Tag:

Net Metering

New Google Rooftop Solar Tool Says 80% Of US Roofs Are Suitable For Solar Panels

by Steve Hanley March 18, 2017

Google has updated its Project Sunroof to include 3-D models of every rooftop in all 50 states. The new software takes into consideration the trees on your property, how much sun or shade hits your rooftop, and figured in the prevailing weather in your area. Then it takes all that data and builds a computer model that tells people how much electricity a rooftop solar system could if the homeowner decides to acquire one.

Google’s campus in Mountain View, California as seen by new Project Sunroof tool.

The new software program has determined that 80% of all US rooftops are “technically viable ” for rooftop solar. Some locations are more “viable” than others, of course. Houston, Texas is judged to be the best American city for rooftop solar power. Project Sunroof says that city could generate up to 18,940 gigawatt-hours of solar electricity each year. One gigawatt-hour is enough to power 90 ordinary homes.

Project Sunroof lets you search for your house, suggests how large a solar array you might consider putting on your roof, and estimates how much energy it will generate. It also estimates how much it would cost you to lease or buy the panels.

Rooftop solar is slowing down across the United States. Residential installations grew just 19 percent last year, mostly because demand is drying up in big state markets like California. In a new report, the Solar Energy Industries Association predicts that the 5 states that saw the biggest increase in rooftop systems in 2016 will all experience drop-offs in their growth rates in the coming year.

Some of the slowdown can be attributed to changes in net metering policies in several states. Utility companies have been successful at getting state regulators to reduce or eliminate the amount of money they have to pay residential customers for the electricity they add to the grid.

March 18, 2017 0 comment

Solar Policy

Arizona Votes To Eliminate Net Metering

by Steve Hanley December 23, 2016

written by Steve Hanley

At the beginning of the residential rooftop solar revolution, net metering was the magic elixir that made it possible for homeowners to afford solar panels on their roofs. It worked like this: any electricity generated during the day that was not used to power the home could be fed back into the grid and the local utility company paid for it at the same rate they charged other retail customers.

net metering and the utility grid

Homeowners loved it. Solar companies like SolarCity loved it. The money generated by selling electricity back to the grid could be used to help pay for the system. Everybody was happy. People were getting “free” electricity from sunshine. Carbon emissions were lowered in the community at large because utility companies could burn fewer fossil fuels to meet demand. It was a win-win situation.

Not everyone loves net metering

Well, actually, utility companies didn’t love it. It was sort of a novelty at first and when less than 1% of all electricity on the grid was coming from residential systems, it wasn’t much of a problem. Besides, it let utility companies burnish their image as folks who cared about the environment.

But as the number of rooftop solar systems increased, utility companies decided they hated the idea of people making their own electricity. They invented all sorts of cockamamie reasons why paying people for the electricity they generated at home was bad for business, bad for other utility customers, and bad for the environment. It’s astonishing what public relations types can come up with to justify a position their bosses like.

Let’s try to be fair to the poor utility companies. They have sunk trillions of dollars into this thing called the grid. It starts at the pole nearest your house and extends back over many miles through a series of transformers and substations to the utility company itself. Utility companies are interconnected by a welter of high voltage transmission lines that make it possible for electricity generated in Canada to be sold to customers in New York City.

The Utility Business Model

By law, a utility company’s income is a fixed rate of return based on its total investment. That rate of return is often less than what can be obtained in financial markets, but because it is guaranteed, people who buy the bonds utilities sell are reasonably certain their money is safe. The whole thing works beautifully as long as the electricity is flowing outward from the utility to its customers. Once the flow is reversed, the utilities start to suffer a loss of income and that is something they hate.

The arguments the utilities offer suggest that people with rooftop solar are not contributing enough money to maintain the grid. They are, in effect, freeloaders who are putting an extra burden on other utility customers. And because people with rooftop solar are by definition homeowners, they are characterized as elite snobs who are making life harder for those poor unfortunates who have to live in apartment buildings. So it’s a social justice thing, too, if you listen to what the utility companies have to say.

Grid Scale Vs. Rooftop Solar

Utilities also argue that society can get more bang for its solar power buck by building large grid scale solar farms rather than slapping solar panels on every roof in sight. The numbers support that argument. The cost of grid scale solar is plummeting and on a per kWh basis is significantly lower than rooftop solar electricity.

But here’s the countervailing argument. Grid scale solar goes to the utility company to be distributed over the grid. What people pay for that electricity is something they have no control over. It is up to public utility commissions to decide what is fair. Rooftop solar energy is in fact free, once the cost of the equipment is taken into account. Grid scale solar does not insulate customers from future rate increases. Rooftop solar does.

Arizona Kills Net Metering

This week, the Arizona Corporations Commission — which sets utility rates in that state — voted to eliminate net metering entirely. True, the change will not effect existing rooftop solar customers until 2036 and new customers will see their net metering income decline over a 10 year period. Last year, the Nevada PUC arbitrarily and summarily eliminated all net metering including for those who already had solar systems. That bit of regulatory stupidity, which resulted from pressure applies by NV Energy, caused SolarCity and other residential solar companies to shut down operations in Nevada, which resulted in hundreds of people losing their jobs.

At least Arizona is taking more of a phased approach. But that’s not enough to satisfy solar advocates. The Alliance for Solar Choice said the commission’s decision “disregarded the full, long-term value that rooftop solar brings to Arizona and the long-term certainty that Arizonans need when contemplating a solar investment.”

Here’s Why Net Metering Doesn’t Matter

Here’s why none of this matters. Things have changed dramatically in the solar industry over the past 10 years. Back then, sending electricity back to the grid and getting paid for it was considered the greatest idea since sliced bread. Today, residential energy storage is changing the economic calculus completely. No longer will the grid serve as a battery — you put electricity in during the day and take it back out at night. Now people will store their own electricity right inside their own homes and use it whenever they need it.

Here’s what the utility companies don’t understand. By cutting off income from net metering, they are driving the market for residential solar coupled with in home battery storage. To use an allegory, as Obi Wan Kenobi told Darth Vader, “If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Residential storage introduces the concept of “time shifting.” In other words, generate your own electricity during the day, use your own electricity later after the sun goes down.

December 23, 2016 0 comment

Solar Policy

Utah Latest Battleground State In War On Residential Solar

by Steve Hanley November 14, 2016

written by Steve Hanley

Rocky Mountain Power is all for solar power, provided it comes from its own solar farms. It has recently completed a 20 megawatt solar farm in the eastern community of Holden. The power generated by that facility is being sold in 200 kilowatt hour blocks to RMP customers who want to use sustainably sourced electricity and insulate themselves from future price increases. Each block is good for 20 years and can be transferred to a new location if the owner moves during that period (provided its within the RMP service area, of course).

Net metering in Utah

In 2012 there were about 2,000 homes with rooftop solar but now that number is closer to 17,000. At first, RMP would pay residential solar customers the retail price of electricity for any excess power they sent back to the grid. That is a process known as net metering. In 2012, the amounts involved were small, but as the number of rooftop solar systems has grown, it amounts to a significant amount of money.

Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Paul Murphy says they pay homeowners with solar panels about 14 cents per kilowatt hour for excess power but can buy solar power from commercial solar panel farms for 4 cents per kilowatt hour. Murphy says the utility is happy to pay residential customers the same 4 cents a kilowatt hour it pays commercial suppliers but it wants the state’s public utility commission to allow it to stop paying private providers the full rate of 14 cents per kilowatt hour after December 9.

If the PUC grants the request, it could have a negative effect on the growth of rooftop solar in Utah. When officials in Nevada approved a similar proposal, SolarCity stopped doing business in the state, laying off hundreds of workers. To make matters worse, the Nevada PUC also approved significant new monthly surcharges on the utility bills of all rooftop solar owners or lessees.

Murphy says if the rate of reimbursement is reduced, it will allow Rocky Mountain Power to buy more clean power. The utility can buy a lot more electricity at 4 cents per kWh than it can at 14 cents per kWh. That much is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. And that is the central issue in the dispute between rooftop solar owners and utilities all across the country.

Utilities across the country argue that rooftop solar systems place a burden on other customers who do not have them. But a report by the non-partisan Brookings Institute shows that 12 states have examined this issue and decide that net metering actually provides more benefits than it costs.

At the heart of the debate is the fact that utility companies are legal monopolies authorized by the various states. They have grown accustomed to operating centralized grids and collecting their lawfully guaranteed rate of return on their investments. Anything that interrupts their customary business model is treated as a threat and they react accordingly.

November 14, 2016 0 comment

CPV

Big Wins For Solar Power In Arizona & New Mexico

by Steve Hanley August 13, 2016

written by Steve Hanley

Solar power disrupts the business of existing utility companies. In exchange for being granted a monopoly to generate and distribute electricity in a given geographic area, utilities are guaranteed a certain rate of return. That gives them an incentive to spend more money on power plants and grid expansion. The more they spend, the more money they are allowed earn. That’s how the power game is played in the US.

solar power

August 13, 2016 0 comment

Energy Storage

Musk Envisions An End To Net Metering

by Steve Hanley August 13, 2016

written by Steve Hanley

During the Q2 earnings call for SolarCity, Elon Musk and Peter Rive laid out their vision for the future as Tesla and SolarCity combine forces. In his remarks, Musk told the analysts and investors on hand that demand for electrical power will double or triple, as the world transitions away from fossil fuels to renewables.

“Electricity usage is going to increase dramatically as we transition away from burning old dinosaurs to electric cars, and then to electric transport. We would see roughly a doubling of electricity consumption as all transport moves to electric. And then, there is a tripling of electricity usage if you take all heating and make that electric as well, because obviously most heating is from oil and natural gas particularly.”

Battery storage will allow end of net metering

Musk was asked by Colin Rusch of Oppenheimer, “How long is it going to be before the combined entity [Tesla Motors + SolarCity] introduces a home energy management system or some sort of robust energy efficiency offering?” Musk had a ready answer.

“Solar and battery go together like peanut butter and jelly,” he said. “You obviously need the battery, particularly as you get to scale and you want to have solar be a bigger and bigger percentage of the grid. If you don’t have the batteries there to balance the grid and buffer the power, you really can’t go beyond a certain percentage of solar in a particular neighborhood.

“Maybe you can go up to about 20% solar, but more than that, it starts to unbalance the grid and you need to buffer it, because the energy generation is low at dawn and dusk, it’s high in middle of the day, and it’s at zero during night. So you got to smooth that out.”

Rooftop solar and utilities are on a collision course in many states over the issue of net metering, which requires utility companies to pay customers for any excess electricity they feed back into the grid. Utility companies are in the business of selling electricity. It’s what they do. They are none to anxious to buy it back, especially from private individuals.

Imagine you could manufacture gasoline at home and wanted to sell some of it back to Exxon. The industry might have a problem with that.

SolarCity actually packed up and left the Nevada market after that state’s public utilities commission voted to allow NV Energy to impose retroactive fees on its customers with rooftop solar. The central issue is, how will the electrical grids of the future be managed and who will manage them?

Musk sent a signal that he is not at war with the utility industry. He just wants them to shift their focus a bit. “I do want to emphasize there is still a very important role for utilities here. Sometimes people think that this is an either/or thing, it’s like either rooftops are going to win or centralized generation is going to win and actually both are going to win.”

The win he is talking about is the dramatic increase in demand for electricity to power the green revolution. What he is saying, in effect, is the pie is big enough for everyone (in renewables) and it is only going to get bigger.

Peter Rive spoke further on this theme. Referring to recent events in the state of New York, he said, “This is a collaboration of the local utilities and the solar industry. And the collaboration is net metering for the next three years and then a phasing to more of a grid services model, where you combine solar, storage, smart inverters and provide all these additional grid services.”

Rive added, “You phase that in and then essentially you phase out net metering into that grid services model. We see that probably happening as a standard policy and we’re going to promote that across all the different states.”

One key is battery storage. That is how you use abundant solar energy collected during the day when it is needed at night. Musk intends to make millions of batteries in coming years. Some will be used in cars, others in large trucks and buses. Some will be in our homes, and some will be used for large-scale grid storage.

But all will help the world use fewer fossil fuels while bringing the benefits of electric power to the multitudes.

Source: Teslarati | Graphic by Enphase Energy

August 13, 2016 0 comment

Investment

Confused About Solar Policy In Your State? Follow The Money

by Steve Hanley July 31, 2016

written by Steve Hanley

The state of Maine makes a good case study for trying to make sense of the tug of war going on across much of America when it comes to small scale solar power for homeowners and small businesses. A recent article in the Bangor Daily News lays out the arguments for all stake holders clearly and succinctly. As usual in the course of human affairs, it comes down to money, or as the Romans would say, “Qui bono?”

Net metering

July 31, 2016 0 comment

Rooftop Solar

Florida Utilities Determined To Mislead Voters

by Steve Hanley July 15, 2016

written by Steve Hanley

Rooftop solar power in Florida is under assault. A ballot initiative sponsored by the Floridians For Solar Choice would have prevented the state government or utility companies from imposing “barriers to supplying local solar electricity.” If passed, it would have allowed homeowners to install rooftop solar systems with few upfront costs. It would also have allowed shopping centers to install solar panels on their roofs and sell the electricity to their commercial tenants. Unfortunately, that amendment failed to gather enough signatures to qualify to be on the ballot in November.

Florida solar ballot intitiative

But the state’s utility companies have come up with a ballot proposal that sounds similar to the one Floridians For Solar Choice was promoting. Entitled “Rights of Electricity Consumers Regarding Solar Energy Choice,” it guarantees consumers “the right to own or lease solar equipment installed on their property to generate electricity for their own use.” So far, so good. Then it adds what seems like an afterthought. “[C]onsumers who do not choose to install solar are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do.”

That last language leaves it up to the state’s public utilities commission to decide such issues as whether local utilities can assess monthly “grid charges” to people with rooftop solar systems and whether utility companies need to compensate them for excess electricity fed back into the grid. Similar provisions imposed by utilities in Nevada essentially put the rooftop solar industry out of business. SolarCity decided to shut down its operations in the state, a move that put more than 500 people out of work.

The Miami Herald castigates the initiative with this headline: Florida’s solar amendment designed to mislead voters. The Florida Supreme Court approved the utility backed ballot initiative, now rebranded as “Yes On 1 For The Sun, by one vote. Justice Barbara Pariente wrote in a scathing dissent, “Let the pro-solar energy consumers beware. Masquerading as a pro-solar energy initiative, this proposed constitutional amendment, supported by some of Florida’s major investor owned electric utility companies, actually seeks to constitutionalize the status quo.”

We like to think that the benefits of solar power are self evident and that solar is about to sweep away old fashioned generating facilities with their noxious fumes and toxic emissions. But as the chart above put together by the Energy and Policy Institute demonstrates, powerful interests — including the Koch Brothers == have deep pockets and are willing to spend millions to protect what they perceive as their God given right to pollute the environment just as long as it is profitable to do so.

July 15, 2016 3 comments

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California Solar Incentives, Solar Installers, & Solar Costs

by Zach June 7, 2016

written by Zach

Originally published on Cost of Solar.

California is ground zero for solar energy in the United States. So, it seems logical to start our state-level solar energy deep dives here. In the article below, I’ll provide as thorough a look at California solar incentives + solar installers + solar costs as I’ve seen anywhere. Actually, it is more thorough than anything I’ve seen.

Naturally, if you read through this and know of more California solar energy facts or resources I should look at and include, let me know in the comments!

Solar Incentives

The first thing to know is that there’s a solar investment tax credit (ITC) available across the United States that offers a credit from the federal government of up to 30% of the cost of a solar installation. However, you have to have that much tax liability in a single year in order to take advantage of the full credit. Additionally, the 30% credit runs through 2019, after which, a phaseout of the incentive begins (under current law). Here are some more details from the US Department of Energy:

Solar-electric property

30% for systems placed in service by 12/31/2019
26% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2019 and before 01/01/2021
22% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2020 and before 01/01/2022
There is no maximum credit for systems placed in service after 2008.
Systems must be placed in service on or after January 1, 2006, and on or before December 31, 2021.
The home served by the system does not have to be the taxpayer’s principal residence.

Solar water-heating property

30% for systems placed in service by 12/31/2019
26% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2019 and before 01/01/2021
22% for systems placed in service after 12/31/2020 and before 01/01/2022
There is no maximum credit for systems placed in service after 2008.
Systems must be placed in service on or after January 1, 2006, and on or before December 31, 2021.
Equipment must be certified for performance by the Solar Rating Certification Corporation (SRCC) or a comparable entity endorsed by the government of the state in which the property is installed.
At least half the energy used to heat the dwelling’s water must be from solar in order for the solar water-heating property expenditures to be eligible.
The tax credit does not apply to solar water-heating property for swimming pools or hot tubs.
The home served by the system does not have to be the taxpayer’s principal residence.

Across California, certain solar energy systems are exempt from property taxes, so no need to worry about increasing your tax bill.

Probably the second-biggest incentive for California solar consumers is the state’s net metering policy — hence the reason fossil fuel & monopolistic utility companies have been routinely attacking it and trying to remove or change it. The policy exists in the jurisdictions of all of the state’s utilities except LADWP, which has a feed- in tariff program in place and its own net metering policy. Under the state net metering policy, excess electricity a consumer generates with her/his solar power system (or other renewable energy system) is treated as follows:

Credited to customer’s next bill at retail rate. After 12-month cycle, customer may opt to roll over credit indefinitely or to receive payment for credit at a rate equal to the 12-month average spot market price for the hours of 7 am to 5 pm for the year in which the surplus power was generated. (If customer makes no affirmative decision, credit is granted to utility with no compensation for customer.)

While consumers using net metering were exempted from connection charges for years, the rules recently changed, and will coming into effect in July 2017 at the latest. Here are more details from DSIRE:

In January 2016, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a decision on its net metering successor tariff. Customers on the new net metering successor tariff will have to pay an interconnection fee, estimated at $75-$150; pay all non-bypassable charges for all electricity consumed from the grid (~$0.02-0.03/kWh); and go on a time-of-use rate. The net metering successor tariff will take effect for California’s three large investor-owned utilities (IOU) on July 1, 2017, or when 5% of the sum of non-coincident customer peak demand is reached for the IOU, which translates to an installed net-metered capacity of 2,409 MW for Pacific Gas and Electric, 2,240 MW for Southern California Edison, and 617 MW for San Diego Gas and Electric.

Click here to read more about the CPUC’s efforts to create a customer-generator successor tariff or contract.

Virtual net metering is also allowed for multi-family buildings, and an April 2016 CPUC decision added rules for solar-connected storage systems up to 10 kW. Here are some more details on the virtual net metering rules:

AB 2466 of 2008 allows a local government, if certain conditions are met, to distribute bill credits from a renewable energy system across more than one meter. To be eligible for this billing arrangement all electrical accounts involved must receive electricity under a time-of-use tariff, and all accounts must be owned by the same entity.

California also allows virtual net metering for certain utility customers. Originally authorized just for customers participating in the Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) program, the CPUC voted in July 2011 in favor of a proposed decision which extends virtual net metering to all multi-tenant properties and to all distributed generation technologies. Virtual net metering allows the bill credits associated with the electricity produced by the system to be distributed across all the tenants’ electricity bills.

Regarding solar + storage, here are the rules:

Energy Storage (IOUs Only)
California allows renewable energy systems coupled with energy storage to qualify for net metering. A chief concern when introducing storage to net metering is the risk that a customer would store grid electricity during times when electricity costs are low and export that same grid electricity during times when electricity costs are high. The CPUC developed rules to address this and other concerns. The CPUC developed different rules for PV systems paired with storage devices 10 kW or less, and PV systems paired with storage devices larger than 10 kW or other forms of renewable energy paired with storage of any size.

PV systems paired with storage devices larger than 10 kW and non-PV renewable energy technologies paired with storage of any size:
The CPUC issued a decision in May 2014 establishing rules for net metering systems paired with storage devices larger than 10 kW. In addition to other requirements, these systems must : 1) install a non-export relay on the storage device(s); 2) install an interval meter for the NEM-eligible generation, meter the load, and meter total energy flows at the point of common coupling; or 3) install an interval meter directly to the NEM-eligible generator(s). While these rules originally applied only to systems paired with storage larger than 10 kW, a subsequent CPUC decision extended these requirements to all non-PV technologies paired with storage of any size.

PV systems paired with storage devices 10 kW or less:
The CPUC issued a decision in April 2016 establishing rules for net metering PV systems paired with storage 10 kW or less. Rather than installing the extra equipment required for storage devices greater than 10 kW, the rules for PV systems paired with smaller storage protects against rate arbitrage by relying on system output estimations. Specifically, utilities are required to establish monthly maximum allowable output limits for net metering facilities using CPUC-approved tools. Any export by the customer’s system which exceeds the monthly limit would not be eligible for net metering credits.

The other big solar incentive in California for years was the California Solar Initiative’s cashback grant for installing solar. However, that program is now closed across the state for residential consumers. It is still open for commercial consumers in the San Diego Gas & Electric district.

That said, there are still numerous other solar incentives available in The Golden State. DSIRE collates the most comprehensive index of solar incentives in the country (or the world) as far as I’m aware. It shows 208 solar incentive programs in California. Of course, most are for specific cities, counties, utility jurisdictions, or special districts. I could quickly paste them all in here, but DSIRE continuously updates the incentives as they change, so I think it’s best to just direct you there to find the incentives that could benefit you.

Solar Installers

First of all, before looking into installers in your area, be sure you are prepared to evaluate installers and solar financing options. You don’t want to go to a solar installer with no background knowledge and info about what you are looking for, just as you don’t want to go to a car dealership in the same way.

Naturally, being the largest solar market in the US (by far), all of the big players in the home solar installation industry operate in California. Here’s the top 10 list (nationally):

SolarCity
Vivint Solar
Sunnova
RGS Energy (Real Goods Solar)
Solar Universe
Bland Solar & Air
Amergy Solar
Smart Energy Solar
KDH Solar
Direct Solar Energy

It’s not clear if KDH Solar & Direct Solar Energy operate in California, but solar installers #1–8 do.

As hinted above, though, not all installers are equal. Last year, SolarCity’s MyPower prices were found to be 34% higher than the California average. (Note: SolarCity later ended its MyPower program and just launched another home solar loan program.) Keys to evaluate are the types of financing options installers offer (and try to push on you): internally provided solar loans vs solar leases/PPAs vs solar loans from other companies. Then you have to evaluate how those options compare to other financing options you could use, weighing upfront costs, interest rates, timeframes (a 30-year loan is sure to cost you a lot more than a 20-year loan), and what’s included.

Aside from contacting individual installers, you can get quotes from a variety of installers via Cost of Solar, Pick My Solar, EnergySage, Google’s Project Sunroof, and probably other such services.

You can also check reviews on Yelp, but I hear that reviews are commonly planted on the site, so I don’t know how reliable they are.

A comprehensive database of solar installers/contractors was created and is maintained by the California Energy Commission, and you can search for one in your area via this tool.

Solar Costs

According to the Q4 2015 US Solar Market Insight report, average solar PV system pricing breaks out as follows:

SEIA notes, “Overall system pricing fell by up to 17% over the course of 2015, depending on the market segment, with the largest declines in the utility fixed-tilt sector. On a quarterly basis, pricing continues to trend downward with some levelling-off in the residential sector in particular due to strong investment in customer acquisition and the stubbornness of other soft costs. In the non- residential and utility sectors, there were annual declines of 10% and 17%, respectively. This reflects continued aggressive cost reductions, both in hardware and soft costs, in national system pricing on an aggregate basis. Moreover, as installers and EPCs expand to regions with lower labor and regulatory compliance costs, these regions will have a larger impact on aggregate pricing. Due to advantages from scale, variations in utility system costs are much smaller than variations in residential and non-residential solar costs.”

Here are some more details on solar PV system pricing:

Average pricing for residential rooftop systems landed at $3.50/Wdc in Q4 2015, with nearly 65% of costs coming from on-site labor, engineering, permitting and other soft costs.

While residential hardware costs have fallen by over 16% in the past year, soft costs have actually risen on an industry average basis by 7%, primarily due to rising customer acquisition costs among national and local players alike.

In the non-residential market soft costs remain a challenge as well. Hardware costs fell 15% year- over-year while soft costs saw a modest decrease of 6%. In Q4 2015 soft costs accounted for approximately 50% of total system pricing. Soft costs can be even higher for projects in areas with strict labor requirements and particularly in tough permitting and interconnection jurisdictions. In order to continue reducing costs, developers and EPCs are looking to squeeze additional power density for commercial sites and amortize fixed costs over more power output – and therefore reduce dollar-per-watt and dollar-per-kWh.

California represents nearly 50% of the US solar market. While it’s not clear what the precise averages for solar costs are in California, the state can’t be too far off the average, on average. 😀

Based on the Pick My Solar research noted above regarding SolarCity, the average price of a SolarCity system is $5.10 per watt, while the company found the average price in the state to be $3.60 per watt. That matches up closely with GTM Research & SEIA’s Q4 average of $3.50 per watt. So, I think it’s safe to say that the California average is somewhere between $3.40 per watt and $3.70 per watt (but remember that soft costs have been coming down, and if the trend has continued in 2016, the overall average could be dropping).

If you have more information on solar costs in California, let us know!

June 7, 2016 1 comment

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How North Carolina Schools Could Save Millions (Hint: With Solar)

by Cynthia February 8, 2016

written by Cynthia

Originally published on CleanTechnica.

Below are highlights from two new reports commissioned by the Repower Our Schools Coalition. The North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NC CETC) released information that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools & Durham Public Schools would conserve millions of dollars with solar power, while promoting more STEM education potential for the students. Along with the saved money, the schools would meet 100% of their electricity needs from a non-emitting energy source. The schools’ solar panels would “save millions over the next 25 years” … if installed immediately.

Greenpeace explains that developments in solar policies in the state, such as the allowance of third-party energy sales and upgrades to net metering policy, make it doable for CMS to save “$54.6 million and DPS to save $16.3 million over 25 years.” That comes to an 11% savings. Translation — money for classrooms, for quality teachers, for aspiring students, and all hand in hand with environmental goals.

Here’s an infographic illustrating the benefits of third-party sales and metering from repowerourschools.com:

Education is intrinsic with solutions to ecological ills. Schools should be some of the first places to make the clean energy transition.

“This assessment shows that it is absolutely possible to meet the electricity needs of both Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Durham school districts with solar installations at schools,” said Clean Air Carolina Program Director Terry Lansdell. “By doing so, we can save schools significant funding over the next 25 years to reinvest in our students, teachers, and the classroom.”

Assessing multiple scenarios and identifying options that were a win economically and a win environmentally, the reports determined that “under current policies, the districts could save the most money over the next 25 years by powering schools with ground-mounted PV solar through a partnership-flip financing model. After seven years, the school will benefit again from a joint ownership with third-party investors.”

The savings of the school districts potentially increases 14 times, if the areas utilize enhanced net metering and power purchase agreements through policy improvements. The US EPA cites utility bills as the second largest cost for school districts. EcoWatch notes, “North Carolina is one of only a handful of states with a legal gray area that effectively blocks purchasing electricity from anyone but the utility.” It is one if only 5 states that prohibit third-party energy sales. So, clearly, it would benefit these schools if the state came out of the stone ages and made this type of solar purchasing an option.

Career building of the future is not a small part of this important clean energy change. Renewable energy jobs are becoming a bigger and bigger part of our country’s economic and ecological well-being. “Solar installations at North Carolina schools would bring the jobs of tomorrow into the classroom today,” said Dr. Wafa Khalil, a retired science and energy teacher of 23 years. “Teachers could incorporate solar into the curriculum and let students witness its advantages firsthand.”

“The money saved over 25 years with third-party energy sales, and net metering improvements are equal to 1,357 annual starting teacher salaries for CMS and 414 for DPS, which is a substantially smaller school district.” Teachers as a resource for the youth of our country are exhaustible. Wiser renewable policy allows for more reciprocity for hardworking educators as well. Perhaps some of those savings could go to better compensating teachers and/or hiring more of them.

“We continue to see interest from parents, teachers and students across North Carolina in going solar,” said Greenpeace North Carolina Field Organizer Michael Zytkow. “As the calls for 100 percent renewable energy continue to grow, it is only a matter of time before we see solar powering schools across the state.”

The Repower Our Schools coalition launched in January 2015. The coalition brings together and supports empowering parents, teachers, and students who benefit from clean energy and energy efficiency.

Additional links:

Repower Our Schools Petition

Repower Our Schools Coalition Starts Solar Schools Tour in NC

New York Net Metering Cap Suspended For Now

by Glenn Meyers October 31, 2015

written by Glenn Meyers

Adding to the distributed energy/net metering debate involving utilities and solar panel owners, New York State for now has lifted the cap on net metering.

pv-magazine reported last week that New York regulators have suspended the existing cap on the state’s net metering program. This suspension will remain in effect until a new valuation is concluded under the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) process.

Among other goals for 2030, New York’s REV is targeting 50% of all New York’s energy will be generated from renewable sources.

New York will continue to install solar under net metering until REV is finished, regardless of caps. Regarding impact on distributed energy providers, the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) ruled that utilities must continue to enroll solar PV systems in the state’s net metering program under its existing policies.

“The Commission orders:

“1. Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation d/b/a National Grid, Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation are directed to file, by October 30, 2015, tariff leaves implementing revisions to the ceilings on the interconnection of net metered generation in conformance with the requirements set forth in the body of this Order. The tariff leaves shall become effective November 6, 2015.”

“The convention of net metering has proven a very successful tool to support the growth of the solar industry, and Staff recommends that it continue to be used,” noted NYPSC staff in a REV white paper issued last July.

For now, rooftop solar owners will be satisfied with the NYPSC ruling.

Image: solar panels, via Shutterstock

October 31, 2015 1 comment

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