New Window For North Carolina Solar Rebates Opens January 2

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As North Carolina climbed the list of best solar states in the country, the growth was often attributed to utility-scale solar installations. But Duke Energy wants to remind you that it’s also provides nearly $6 million in solar rebates to 1,300 residential and commercial distributed generation customers, too.

And the new window for getting solar rebates for next year opens on January 2.

The Duke Energy solar rebate program is one of many customer programs the company is implementing as part of the Competitive Energy Solutions for North Carolina law passed in 2017. The rebates have helped many residential and business customers take the solar leap.

[wds id=”3″]

“We are proud to make Birdsong the first Charlotte brewery to go solar,” said Chris Goulet, president of Birdsong Brewery. “Partnering with Duke Energy and its solar rebate program made the project’s economics even more attractive. The company’s solar installation is a big step toward making our organization more sustainable.”

North Carolina is No. 2 in the nation for solar power, including more than 8,000 Duke Energy customers in the state owning private solar systems. The company’s rebate program launched this summer attracted so much interest that capacity for residential and non-residential customers was fully subscribed within weeks. There is still capacity for nonprofit customers in 2018.

More than $6 million has been distributed to customers in 2018, with additional rebates set to be paid later in the year as systems are connected. The program will run through 2022, with an estimated 7,500 customers expected to receive Duke Energy rebates for solar systems.

The company will soon begin accepting new applications from customers who want to participate:

On Jan. 2, the company will open the window for an additional 20 megawatts of new rooftop solar installations for residential, non-residential and nonprofit customers.
Per the N.C. Utilities Commission order earlier in the year, the company will also reallocate any 2018 capacity for projects that have not been installed. That means customers who were waitlisted in 2018 with already-installed projects will be allowed to collect any available rebates. Any unconnected customers, or those that connected projects Oct. 3, 2018, or later, are eligible to apply in 2019.

Under the program, residential customers are eligible for a rebate of 60 cents per watt for solar energy systems 10 kilowatts (kW) or less. For example, a typical rooftop array of 8 kW is eligible for a $4,800 rebate. Installed systems 10 kW or greater are eligible for a maximum rebate of $6,000.

Nonresidential customers are eligible for 50 cents per watt. Nonprofit customers (such as churches and schools) are eligible for an enhanced rebate of 75 cents per watt for systems 100 kW or less.

North Carolina Releases Study On Energy Storage

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Thanks to an aggressive utility (Duke Energy) and favorable laws, North Carolina has shot up the list of solar states in terms of overall capacity, at least according to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s calculations. Other states have taken notice and are starting to emulate some of North Carolina’s policies in an effort to catch up.

Well now, the Tar Heel state is trying to lead again, this time on the subject of energy storage. And to that end, a group of experts just released a report for the state’s General Assembly to use as it tries to regulate this new energy-related market segment. To wit:

A team of experts from NC State University and N.C. Central University has released a report detailing energy storage options that the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) can use to inform energy policy. The report has short- and long-term implications for both power grid and renewable energy development in North Carolina.

[wds id=”3″]

According to a press release from North Carolina State University, the report had been mandated by House Bill 589, which called for a report that would discuss how energy storage technologies would benefit the state as it moved into a more distributed energy future. The legislature demanded the study take into account factors ranging from immediate feasibility to potential job creation.

At the end of the process, the team of 12 experts received input from a variety of stakeholders and recommended a menu of policy choices that fall into one of three categories: prepare, facilitate or accelerate energy storage adoption within the state. As one expert said in the release:

“Options within these three categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive,” says Christopher Galik, a member of the team and associate professor at NC State. “In fact, they could complement each other. Much would depend on the particular set of policies chosen, not to mention the details of how policies are designed and implemented.”

What’s critical about this study is that it is one of the first outside of California to deal with energy storage head-on, and creates a framework for policymakers before the technology becomes widespread. An orderly deployment of energy storage should follow this report and lead to North Carolina being on the cutting edge of energy storage policymaking as the state moves forward in its own renewable revolution.

More:

Experts Lay Out Options For Future of Energy Storage in North Carolina

North Carolina Advocates Push For Installer Conduct Standards

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

North Carolina has rapidly shot up the list of top solar states in the United States in the past several years as measured by the amount of solar capacity installed. And that’s a huge accomplishment for a state that 10 years ago wasn’t on anyone’s radar as having a significant solar market.

Most of that growth, however, has been through utility-scale solar until recently, when changes in state laws have now encouraged the development of residential and commercial solar. As those markets expand, at least one advocacy group is trying to deal ahead of time with some of the issues other states have had in those solar segments.

[wds id=”3″]

According to a report in the Charlotte Business Journal, the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) is demanding that its members who do residential and commercial installations pledge to follow the group’s Code of Conduct – or get the hell out.

As Mike Davis, president of NCSEA, told the Journal:

Between the organic growth in the business and the pop provided earlier this year by Duke Energy Corp.’s rebates for such solar projects, the association and its members wanted to establish baseline professional codes for the industry, says Mike Davis.

“A code of professional conduct is a good thing for any industry,” says Davis, director of membership for the Raleigh-based association. “But we have seen an influx of new players in the market (after Duke offered the rebates) and that gave us a sense of urgency.”

The goal of the standards is to head off any scandals involving unethical business behavior that includes “high-pressure sales, over-promising on rebates and incentives, overselling potential savings and, in some cases, doing shoddy workmanship,” the Journal reports.

While NCSEA has no enforcement mechanism or authority, it is requiring all its current members to sign the pledge and won’t take any new members who refuse to do so.

More:

Why this group wants NC solar installers on board with new conduct standards