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.

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“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.

Q&A: Why Is Community Solar So Hot And The Keys To Getting Deals Done

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As community solar continues to streak across the solar sky as the hottest segment in the industry, the questions are twofold: Why is it the hottest segment, and what are the keys to getting deals done. Scott Wiater, president and CEO of Standard Solar, a national solar company that has recently done community solar deals in New York and Colorado, agreed to answer those questions – and offer advice to anyone trying to launch community solar programs in new areas.

SolarWakeup: Why is community solar one of the fastest-growing segments of the solar industry?

Scott Wiater: The size of the market is staggering. According to a GTM Research, Wood Mackenzie and Vote Solar report, between 50% and 75% of U.S. electricity consumers can’t put solar arrays on their own roofs. That means there’s 50% to 75% of U.S. electricity consumers that can’t be a part of the Solar Revolution unless there’s an alternative way to reach them. People are realizing that community solar provides them with that opportunity.

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SolarWakeup: According to a recent study, only 19 states have programs that actively promote community solar programs. Why is that?

Scott Wiater: It’s a relatively new market, and just like any other new market, there’s an education process that we have to go through. It’s not that states don’t want community solar programs. I just think that right now that they don’t know any better.

SolarWakeup: What kind of education effort is needed to explain the benefits of community solar to policymakers?

Scott Wiater: You’d be surprised how quickly policymakers start to get it once you explain to them not only the benefits to the consumers but also the neighborhood that’s connected to the community solar program. So it doesn’t take much, though it does require that the solar company involved be willing to take the time to explain the process to them. In the end, it’s so worth every effort we make.

SolarWakeup: What kind of reception do you get when you start talking about community solar to customers?

Scott Wiater: They get excited. After all, what’s not to get excited about? It’s an opportunity to access clean energy without the complex process of putting it on your own roof. People like easy, and community solar gives them an easy way to do their part to help the environment—and it saves them money on their electric bills to boot. What’s not to like?

SolarWakeup: What are the three most important elements to getting a community solar deal done?

Scott Wiater: The three most important elements to getting a community solar deal done are education, financing and customer acquisition. The key to making sure all of that goes smoothly is to have a development group involved that has done it before and won’t get tangled up in the complexity of the deal. There’s a specific set of skills companies must have to do community solar projects smoothly, and not everyone has that skill set. If you’re considering doing a community solar project, do your due diligence and make sure the company you choose to spearhead your deal fully understands everything that entails.

New York Pledges 3 GW Of Energy Storage By 2030

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

When New York announces clean energy goals, they do it in the only way the Empire State knows how to do anything: They do it big.

So it was when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his latest bid to reclaim New York’s leadership in the clean energy push that’s sweeping through the Northeast, calling for 3 GW of energy storage to be added to the state’s grid by 2030.

“As the federal government continues to ignore the real and imminent dangers of climate change, New York is aggressively pursuing clean energy alternatives to protect our environment and conserve resources,” Governor Cuomo said in a press release. “These unprecedented energy efficiency and energy storage targets will set a standard for the rest of the nation to follow, while supporting and creating jobs in these cutting-edge renewable industries.”

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In June, Governor Cuomo announced the State’s plan to jumpstart the development of energy storage in New York, calling for the deployment of 1,500 megawatts of energy storage by 2025, or enough electricity for 1.2 million average sized homes, while avoiding more than one million tons of carbon pollution.

To achieve the Governor’s goal, the Commission today adopted a comprehensive strategy to address barriers that have been impeding energy storage technologies from competing in the energy marketplace. These actions are intended to accelerate the market learning curve, drive down costs, and speed the deployment of the highest-value energy storage projects for maximum benefit to New Yorkers and the electric grid.

In addition to the 2025 goal, a secondary energy storage deployment goal of 3,000 megawatts for 2030 is being adopted, which was called for pursuant to legislation signed into law last year by Governor Cuomo. When implemented, the strategy adopted by the Commission today will establish a critical foundation for the emergence of this clean-tech industry across the state and support New York’s goal to create 30,000 jobs in this industry.

To further stimulate energy storage deployment across the state and spur private sector investment, earlier this week, New York Power Authority (NYPA) announced it will invest $250 million over the next five years to accelerate the flexibility of the electric grid to give New Yorkers greater access to renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power. This multi-pronged, collaborative effort by NYPA will harness the abilities of third-party providers to address key market and financial barriers, and accelerate implementation of 150 megawatts of grid flexibility projects and decrease market risk.

Both Commission actions today are the result of extensive public outreach, numerous public hearings, regional forums, active stakeholder engagement, and public comment review.

The Commission order also:

Authorizes a $310 million market acceleration bridge incentive to be administered by NYSERDA, in addition to $40 million announced in November for pairing storage with PV projects, and directs NYSERDA to file a market acceleration bridge incentive implementation plan; and
Directs the State’s six major electric utilities to hold competitive procurements for 350 megawatts of bulk-sited energy storage systems.

As more renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, are brought online, energy storage will enhance efficiency of the electric grid to better integrate these variable resources. Importantly, energy storage will also enable these resources to meet periods of peak demand. Achieving the 2025 energy storage target will produce $2 billion in gross lifetime benefits to New Yorkers by reducing the reliance on costly, dirty and inefficient energy infrastructure, while also helping to scale up the clean energy industry.

According to a recent report by the American Jobs Project, New York is home to nearly 100 energy storage companies with expertise in hardware manufacturing, advanced materials, software development, and project management, and ranks fifth in the nation for energy storage patents due to the depth of research across its universities, national lab, and businesses.

The Energy Show: Manufacturing Solar in the U.S. with Auxin Solar

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon

Attention U.S. Department of Commerce: your well-intentioned efforts to help the U.S. solar panel manufacturing industry are not working.

Even with 30%+ tariffs on imported solar panels and cells, the remaining U.S. manufacturers are struggling to stay competitive. The good news, as one would expect, is that there is strong demand for Made in the U.S.A. solar panels – both from ordinary consumers as well as government purchases. However, structural issues with the supply chain for solar components puts the remaining U.S. manufacturers at a substantial disadvantage.

The reasons for these supply chain challenges are simple. Basically, many of the key components that go into solar modules are not manufactured in the U.S., including wafers, cells, EVA and junction boxes. And many of the components that are indeed available in the U.S. — such as glass, backsheets and aluminum frames — are significantly less expensive at comparable quality levels if purchased from overseas suppliers. To make matters even worse, these essential imported solar components are subjected to additional tariffs when imported from certain countries. Essentially, we are shooting ourselves in our foot if we expect U.S. solar manufacturers to be competitive when 30%+ tariffs are applied to most of the major solar components.

A rational plan to make the U.S. competitive in solar manufacturing does not require government support. Instead, it requires government to get out of the way and set a long-term solar manufacturing policy. U.S. manufacturers would instantly be more competitive if they did not have to pay tariffs on imported solar components — particularly cells and aluminum solar frames. Once the U.S. solar manufacturing base is re-established and consistent, U.S. manufacturers could invest in domestic wafer, cell, junction box and other component manufacturing.

How are U.S. manufacturers coping with competitive global issues of cell production and purchasing, U.S. production costs, cell and panel tariffs, local and federal regulations, and shifting national policies? The best way to answer this question is to speak with one of the most experienced U.S. solar panel manufacturers. My guest on this week’s show is Mamun Rashid, COO of Auxin Solar, based in San Jose, California. Auxin manufactures high quality poly and mono solar panels for residential and commercial customers. They also do original equipment manufacturing for tier-1 manufacturers who have “made in the USA” requirements. Please listen up to this week’s Energy Show for Mamun’s perspective on the opportunity and challenges for companies manufacturing solar panels in the U.S.