Earlier this spring, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance released its 2018 Community Power State Scorecard, revealing the the best and worst states for local clean energy across the country.
Originally published at ilsr.org. Each year, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance provides a score for each state’s energy policies based on how they help or hinder local clean energy action. In 2018, 21 states had a failing grade, 17 were mediocre, 11 had a passing grade, and just 2 excelled … [continued]
Despite the challenging legal and financial barriers facing community renewable energy, a surprising number of projects and project models have succeeded. These projects have brought together hundreds of people into ownership of renewable energy, often saving them money, and keeping more of the money they spend on energy in their own community.
There are three big tools for breaking down the barriers to community renewable energy: using non-tax-based incentives for renewable energy, simplifying the process of raising capital, and adopting formal “community energy” laws that enable power sharing.
In this report, we talked about several forms of community renewable energy. Community-owned renewables are owned locally, by members of the community. Shared renewables may or may not be locally owned, but the community can share the output. Group purchasing involves collective action to purchase renewable energy, such as rooftop solar arrays, but the benefits accrue to the individuals who host the solar on their rooftops.
Just about everyone agrees that the way to provide a more secure, and low cost grid, is to focus on localised energy, featuring local power and sharing – a concept that Orsini describes as “transactive energy.”
Originally published on One Step Off The Grid. by Sophie Vorrath An Australia-based start-up behind ground-breaking technology that allows landlords to operate like a micro-utility, by selling solar power generated at their rental property back to their tenants for less than power from the grid, has released a complementary online … [continued]
Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, the largest ski resort in southern New England, will soon be home to the largest community solar project in the northeastern United States, thanks to the construction by Nexamp of a 2.3 MW solar installation on 12 acres of the facility’s property. This project, along with … [continued]
Originally published on NREL. Analysis from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) finds that by making shared solar programs available to households and businesses that currently cannot host on-site photovoltaic (PV) systems shared solar could represent 32 to 49 percent of the distributed photovoltaic market in 2020. Shared … [continued]
Originally published on Solar Love. The George Washington University Solar Institute has launched a new paper called Bridging the Solar Income Gap. The gap refers to the fact that most low-income Americans have not acquired solar power, because they simply don’t have the money to do so. Many don’t own … [continued]
