By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor In this episode of the Energy Wakeup podcast, we sat down with Anthony Star, director of the Illinois Power Agency, to discuss the process for developing solar under the Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016, which will increase the amount of solar produced in the state in the coming years. Star discusses in detail the Illinois SREC procurement program, as well as what's coming with the adjustable block grant that will inform what happens with distributed generation and community solar. He also provides background on how these developments came to be. Listen to the whole discussion to hear Star talk about why low utility-scale SREC prices are good for community solar, how the RPS rollover timeframe could cause specific challenges moving forward and what role alternative suppliers will play in the state.
By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor In this episode of the Energy Wakeup podcast, we sat down with Anthony Star, director of the Illinois Power Agency, to discuss the process for developing solar under the Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016, which will increase the amount of solar produced in the state in the coming years. Star discusses in detail the Illinois SREC procurement program, as well as what's coming with the adjustable block grant that will inform what happens with distributed generation and community solar. He also provides background on how these developments came to be. Listen to the whole discussion to hear Star talk about why low utility-scale SREC prices are good for community solar, how the RPS rollover timeframe could cause specific challenges moving forward and what role alternative suppliers will play in the state.
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
Ah, Kansas, why did you go and have to be the exception? The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) (which regulates its utilities) decided last week to grant the proposals made by the state's two largest utilities - Westar Energy and Kansas City Power & Light to lower utility bills for everyone in their service areas except solar users. For some reason, the KCC decided it would allow solar users to be penalized for generating their own electricity by hitting them with a demand charge that could cost solar users anywhere between $27 and $36 a month, according to calculations by the Wichita Eagle.“The Commission finds that, in Westar’s case, under the two-part rate design for (solar) customers currently in place, the (solar) customers are receiving a preferential rate,” the commission said in its order approving the settlement.Ugh, for the last time, SOLAR USERS AREN'T GETTING PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. That's a lie. It's nonsense. And you on the KCC should have been smart enough to recognize it as such. It's so disappointing to see a misguided ruling such as this because it will essentially strangle Kansas' budding solar industry before it even gets to take its first breath - and that's a damn shame. More: New Westar Energy rates will benefit average customer but not solar power users Proposed Kansas Demand Fees Could Bring Solar Installations To A Screeching Halt
SB700 Becomes Law. This bill passed with the hard work of solar pros and solar supporters means cheaper energy storage in your future. Regardless of whether you work in California or not, take note of where storage makes sense and at what price point it breaks through.
Vote Solar Equinox DC. Would you be so kind to join me and some of the best solar advocates in America in DC on October 18th? Equinox DC is an event to celebrate the solar industry and raise money for a great cause. You can get super cheap tickets here and if you buy a lot of them you get to put a paragraph on SolarWakeup by sending me the receipt
Thoughts About Elon. This isn’t a statement about what Elon did when he wrote about ‘funding secured’ but my thoughts on why a settlement was required at all. Over the weekend, Musk had to settle with the SEC for the statement and process surrounding the go private actions. The SEC came after him quickly and sought to oust him as Tesla’s CEO. This is absurd in my opinion. Ford, GM and the other OEMs have had scandals that literally kill people (remember airbags and ignition switches?) which resulted in no action by the SEC. I personally had a Ford that put exhaust fumes into the car which made my kids sick and Ford nor the NTSB gave a damn about it. The SEC action is much like utilities coming after solar, changing an incumbent market with monopolies gets all sorts of pushback and the regulatory environment is embedded with those that are loyal to the system.
News About New Stuff. A good breakdown of the new stuff at SPI by the GTM team. Some are new and some are improvements to technology we already had in the market.
Gates and Bezos Tech. The Venture fund which pools some of the biggest names is focused on technology that can change the world. I support the initiative to find better technology but without a fund working in parallel to develop and fund projects, it will be hard to scale this initiative. The risk tolerant money needs to be available to make investments into projects where the technology risk falls on the project owner and not the offtaker.
Wholesale Storage Deals. One of the biggest questions I have for one of the speakers at SolarWakeup Live! Jersey City is how and when wholesale solar and storage can make sense in the markets. There are cost considerations and regulatory oversight to consider but I don’t think we are far from that reality in PJM markets. To hear the conversation live with Gabe Phillips from GP Renewables, register at solarwakeuplive.com.
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By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
People are looking for the next big technical innovation that will revolutionize solar cells and, for the past several years, perovskites have been "the next big thing." Perovskite is a mineral that has been shown to have significantly higher efficiencies than polycrystalline silicon. The problems were twofold: 1) The width of the perovskite film necessary to see the efficiency jumps had yet to be determined; and 2) The cost of commercialization was still prohibitive. But thanks to recent research out of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, both of those problems may be one step closer to being solved. And once they are, the commercialization of perovskite solar cells will be one step closer to reality.To make the new cells, the researchers coated transparent conductive substrates with perovskite films that absorb sunlight very efficiently. They used a gas-solid reaction-based technique in which the substrate is first coated with a layer of hydrogen lead triiodide incorporated with a small amount of chlorine ions and methylamine gas – allowing them to reproducibly make large uniform panels, each consisting of multiple solar cells. In developing the method, the scientists realized that making the perovskite layer 1 micron thick increased the working life of the solar cell significantly.The thicker layer improved both the stability of the solar cell - researchers claim the cells were completely unchanged even after 800 hours of use - but also allowed the cell to be reproduced more efficiently which, as they note, is critical to mass commercialization. Everyone is wondering where the next big breakthrough in solar cell technology is going to come from, and while perovskites still aren't there yet, this latest research suggests they're closer than ever before. And that news should excite everyone. More: Perovskite solar cells leap toward commercialization