Author Archives: John Farrell


About John Farrell

John Farrell directs the Energy Self-Reliant States and Communities program at ILSR and he focuses on energy policy developments that best expand the benefits of local ownership and dispersed generation of renewable energy. His latest paper, Democratizing the Electricity System, describes how to blast the roadblocks to distributed renewable energy generation, and how such small-scale renewable energy projects are the key to the biggest strides in renewable energy development.   Farrell also authored the landmark report Energy Self-Reliant States, which serves as the definitive energy atlas for the United States, detailing the state-by-state renewable electricity generation potential. Farrell regularly provides discussion and analysis of distributed renewable energy policy on his blog, Energy Self-Reliant States (energyselfreliantstates.org), and articles are regularly syndicated on Grist and Renewable Energy World.   John Farrell can also be found on Twitter @johnffarrell, or at jfarrell@ilsr.org.

The Most Amazing, Interactive US Solar Grid Parity Map

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us solar grid parity map

Within a decade, 300,000 megawatts of unsubsidized local solar power could compete with utility electricity prices in almost every state, enough clean energy to produce 10% of U.S. electricity.  Grid parity is building like a relentless wave, but how much solar is at parity today?  In 2016?  In 2020?  On homes or businesses?  With incentives or without? Answer all of these questions with the Greatest, Most Interactive U.S. Solar Grid Parity Map from the Institute … Read More

Is Your Utility Ready For A Solar Rooftop Revolution?

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local solar

  Within a decade, more than 35 million buildings may be generating their own solar electricity (without subsidies) at prices lower than their utility offers, sufficient to power almost 10% of the country. That’s the powerful headline from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s latest report, Commercial Rooftop Revolution. Despite the opportunity, utilities, regulators, and policymakers are largely unprepared for the surge of local solar power. See a summary of the report in the slides below … Read More

Minnesota’s First Community Solar Project Doubles Down On Local

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gchart-community-solar-mn-payback1

  As community solar grows in popularity, an innovative solar project by the Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association in Minnesota highlights the opportunity of merging local ownership with locally assembled solar panels. Earlier this fall, this cooperative serving communities just north and west of the Twin Cities metropolitan area announced Minnesota’s first community solar project. The 40-kilowatt (kW) solar array will be located at the cooperative’s headquarters, with members allowed to purchase individual panels in the project … Read More

Get Ready, Utilities: Solar Is Coming

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Solar rooftops via Shutterstock

  Quick question. Your state has good sunshine, lots of open rooftops, and the cost of solar energy has been falling by 10% per year. Do you think it will take 13 years to double the 10 megawatts (MW) of installed solar power? Yes, if you’re the largest corporate utility in my state, and willfully ignoring the economic trend. But ‘no’ if you make decisions based on data, because the price of unsubsidized solar electricity … Read More

Community Solar Shouldn’t Be This Hard

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  Sunlight falls almost anywhere, in every community. So it would make sense for any number of people in that community to team up to harness the sun and make clean, local power. Sadly, it isn’t as easy as it should be, as illustrated by the Vashon Community Solar Project in Washington State. The Vashon project is being organized by a local nonprofit called the Backbone Campaign, which has a history of tackling tough issues. … Read More

California County’s PACE Program Could Get Feisty With Feds

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pace action

  Editor’s note: PACE programs are hugely supported by CleanTechnica, and we’ve written about them (and summarized the idea) several times over the years. Here’s another good summary (I think we’re due for one, in case you haven’t heard about the idea yet) as well as quite an interesting potential collision (or not) course between a PACE program and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Thanks, John: Does a Riverside County, CA, residential energy financing program put … Read More

Preparing For “Cheaper Than Grid” Solar Electricity

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solar power hawaii

  It started with off-grid locations, places where electricity was either carried in or generated on-site. Then it beat expensive diesel generators. In 2010, unsubsidized solar electricity could best on-grid retail electricity prices of major utilities in Hawaii. In the next decade, residents in metropolitan areas representing 100 million people will watch the biggest solar barrier yet – economics – fall by the wayside. But cost isn’t the only barrier to solar, and U.S. states … Read More

A Policy That Unlocks Community Renewable Energy

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  Net metering is a common distributed renewable energy policy in the United States, allowing individuals to “turn back” their meter (and reduce their electric bill) by generating on-site electricity. But utility accounting systems typically prevent people from sharing the output from a single, common “community” solar or wind project. Virtual (or group or neighborhood) net metering is the solution. This rule allows utility customers to share the electricity output from a single power project, … Read More

How Archaic Utility Rules Stall Local Solar (Infographic)

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solar barriers

  Many people expect that solar power will dramatically expand once it bursts through the cost barrier and becomes less expensive than grid electricity. But archaic utility rules can effectively cap local solar development at just 15% of peak demand. Fortunately, pioneering states like Hawaii and California are exploring ways to lift the cap and bring utility rules into the 21st century. This post originally appeared on ILSR’s Energy Self-Reliant States blog. … Read More