January 13th, 2020 | by John Farrell
Community solar can happen in any state sharing two key market characteristics: virtual net metering and requirements for utilities to connect distributed solar to the grid (interconnection rules). Community solar program legislation can include both elements. 16 states have passed legislation enabling community shared solar gardens, but only four have active programs with multiple installations
December 24th, 2019 | by Tina Casey
Ratepayers in Wisconsin are breathing a sigh of relief after a Minnesota court sends a proposed new natural gas power plant back for review -- wait, what
October 28th, 2019 | by John Farrell
According to ILSR’s analysis, all customers (subscribers or not) are seeing financial benefits from community solar. The $2.2 million figure does not include factoring in the distribution capacity value of solar nor the potential volatility of gas prices that are avoided, nor does it include the benefits of shifting wealth from power generation ownership away from a private monopoly and to a broad set of subscribers across the state
September 23rd, 2019 | by John Farrell
Minnesota’s community solar program hit a record 613 megawatts of operational capacity in September 2019. The chart below shows the progress of projects through the program since August 2015, and the nearly two-year lag between the program launch in December 2014 and the successful ignition of multiple megawatts of capacity in January
June 9th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Tesla Death Anniversary events took place from Curaçao to Denmark last month. If you don't understand what Tesla’s Death Anniversary is, catch up on the topic here and here. Below is a summary of some of the fun events and some wonderful pictures
June 5th, 2019 | by Charles W. Thurston
The cumulative value of residential solar installations for utilities is comprised of two different parts: the generation of electricity to the grid, and the avoided cost of building new generation. While the former is fairly straightforward and owners are compensated through net metering or other rate schemes, the latter is difficult to assess and thus far homeowners have received little compensation
May 26th, 2019 | by Guest Contributor
Two Italian dads (Fede and Leo) and their two 5th grade climate activist daughters (Aryanna and Elena) are attempting a road trip from Minnesota to D.C. with an electric car
May 12th, 2019 | by Zachary Shahan
Tesla Death Anniversary events are being planned from Curaçao to Denmark. Below are some fun ones I've gathered some information about, some pics to whet the appetite, and some contact info
May 6th, 2019 | by John Farrell
Minnesota’s community solar program hit a record 532 megawatts of operational capacity in April 2019.
April 15th, 2019 | by John Farrell
If you walk past Xcel Energy’s national headquarters in downtown Minneapolis, you’ll see a giant banner hung just to the right of the entrance doors. In large letters you might mistake for an indication of pride, it proclaims that Xcel hosts the nation’s largest community solar program
April 11th, 2019 | by Tina Casey
In yet another bad sign for coal (and natural gas), the US Energy Department is building the case for putting more solar panels on farmland
March 22nd, 2019 | by Guest Contributor
Emissions from internal combustion engines are known to adversely impact air quality and human health, leading to approximately 53,000 premature deaths.[i] Such human health impacts come at a cost. As health care rates continue to climb, we should be looking for ways to proactively reduce these impacts
March 13th, 2019 | by Joshua S Hill
New Mexico's Senate and House of Representatives have quickly shuffled a carbon-free electricity bill to the Governor's desk this week which calls for generating 80% of the state’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2040 and 100% from “carbon-free” sources by
March 12th, 2019 | by Tina Casey
A first-of-its-kind renewable energy hybrid project in Minnesota will propel a rural electric cooperative into the wind and solar powered future
March 5th, 2019 | by Joshua S Hill
American manufacturing giant 3M announced last week that it was committing to move to 100% renewable electricity across all its global facilities by 2050 and has started the process by switching its company headquarters St. Paul, Minnesota, to 100% renewable electricity last Friday and kickstarting the company's efforts by bringing its total renewable electricity consumption to 30%.
February 19th, 2019 | by John Farrell
I’ve been asked a lot of questions about Minnesota’s community solar program over the past couple years and it’s time to make one thing clear: Minnesota’s program is the best in the country. Why? Because there 10 times more community solar projects in the queue—400 megawatts—in Minnesota than have been built in the history of community solar in the United States (40 megawatts)
February 11th, 2019 | by John Farrell
Utilities in many states have undercut competition by playing “hide the peanut.” Instead of sharing their avoided cost publicly, as required by Congress and state laws, utilities have hidden them behind a “trade secret” designation. This illegal shield––if left in place by state and federal regulators––requires prospective clean energy developers to lawyer up in order to extract a fair priced contract from the utility company.
February 4th, 2019 | by John Farrell
In a filing late last year, Xcel Energy’s Minnesota division put forward two new electric vehicle charging pilots. One targets fleet vehicle users and the other public access to vehicle charging. Both proposals address some big opportunities in helping more vehicle users save money by switching to electricity
January 23rd, 2019 | by Charles W. Thurston
SunShare has crossed the 100 megawatt mark for community solar projects it has developed, providing it with the largest active residential subscriber base among all developers in the country. While many community solar developers focus on one or more commercial anchor tenants and backfill demand with resident subscribers, SunShare finances, develops, and operates primarily all-residential community solar systems within its portfolio
January 2nd, 2019 | by U.S. Energy Information Administration
Nearly 40%, or 10.4 gigawatts (GW), of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems operating in the United States at the end of 2017 were fixed-tilt PV systems rather than tracking systems. Of the utility-scale fixed-tilt solar PV systems, 76% of the capacity was installed at a fixed angle between 20 degrees and 30 degrees from the horizon
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