Here are some documents — some produced by Vote Solar, some by other organizations — that we’ve found helpful to the cause.
Solar Policies: Best and Current Practices
Developing State Solar Photovoltaic Markets (pdf): Prepared by Vote Solar and Center for American Progress, this report provides an overview of state solar policy options and opportunities.
Freeing the Grid 2010: Best and Worst Practices in Net Metering and Interconnection Standards: We work with IREC and NNEC to produce this annual report card on each state’s net metering and interconnection practices. See if your state makes the grade.
Report on Net Metering in Competitive Electricity Markets. IREC details the methodologies states use to accomplish “net metering” in complex competitive electricity markets involving separate retail choice providers and distribution utilities.
The Impact of Retail Rate Structures on the Economics of Commercial PV in California. Ryan Wiser and the good folks at Lawrence Berkeley Lab produced this very important report on utility rate design–an issue that needs much more attention by policymakers everywhere.
Utility External Disconnect Switch: Practical, Legal, and Technical Reasons to Eliminate the Requirement. This report makes the case that the UEDS fails to provide “fail safe” protection (the rationale for its existence), is functionally redundant to the traditional practice of “pulling the meter,” and adds unnecessary cost to a PV system; the report recommends adhering to Best Practices for PV system interconnection which provides the needed safety without the UEDS or its unfavorable impacts.
Solar Costs and Benefits: Economic and Environmental Analysis
U.S. Solar Energy Trade Assessment 2010 (pdf): SEIA and GTM Research showed that in 2009, the U.S. was a significant net exporter of solar products and accrued $2.6 billion in direct value from solar installations.
Tracking the Sun III: The Installed Costs of PV in the U.S. from 1998 to 2009: Berkeley National Lab research shows that the cost of going solar is coming down, thanks in part to smart solar policies.
Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis (pdf): Lazard compares the costs of various energy generation resources including solar, wind, natural gas, nuclear and coal. No surprise to us, renewables can compete with traditional polluting sources.
The Sun Rises on Nevada: Economic and Environmental Impacts of Developing Large-Scale Solar Power Plants (pdf): Vote Solar prepared this in-depth analysis of job, wage, tax and greenhouse gas benefits for large-scale solar development in Nevada. It’s a big one. For those with short attention spans, we’ve prepared an Executive Summary.
Quantifying the Benefits of Solar Power to California (pdf): Vote Solar commissioned this study on solar energy’s ability to reduce peak demand for electricity, decrease natural gas consumption, avoid hazardous emissions, improve grid efficiency by reducing line losses, and reduce costs associated with upgrades to the electrical transmission and distribution system. Findings indicate that the value of on-peak solar energy in California in 2005 was between 23.1 cents and 35.2 cents per kilowatt hour depending, in large part, on the location of the solar electric systems.
Survey of Solar Energy Workforce Development (pdf): With all the talk around solar job creation, we conducted this survey to bring some clarity to what is really underway to train our new green collar workforce. We found that more than 5,400 individuals are participating in solar job training programs this year in California.
Job Creation Studies in California (pdf): UC Berkeley graduate students conducted this analysis of job creation in the solar industry. While specific to the California Solar Initiative, it can be used to extrapolate figures for other programs.
Finance Models: Strategies for Overcoming Solar’s Upfront Cost
PACE: City-run Solar Finance Programs: Vote Solar’s whitepaper and advocacy toolkit on the use of municipal property tax financing to help residents invest in solar.
Solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs): PPAs allow public, commercial and now residential energy customers to purchase solar electricity rather than solar panels. This guide, released by the Rahus Institute, help organizations and businesses learn about this model and decide whether or not it will work for them.