With all kinds of new data out there demonstrating U.S. solar growth (here, here and here), we wanted to offer our insights into how these successes are playing out in one of our key campaign states: Pennsylvania.

Over the past couple years, Pennsylvania has become a real solar powerplayer.  Having developed over 100 MW of solar PV, PA is a leader in terms of installed solar and the jobs it creates.  In fact, last year’s Solar Jobs Census ranked the state second in the nation behind California for number of solar jobs.  We eagerly await the 2011 results.

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The solar company Solyndra recently filed for bankruptcy, which media reports have depicted as the end of solar power in the U.S.  This is like saying there is no future for the internet because Netscape went out of business.

The molar-grinding irony of it all is that Solyndra was the victim of a big success – the price of solar power has fallen rapidly, making more expensive technologies like theirs uncompetitive, but more importantly making solar power a real player in the U.S. energy economy. » Read the rest of this entry «

OK, so not exactly the Northeast but close enough.  More importantly, Ohio’s solar market is very similar to those of neighboring states in that it is premised upon a RPS solar carve-out.  0.5% of Ohio’s total electricity supply by 2024, that is; half of which must be derived from in-state solar resources.

As we reported on back in March, there has been some solar trouble in Ohio.  At that time, First Energy Corp had filed force majeure claiming they were unable to locate and secure a sufficient number of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) to satisfy its 2010 solar obligation.  Remarkably, this was the second year in a row First Energy filed for force majeure despite *good-faith* efforts.  Two years of force majeure?  Seems like there’d need to be a whole lot of good-faith going on.  We’re not buying it.  Again, our previous reporting details our doubts. » Read the rest of this entry «

Following last week’s posting on the recent developments in Connecticut, this week we head south to explore the latest and greatest coming out of the State of Maryland.  Other than summer crab feasts on the Chesapeake Bay, that is.

Maryland – Building strong market fundamentals

Requiring all electricity suppliers to secure at least 2.0% of their retail sales from solar facilities by 2022, Maryland is positioned to develop more than 1,250 MW of solar capacity over the coming decade.  Importantly, beginning in 2012 solar facilities must be connected to the distribution grid serving Maryland in order to satisfy compliance with the state’s RPS requirements.  As such, the state’s solar policy will truly stimulate local opportunities for Marylanders.

And while Maryland has established and maintained important foundations to stimulate growth in the solar energy economy (e.g., see here), the absence of some critical market fundamentals has the potential to frustrate new solar development.

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Resulting from an over-saturated solar renewable energy credit (SREC) market, over the past several months DC has experienced rapidly declining SREC values.  To help stabilize the market and ensure continued development of solar resources, diverse stakeholders have rallied around the Distributed Generation Act of 2011.  On July 12th, the calls of local residents and businesses were answered with the unanimous passage of this legislation.

Importantly, this Act will both increase the solar requirements beneath DC’s RPS and will require that compliance with these objectives is achieved through the development of local solar facilities.  Not only do these provisions send a clear message that DC is serious about harnessing the rapidly growing solar energy economy, but will help to balance the market and offer long-term stability for solar businesses and those looking to go solar.

Whereas DC’s previous solar requirements called for roughly 50 MW of solar capacity located anywhere in PJM by 2020, the DG Act of 2011 will stimulate a DC-specific market that is over 300 MW in size by 2023.  Significant indeed.

DC Councilmembers should be commended for their leadership and for listening to the thousands of DC residents and businesses that spoke up in favor of making the District a solar leader.  With increased talk about expanding solar opportunities even more by enabling innovative arrangements such as community solar, there is no doubting that DC is eager to tap the power of the sun.

55-19 was the unofficial tally.  Now the bill goes to Governor Brown’s desk for signature, and advocates take a hot sec to celebrate. More on the run-up to today’s vote here.

California’s failure to pass 33% RPS legislation is creating real havoc in the renewable market.

A month ago, the California Public Utilities Commission voted to create a new 1,000 MW program for distributed generation renewables.  It’s a great program…but yesterday, Southern California Edison (pdf) and Pacific Gas and Electric filed legal challenges.  Their argument?  Once they’ve met the current 20% legislative standard, they believe that means they are off the hook for doing anything more.  Read PG+E’s here (pdf) and SCE’s here (pdf) for the full deal. » Read the rest of this entry «

Just across the bay from Vote Solar HQ, the team of researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has been busy as ever cranking out tomes of invaluable information on clean energy markets, policies, costs and benefits. A couple recent reports that we found particularly illuminating:

State RPS Policies are Key to U.S. Solar Market Growth

Just today the dynamic Wiser/Barbose duo issued a report on the various approaches to RPSs taken across the country – and their effectiveness in deploying solar.

The results are in: RPSs with solar carve-outs (currently in place in 16 states + DC) have been an important factor in the solar market growth the U.S. has experienced of late. And with new programs gearing up in states nationwide and solar prices becoming competitive with the lower cost renewable resources, this policy mechanism is set to seriously kick up the solar wattage in the coming couple years. BUT not all RPS policies are created equal when it comes to deploying solar. The RPS is just the target – the solar market needs the right policy road to get there, and states have had varying success in providing a smooth path to growth. Resource constraints, restrictive cost caps, inadequate contract terms and a general lack of transparency and predictability can undermine solar deployment under a state’s RPS.

These are issues we discuss with policymakers in forums from Arizona to Pennsylvania. No longer a theoretical exercise, state leaders can now draw on real world experience and proven best practices to design effective programs. This report from LBNL provides a roadmap for navigating those RPS lessons learned.

Geographic Diversity Smooths Solar Output

For folks in the business of keeping the lights on, there’s much debate around how much variable renewable power the grid can support before it becomes a problem . . . the wind doesn’t always blow, clouds happen, how are utilities supposed to deliver the reliable power their consumers demand? Does adding significantly more renewables require more dirty generation to balance it? Or can we really depend on wind, solar and other clean energy sources to meet our nation’s electricity needs? Lots of questions, and there are just not many answers founded in real world data out there.

That’s why we were so excited to see an LBNL’s report on the topic: ”Implications of Wide-Area Geographic Diversity for Short-Term Variability of Solar Power.” Full PDF here: http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/emp/reports/lbnl-3884e.pdf and slightly more digestible PPT presentation here: http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/emp/reports/lbnl-3884e-ppt.pdf

Conventional power quality analysis has typically looked at output from a single PV system – as you can imagine, a passing cloud can have a real impact on the hour-by-hour performance of that solar system. But LBNL questioned whether that would ring true for the aggregate output from distributed systems across multiple sites. So they tracked solar data from 23 sites throughout Kansas and Oklahoma taken at one-minute intervals for a year to find out.

Conclusion: geographic diversity can significantly reduce extreme changes in aggregated PV output, the resources required to accommodate that variability, and the associated costs of managing variability. These smoothing benefits correlate closely with distributed wind energy production as well.

Low carbon grid, here we come.

FERC may have recently put the kibosh on states implementing European-style Feed-in Tariffs for the moment, but that doesn’t mean the U.S. is left high and dry without ways to drive wholesale solar markets. We’re seeing daily action from utility PV programs that play by FERC’s rules.

Just today, Southern California Edison announced 60 MW worth of contracts under its new wholesale distributed generation (WDG) program. These winning bids will be installed on 31 rooftops and five ground-mounted sites across SCE’s service territory and deliver clean, reliable, wholesale power to the grid (as opposed to meeting on-site load).This is the first traunch of contracts for the utility’s 500 MW distributed solar program – half of which the utility will own and half of which must be contracted like this through independent producers.

As you may recall, SCE proposed the program as a mechanism for meeting its RPS requirements. The RPS may have set the end-goal of 20% by 2010 (with efforts still underway to increase to 33% by 2020), but it was the utility that opted to develop distributed solar to meet part of that requirement – a departure from the previously exclusive focus on large-scale projects in the 10 – 500 MW range. SCE’s move into WDG is significant for a few reasons:

1. It was a clear example of utilities recognizing the value of power being generated within the distribution network – a solid case for developing more rooftop solar.
2. It opened up a new type of solar development – adding to a nice robust wholesale policy framework that supports diverse market participation (large-scale and distributed systems, utility-ownership and independent industry alike). That’s in addition to the state’s retail program that encourages customers meet their own electricity needs with solar (CSI plus net metering). We think all that diversity of opportunity’s a good thing for building a resilient solar market and lowering solar costs for everyone.
3. The program used a competitive solicitation process rather than a fixed standard contract offer – a policy approach designed to ensure projects get built at the best cost to ratepayers. Today’s announcement validates the competitive auction mechanism that we’re also seeing arise in the utility’s RPS procurement more broadly and in the CPUC’s to-be-launched twist on the Feed-in Tariff (because the incentive model doesn’t set a wholesale price, it’s another innovative way states can support wholesale solar development without stepping on FERC’s jurisdictional toes).

Northern California’s PG&E has a similar program in the works, so expect to see more WDG on the way.

Don’t just think sunny deserts, palm trees and cacti when you think solar.  Think Twin Towers and corn fields.  That’s right: Solar is making its way into the mainstream in the Midwest.

Illinois is rolling forward with aggressive new targets for green energy.  2007 saw the creation of the state’s first renewable energy standard: 25% by 2025.  Last year the RES was expanded to cover more utilities and added a solar carve-out: 6% of the RES to come from PV by 2015. That’s a whopping 750 MW of solar, an aggressive initial target for  a state that currently has less than 1 MW deployed.

Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, new energy markets take time to develop. The bill that just passed (HB 6202) helps Illinois avoid a 750 MW solar cliff in 2015 by establishing interim annual targets starting in 2012. The new solar targets will require approximately 40, 100 and 180 megawatts of new solar in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively. For those wanting the official word, see our press release here.

It may sound wonky, but it’s an absolutely critical framework for easing electricity providers into the world of solar and protecting Illinois energy consumers from sticker shock. Plus it helps get solar projects and jobs started now – when the Illinois economy can use it most. This year’s legislation sends a clear message to the solar industry to gear up to meet tremendous demand from Illinois in the next two years.

In combination with the one year old solar mandate Ohio, and newly created mandate for solar in Missouri, the new solar targets in Illinois will make solar energy a real part of the mix throughout the Midwest.  Expect to see other states follow suit.

Congratulations on the passage of the Illinois Solar Ramp Up bill are due to the Environmental Law and Policy Center and our friends at Illinois Solar Energy Association among many other great state enviro groups.  This bill hung in the balance in April when Vote Solar and ELPC organized a solar lobby day.  Thanks to all those who lobbied along with our many members who contacted their elected officials to let them know Illinoisans want solar now!