By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

The investment tax credit (ITC) has been one of the most successful methods for supporting solar development at the federal level for nearly the past decade. Under its provisions, solar consumers can take a 30% tax credit on their tax returns if they install solar electricity (though under a 2015 extension, the amount of the credit starts to go down starting in 2020. As energy storage has become more of a factor in people's decisions to go solar, however, there's been a growing movement that would add energy storage projects into the ITC as a method of encouraging the growth of this ever more important market. To that end, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), alongside a broad coalition of energy trade and advocacy organizations, sent a letter to Congress asking it to to modify the tax code to include energy storage as an eligible technology for the ITC. SolarWakeup reached out to Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA to find out more. SolarWakeup (SWup): Why now? Abigail Ross Hopper (ARH): Why not now? It is important for our grid, has strong bipartisan Congressional support and represents a big opportunity for clean energy, particularly solar. We know there is going to be tax legislation moving in the lame-duck session, and we think this is the perfect time to get this fix done. SWUp: Is there a bill to do this already in the works? ARH: The bill we’re urging Congress enact is the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act of 2017 (S. 1868/HR 4649). SWup: What fix are you looking for specifically? ARH: We are urging Congress to fix the investment tax credit in Sections 48 and 25D of the tax code to include energy storage as an eligible technology. SWup: What do you think the chances of passage are? ARH: We know from our visits with members from the top 100 solar districts that there is broad bipartisan support for applying the ITC to storage, and we believe it has a very good chance of still being included in legislation this year. SWup: What impact do you think this would have on the solar industry going forward? ARH: Many of our companies are storage companies too. This is a common-sense bill that will encourage investment, jobs and accelerated deployment of solar plus storage projects across the country. It’s a no-brainer. SWup: Are you seeing situations where not having ITC eligibility is inhibiting deals from getting done? ARH: Yes. For example, for utility-connected storage (Sec. 48) or community solar (Sec. 25D), where the storage technology is in front of the meter, the current requirement that 75% of the electricity comes from storage serves as a disincentive for investment in solar + storage. Eliminating this would make tax equity easier to obtain. This would also allow retrofits to qualify, and currently they only do under very specific conditions.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

After several years of fits and starts, Massachusetts yesterday began to accept applications to it's Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, or SMART, program. Billed as a successor to the state's former solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program, the SMART program is designed to encourage solar development in the state within the context of its three major utilities. According to the SMART website:

The SMART Program is a 1600MW declining block incentive program. Eligible projects must be interconnected by one of three investor owned utility companies in Massachusetts: Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil. Each utility has established blocks that decline in incentive rates between each block.

One commissioner, Judith Judson, explained to MassLive why they needed to move away from the SREC program:

"It was a volatile, market-traded program," said Judson. "National companies, or even an individual homeowner, didn't know what they would be getting from the SREC market. We've changed it to a predictable revenue stream."

Applications submitted within the next five days will be considered as part of the same capacity block. Further, according to the SMART website:

Applications for facilities less than or equal to 25 kW AC will be reviewed and placed into Capacity Blocks in the order that their contract was executed

Applications for facilities greater than 25 kW AC will be reviewed and placed into Capacity Blocks in the order that their Interconnection Services Agreement was executed

All applications received on or after 12:00 AM ET December 1, 2018 will be reviewed and placed into Capacity Blocks on a first come, first served basis. The program still allows Massachusetts residents to enter into leasing agreements. Under the old rules, leasing companies could claim the SRECs. Under the new program, they will just be able to collect the tariff payments instead. The launch of Massachusetts' SMART program is exciting to those of us who have been waiting for the Massachusetts market to take off. Now that a successor to the SREC program is finally in place, that may finally happen. More: Massachusetts accepts first applications for new solar SMART incentives

FERC Nominee Showdown. Look for more under the radar news about the nominee to join FERC after Bernard McNamee was videotaped saying “renewable energy screws up the grid” amongst other anti renewable rhetoric. This is up to the republican leadership in the Senate but given some Senators support for wind and solar energy, this could spell some trouble for the nomination. Look for solar supporter, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), to potentially step into the sunshine given his 2020 re-election date. 
Good For Me, Not For You. Some markets have great amount of solar especially within rate based approvals but lack the uptick of distributed generation. The likely reason is that the market policies work against consumer choice that stop consumers from being able o put solar on their roof. Frank takes you through the story out of Georgia. 
Get Some Energy (Storage). The utilities have taken over the cap tables across the energy storage space and many European utilities have been more active than some US utilities. The most notable energy storage company in the market for acquisition is FlexGen which we covered a few weeks ago and who has been active providing storage solutions to IPPs like Vistra Energy. 
Trump Refuting Trump. Mainstream political reporter from the Washington Post goes line by line of the most famous Trump speeches and refutes them with the National Climate Assessment. Worth a read. 
Who Gets Hurt. Whether it was the 9th ward in New Orleans during Katrina, firefighters on Long Island during Sandy or folks living in Paradise during the Camp Fire, those that are harmed by the effects of climate change are everyday Americans; often lower and middle income. The cost benefit for many Americans is largely obvious, given that the people that can most take advantage of the opportunities of the clean energy future also benefit from less dramatic climate events. Like some people say, the worst that can happen is a great new economic opportunity is created. 
Where To Next? Where should SolarWakeup Live! go to next? What market is opening up and you want to learn more about?

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Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

In the past five years, solar capacity in Georgia has gone through the roof. It's grown so fast, in fact, that it is ranked as the 10th largest solar state according to the Solar Energy Industries Association's annual rankings. But just because it's grown rapidly doesn't mean it's grown evenly. The growth Georgia has seen has mostly accrued to the state's largest utility, Georgia Power, instead of individuals and businesses owning their own rooftop systems. One group - Solarize Middle Georgia - is looking to even the playing field a bit, at least according to an article in the Macon (Georgia) Telegraph. This isn't the first Solarize movement to take up residence in the Peach State. As the article states:

Similar initiatives have taken place in other Georgia communities, like Athens-Clarke County, where residents are able to sign up for free evaluations that could help determine if solar is a worthy investment.

“The price of solar has come down 70 percent since 2010,” said Don Moreland, executive director of Solar CrowdSource who is also involved in Solarize Middle Georgia, told the Telegraph. “Some of the incentives that used to be in place have gone away. Solar is now competitive with what you would otherwise pay for the utility bill. ... You come out way ahead with solar compared to other electric bills.” Overall, the story is a good one, though there are a couple of flaws. One is that it misdiagnoses the module glut of the early 2000s as a "too many companies" problem rather than a "too many panels" problem. They also overestimate the costs of solar and make it seem more expensive than it really is. But the key here is that rooftop solar, despite having no governmental support (no net metering, for example), is coming to the middle of the state. And when that segment of the industry takes off, there will be no stopping solar growth in the state. More: Georgia is full of solar power, but not among homeowners. This group wants to change that.