NREL & SMUD Launch Groundbreaking Automation Tool for Interconnecting Customer Solar to the Grid
NREL-Developed PRECISE™ Automates Interconnection Assessments To Help Customers and Utilities Reach Growing Solar Goals
solar interconnection
Solar Project Interconnection Expedited & Costs Cut With New Rule, SEIA Applauds
Here’s some good news for the US solar industry, and thus almost everyone in the world, courtesy SEIA: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Saying it will help to spur solar deployment nationwide, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) praised a new rule approved today by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that … [continued]
Three Ways Automation Can Smash Solar Interconnection Costs
Originally published on Clean Power Research by Scott Tewel It’s no secret that although solar hardware costs have been steadily decreasing, solar soft costs— including permitting, interconnection, customer acquisition and installation labor—have remained steady. In fact, according to studies by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, soft costs … [continued]
Soft Costs Make A Bigger Difference As Solar Gets Cheaper
Last week’s graphic on the impact of local permitting on the cost of solar power was a big hit, so here’s a follow-up on “soft costs,” the expenses in a solar installation (including permitting) that are not the solar module. The chart compares the soft costs in the US to … [continued]
Most Solar-Friendly States — 2013 State Solar Policy Rankings (Infographic)
The folks over at Solar Power Rocks have gone through the solar policies of all 50 US states in order to rank them all. Solar Power Rocks’ overall grades for each state are based 60% on solar incentives (overal solar system payback time based on all incentives, feed-in tariffs, tax … [continued]
Preparing For “Cheaper Than Grid” Solar Electricity
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 … [continued]
5th Annual “Freeing the Grid” Report Released
Net metering and grid interconnection may not be as sexy as solar panel breakthroughs and consumer products, but I think they are at least as important. And I think the renewable energy advocates and experts who create the annual Freeing the Grid report agree with me.
Freeing the Grid is a policy guide that grades all 50 states on two key programs: net metering and interconnection procedures. The 2011 Edition of Freeing the Grid was released this week.
