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THE FIRST WORD
Reconnecting while going off-grid The irony of publishing an issue of Solar Power World focused on off-grid solar at this moment in time isn’t lost on me. We’re at a point in the progression of the pandemic where every adult in the United States is eligible for vaccination. That means safer gatherings among other vaccinated people and opening our social lives, emerging gradually from a year of cabin fever. And now, Kelly, Kelsey and I just wrote a set of stories about a market that’s commonly associated with packing everything up and moving to the woods. Of course, anyone familiar with the off-grid market knows that isn’t always the case. Sure, people still want to live transient lives and outfit a van with a foldout mattress and throw flexible solar panels on the roof, but that isn’t their only use. Storage technologies don’t have to be a backup in case the grid goes out — they can be your primary energy source when the sun goes down, even on a huge home. And inverters — those hardworking components actually converting sunlight and making it usable electricity — can work under the rough conditions of off-grid sites. Off-grid solar is a market that hasn’t gotten a lot of coverage in SPW, so we learned quite a Billy Ludt bit while writing these. As both solar and storage Associate Editor technologies improve, I think we can expect there bludt@wtwhmedia.com to be more folks choosing to split from the grid @SolarBillyL entirely. @SolarPowerWorld In addition to this wealth of off-grid info we’ve got in here, there’s also an entire special section dedicated to operations and maintenance with contributed stories straight from the experts to help keep your arrays running. As we weather the side effects of vaccinations and come out immunized, let’s try to remember our social cues from before lockdown. Walk out of your home, let your eyes adjust to the sunlight and responsibly enjoy each other’s company for the first time in a while. We hope to see you soon. SPW
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SOLAR POWER WORLD - VOLUME 11 ISSUE 3 - (ISSN2164-7135) is published 7 times per year: January, March, May, July, September, November and December by WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Avenue, 26th Floor, Cleveland, Ohio 44114. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, OH and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Solar Power World; 1111 Superior Avenue, 26th Floor, Cleveland, Ohio 44114.
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GROUND-MOUNT SOLAR?
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CONTENTS
37
16
ON THE COVER
Off-grid solar isn’t just for DIYers and RV rooftops anymore. Solar policy shifts, electrical interconnection issues and better technologies are driving a push toward more mainstream off-grid solar adoption. Photo courtesy Sunflare
2 FIRST WORD
8 NEWS BRIEFS
6
58 CONTRACTOR’S CORNER 60 AD INDEX
SOLAR POWER WORLD
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BUSINESS
TECHNOLOGY
10 GOING GREENER
28 PANELS
Some solar companies are partnering with local businesses to integrate sustainability into operations
POLICY 16 STORAGE TAX CREDITS
The solar + storage industry is working to make a storage ITC a reality in the new presidential administration
INSTALLATION 22 CASE STUDY
Utility roadblocks for a South Carolina homeowner inspired him to harvest and store his own energy
Flexible modules expand from a niche market thanks to their light weight and simple installation
32 INVERTERS
Specialized inverter designs help the electronics withstand extreme weather in remote off-grid installations
38 MOUNTING
Unique mounting equipment can give homeowners options when solar can’t work on the roof
42 STORAGE
Battery chemistry advancements give off-grid solar owners many options for storing energy
SPECIAL SECTION: OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
Contractors looking to boost their O&M services can seek help from robotic panel cleaners, the latest asset management software and more. | PAGE 47
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NEWS BRIEFS
SOLAR POLICY SNAPSHOTS A guide to recent legislation and research throughout the country.
West Virginia’s solar financing options have expanded thanks to new legislation allowing for PPAs.
New Mexico now open for community solar business
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SEIA adds environmental justice to core advocacy efforts
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Washington, D.C.
On April 5, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill authorizing community solar projects in New Mexico. Advocates say the addition of community solar is an important complement to the governor’s Energy Transition Act, which set goals to replace coal with renewable energy.
SEIA released an environmental justice policy platform to help the organization expand equitable access to solar. The new goals include providing career pathways to solar power for underserved communities and supporting tax policies that remove barriers to financing solar systems.
SOLAR POWER WORLD
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NEWS BRIEFS
New California legislation would create 30% tax credit with direct pay option for qualifying microgrids
NYSEIA report finds utility territory restrictions are the largest barrier to community solar adoption
Broad coalition asks Congress to expand local rooftop and community solar power for all
Sacramento, California
Albany, New York
Washington, D.C.
California State Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) introduced a bill that would create a 30% tax credit with a direct pay option to bolster microgrid deployment in the state. The bill would help build necessary electricity backup protection against the increasing number of blackouts across California.
Although New York’s community solar program has been successful, NYSEIA released a report detailing the policy changes that would allow it to grow faster. To overcome the largest hurdle, the group suggests the state implement cross-utility crediting to enable transfer of bill credits across utility territories.
A coalition of energy justice advocates sent a letter to congressional leaders asking them to craft policies that prioritize equitable deployment of renewables. The group specifically recommends local rooftop and community solar options to bring the benefits of renewable energy to more people.
President Biden sets new target to cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030
Washington state’s Climate Commitment Act advances to Gov. Inslee’s desk
Michigan lawmakers introduce bipartisan community solar legislation
Washington, D.C.
Olympia, Washington
Lansing, Michigan
President Joe Biden announced a new target for the United States to reduce carbon emissions by 50 to 52% compared to 2005 levels by 2030. This early goal sets an important marker on the journey to Biden’s ultimate goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Washington State Legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act and sent it to Gov. Jay Inslee at the end of April. The bill would implement a decreasing cap on carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, while also triggering investments in new infrastructure.
Bipartisan lawmakers in Michigan are working to open the state’s community solar market with House Bills 4715-16. The legislation would allow development of community solar projects as large as 5 MW in the state.
South Carolina PSC rejects Dominion solar plan, preserves net metering
West Virginia legalizes solar power purchase agreements
DOE announces $10 million in SolSmart program funding to increase solar energy equity
Columbia, South Carolina
Charleston, West Virginia
Washington, D.C.
The South Carolina Public Service Commission ruled in favor of the solar industry and struck down Dominion’s latest rate case proposal. Advocates warned Dominion’s plan would have imposed excessive fees on rooftop solar customers and slowed solar adoption in the state.
The West Virginia legislature has passed a bill enabling power purchase agreements in the state. PPAs give tax-exempt organizations in the state the financial ability to go solar by partnering with developers who then sell the organizations power at a fixed rate.
The Department of Energy announced $10 million in funding for a SolSmart administrator for the next five years to update and manage the program to encourage more equitable solar deployment. SolSmart helps cities and regions cut permitting and building red tape that impedes wider solar adoption.
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BUSINESS 10
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Third Sun Solar
MAY 2021
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BILLY LUDT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Solar installers partner with local companies to increase operational sustainability Photovoltaic
solar is a green business, but the equipment and facilities needed for each step of the installation process aren’t carbon-neutral by default. Company vehicles often use fossil fuels, solar equipment and its packaging aren’t easily recyclable and unless there are modules on the roof or renewable energy credits in place, a company’s building is likely producing more carbon than it’s preventing. “It seems like common sense to do green things while you’re doing green work,” said Joel Alder, warehouse manager with New England-based solar installer ReVision Energy. “If you’re here, like me, for a reason and that reason is you want to see a healthier Earth, why would you not try and encompass all the things that try to do that?” Installers can take relatively easy steps to implement business-level green practices and cut carbon emissions. Replacing facility lighting with LEDs or relying more on natural light, using thermal heat pumps for temperature regulation, installing low-flow plumbing and, of course, installing solar on the roof are all options. But operational green practices can start with something as simple as placing recycling bins in the office.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND CARBON OFFSETS
Company cars are no small investment. Transporting solar hardware requires vehicles with loading space, especially for projects in the commercial and utility markets. ReVision Energy transitioned its vehicle fleet to be more carbon-friendly by using electric-gasoline hybrids, full-electric cars and biodiesel installation trucks. “When we go out and meet with clients, the first option is to use a battery electric Chevy Bolt to make that trip with zero
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emissions because it was just charged by our rooftop solar array at our shop,” said Phil Coupe, co-founder of ReVision Energy. “And if we’re out of Bolts, then the second choice there is the Prius. And when we get into the light-duty commercial vehicles, we’re using things like Sprinter vans because of their fuel efficiency and for everything that’s diesel. These are typically box trucks [so] we are able to get away with 100% biodiesel in the warmer months…then we have to change the blend as we go into the winter months.” Although electric semi-trucks are currently being tested, it will be some time before they see widespread commercial application. In the meantime, there’s biodiesel, which is manufactured using vegetable oils, animal fats and restaurant grease. The fuel’s properties are similar to petroleum diesel, but it releases about one-fifth of the carbon dioxide when consumed and can be used in many existing diesel engines. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), there are 307 registered refueling stations for biodiesel in the United States, but they’re not present in every state. A similar conundrum occurs with electric vehicles. Current electric vehicles are primarily used for commuter purposes, meaning they’re charged mostly at home and can run for about 250 miles on a single charge. Whereas gasoline and diesel refueling infrastructure
IT SEEMS LIKE COMMON SENSE TO DO GREEN THINGS WHILE YOU’RE DOING GREEN WORK.
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is established, electric vehicle charging stations are scarcer than gas stations. But they’re expanding rapidly, with about 47,000 in the United States according to the AFDC, equal to about one-quarter of the gas stations present in the country. For installers and sales crews working in smaller territories or areas with charging stations, electric vehicles under the right conditions can be the economical choice, especially if there’s solar on the roof providing their power. If an electric car purchase or biofuel compatibility isn’t in the cards, carbon offsets are another option. Certified B Corporation and Ohio-based installer Third Sun Solar doesn’t have a fleet of electric vehicles but instead purchases carbon offsets through a service called TerraPass. Annually, Third Sun pays for 108 metric tons of carbon offsets. The money spent on offsets is reinvested into carbon reduction programs, like land gas capture and construction of larger renewable energy projects. Third Sun’s technicians and salespeople travel across the entirety of Ohio to install solar, and the offsets the company purchases cover the carbon produced by their work vehicles during those trips. So, while
greener vehicle purchases might not be possible for the solar installation company in the Midwest right now, Third Sun is contributing to building greener energy projects on a larger scale. REFURBISH, REUSE, RECYCLE
Recycling can apply at all levels of operations, from using reusable cutlery in the lunchroom to finding recycling options for defective solar panels. ReVision Energy’s commitment to recycling didn’t start overnight. It emerged out of necessity as the company scaled up and increased its number of installations, bringing in more damaged components like modules and inverters. ReVision’s maintenance services yielded more of that hardware as technicians visited aging arrays. The solution to the component recycling problem came in the form of an electronic waste company based in New Hampshire called Aurum Recovery Group. Aurum Recovery processes a range of electronics and is able to recycle about 85% of solar module hardware. The aluminum frames, some of
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Ditch the Goop Using BoltSeal ™ The solar industry has gone through many generations of technological development, especially in the last decade. One technology in particular – BoltSeal™ by QuickBOLT – has changed the way solar is installed since its introduction to the market 9 years ago. QuickBOLT’s innovative solutions have led the growing effort to move away from the practice of lifting shingles and the use of traditional sheet metal flashing as much as possible. So what is BoltSeal™? It’s QuickBOLT’s patented technology which creates a mechanical compression-seal between Microflashings® and the roof. You can see and feel the flashing concave to seal the penetration. The newest version of the QuickBOLT, QB2, utilizes BoltSeal™ so well that you can install the bolt without using any chemical sealant, a.k.a. ‘goop’. Intertek Lab testing confirms QB2 prevents water from entering roof penetrations when BoltSealed™ properly. So why ditch the goop? It has its limitations. Some goop can’t be used in extreme weather, which is a hindrance to half of the US when it comes to the Winter months. Come Summertime, extreme heat threatens some goops by making them too elastic to use practically. Cost is also a factor. While individual tubes are easily affordable, the total materials cost adds up when you’re a growing installer. Smaller installation companies spend $15k - $90k annually on roofing sealants, while some of the largest companies in the country have reported spending nearly $2 million on chemical roofing sealant alone. Those are numbers that could pay for a badly needed work truck or two, or a few new employees’ wages.
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BUSINESS
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IF WE’RE SAYING THAT WE’RE SAVING THE PLANET AND WE WANT TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE, BUT WE’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING TO MITIGATE PLASTIC USE OR RECYCLE OUR MATERIALS OR OFFSET CARBON, THEN WE’RE NOT DOING ALL THAT WE CAN. the wire on the back of the module and the glass are all recyclable and the solar cells are shredded and combined with Aurum’s circuit board mixtures. Packaging for solar hardware presents its own recycling challenges. Pallets of panels come wrapped in film plastic, and tabs used to separate the modules during shipment are made of No. 2 plastic. The former isn’t a widely recyclable material. ReVision initially took the film plastic to a regional grocer who processed the material, and later joined a recycling cooperative started by Allagash Brewing Company, a local sustainability-focused brewery whose business has a large intake of film plastic. The return ReVision sees from scrap metals more than covers the shipping fees for e-waste and time needed to collect and recycle its film and No. 2 plastics. “[Recycling services are] certainly not easy to find,” ReVision’s Alder said. “It took some time to track it all down. That’s why I like to talk about it. I hope people hear this and realize that there are some resources out there for this kind of stuff, even though it’s not a quick Google search and, ‘bang,’ you know where to get rid of your No. 2 plastic.” Third Sun is also recycling everything it can. It might be more convenient to dispose of component packaging at jobsites, but Third Sun installers haul it all back to be recycled, and the
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company donates pallets to people in the community. Some of those pallets were repurposed and used in a project to build benches, tables and sculptures for a local park. “It’s kind of a pain to keep the pallets and keep the cardboard and bring it all back on the trailer,” said Michelle Greenfield, co-owner of Third Sun Solar. “You’ve got a trailer full of panels going up to North Columbus and then you’ve got to haul all that stuff back. But we do it, it’s just the way we do stuff.” Computers, cell phones and tablets used in day-to-day operations have narrower and narrower windows of use before they’re outdated, but they aren’t necessarily useless. California installer Solar Optimum started refurbishing those electronics when it came time to replace them. The computers and cell phones are donated to children and families in need through a program at a church local to Glendale where the company is based. “We’re just doing what we can in the markets we serve with the employees that we have to be better, to be greener,
y n Energ
to be positive and to think of the environment,” said Rainier de Ocampo, VP of marketing at Solar Optimum. “Whatever impact we’re making, big or small, it’s as much as we can do and we support it.” When it comes to recycling programs or finding other purposes for materials or electronics, these installers found success in local or regional resources. It took some extra effort, but it’s keeping a lot of materials out of landfills and ultimately reducing their carbon footprint. “It’s part of a larger mission. I’m driving down the road right now in Ohio, and unbelievable amounts of garbage and plastic are all over the side of the road. If we’re saying that we’re saving the planet and we want to mitigate climate change, but we’re not doing anything to mitigate plastic use or recycle our materials or offset carbon, then we’re not doing all that we can,” Greenfield said. “There are many things you can do besides sales, which is a great thing, but there are so many facets that our businesses encompass.” SPW
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KELSEY MISBRENER SENIOR EDITOR
The U.S. needs a
STORAGE ITC TO REACH CARBON-FREE ELECTRICITY GOALS
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POLICY
Nexa
mp
THE
United States needs energy storage to reach the carbonfree electricity goals necessary to curb the worst effects of climate change. Storage technologies make renewables dispatchable like fossil fuels, yet they're still not in abundant use. "We are seeing significant demand for solar paired with energy storage across the United States for use-cases such as firming, shaping, minimizing curtailment risk and enabling the solar to look more like baseload power," said Josh Rogol, chief development officer at Strata Solar, in an email. One reason adoption of storage hasn’t exploded yet is the lack of a federal tax credit to reduce the cost of deployment. Currently, storage must be paired with solar to receive
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an ITC. Further, a battery can only take advantage of the solar ITC if it is at least 75% charged directly from the PV asset it's paired with for five years. That means the paired batteries cannot perform many of the additional demand arbitrage functions they're capable of, lest they forfeit the ITC. "The structure of the investment tax credit today drives technology and design decisions that often lead to suboptimal technical and financial structuring that could be ameliorated by broadening the ITC eligibility, specifically by eliminating the need for the [battery] to be charged by PV during the five-year ITC recapture period," Rogol said.
Morten Lund, partner at law firm Stoel Rives, said hybrid solar + storage facilities hamstring batteries. "[Batteries] can do 100 different things, but if you can only charge from the solar system, you can only do really two or three or even just one. They basically become time-delay equipment and nothing else," Lund said. "If you unbundle them, now you're free to do full grid-support services from your battery, while also providing that timeshift service for the solar system."
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Those grid-support services include frequency regulation and voltage support, while many battery owners also want to take advantage of time-of-use rates and charging from the grid on poor solar harvest days. Mark Frigo, VP of storage for Nexamp, said the many different functions of batteries make it difficult for them to be classified under the existing rules and regulations for energy assets, preventing them from taking advantage of credits that other assets can. At times, batteries can fall under all energy categories: generation, transmission and distribution and load. "That's been the biggest challenge. It doesn't neatly fit into one of the categories as the rules have been outlined by both federal and state authorities," Frigo said. A MORE RENEWABLE POWER GRID NEEDS BATTERIES
For the U.S. power grid to vastly increase clean energy on the grid, ample storage must be available to use clean power at all hours, not just when the sun is shining or wind is blowing. "If we must transition to a world where we produce energy without carbon, the missing piece is batteries," said Gregory Jenner, partner at Stoel Rives. "Although I think we'll get there
eventually, we'll get there a lot faster with some sort of governmental incentive that juices the process, just like we did with solar." Bernadette Del Chiaro, CEO of the California Solar + Storage Association, compared the status of storage now to where solar was in 2007-08 — enjoying slow and steady upward growth, but in need of longterm government programs like the ITC to increase the pace and reach climate goals. And just as importantly, federal support for solar could be a signal to the states to do their part to implement storage-friendly policies. "It would be really a clear indication that this is something that the United States wants to really make happen, bring to scale and deploy throughout the country to help stabilize the electric grid and transition to clean energy," Del Chiaro said. "What we need in order to bring that technology to scale is these types of long-term initiatives and incentives, government programs to give the industry and give consumers that assurance that this is a technology we want to invest in." Del Chiaro appreciates that storage can qualify for the ITC in conjunction with solar, but said standalone storage projects have to
be very unique to pencil out without a tax credit at this time. One example where it’s worked is a Tesla storage system installed at the Ventura River Water District plant in Ojai, California. The energy storage system is charged from the grid at night when electricity is cheaper, then the stored energy is used to pump water up the hill during the day at peak electricity hours. "They're able to do it because they're in a really unique situation with really high demand charges, but there are many other customers that would want to add a battery to their facility but for whatever reason aren't in a place to or can't add solar," Del Chiaro said.
IF WE MUST TRANSITION TO A WORLD WHERE WE PRODUCE ENERGY WITHOUT CARBON, THE MISSING PIECE IS BATTERIES.
A Strata Solar energy storage project in North Carolina.
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POLICY
INDUSTRY AWAITS NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Nexamp develops solar + storage projects and believes a storage ITC would open significant storage development opportunities, both with and without solar. The ITC cost savings for a company like Nexamp could be passed down to the end user, making for more affordable storage projects. Standalone storage legislation would also offer Nexamp more flexibility in system design and grid-support functions. "We would still pair it with solar, but you would design the system, perhaps, instead of having a DC-coupled project, you would have an AC-coupled project, where you'd be able to charge more from the grid," Frigo said. "As a result, you might be able to offer more ancillary services than you would have been able to otherwise." Swinerton Renewable Energy (SRE) works as an EPC on both solar + storage and standalone storage projects and is also supportive of an additional ITC, but the company expects market growth to continue even without one. "We are seeing a number of those projects moving forward and expect, with or without change to the ITC on storage, that those projects will continue to move forward because of the
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POLICY
Swinerton Renewable Energy’s Mira Loma, California, energy storage project.
economics and the need for those type of hybrid projects," said George Hershman, president of SRE. "Those types of enabling platforms, whether it be energy storage or clean hydrogen, are all good for the renewables industry.” THE STATUS OF STANDALONE STORAGE LEGISLATION
In March, bipartisan congressmembers introduced standalone energy storage tax credit legislation in both the House and Senate, and President Joe Biden released his infrastructure bill that also alludes to such a credit, but it's still uncertain if these initiatives will pass. Until then, developers are left waiting. "It will be great once they get it done. In the meantime, it's making everybody's life difficult because nobody can plan," Stoel Rives's Jenner said. While the standalone ITC is important to boost the nascent energy storage market, Del Chiaro said other policy initiatives are also key to growing storage in the country. "You're not going to be able to bring the economy of scale for storage on the back of an ITC alone. We need to have a suite of policies like what we had for solar to help bring this technology to market," she said. A standalone storage ITC would mostly assist developers of larger projects, according to Del Chiaro. Residential consumers will likely continue to want their storage paired with solar, so extending the solar ITC is crucial too.
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Strata Solar's Rogol said the most important policy change necessary to benefit storage is a universal tariff system that can compensate storage projects for all the benefits they provide to the grid. "The storage market must be compensated for more than time-of-use arbitrage for all of its benefits to the grid to be unlocked," he said. "So long as battery energy storage has a market signal that it can react to, it can provide a compelling economic case in many parts of the grid." Lowering soft costs by streamlining permitting and codes and standards is also important for storage growth. "That type of thing seems so small and boring, but it can sort of make or break this industry," Del Chiaro said. "A ton of work went into [codes and standards] on the solar side and it took us a while, so we can learn from that and get out ahead of it." By creating a standalone storage ITC, extending the solar ITC and streamlining storage permitting, the storage market could rapidly scale and allow for more intermittent renewable energy to come onto the grid. "We need the full suite of policies to really make this technology pencil out for consumers, drive those prices down and create that mature market that we are starting to enjoy on the solar side," Del Chiaro said. SPW
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INSTALLATION
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BILLY LUDT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
When the utilities left him stranded, a homeowner went off-grid with solar + storage Many
homeowners might have given up and bought a different home when faced with the utility hassle that landowner Derrick Zearley experienced. Instead, he looked to solar + storage to avoid interconnection altogether. Zearley purchased land located on a boundary of two utility territories in Anderson County, South Carolina — Duke Energy and its energy cooperative Blue Ridge Electric. That led to a back-and-forth between Duke and Blue Ridge to determine whose territory it actually was. When Duke Energy laid claim to the plot, the next step in the process was getting signed petitions from Zearley's neighbors to give right of way on their properties to run electricity to the site. But after distributing the petitions, no neighbors signed. With half a year lost to the utilities and unwilling neighbors, Zearley reached out to Palmetto State Solar (now Firefly Solar), an installer based in
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Greenville, and pitched the idea of an off-grid solar system to be built for, and alongside, a 5,500-sq.-ft building in an unelectrified remote location in South Carolina. “I’m somewhat of a cowboy, so I was interested in the challenge and kind of being able to give the utilities the middle finger after they gave us the runaround,” Zearley said. Residing in a remote location like this usually comes with additional energy conservation requirements, such as limiting household electricity usage to when solar panels are receiving the most sunlight. But Zearley didn’t want an off-grid home with energy limitations. He wanted to build a full home with an attached workshop that electrically functioned on his own terms, with power after sunset — not a cabin or a trailer that relied on a few measly kilowatts of solar power.
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RAISING A SOLAR-POWERED BARN
Firefly Solar didn’t have much experience with off-grid projects prior to this one. “We get calls from time to time from people who want to go off-grid, but for the most part it’s not feasible, primarily from a financial perspective,” said Aaron Davis, owner and president of Firefly Solar. “So, when Derrick called, I went out and visited him and I sort of threw out some rough numbers of what he might expect, and he was willing to get into that, especially because of the difficulties he had with the utility companies.” Zearley's home resides on a 27-acre property, with about six acres being open yard. The building he wanted was a pre-engineered steel structure with a single slope roof in a color that takes inspiration from red barns found in farming communities. Zearley likened it
to "barndominiums," which are similarly wrought structures known for ease of construction through prefabrication and energy efficiency. Firefly was willing to do the project and Zearley was willing to put down the money, and the plan was for solar + storage technologies to primarily power the site. “I think it piqued my interest once I learned that he thought the technology was available, but no one’s really done it yet in our area, and so there wasn’t anything really to mimic, to design after,” Zearley said. “It was kind of an interesting challenge, I think, for the both of us to figure out how to do this. Then once we started going down
this road, I told the energy companies that we didn’t need them anymore.” To take the site off the grid, Firefly Solar installed a 19.5-kW solar + storage system made of 60 Panasonic 325-W modules, 60 Enphase IQ 7X microinverters, IronRidge XR100 racking with S-5! ProteaBracket metal roof attachments and four Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries. And just in case solar doesn’t cover it, a 20-kW Kohler gas-powered backup generator was installed too. Firefly lucked out, because when Davis reached out to Tesla about the
Firefly Solar installed a 19.5-kW solar system atop the home, slightly oversizing it to compensate for the roof angle. Firefly Solar
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INSTALLATION
TYPICALLY, WITH OFFGRID YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT, ‘ALL RIGHT, WE NEED TO LIMIT YOUR USAGE AND WE NEED TO INSTALL LEDS EVERYWHERE.’ WITH THIS, WE REALLY JUST WENT FOR IT AND WE INSTALLED THE CAPACITY TO HANDLE THE EVERYDAY USAGE OF A HOME OF THIS SIZE. project, the company was just starting an off-grid program. Previously, the warranty language on Tesla storage hardware didn't cover off-grid applications. Just as the Powerwalls were being installed, Tesla was rewriting operating code to make the hardware work in this application. “Derrick approached this with kind of a ‘no compromises’ attitude and what he wanted was basically a home that was off-grid but didn’t seem like it was off-grid,” said Ryan Wagler of Firefly Solar, who was the design project manager on this project. “Typically, with off-grid, you’re talking about, ‘All right, we need to limit your usage and we need to install LEDs everywhere.’ With this, we really just went for it and we installed the capacity to handle the everyday usage of a home of this size, and that was new for me.” The building’s roof is angled flatter than typical pitched rooftops, but the surface area made it possible to fully conceal the 60 modules from observers at ground level. The panels are mounted flush to the roof and the system is slightly oversized
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INSTALLATION AN OFF-GRID HOME WITHOUT ENERGY COMPROMISE The Zearley family stands in the garage of their off-grid home, next to the four Tesla Powerwalls keeping the lights on after the sun sets. Firefly Solar
to compensate for the angling, using Panasonic 96-cell modules, hardware that Firefly has used extensively. “Amidst all the uncertainty, we felt we needed some products we could trust,” Wagler said. Outside of the challenges presented by installing solar with new construction on an off-grid site, Firefly was also working alongside several other trades. Davis said, at one point, there were seven different contractors onsite. Since there was no electricity on the property yet, everyone was running off of gas-powered generators. That is, until the solar was installed, then all the trades could run their equipment without generators. Retrofitting a home to be off-grid usually comes with the added challenge of compensating for switching out existing electrical appliances and equipment that are high-energy. Heating and cooling systems, well pumps and other necessary home loads require a lot of power at startup. In Zearley’s case, with new construction, it was possible to make sure every major electrical load used a soft starter for less initial voltage, since every building trade was present at the same time. “Now, trying to get the electrician, the HVAC guy, these different components 26
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of construction together because they had absolutely never dealt with anything like this before. It was a bit of a challenge,” Zearley said. Still, Firefly contractors were able to ensure everything from the well pump to garage door openers were on soft starters as they were being put in. “The opportunities outweigh the challenges in this case, because we were able to build in exactly what we needed to the system,” Wagler said. “If you can have some input into how those things are chosen, you can actually make a big difference in how the system works and functions down the road.”
Zearley ended up with the home he and his wife hoped for. Seven-foot storefront glass windows look out into the wooded property and meet a concrete slab floor that matches the countertops of the kitchen. The roofline extends past the structure, creating a covered porch. The windows open garage door-style to bring the outside in when the weather's fair. The shop, or as Zearley described it, his “man cave,” is open air, and a section of the home protrudes into the building, creating a mezzanine where they can look down into the space. And solar is powering it all, with energy storage keeping it running after sunset. “It’s just a neat feeling to be in the house and know that you’re responsible for generating your own energy,” Zearley said. Projects like this demonstrate that solar + storage technologies can be a viable, consistent energy source even in larger applications. “I think there’s going to be the microgrids and small communities with distributed energy resources all sort of coming together,” Davis said. “There will be a lot more control as this evolves, and a lot more people breaking away from monopoly utility companies. I think a lot of this depends on the research and development that goes into storage in the coming years.” SPW
Firefly Solar
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ADVERTORIAL
SOLAR SPOTLIGHT:
K2 Systems on the evolution of solar roof flashings IN THIS SPECIAL EDITION of Contractor’s Corner, solar mounting product manufacturer K2 Systems talks about the evolution of solar roof flashings from “goop and a prayer” to tried-and-true metal solutions and new plastic solutions. Below is a portion of the company’s Solar Spotlight podcast with Solar Power World, but be sure to listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app for what’s ahead in the solar roof flashing market. SPW: When you started in this industry, what was the norm for flashings on solar mounting systems? Johan Alfsen, senior director of product marketing, K2 Systems: I got into it as an installer in 2004 and the norm was an L-foot put straight to the roof and sealant all over it — I call that the “goop and a prayer” era. And then some guys would use a roof flashing over some kind of standoff, but those are the guys that were kind of the innovators who were doing it right. How has that changed over the years? The original owners of Quick Mount PV were installers and they had this product that they started making that was called an all-in-one flashing and mount. So instead of putting in a standoff post and then trying to wedge in a flashing over it, it was a onepiece solution where it was all integrated into one. You slipped it in and bolted it down.
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As an installer, I saw this as a huge need and a no-brainer. My classic move was showing up at the job sites with a bag of Gatorades at lunchtime and showing guys this product right out of the back of my truck on a mini roof section. They loved it. I would say the roofing industry norms and the solar norms were not aligned whatsoever, and now that bridge has been crossed. It was a lot of technical training, a lot of videos and just showing guys how to do it right and trying to keep the efficiency on the roof as well. What are some situations where nonmetal flashings are preferred over traditional metal flashings? A metal flashing is basically a sheet of metal, typically a 9-by-12 flashing square, with a mount on it and some kind of sealing element. A solar installer has to get a pry bar under there and break that seal and slip the flashing in. It might be easy to do in my area like Northern California where the climate is not too hot and not too cold, but you tell a guy in Las Vegas to pry up 45 or hundreds of shingles, and you can tear that roof up. So this new wave of what's been called flexible flashing is a non-metal flashing where instead of prying up the shingles and getting a metal flashing up there, you can now have some kind of bracket that has a sealing element underneath, like a compatible butyl. You peel off the protective paper and essentially glue it down with a tested, proven seal. This is the big debate now, some guys will no way go away from a metal flashing, and that's fair in certain applications. But like I said, guys in very intense heat can't get
those shingles up, so I totally understand why they want to have these self-sealing products. You're going to start seeing more products come out that have these options. We're looking at it ourselves at K2, but we're very strict on testing. I'd say it's regional based, like in Las Vegas or Arizona, where the heat is just so intense that a metal flashing might cause more harm than good. What should installers prioritize when they are researching the best flashing products to use? It really depends on where you’re based and what trends you're seeing with shingles. I would just look at what works best for your install crew. Something that people don't think about is how you pack things on your belts and in boxes and on your truck. What stacks the best? What works with your flow of work? Choose what works best for you: Are you doing more new homes, or more re-roofs? Where's that roof going to be in 10 years and how are you going to be able to pull it off and service it and fix roofs? There's a lot of options out there, and we're trying to host more webinars to train on what to look for and what mount to choose because we have options for all the different roof types. SPW
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KELLY PICKEREL EDITOR IN CHIEF
FLEXIBLE
SOLAR PANELS
FLEX THEIR UNIQUE
APPLICATION METHODS
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solar modules are a niche product. Often seen on a smaller scale attached to RVs, on backpacks and near tents, these nontraditional solar panels are touted for their off-grid portability. After all, who would lug a 50-lb glassed solar panel to a favorite camping spot? But flexible panels are proving they're not just for mobile applications. More powerful flexible modules are finding their way into sleek systems on roofs that can't support the full weight of glassed modules. They'll likely always be considered an off-grid product, but flexible modules are getting more flexible with their applications. Sunflare manufactures flexible panels for the residential, commercial, recreational and transportation industries. The company uses CIGS thin-film encapsulated in polymer sheets for a 75% lighter solar panel when compared to glassed silicon. Sunflare's solar panels are installed with adhesives, which allow for more moldability and lighter rooftop systems. "For roofs, that means there are no penetrations and significantly less weight from
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installation mounting hardware," said Elizabeth Sanderson, Sunflare's chief marketing officer. "These features are perfect for roofs on expansive warehouses and distribution centers that have less structural reinforcement." Sunflare's top product, Flex60, is the same size as a traditional 60-cell crystalline silicon module but doesn't have a frame, only weighs 11 lbs and produces up to 185 W. The soon-to-be-released PowerFit 20 module fits between the seams of a standing-seam metal roof. The company also makes other panel sizes for "adventurers and overlanders" looking for more flexible designs. Flexible modules aren't limitless in their bendability; their name usually just means they aren't hindered by the rigid constraints of glass. In fact, whether the flexible panel uses silicon or thin-film cells encapsulated in polymers, it likely shouldn't be bent completely in half, but it's still much more malleable than a glassed module. "With Sunflare, the bend radius is roughly 10 in. (a 30° bend), which is equivalent to bending the panel around a basketball without causing damage," Sanderson said. "While it is possible to physically fold the panel, that would create a
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permanent crease in the substrate and possibly damage the electrical connections." Although silicon is known for its brittle qualities, it too can be used in flexible modules with special designs. U.S. company Merlin Solar uses a grid of interconnects instead of traditional busbars to provide more stability to solar cells, allowing the crystalline silicon solar panels to be flexible when encased in polymers. Other flexible silicon panel makers include Lumeta and its Lynx modules for residential and commercial applications, and startup mPower with its DragonSCALES mesh-like silicon panels. mPower's modules have so far only been tested on satellites in outer space, and Merlin's durable modules have lent themselves more to the transportation and military markets, but flexible silicon modules are finding homes on residential and commercial rooftops. Lumeta caters its production to rooftops, and Merlin has completed a few commercial projects. Crystalline silicon is a better performer than thin-film in almost all situations, especially in small-scale projects. Silicon solar cells are more powerful and more efficient in real-world conditions than thin-film, and the silicon supply chain is much more consistent. But thin-film will always be the best choice for flexible modules for flexibility's sake. No matter the design, silicon cells do still need more structural support than thin-film. When the goal is to have solar power of any kind on unique surfaces rather than hitting a certain power output, flexible solar panels can meet the challenge. "Our mission is to reduce CO2 for a healthier future. This requires more solar adoption throughout the world," Sanderson said. "In order to have more solar used, we need to have different kinds of solar, like flexible CIGS, that has different benefits and can go in new places." SPW
Merlin Solar
Sunflare
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INVERTER TECHNOLOGY
KELSEY MISBRENER SENIOR EDITOR
Off-grid inverter advancements keep solar projects running in frigid and sizzling temps As the aging U.S. power grid experiences more catastrophic blackouts due to fires, ice, snow or other natural disasters, more Americans may be considering the merits of disconnecting from it all and living fully off-grid. The concept seems quaint and simple, but the reality of ensuring a standalone electric system operates as it should for as long as possible is much more complicated. Although it’s important to properly design and install the actual solar panels on an off-grid system, the sensitive power electronics must be all the more carefully
planned out. This starts with choosing the right inverter for the environment. Manufacturers have worked to design inverters that can withstand even the harshest off-grid conditions. Perhaps the biggest design choice is whether to create a vented or sealed inverter. Typical string inverters installed in residential garages are vented to ensure adequate air flow is available to keep them cool. Cooling is important because when inverters overheat, they shut down to protect themselves. But internal fans that assist in the ventilation process can draw in unwanted debris when inverters are installed in off-grid installations.
“You’ve got roads that are basically dirt, so they kick up a tremendous amount of material in the air. An inverter that’s going to draw straight atmosphere into the system would happily suck all that dirt in, and the next thing you know, when you shake the box, you got a pound of dirt that comes out of the bottom,” said John Webber, international sales manager for OutBack Power. The larger ventilation openings in typical residential inverters can also be an invitation for rodents and bugs to nest inside and cause damage. For installations near an ocean, venting can let salt enter the inverter and corrode metal parts.
A Renewable Energy Outfitters off-grid installation at a Colorado ski resort.
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INVERTER TECHNOLOGY
An off-grid installation in Hawaii using OutBack inverters.
An off-grid installation in Wyoming using OutBack inverters.
“My rule of thumb is if you can smell the ocean, there’s salt in the air. That’s a pretty easy thing for people to get their brains wrapped around on choosing that system. If you can smell the jungle, then the jungle is going to come for you,” Webber said. The solution to these off-grid environmental issues is choosing a sealed inverter design. OutBack’s FXR/ VFXR inverter series is built using a sealed design, with only a small spiral on the bottom to allow the inverters to breathe. That means it takes in as little of the surrounding atmosphere as possible. Sol-Ark also manufactures sealed hybrid inverters that CTO Tom Brennan compares to microinverters in their long warranties and lifespans. “Most outside-rated hybrid inverters are indoor electronics inside a steel umbrella, but our outdoor electronics are 100% isolated from rain, dust, humidity, bugs. That gives it a 20+ [year] design life,” Brennan said.
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The downside to sealed inverters is they don’t cool themselves as well as vented versions, so their overall power rating is lower as a result. But that tradeoff could be worth it for a longer lifespan and less required maintenance. OutBack has added design elements that help sealed inverters keep cool, such as internal fans to keep air moving and an external fan on top that blows air across fins on the outside of the box. Morningstar Corporation is in favor of forgoing fans entirely in its off-grid inverters. The manufacturer has one small off-grid inverter on the market today, the SureSine, but is developing a larger product called the MultiWave, said Ezra Auerbach, consultant for product development and application. “If you don’t have a fan, you don’t bring dirt and dust in from the environment,” Auerbach said. “The sealed aspect of the unit will also make it more resistant to salt intrusion and, of course, without a fan there’s one less thing to break.”
THE SEALED ASPECT OF THE UNIT WILL ALSO MAKE IT MORE RESISTANT TO SALT INTRUSION AND, OF COURSE, WITHOUT A FAN THERE’S ONE LESS THING TO BREAK.
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INVERTER TECHNOLOGY
Morningstar must ensure its products can operate at higher temperature ratings since the typical cooling elements of fans and large vents are absent. Doug Grubbs, Morningstar engineer, said most of the company’s equipment is rated to at least 45°C (113°F). The company uses passive ventilation to keep its yet-to-be-released off-grid inverter from overheating, in the form of heat sinks on top. CHOOSING MOUNTAINTOP INVERTERS
Off-grid homes are also commonly in very cold areas, which require a whole different set of inverter design characteristics. Aaron Mandelkorn, president of Colorado-based Renewable Energy Outfitters, specializes in off-grid solar + storage projects in cold temperatures and high altitudes. The first thing Mandelkorn looks for when he’s choosing an inverter is its temperature operating range. “At 12,000 ft, 11,000 ft in the middle of winter, these inverters are seeing temperatures of -15°F, not to mention batteries and everything else. Its ability to even really function sometimes gets compromised,” he said. It’s imperative that the inverters he chooses can operate in those temperatures not just for performance concerns, but also
to ensure they are installed “to spec” and thus still qualify for warranty protection. “If you have a problem, you’re not going to get support from the manufacturer if you’re too cold or too high,” Mandelkorn said. “With complicated off-grid systems, we kind of rely on the support of the manufacturers to help deal with a variety of technical problems.” He and his team still do plenty of site visits to repair offgrid installations themselves, but they aren’t cheap. “We come out to places where everything is frozen, we come out to places where everything is just cooking, and just see all sorts of electrical failures because they just can’t handle it,” he said. “A lot of times, to service the site, excavators and snowcats need to be used to literally clear roads in winter, to make roads.” That process can cost around $10,000 to the customer, but there are some relatively simple steps that can be taken in the installation and O&M process to largely avoid those costly visits. INSTALLING OFF-GRID INVERTERS TO LAST
If it’s possible, installers should protect inverters by building a robust structure around them, ideally made of metal since
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rodents can’t get through it, according to OutBack’s Webber. Inverters should also be mounted on treated wood that’s raised off the ground and not easy for animals to enter from underneath. Webber also advises installers to use wire mesh to keep critters away from insulation and wiring. “At the end of the day, Mother Nature will always try to find her way into your system. Every barrier that you create slows that progress significantly,” Webber said. In hot climates, the structure should be vented to again ensure the inverter doesn’t overheat. Holes can be drilled, then covered up with wire mesh to act as another barrier against animals. Morningstar’s Grubbs also suggests installing external fans to keep the structure cool. Since off-grid inverters will usually be paired with batteries, Auerbach said it’s important to make sure there’s adequate air space between an inverter and leadacid batteries to account for off-gassing. He also encouraged installers to invest in a good temperature sensor and voltage sensor to keep tabs on the system and avoid overheating or other shutdown surprises. Webber said it’s important to clear any large trees or branches that could fall on the system during installation and to set a regular O&M schedule to make sure the system isn’t compromised by nature or anything else. In cold climates, REO’s Mandelkorn stressed the importance of housing the inverters and batteries in conditioned, insulated spaces. He typically installs power electronics and batteries in “power sheds” that are insulated and heated using direct vent propane heaters. “A little bit of insulation and a little bit of heat goes a very, very long way,” he said. To keep systems running and minimize O&M site visits, Mandelkorn said
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INVERTER TECHNOLOGY
A poisonous visitor to an off-grid install site in the Colorado mountains. Renewable Energy Outfitters
A power shed housing the electronics of an off-grid solar project. Renewable Energy Outfitters
he chooses inverters like Sol-Ark’s that have comprehensive remote monitoring capabilities. If the system notifies him of a fault, he can remotely look into the problem and determine if it’s an issue that does not require a trek into the mountains, like DC overvoltage due to an extra-sunny day, or if it’s a critical issue that can only be resolved by him visiting that site in-person. Sol-Ark’s Brennan said the manufacturer monitors its entire fleet remotely and emails installers if they notice an error. “Although problems are typically settings we can remotely change, we can catch install mistakes before it leads to hardware damage,” Brennan said. Mandelkorn said he prioritizes “usability” over serviceability of inverters in his projects, meaning he wants his customers to be able to understand what’s going on with the system using
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a comprehensive monitoring platform, but he does not want them to have to personally service their systems if it requires any electrical work. However, Webber said OutBack works to make its inverters easily serviceable by the end user because the manufacturer understands installers are sometimes many miles away from these off-grid systems. “If they have the skills to put a new graphics card inside their computer, they have the skills to be able to swap those boards out and get that inverter up and running again,” Webber said. Off-grid solar + storage projects can be complex, but with the right design and installation considerations as well as robust monitoring, installers can ensure their customers enjoy many electrified days with no reliance on power lines. SPW
AT THE END OF THE DAY, MOTHER NATURE WILL ALWAYS TRY TO FIND HER WAY INTO YOUR SYSTEM. EVERY BARRIER THAT YOU CREATE SLOWS THAT PROGRESS SIGNIFICANTLY.
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BILLY LUDT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MOUNTING TECHNOLOGY
Rooftops aren’t the only place to mount small-scale solar systems Rooftops aren’t the only place to harvest a few kilowatts of solar power for smaller energy applications. Homes with yards or in off-grid locations can use the soil underfoot or south-facing walls to mount some solar panels. Solar mounting manufacturers offer a number of alternatives for homeowners looking for a different kind of installation. POLE MOUNTS
Pole-mounted photovoltaics are commonly found in roadside and smaller off-grid applications, powering devices like traffic lights and water pumps. But those are side-of-pole mounts and
produce significantly less energy than a typical array. However, top-of-pole mounts (TPM) can hold many more modules and work well for off-grid solar projects. With one pole as a foundation, TPM systems adapt well to undulating topographies. When installed in succession in these conditions, the poles can remain level with one another. “One of the biggest advantages is just being able to put it wherever it needs to be placed,” said Steve Schumacher, national sales manager at Preformed Line Products (PLP). “It’s just a whole lot easier than trying to get a racking system to work on a hillside.”
PLP carries TPM systems in horizontal and vertical module orientations and a multi-pole model with multiple footings. These TPM systems can hold up to 15 modules and max out at about 5 kW for each table with high-production panels. Additionally, single-post TPMs are adjustable, both in orientation and angle. On PLP’s models, panels can be moved from 15° to 65° in 10° increments. This is possible through a mounting sleeve that is fastened to the top of the pole with an adjustable support bar. Schumacher said people often reorient their TPM systems in the fall and spring, compensating for the sun’s changing path throughout the year.
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Quest Renewables on how carport manufacturers are adapting to new solar panel innovations IN THIS SPECIAL EDITION of Contractor’s Corner, solar carport manufacturer Quest Renewables talks about emerging trends in the market, including accommodating larger or bifacial panels, incorporating ancillary features like water management and much more. Below is a portion of the company’s Solar Spotlight podcast with Solar Power World, but be sure to listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app. What do you foresee as the biggest emerging trends in solar carports over the next few years? We're seeing more and more bifacial panels being used. They're great from a production standpoint, but also, aesthetically, they look really great. All of that's really driving the cost per watt down. We're also starting to see a change in the module format. Panels have been typically right around 1 m by 2 m, but I just got off the phone with a manufacturer who, by 2022, will be at 2.3 m by 1.3 m and a 650 W panel. So things are going to change a lot from that perspective as well. What is Quest doing as far as those trends go? We're trying to drive a lower cost per watt for these systems. As we mentioned, the panels are becoming larger, higher wattage and a little more efficient to install, and that will continue to make installation
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less expensive. That's really what we've been doing at Quest since we started, is reimagining how you can integrate both the racking and the construction process to really make an efficient construction process for our customers. So that changing form factor leads us to think about how we're going to continue to efficiently get panels onto the racking at the ground level and then lift them up. One of the other drivers of that lower cost is improved production driven by the bifacial panels, so we've designed our systems to maximize the amount of reflective light that reaches the back side of the panels. On top of that, we're developing ancillary features like water management, etc. What features are most important to consider in solar carports? The biggest one has got to be durability. We work with a couple of big customers that have a real understanding of how the environment is changing and they're specifying strengths that are beyond construction code — anticipating that weather is going to become more unpredictable over the life of the systems that we're putting in. The second is finding not just the cheapest steel, but finding the most reliable, most predictable and least expensive way overall to get construction done. And then the third piece is really aesthetics, and this is probably the one that we really want to get people's heads
around. It's really important to understand how that carport really works in the built environment, around whatever else is surrounding it. What advice do you have for someone who wants to take advantage of these emerging trends? Especially if you're just starting out, it's important to know that it could be two or three years from your initial conversation about a solar carport to the actual construction, and over that two or three years, economics are probably going to get better and better. A lot of times, a project that starts with pretty marginal economics can have great economics for everybody by the time it actually gets built. The key to keeping customers engaged over that period of time is to really talk about the ancillary features that are there. You've got the electricity side of it, but also you've got potentially water capture, you've got shaded parking, you have a really nice aesthetic structure in a parking lot. At the end of the day, what people really love about carports is not whether the ROI is X or Y, they really love getting to use the space under it. SPW
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are custom-designed on a per-project basis with leading edge heights up to 9 ft and use a rectangular steel substructure across all systems. Like TPMs, system orientation isn’t bound to what direction the roof is facing. Solar Foundations has manufactured fixed-tilt systems with leading edge height up to 5 ft for use on farms and around livestock. Expansion is a simpler prospect on fixed-tilt systems where roof space doesn’t come into play. As long as there’s more yard, there can be more modules. FLOWER POWER
Solar Foundations USA
“You could physically go out there and spin it on the pole,” he said. “They’re trying to get every last ounce of power out of their solar panels.” Wiring TPMs can be done by drilling a hole at the top of the pole, running the cabling to the bottom and running it out another hole on the pole’s side. PLP uses concrete foundations that vary in length and diameter depending on soil type. They’re tested to withstand snow loads of about 90 psf and wind loads of 150 mph. “There are limitations, but they’re pretty extreme,” Schumacher said. CARPORTS, CANOPIES AND GROUND-MOUNTS
Rooftop solar is the predominant choice for residential solar, but Mike Zuritis, president of Solar Foundations USA, said he’s finding more people are choosing ground-mounted projects when considering what is required to mount an array overhead. Penetrations are typically needed for rooftop arrays, so any roof 40
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maintenance means the modules will have to be considered. “When you put it on a ground-mount structure, you can orient the array to optimize the PV production, and the maintenance capabilities are obviously simplified when it’s on the ground itself,” he said. “You potentially have a lot more versatility in terms of what you can additionally use that structure for.” Solar Foundations USA focuses on producing ground-mount structures for residential and small commercial clients. Solar Foundations’ structures use ground screws rather than I-beams. On larger projects, some developers will use driven piles requiring pullout tests to determine the foundation’s capacity in a jobsite’s soil, but Solar Foundations has found ground screws work in precarious soil conditions and don’t often require pullout tests, skipping that step altogether and saving money. The company’s fixed-tilt groundmounts, canopies, carports and pavilions
Staying on trend with non-traditional solar structures, Smartflower takes a different approach to creating renewable energy. Where customers may ask installers to conceal modules as much as possible on rooftops or in yards, Smartflower’s eponymous product is meant to draw attention to itself. In its fifth iteration, the 2.5-kW PV “sculpture” is also a solar tracker with petal-shaped modules attached to a column. At sunrise, the Smartflower’s modules unfurl, track throughout the day and close at sunset. Mark Conroy, president of Smartflower Solar, said the system is meant to mimic the heliotropic qualities of a sunflower. “Just as people buy Teslas or Ferraris to basically show off a novel, artful form, that’s the same idea as Smartflower,” he said. It’s eligible for the same tax credits and rebates as traditional ground-mounted and rooftop solar. All of its components are packaged together and the main structure comes preassembled. Conroy said trained contractors can install the Smartflower in about a day. The foundation and trench for utility interconnect can be dug with a skid steer loader and the Smartflower itself can be placed with a forklift or crane.
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MOUNTING TECHNOLOGY
The system can use cast-in-place and precast foundations for footing, as well as helical piles or a steel base. When the Smartflower has a steel base, it can be moved around more easily for transient off-grid applications. WALL-MOUNTED AWNINGS
If the roof or yard aren’t an option, installers can look to the south-facing walls of buildings to mount a solar array. Racking is available to attach modules vertically and tilted off a wall surface to create an awning. Some installers have adapted existing mounting hardware to mount modules to walls, but solar structure manufacturer Opsun carries Sunrail WM, a wall mounting system that works on all popular wall types. Modules can be placed flat to the wall or at any desired angle, and in landscape or portrait orientations. Like the Smartflower, vertical or wall-mounted solar modules can be an aesthetic choice, taking a cut in production for visibility’s sake. However, installing them at an angle will produce more energy than if they’re flat to the wall. When a client is considering a smaller solar array, the rooftop doesn’t need to be the default. With a big enough yard or unobstructed walls, there’s potential for solar in almost any environment. SPW
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
A modern off-grid setup using lithium batteries from Discover Battery.
This isn’t your grandpa’s off-grid solar setup Describe an off-grid solar setup, and someone 20 years ago would imagine a remote cabin in the woods, with leadacid batteries and diesel generators used as backup power. But in the 2020s, off-grid homes might be closer than you think — like, right next door. Many neighborhoods, either because of their geography or restrictions on the existing grid, are flipping the script and using the grid solely as emergency backup. “The newest thing is grid defection,” said David Norman, director of solar product and business development at lead-acid and lithium battery provider Discover Battery. For example, in Hawaii, where utility prices average more than 30-cents/kWh
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and no new solar can be added to the grid, people are taking their power into their own hands. Often called total self-consumption or zero-export power, Hawaiian households are essentially working as off-grid homes with the grid as a backup. In California where “public safety power shutoff” events have limited utility power for the last few years, homeowners are planning ahead for extended outages. In the best-case scenario, homes should now be designed to function off-grid for at least a month, while the other 11 months they can use the grid. Doomsday bunkers aren’t present in either of these situations — off-grid
setups already exist in many urban neighborhoods. Today’s power needs require battery technologies to keep up. LEAD VS. LITHIUM IN OFF-GRID
An electric battery, by definition, is a device that stores energy that can be converted into electrical power. In that sense, all battery types are equipped to handle off-grid storage needs, but some are better than others at satisfying today’s electricity demands and cycling schedules. “Off-grid is less about the battery and more about the use-case,” Norman said. “If you’re only doing backup power, lead-acid works. It’s not cycling regularly, and it’s primarily just sitting in reserve
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
for a power outage or failure. But for demand-charge applications, any lithium battery is better.” Lead-acid batteries do work well for occasional, short-term backup needs. But if someone wants to switch power sources to take advantage of utility time-of-use rates or avoid the grid for an extended period of time, more frequent and deeper cycles are needed than what lead-acid can provide. “Lithium is changing off-grid,” Norman said. “You still can live offgrid on lead-acid, but lithium is more efficient.” This all boils down to the number of cycles a battery has and its depth of discharge — how many times the battery can be drained, and how much power can actually be used. KiloVault also offers both lead-acid and lithium-based batteries, and VP of sales and marketing Jay Galasso often explains the two chemistry-types’ charging specifications. “Off-grid solar applications require batteries that can be discharged and charged every day,” Galasso said. “One cycle might be charging the batteries during the day, then discharging the stored energy for use during the evening. The more a battery is discharged, the ‘deeper’ the cycle.” Lead-acid batteries degrade more with every cycle. Where a lithium battery may come with a 10,000-cycle guarantee, a lead-acid battery may peak at 2,500 cycles when discharged to 50%. Lithium batteries can be discharged to nearzero, or basically, all the juice in a lithium battery can be used in one cycle, where a lead-based battery can only use half of its juice before degrading even faster. “Lead-acid batteries are lower in cost for the same voltage and capacity but do not last for many cycles,” Galasso said. “[Lithium-based] designs can use fewer batteries for a given application because of the higher charge/discharge rates, resulting in lower initial costs.” SimpliPhi Power was founded in the early 2000s and has always been a lithium
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A lithium-based energy storage system from Discover Battery.
battery provider. The company knows the value of lithium batteries in off-grid applications since its original market was remote power scenarios. “Lead-acid is a legacy product used in off-grid. It’s where the solar industry originated. You couldn’t have a PV system without lead batteries in those early days,” said Sequoya Cross, director of global sales and business development for SimpliPhi. “Why we see more people scaling to lithium: you have more usable capacity in a smaller space, you can pull them to 100% depth of discharge.” Physical space is another reason lead-acid is falling out of favor in today’s grid-detached setups in urban environments. “Most people who build off-grid don’t have a separate mechanical room off their house where the batteries and inverter can go. Most people don’t have
LEAD-ACID IS A LEGACY PRODUCT USED IN OFFGRID. WHY WE SEE MORE PEOPLE SCALING TO LITHIUM: YOU HAVE MORE USABLE CAPACITY IN A SMALLER SPACE, YOU CAN PULL THEM TO 100% DEPTH OF DISCHARGE.
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A SimpliPhi Power lithium battery bank used in an off-grid setup.
that kind of space,” Norman said. “In order to have enough energy storage to run your house as an off-grid home, just by volumetric space alone, you have to go lithium because you could never put that much lead in your house.” When someone wants to take their active household off the grid today, that usually means they want the refrigerator to work, along with computers, internet, televisions, lights and everything else, all at the same time. Just backing up one emergency load can’t cut it anymore, especially in places like California where life must go on when the utility turns off the power. This requires larger battery capacity, faster charging rates and deeper depth
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of discharge — things lead-acid just can’t provide. “Lead is dying in off-grid. You can get long lives out of lead-acid, but they require a lot of maintenance,” Norman said. “There’s no sense in selling a premium lead when I can sell lithium for only 10% more. Lead still works in automotive markets, but on the solar and stationary side, lead is dead.” THE OFF-GRID LITHIUM BATTLE: NMC VS. LFP
The two dominant lithium battery types used in residential applications are lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP). The Tesla Powerwall, Generac PWRcell
and LG RESU batteries all use NMC chemistry, while many more suppliers use LFP (including Discover, Eguana, Enphase, KiloVault, SimpliPhi, sonnen). Although both battery types work great in demand arbitrage situations, LFP has an edge when it comes to off-grid. That may be why more companies are offering the cobalt-free chemistry. “For on-grid applications where you don’t necessarily care about rapid recharge because you’ve got the grid there, NMC batteries are great,” Discover Battery’s Norman said. “The limitation with them for an off-grid scenario is that they can’t handle the high-current charge or discharge of demanding off-grid loads.”
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STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
OFF-GRID IS AROUND US ALL THE TIME. IT’S NOT JUST PEOPLE IN THE WOODS ANYMORE.
Aric Saunders, EVP of sales and marketing for NMC and LFP battery provider Electriq Power, explained the differing charge-rates for the two lithium chemistries. NMC batteries have a charge-rate of 0.5C while LFP batteries are 1C. If it takes an LFP battery one hour to charge, the NMC battery takes twice as long because it accepts current more slowly. LFP batteries can be charged in half the time as NMC. “Because of [the faster charging rate], LFP batteries can provide a higher power output to the grid or home. This feature allows the battery to back-up larger loads with a smaller battery than would be needed with NMC,” Saunders said. “Time is money. If I’m charging on solar and I’ve only got a six-hour solar day, I want to get as much into those batteries as I can,” Norman said. An off-grid solar + storage system would benefit most from the fast-charging properties of LFP. While “off-grid” might be a loose term to describe using the main utility grid as backup instead of a primary power source, it may be an essential way-of-life for many more people in the near future. Homeowners should then choose the right battery chemistry for their situation. “Off-grid is around us all the time. It’s not just people in the woods anymore,” SimpliPhi’s Cross said. “It isn’t necessarily possible to completely disconnect or pull your meter, but it is possible to design around an off-grid lifestyle.” SPW
ORIGIN™ Single Axis Tracker Designed for quick and easy install with rows up to 120 modules long. Minimal number of trackers reduces capital costs. The module mount design can handle solar module frames from 25 mm to 50 mm tall and can accommodate any module up to 1.3 meters wide. Together, these capabilities allow ORIGIN to utilize standard production parts to mount all common crystalline silicon modules along with First Solar’s Series 6 modules, eliminating the need for custom orders and the associated project delays.
A SimpliPhi Power lithium battery bank.
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SP E CI AL SE CTI ON ON
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE While most of the industry’s focus is on installation, an issue growing in importance with every finished project is how to operate and manage these energy sites. Researchers are forecasting the U.S. installation market to quadruple from its current levels by the end of the decade, which means a lot of projects — from residential up to utility-scale — are going to demand O&M services. What’s the best way to take advantage of this market trend? Installers can jump into O&M, but first they should understand the basics. This special section should help them get started.
DSD
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Thinking of launching an O&M division? By Eric Domescik • Co-Founder and President • Renewvia Energy
Even in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. solar industry has shown impressive growth, with no signs of slowing down. According to a March 2021 report from SEIA and Wood Mackenzie, the industry added a record 19.2 GW of new capacity during 2020 — a 43% increase from 2019. The report also projected that by the end of the decade, the U.S. solar market would quadruple from current levels. This projected growth has numerous implications for solar developers across the country, including what will likely be an unprecedented demand for operations and maintenance (O&M) services. Solar developers often contemplate how and when to expand their offerings to include O&M. In making this important decision, there are a number of factors to consider, ranging from the size of your client base to the availability and skillset of your employees, among other areas. For Renewvia, we carefully explored expanding our solar development business to include O&M, prior to launching our maintenance division last year. We are fortunate to have built our EPC business around a client base that believes in the value of incorporating solar into their long-term business plans, with many installing solar at multiple facilities. With this in mind, we have always tried to offer maintenance and warranty replacement services beyond our standard one-year workmanship guarantee, as a way to provide additional value, gain referrals and earn potential new business. However, as our client portfolio grew, we found ourselves in need of hiring full-time employees to focus solely on monitoring and maintaining existing sites. We also began to hear from clients a desire to formalize long-term services. We were extremely pleased to receive the welcoming and supportive responses from our clients on moving forward with O&M services for a fee. “We were looking to assure our investment in solar energy output is achieving its fullest potential,”
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OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE SPE CI AL SE CT I O N
A SteelFab solar site, with O&M now managed by Renewvia.
said Stuart Sherrill, president of SteelFab, Renewvia’s first O&M client. “Having a professional relationship with an O&M provider like Renewvia has allowed us to focus on our core business of fabricating structural steel while providing peace of mind that we are fully utilizing and cashing in on our significant clean energy investment.” Others communicated the need to ensure their solar investment was fully optimized. “We see solar as a definitive investment in our future as a company, and expanding our relationship to include O&M has enabled us to optimize that investment, which benefits both our business and the environment,” said Marsh Butler, president of the Butler Automotive Group.
Key considerations when forming an O&M division When determining the right time to form an O&M division, there are several factors that should be considered. These include:
1. Ensure critical mass to justify the investment. Renewvia ultimately chose
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to establish an O&M business when the client base was in place and there was a clear pathway for growth. It became evident that the demand for O&M was on the rise with current clients and clients where we act as a third-party O&M provider. There are a number of upfront costs, so without understanding the client landscape, it can be a risky decision.
2. Hire a specialized and dedicated workforce. Providing first-rate O&M service requires a workforce with a highly specialized skillset that includes an understanding of data acquisition systems, performance monitoring and reporting, preventative maintenance planning, corrective maintenance execution and all aspects of solar PV. For an O&M operation to function at its best, these team members must be dedicated,
experienced and able to react quickly to multiple clients with varying issues and opportunities.
3. Invest in the right internal systems. O&M providers are only as good as their systems (and the people who operate them), which should offer actionable data that reflect the real-world performance of clients’ solar portfolios. Not only should systems include data acquisition, performance monitoring and diagnostics, but they should also provide real-time comparisons to actual performance on financial, operational and historical levels. Solar developers and EPC firms alike need to determine whether to outsource or develop their own proprietary performance monitoring systems and, more importantly, commit to them. Each of these choices has
We see solar as a definitive investment in our future as a company, and expanding our relationship to include O&M has enabled us to optimize that investment, which benefits both our business and the environment. MAY 2021
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both cost and quality implications, and clients like consistency in both the outputs they receive and the commitment level and service that is provided.
4. Deliver a customized O&M offering. O&M is not a one-size fits all approach. It should include offerings that work for companies and solar systems of all sizes, from robust preventative and corrective maintenance to the ability to inspect and fix equipment at specified intervals. At Renewvia, our systems range from 20 kW to 1.5 MW across multiple states and vary from rooftop installations to carports to ground-mounts. The customization of our O&M plans consider all these factors prior to finalizing with our clients. 5. Take a customer service-oriented approach. As an O&M provider, it is critical to establish trust with
clients, as you will likely spend a great deal of time on their sites. At Renewvia, we make the highest levels of customer service our imperative. These are values that are exhibited by our employees and required when we choose to use subcontractors for our work. We know that no matter how good the technology, relationships matter. According to John Thornburg, Renewvia’s O&M manager, “We always keep customer service at the forefront. This means really listening to our clients to understand their unique needs and then customizing solutions that work for them for the long-term.” There is no question that the market opportunity is exciting and growing, but launching an O&M division must be done at the right time. Taking these key factors into consideration ahead of making the investment will enable solar developers to realize the full potential of O&M now and in the future.
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE SPE CI AL SE CT I O N
Now for some solar-specific robots By Kelly Pickerel • Editor in Chief • Solar Power World
Renu Robotics
Robotics and automation have already been in the solar industry for years. Visit any solar module manufacturing facility and you’ll find robotic arms assembling cells into strings, soldering wires and sealing backsheets. Even outside of manufacturing, more robotics are now entering solar services. From utility-scale maintenance to construction assistance, autonomous devices are lending a helping hand to solar crews.
Vegetation maintenance When the sheep just aren't enough, an autonomous mower can save a lot of time and effort when it comes to vegetation
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maintenance. Texas company Renu Robotics has been developing the Renubot for the last few years, using DOE grants and prize money to fine-tune an autonomous tractor with a 63-in. mower deck that uses GPS and lidar to map and mow under and around solar mounts. The mower is powered by lithium batteries that are fast-charged in Renubot's own docking enclosure. The mower can work day or night and quickly adjusts to changing conditions and environments. Renubot uses multiple sensors to determine its location, if obstacles are present and where to move next.
Renu Robotics entered 2021 fully funded and is increasing its worker pool, hiring engineers and field technicians to soon deploy autonomous mowers on U.S. solar project sites.
Solar panel cleaning After getting its start in the dusty regions of the Middle East, the Ecoppia solar panel cleaner is using that extensive experience to expand its presence in North America. Autonomous robots travel across both fixedtilt and tracking systems to clean panels without water. Each Ecoppia robot has its own on-board solar module for power. The Ecoppia AI platform initiates cleanings based on weather conditions and other
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TerraSmart
situations, ultimately developing the optimal maintenance schedule for its environment. The E4 robot (for fixed-tilt) travels along its own track across a row of modules, floating above the panels and cleaning them with a spinning microfiber cloth. When the robot finishes a row, it is securely docked at the edge of the array, protected from the elements and not casting shade onto the row of panels. The T4 robot (for tracking systems) acts more like a Roomba, traveling freely across rows, but more aware of its location so it doesn't fall off. The T4 also uses a spinning microfiber cloth and docks at the row-end after the job is done. Last year, Ecoppia received a $40 million investment from U.S. real estate company CIM Group, which will allow the company to further expand geographically. With over 16 GW of cleaning agreements, Ecoppia could soon add a few more gigawatts as it brings its water-free cleaning robots state-side.
Site surveying For hands-off help with land surveying, groundmount solar solution provider TerraSmart uses its Autonomous Precision Survey Rover (APSR). Coordinate files are uploaded to a tablet, then the APSR gets to work on its "mission" of surveying and drilling pilot holes for ground screws. The batterypowered robot (with backup gas generator) can drill up to 1,300 pilot holes each day. Traveling at a maximum speed of 11 mph and across inclines up to 45°, the APSR drills 2-in.-wide holes. TerraSmart has three of the proprietary rovers that it deploys to its own projects. Where a typical human crew can locate 200 survey points each day, the APSR is significantly faster and more precise. "Every time we use the APSR on a project site, the racking installation phase runs faster, smoother and produces better tolerances," said Ashleigh Kent, TerraSmart director of marketing. "The APSR works best on larger land sites that contain less rock. It makes for a speedier and more accurate install." 52
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Module placement Unloading solar panels and placing them onto racks at huge utility-scale sites may soon be automated, thanks to a $1.9 million DOE award to RE2 Robotics. RE2 wants to apply its outdoor, autonomous robotic technology to solar construction and enhance the process for solar field assembly. The robots would augment solar construction crews, not replace them. They’re designed to improve labor productivity and bolster worker safety, allowing utilityscale contractors to produce more megawatts, faster. “The solar construction process is mostly manual today, with large amounts of repetitive tasks across very large projects. Developing technologies that make the process more efficient will serve to make solar an even more economic source of energy for the future," said Jorgen Pedersen, RE2 president and CEO, in a press release. RE2 is currently partnering with companies like Array Technologies and Mortenson to see how mobile robotics can aid utility-scale solar construction.
Ecoppia
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OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE SPE CI AL SE CT I O N
Four ways to optimize solar asset performance By Chris Larkin • Asset Management Director • Distributed Solar Development
The long-term growth of the solar industry has reached a tipping point. Installed capacity of solar projects, average portfolio size, shared ownership models and average asset age are all increasing. Meanwhile, the cost of PV modules is declining. The challenge now is how to manage it all to mitigate the various risks of site hosting, development and subscriptions, all while accelerating adoption. Proper asset management helps generate as much energy as possible and reduces downtime, both of which enable the
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developers, customers and investors to earn more. Developers and partners can ensure proactive and comprehensive asset management with an approach that is performance-driven and scalable. Here are the four key components of a successful asset management program to drive optimization and performance.
1. Create strong functional groups with robust practices and processes Accurate financial assumptions, paired with robust design, sound construction and thorough commissioning practices,
will set up a project for success and optimize the potential of any asset. Having a strong partnership and great communication throughout the early stages of a project, along with regular quality control inspections, can mitigate risks and make for easier maintenance and stronger production once a solar site is in operation. It’s also critical to ensure that all equipment, including the monitoring system, is set up correctly and running as it should. Strong technical design knowledge and practices are imperative. A central tenet of good design is accurately modeling how much energy the site will
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3. Respond to performance issues fast Like everything else in life, unexpected issues will arise. Responding quickly to correct these issues and return the site to full service as soon as possible should always be the goal. That is why establishing strong lines of communication with stakeholders on-site is vital. If the first contact is not available, who is next in line to call? Who can provide access to the property or the equipment to make the correction and get the site back up and running? It’s also critical to develop a network of trusted and competent operations and management providers (both internal and external) that can be deployed to sites quickly to correct issues as they arise. produce to ensure it can meet customer expectations. From a financial asset management perspective, understanding the revenue streams and how a site is tracking against expected revenue is paramount. A robust financial tracking and invoicing system that can accurately demonstrate exactly what the customer is paying for goes a long way in building consumer confidence and loyalty as well as portfolio success.
2. Monitor assets daily and review performance trends on a weekly and monthly basis Monitoring assets daily and consistently reviewing asset performance will allow for solar project owners to track performance and quickly catch issues should they arise. The best way to do this is by using an on-site monitoring system that gives a remote, 24/7 look at generation equipment and tracks how they are performing against expected values with the occurring weather.
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With remote monitoring, it’s not always clear which alerts require action or whether there may be less obvious problems that are reducing the system’s output without triggering an alert. This is why it’s important to have trained experts conduct weekly and monthly reviews of the PV system’s performance to catch more subtle performance problems. Vigilant monitoring will catch aberrations quickly so corrections can be made to get performance back on track. Think about recent wildfires in California. Solar assets in affected areas may have been fully functional, but they were surely impaired as heavy smoke limited sunlight and ash soiled the solar panels. In this case, monitoring would not issue an alert, but the weekly and monthly analysis of reporting would demonstrate decreased performance over time. This kind of accurate performance data analysis is the easiest and most impactful way to achieve performance and revenue optimization.
4. Perform preventative, planned maintenance of solar equipment It’s helpful to think of on-site maintenance in the same way one might approach servicing the family minivan. The car owner (and in many cases the dealer) invests in planned maintenance like an engine tune-up or 50-point inspection. This preventative maintenance plan should be regular and robust, at least once a year, and address any issues before they become problems. One should consider how and when these preventive maintenance visits to the solar site should take place so they do not disrupt other on-site activities. Good asset management is critical for optimizing the performance of assets. By getting involved in projects from the outset, monitoring assets daily to catch and respond to issues quickly and performing preventative maintenance on equipment, solar site owners can reduce downtime and increase the economic output of assets.
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OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE SPE CI AL SE CT I O N
Trace solar asset history to plot a path forward By Edmee Kelsey • Founder and CEO • 3megawatt
The solar industry has seen unprecedented growth with continued demand for a reliable, cost-effective source for renewable energy. With many solar assets operational for 10+ years, it’s expected that there will be different challenges in O&M than with brand-new plants. Owners are looking for efficient, cost-effective solutions to make sure their assets are running at an optimal level, and providers want to maximize productivity of assets in a variety of geographies with their own challenges and opportunities. Follow these five steps to maximize energy production and prevent future problems with solar sites, no matter how old the project may be.
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1. Try to get the clearest view of your
2. Tracking your contracts and their
solar asset’s history. Consolidating all information around your asset will help you understand any unique needs for solar. This approach is easier said than done when tracking down logs and records related to your solar plant that’s been in operation for over 10 years and has likely changed hands a few times. If unable to find records, start with what you have. Even just a year or two of data can illuminate trends for an asset’s future performance. Just watching the project’s performance isn’t enough to get a good picture of the asset, so be sure to focus on the entire asset history. Together, this will help you navigate and determine what you will need to plan for the future.
deliverables should seem pretty obvious, but when you work with multiple clients or service providers, these can end up in a variety of places. Excel sheets, inboxes, desktops and Dropbox are just a few of the places where you might end up spending hours tracking down the exact clause for what to do in case of an event. By consistently tracking contracts and deliverables, you’ll begin seeing the effect these services have on your plant output. Whether you’re an owner managing multiple service providers or a service provider managing your schedule, knowing your agreements and key responsibilities will help allocate resources to preventative maintenance.
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3. Manage warranties, spare parts and their locations together in a single place. Technical and weather issues can affect project components, so being able to quickly reference a warranty or check spare parts inventory reduces the time spent tracking down an extra part. This also helps forecast potential future costs and prevents buying duplicate parts. Part locations can also help determine when to perform certain updates, saving time and money on truck rolls and site visits. Even if you don’t have a full picture of the warranties, starting today will keep you on track for better scheduling. 4. Communicate well with your clients or contractors and standardize the formats of reports. Create a transparent maintenance schedule that
details preventative and corrective maintenance issues. This includes site evidence, supporting documents and even photos. As a service provider, you might not have access to all the plant information. If it’s in different forms, it’s difficult to get a good picture of the workload. Setting the right expectations with the client will help both parties understand shortterm outcomes. O&M providers might also adjust their service conditions based on these situations.
5. Put your asset history to work in a software tool. Not sure where your data is stored? There are software solutions to help manage, automate and collaborate with your data. Managing too many tools can leave your team overwhelmed with data and information. The objective should
be to streamline and automate your processes to spend as little time as possible on manual activities like connecting and collecting data. Teams in our current market need a tool that helps manage multiple data streams and reduces this same type of manual work. Starting with these key recommendations will help organize your O&M plan and create a better foundation for managing your assets. This structure will also assist your team in creating time-saving habits to not only manage your current assets but to also ease the onboarding process for new ones. Consistency is key when it comes to O&M, and being able to find what you’re looking for right away will make you successful in this industry.
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CONTRACTOR'S CORNER
CONTRACTOR’S CORNER:
Silicon Ranch What started as being a nice neighbor to a regenerative farm has turned into a whole new way of building and maintaining solar projects for Silicon Ranch. With close to 1 GW of installed projects, the utility-scale solar developer and owner was seeing the real impact of using herbicides and pesticides to manage vegetation growth. After siting a new project next to one of the larger regenerative ranchers in the Southeast, Silicon Ranch (whose mission is to be a supportive community member) wanted to ensure it wasn’t applying chemicals or contributing to soil erosion that may affect the rancher’s mission. With some
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tips from the rancher, Silicon Ranch dove into regenerative land management practices that could improve the land at each of its solar sites. In this episode of the Contractor’s Corner podcast, Solar Power World editor-in-chief Kelly Pickerel talks with Silicon Ranch CEO Reagan Farr about the company’s regenerative energy process, and how bringing more native plants and grazing livestock to solar sites can make a big impact on communities. A portion of the interview is below, but be sure to listen to the full podcast for even more insight, including how the company started as an idea within the Tennessee state government and what it’s like to be partially owned by Shell. Silicon
Ranch is celebrating 10 years in the solar industry, and so is SPW’s Pickerel, so listen in as they talk about the one-decade club. Find the Contractor’s Corner podcast on your favorite podcast app. How did the “Silicon Ranch” name come about?
(Founding company chairman) Governor Philip Bredesen started several companies, and he said one of the most difficult questions of every company he’s ever been a part of is, “What are we going to name it?” The three of us (Reagan Farr, Chairman Matt Kisber, former Gov. Philip Bredesen) went home and made a list of our top five. Before we had gotten home and settled, Gov. Bredesen had come up with the name and logo. As soon as we saw it, we said, “All right, so that is
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CONTRACTOR'S CORNER
the name of the company!” It’s a great name and it dovetails so well with our regenerative energy and our partnership with local ranchers across the community. I wish I could say we had the foresight when we came up with the name that it was going to dovetail so smoothly. It’s a huge complement to our regenerative energy platform. Is the experience working with co-ops different than working with the larger investor-owned utilities?
It is. The co-op business model is one that aligns very closely with our mission, vision and value. Co-ops are owned by their members. They’re very focused on triple-net-benefits: low-cost power, quality of life in the community and reliability of service. Investor-owned utilities by their nature are looking out for the shareholders. With co-ops, the shareholders are the community members, so they really want to make sure that when they partner and bring a solar provider into their community, that solar provider is going to reflect well on them and they’re going to add something to the community. Our whole focus from the beginning has been, everywhere we go and put a project, we want to make that community a better place. We engage based on feedback from the community. That can translate into sponsoring scholarships, participating in the local chamber, providing an education curriculum to the schools — every community has a different goal and objective, but we really like the way our values and approach of long-term asset ownership aligns with the objectives of co-ops to improve the communities that they serve. You use a good mix of thin-film solar panels and crystalline silicon panels, trackers and fixed-tilt mounting. When does choosing between different types of products really make a difference, and is this a continuous learning process?
It really is. There’s no right answer, because different products perform better in different geographies. We have invested in strategic partnerships, and we innovate collaboratively. A great example: we buy a lot of Nextracker tracking, and it has TrueCapture where it would optimize around cloudy weather. They had a lot of data, but they had run analysis on silicon-based modules but not done the same analysis on thin-film. So we put that technology on some of our operating plants and had TrueCapture on half of it, and the other half is the controlled data. We’re really part of helping fine-tune it. Part of innovation is partnerships and collaboration. SPW
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IT’S A GREAT NAME AND IT DOVETAILS SO WELL WITH OUR REGENERATIVE ENERGY AND OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL RANCHERS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
Podcast Alert! Listen to this and other Contractor’s Corner episodes on your favorite podcast app.
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AD INDEX
LEADERSHIP TEAM VP of Sales Mike Emich 508.446.1823 memich@wtwhmedia.com @wtwh_memich Managing Director Scott McCafferty 310.279.3844 smccafferty@wtwhmedia.com @SMMcCafferty EVP Marshall Matheson 805.895.3609 mmatheson@wtwhmedia.com @mmatheson
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Associate Publisher Courtney Seel cseel@wtwhmedia.com 440.523.1685 @wtwh_CSeel
WE HAVE YOU COVERED.
SALES Jim Powers 312.925.7793 jpowers@wtwhmedia.com @jpowers_media Neel Gleason 312.882.9867 ngleason@wtwhmedia.com @wtwh_ngleason Ashley N. Burk 737.615.8452 aburk@wtwhmedia.com Jami Brownlee 224.760.1055 jbrownlee@wtwhmedia.com
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1400 Shoals Way, Portland, TN 37148 Solar Power World 2019.pdf Solar Power World 2019.pdf
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615.451.1400
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NO MUss. no Fuss. NO MUss. no Fuss. The first and only above-ground, The first andthat onlydoes above-ground, patent-pending system not require patent-pending system thattrenching, does not require combiner boxes or in-array and can combiner or in-array can offerboxes $avings in the trenching, field up to and 62.5% offer $avings in the field up to 62.5%
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combiner boxes combiner field o&mboxes field o&m combiner boxes torquing combiner field o&mboxes torquing cable field o&mtrays torquing cable trays torquing trenches cable trays trenches cable trays trenches re-combiners trenches re-combiners re-combiners re-combiners
The BLA (Big Lead Assembly ) takes all the guesswork out of wiring your solar field. Using Shoals’ latest in-line fuse and wire manufacturing technology, we offer youLead a siteAssembly free of DC stringallcombiners. The entire is combined a single of aluminum conductors from the string combiner The BLA (Big ) takes the guesswork out ofload wiring your solarinto field. Using pair Shoals’ latest in-line fuse andrunning wire manufacturing technology, to the There’s need to trench for DCThe feeders hangisstring combiner terminated with therunning BAC connector, whole array is we offerinverter. you a site free no of DC string combiners. entireorload combined into aboxes. singleAnd pairwhen of aluminum conductors from thethe string combiner in the the inverter, just walk away!boxes. And when terminated with the BAC connector, the whole array is toplug-&-play. the inverter.Plug There’s nopanel need strings, to trenchplug for into DC feeders or hangandstring combiner plug-&-play. Plug in the panel strings, plug into the inverter, and just walk away! ®
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1400 Shoals Way, Portland, TN 37148 1400 Shoals Way, Portland, TN 37148
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615.451.1400 615.451.1400
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sales@shoals.com sales@shoals.com
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