 2023. Since UFLPA, other brands, especially Korean and Indian manufacturers, have filled the gap. “We’ve had a complete change in who’s shipping to the U.S. market,” said Christian Roselund, senior policy analyst with Clean Energy Associates. “While large Chinese Tier 1 providers struggled with [getting panels into the United
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States], other players came in and took their place.” While the panel brands being used in the largest projects across America are changing, the residential market has been less affected by UFLPA, especially as the global industry works through its inventory glut. That may change if UFLPA enforcement gets stricter, but what’s more likely to disturb smaller projects are new tariffs on panels from Southeast Asia — a region that accounted for 80% of U.S. imports earlier this year. AD/CVD impact In August, the Dept. of Commerce delivered its final determination that solar panel manufacturers were working in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam as a way to avoid paying existing duties on Chinese-made solar goods. AD/CVD rates were then extended to solar exports coming out of Southeast Asia. Manufacturers working in the region can bypass these tariffs if they use non-Chinese wafers or if their solar panels made with Chinese wafers use at least four non-Chinese subcomponents (silver paste, aluminum frames, glass, backsheets, EVA sheets or junction boxes). The AD/CVD decision doesn’t ban products from Southeast Asia; it just puts a higher tax on solar products believed to only have minimal processing performed
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in the region. A global push to rely less on China-based supply chains has led to more significant manufacturing being established elsewhere. While solar panel supply may be interrupted in the short-term as Southeast Asian manufacturers reconfigure their bills of materials, many industry reps believe they should easily be able to comply with the new rules. “I’m not too worried about AD/CVD,” said Barrows of Exawatt. “I think most manufacturers will be able to sidestep it in some way. The most obvious way is to not use a Chinese wafer. There’s limited wafer capacity outside of China, but it is growing fairly rapidly. “For everyone who can’t get hold of a non-Chinese wafer, that’s where you have to use the other module materials. That should be doable for most manufacturers,” he continued. “There’s quite a lot of glass capacity outside of China. You can sidestep the backsheet just by making a dual-glass module. There’s some frame manufacturing in Southeast Asia. There’s quite a lot of silver paste manufacturing outside of China. When you add it all up, I’m not hugely concerned about AD/CVD. I’m definitely a lot more concerned about UFLPA.” Between trade issues and a new manufacturing credit allotment, it will be an eventful next few years for solar panel supply in the United States. SPW
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ADVERTORIAL
SOLAR SPOTLIGHT:
Integrating the benefits of rail into a rail-less solar mount SOLAR RACKING manufacturer SunModo will soon debut its latest pitched rooftop mount, NanoRack, to the residential market. On this episode of Solar Spotlight, CEO Steve Mumma discusses the system features and installation considerations built into NanoRack. A written portion of this podcast is below but be sure to listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast service. You guys are saying that NanoRack “isn’t rail-less.” Since it doesn’t have rail, what do you mean by that? Steve Mumma: It’s kind of semantics. Yes, it doesn’t have rail. By definition, that means it’s rail-less, and that does give all of the benefits of a “traditional rail-less system.” I think the reason we’re saying it’s not really rail-less is that, to a certain extent, rail-less, I think, kind of has a bad name in the industry. A lot of installers have tried it and not liked it because of the complexity and the level of training involved. Historically, most of the rail-less installers have been the larger national installers that really see the benefit of the logistics advantages of not shipping rail around. But smaller installers, that doesn’t benefit them as much, so what’s the point in them going rail-less? NanoRack addresses the issues that have made a lot of people that have tried rail-less hate it. So we’re saying it’s not rail-less, because it’s not rail-less like people generally think of rail-less as being.
What are the issues with conventional rail-less systems and how does NanoRack address them? As we started looking at developing a rail-less system, we talked to a lot of installers, both those that have done rail-less and love it, and those that have done rail-less and hated it. And the two main things that keep people kept coming back to, one is wire management. Rail provides just a perfect, ideal place to manage your wires. Then the second is the level of precision required to install rail-less systems. Rail is very forgiving. You’re basically going to have two rails per row of modules, and those rails can be off by a pretty large amount — inches — and the system will still be fine. However, with rail-less, since you’re attaching modules to the mounts, those mounts have to be on the roof pretty precisely located. How does the design of NanoRack reduce opportunities for installer error? So that was a major focus with our design of NanoRack — what can we do to make it very, very difficult for an installer to make an error while installing it? And it’s not because we don’t trust the installers. It’s because we know they’re going fast, and they have a lot to get done out there. With NanoRack, there’s a couple of things we’ve done. One is that it is a deck-mount system. So, we’ve eliminated the process of trying to find a rafter and drill pilot holes, and that saves a lot of time, but it also is a major
source of potential installer error anytime there’s a missed pilot hole that needs to be filled with sealant. Another big part of it with NanoRack is that we’ve taken the vast majority of the work of installing the system off of the roof and onto the ground. All of the brackets and clamps and roof attachments are attached to the modules before they go up on the roof. You’ve said that NanoRack is designed for installers who have sworn they would never go rail-less. Why should those installers switch to NanoRack? What I’m really excited about is the potential that NanoRack offers for people that have traditionally been doing rail systems. As we discussed earlier, many of those people have tried rail-less and rejected it because, while it’s nice to not have to deal with the logistics of moving rail around, rail systems are just simpler, they’re easier, and for crews that don’t do them repeatedly, all the time, rail-less is just not going to save these guys time. So, with NanoRack being a system that is actually simpler to install than rail, and substantially faster to install than rail, we can bring those rail-less benefits to basically everybody. SPW
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CONTRACTOR'S CORNER
KELSEY MISBRENER • MANAGING EDITOR
CONTRACTOR’S CORNER:
Renewable IPP
Alaskan EPC brings large-scale solar projects to The Last Frontier.
Renewable IPP is a young EPC company in the far northwest that just energized a milestone project — an 8.5-MW solar array in Houston, Alaska. In this episode of the Contractor’s Corner podcast, Solar Power World talks to Jenn Miller, CEO, and Chris Colbert, CFO, about the things that make utilityscale solar in Alaska different from the Lower 48 — along with some things that are surprisingly the same. An edited portion of the interview is below, but be sure to listen to the full podcast for more insight on the module
innovations making large-scale solar in Alaska even more beneficial. Find the Contractor’s Corner podcast on your favorite podcast app. Solar Power World: How did both of you get into solar power? Jenn Miller: Renewable IPP got started because Chris and I and our other business partner Sam, in 2017, put rooftop solar on our houses. We did it as a DIY project because we wanted to make sure that the projects were economic. So we started with five panels on our house, and I guess we got a little bit cocky, as
we said, “We should scale this to much larger-scale projects.” We all come from an oil-and-gas background and engineering backgrounds, and have done project management. It’s a lot easier to manage one or a small number of large projects than to do a bunch of small ones, and we wanted to have a bigger impact. So we said, given our resources, “How do we have the biggest impact?” We’re really passionate about renewable energy, but also cost-competitive energy that helps suppress energy prices for our state. So that led to this utility-scale solar business model — the first in the state back when we started in 2017.
Chris Colbert and Jenn Miller, founders of Renewable IPP.
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Do you have to do a lot of convincing of utilities and people that this can work in Alaska? Chris Colbert: Actually, the utilities have been great, because it’s on us to make the economic case to say, “Hey, we can generate electricity and beat your cost of generation so we can deliver value to the utility and their members,” and really showing them that case is what got them excited to work on the project. We’re very collaborative with the utilities. The biggest challenge, especially with the Houston project, was where we had to go out and find investors and financing and all of that for the project. That is a bigger lift — convincing institutional investors that this works and it’s worth putting the effort into getting through the due diligence process and getting into a project. Miller: And that’s where we connected with CleanCapital, which financed and owns the Houston solar farm project. That is the first large institutional investment in solar here in the state. What’s unique about installing solar in Alaska? Colbert: There’s a lot in terms of construction that really is probably identical to what people do in the lower 48, and of course, we just design to site-specific wind and snow loads. And then for frost heave, it all depends on the ground you have, so that’s a custom design in embedment depths. I would say the most unique thing when you’re trying to start a solar
construction company up here from scratch, it really is workforce-related. We don’t have this seasoned renewable workforce just waiting to be hired and just show up and build the project. Our strategy has been to hire all local. So for the Houston solar farm project, all the employees were from the Mat-Su (Matanuska-Susitna) Borough. Probably 80% of them were from right in the community where the projects are located, and then it’s really on-the-job training. We get them any kind of online OSHA training and all that as needed. And then if there’s any specific solar installer training that specific employees need, we’ll do that. We’re at the very forefront of the utility-scale solar industry in Alaska. So it’s a little different when you bring in a whole new workforce, and you’ve got to get them all up to speed and build it. But I can say, solar kind of lends itself to that a little better, because you learn how to put in one row, and now you do all the rows — it’s repetitive, so it’s not quite so daunting, but it does add a little interesting complexity to the whole thing. What has been the most rewarding moment of your solar career so far? Colbert: For me, it’s still related to the construction crew. When you’re out there, you’re working with the crew managing construction and you know that you’ve created all of these jobs. We’re helping the local community by putting more people to work. That’s probably one of the most satisfying things to me.
A worker clears snow from solar panels on a Renewable IPP project.
Miller: I would agree. We’re a very hands-on company and so we spend a lot of time in the field during construction. Chris and I were out there almost every day this build season. So it is very rewarding to work side-by-side with our employees. And that’s another thing that is part of our company culture is working to understand, what’s the most efficient install methodology? But working ourselves with the employees and just getting to know everybody and have that joint accomplishment that we were all part of the build and we all did this together. I think sometimes, going after the mission of [fighting] climate change is so far out and you can’t feel any immediate effects. But I agree with Chris 100% — creating those jobs, creating a positive work environment where people feel like they’re growing new skills, they’re in a positive workplace — that is absolutely the most immediate reward. SPW
Podcast Alert! Listen to this and other Contractor’s Corner episodes on your favorite podcast app.
Construction begins on the Houston solar project.
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8,375
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1,480
200
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835
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81.2%
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10,320
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