Author Archives: Frank Andorka

Education Is The Key To Solar Support

By Tony Clifford, CDO of Standard Solar

We often talk about how popular solar is, and poll after poll after poll continues to prove it. Polls consistently show overwhelming popular support for solar, and it’s not even close.

The latest survey, a messaging poll by Global Strategy Group on behalf of the Solar Energy Industries Association, adds more fuel to the fire. It turns out that no matter what side of the political divide you are on, you support solar—as long as you are educated about the benefits and strengths of it as an electricity source.

For example, the survey shows that 78% of people polled believe in net metering, the compensation system that pays solar consumers for the excess electricity they produce and export to the grid for the use of everyone else. Dig a little deeper, and you discover the number jumps to 84% among people who fully understand what net metering is and how the specifics of the policy affect them.

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Here’s another finding: 76% of Americans believe their utility should get more of their electricity generation from solar power. With a little education on the benefits of solar to the overall grid that number jumps more than 10% to 87%. What’s most amazing about this is that it doesn’t take much education to make this happen.

I’m often asked about how we should be handling our outreach as an industry. Sometimes, I get frustrated because it feels like we talk to each other a lot about how great solar is without getting the news out into the general public. Now I realize, with a little effort, we can move great mountains in support of the solar industry.

Of course, the survey wasn’t just about discovering that an educated public is a pro-solar public. It was also designed to figure out what message most resonated with the American people. This, too, had an extraordinarily clear answer.

The message testing clearly shows that people are most persuaded by jobs, low-cost and clean air messaging, and that having access to solar was something they felt strongly about. Support for solar was particularly strong with younger voters, men, Hispanics and opinion leaders.

So what makes the new messaging survey so exciting is that it proves that with just a little effort—think of it as lobbying our friends and neighbors—we can genuinely affect attitudes about solar energy and pressure those power-industry actors who haven’t yet gotten on board with the Solar Revolution.

But like the fight for the investment tax credit and the tariff fight, this isn’t something one company or even a group of companies can do on their own. It will require a concerted effort from the entire industry to speak to anyone within earshot and explain to them why solar is right for them. Talk to them about the jobs. Talk about the clean air. Talk about giving everyone the right to access solar for their electricity needs.

We can do this, but it’s going to take everyone doing their part. SEIA has done the work and research necessary to show us how to do it. Now it’s up to us to make it a reality.

Magnificent Minnesota: Study Says 70% Renewables By 2050 Within Reach

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Most solar observers who look at the Midwest and identify what state leads that group of states almost inevitably settle on Minnesota as the far-and-away leader.

(Here’s the obligatory note suggesting that Illinois is hot on Minnesota’s tail and that it had better keep moving forward if it wants to remain the name on everyone’s lips when it comes to a Midwestern solar leader).

But the Land of 10,000 Lakes (which is actually closer to 15,000, but who’s counting?) is well known for its progressive solar policy, particularly when it comes to community solar, where its reputation doesn’t just make it stand out in the Midwest but in the entire country.

And it benefits too from having a utility that, after long and involved battles, decided to join the Solar Revolution instead of fighting it. Xcel is now not only on board with solar development but in some cases is leading the charge (though it still isn’t an enthusiastic supporter of rooftop solar, preferring instead the utility-scale and community solar farms that it has control over).

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Now there’s even strong support for the expansion of solar power and other forms of renewable energy in the state as the latest study for the state’s Department of Commerce suggests that the state could get up to 70% of its electricity by 2050 without destroying the state’s economy.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has the details:

The deployment of more solar and wind generation would be no more costly than new natural gas power, a cheap source of electricity, according to the study done for the state Department of Commerce. Enough solar generation could be added cost-effectively by 2030 to meet Minnesota’s ambitious solar-power goals.

So that’s great news for solar advocates in the state, some of whom have been pushing for a much more aggressive renewable portfolio standard for the past couple of years. Could this latest study add fuel to that fire and get it passed? Could Minnesota boldly join states like California and Hawaii and go all-in on 100% renewables?

OK, maybe that last is a pipe dream for now, but the new study should buoy hope that Minnesota can stay on the Midwest’s leading edge when it comes to solar development, at least for the foreseable future.

More:

Study says Minnesota can economically reach renewable energy goals by 2050

GI Energy Files Objection To Confusing New York Energy Storage Rules

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

New York has developed something of an inferiority complex about its renewable energy and storage market. They ceded leadership first to New Jersey, then Vermont (yes, VERMONT, of all places) and now Massachusetts gets the majority of headlines in the Northeast.

So New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, no shy retiring flower himself, has made it his life mission to seize back the headlines from his fellow Northeastern states by setting aggressive goals for both renewable energy and storage growth – and he’s not hesitant to tell anyone who is listening how fantastic his plan is going to be.

And make no mistake, Cuomo’s plan is ambitious, particularly for energy storage. Starting from zero, Cuomo has pledged to reach 1,500 MW of energy storage and put out a plan in June that would set a target at double that.

But what Cuomo seems to forget is that the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly and often painfully, and according to at least one company that desperately wants to participate in New York’s energy storage boom is objecting to the rules as they are now in place, saying they make it impossible for third-party storage projects to compete.

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Our friends at Microgrid Knowledge have the details of GI Energy’s complaints:

Because third parties are unable to price their projects properly, they face an uneven playing field, GI Energy argues.

“And, “perhaps most confounding of all,” GI Energy writes, utilities can deem their own energy storage projects as grid assets subject to no delivery bills while third party projects are treated as new retail accounts that are billed for delivery” — as if they were any other commercial behind the meter service.

As a result, what could be the single biggest operating expense for energy storage developers remains undefined in New York, the filing states.”

How can third-party storage projects compete when they’re not sure how much the utility is going to charge them for the delivery? No, we have no idea either.

These and other rules are going to have to be hashed out right quick if New York is going to be any sort of significant player in the energy storage market, and New York is going to have to address complaints like those of GI Energy if they want to stay ahead of their Northeastern neighbors in this new race to the top.

More:

Barrier to Energy Storage in New York?

Canadian Solar Is Betting On Bifacial Modules In U.S. Market

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

In light of other solar industry news on the policy side, it’s easy to forget the hardware portion of the industry is still chugging along despite the obstacles put in front of them like tariffs and other chicanery by policymakers beholden to the fossil fuel interests. But innovations are still going on in the module market, including bifacial modules.

Bifacial (literally: two faces) solar modules can generate energy not only from the front side, but from the back side as well. The sunlight on the ground is reflected to the glass-covered back side of the module, producing extra solar energy in a solar system, significantly reducing the solar system’s levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), hence higher return on investment (ROI). Depending on the albedo (reflectivity) of the ground and other site conditions, daily energy yield for projects with bifacial modules can be 5-20% higher than with conventional polymer backsheet modules. This improved yield can dramatically enhance the economics of solar system deployments.

Now one company is betting that these modules will become a major portion of the U.S. market – and they’re intent on proving it by supplying a major Northwest project with their own spin on the new technology.

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Canadian Solar, one of the world’s largest solar power companies, announced that the company has delivered 10 MW of Canadian Solar bifacial PV modules – BiKu CS3U-PB-AG – to Neighborhood Power for four solar power projects near Portland, Oregon. This represents the first significant delivery of bifacial solar PV modules into the United States.

Neighborhood Power chose Canadian Solar bifacial modules because the additional energy gain is significant enough to compensate for the new tariffs on solar modules and steel mounting equipment, and the extra power gain made their solar projects economical again.

“When the solar industry was hit with tariffs on solar modules and steel, it seemed that rising landed costs had priced these projects out of the market,” said Stephen Gates, President, Neighborhood Power Corporation. “But with the additional power generated by Canadian Solar’s bifacial modules, delivered in the quantities and in the timeframe we needed, we were able to make the project economics work and bring these projects online by the end of 2018 as planned.”

Canadian Solar BiKu bifacial modules are warranted for 30 years, 5 years longer than the industry standard, and have a lower degradation rate, which results in 20% additional yield over the lifetime of the solar module. When added to the additional daily bifacial yield of 5-20%, Canadian Solar BiKu bifacial modules deliver up to 44% additional lifetime value compared to conventional modules.