Tag Archive for: residentialsolar

Solar paired with battery installations makes up about 9% of all installed residential net metering capacity in California

California residents are increasingly pairing battery storage with solar installations

California residents are increasingly pairing battery storage with solar installations, according to the latest preliminary data in our Monthly Electric Power Industry Report.

The share of new residential solar photovoltaic systems paired with batteries has increased since we began collecting data in October 2023. In April 2024, more than 50% of residential solar photovoltaic installations were paired with battery storage, compared with just over 20% in October 2023.

The shift toward more battery storage at solar installations eligible for net metering came after changes to California’s compensation structure. Net metering compensates customers for the distributed generation output that is returned to the grid by crediting their electricity bills.

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Source: eia.gov

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The California Energy Commission announced new grants totaling $18.9M to help 334 cities & counties automate residential solar permits.

California Energy Commission gives cities and counties grants to adopt automated solar permitting

In an effort to spur the growth of rooftop solar, the California Energy Commission has just announced new grants to help communities automate the approval of residential solar energy permits, with the total of $18.9 million now reaching a whopping 334 cities and counties. Experts expect the move to increase the speed of installations, lower costs and accelerate solar adoption statewide.

Roughly 10% of properties in California have solar, a figure that needs to grow rapidly for the state to meet its clean energy goals. One of the biggest obstacles to completing more solar projects is permitting. Properties that install rooftop solar first need to receive a permit from the local building department. Outdated and inefficient permitting requirements in many areas combined with staffing shortages can add months of delays and thousands of dollars to solar projects. In many cases, property owners cancel the project when permitting becomes too cumbersome or expensive. Building officials who want to improve solar permitting frequently lack the resources to do so.

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Source: Solar Power World

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The US EPA launched a $7B grant competition through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to increase access to affordable, resilient, clean solar energy

Biden administration launches $7B solar for all grant competition

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a $7 billion grant competition through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to increase access to affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy for millions of low-income households. Residential distributed solar energy will lower energy costs for families, create good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis. The Solar for All competition, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), will expand the number of low-income and disadvantaged communities primed for residential solar investment by awarding up to 60 grants to states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and eligible nonprofits to create and expand low-income solar programs that provide financing and technical assistance, such as workforce development, to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from residential solar. EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced the grant competition for communities with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (VT), who championed the program, in Waterbury, Vermont while touring a residential solar project.

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Source: EPA

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AB 2619 will repeal the NEM 3.0 decision and require the CPUC to create a new rule structure based on the clean energy goals set by SB 100.

California assemblymember introduces bill to repeal NEM 3.0

California Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael) has introduced new legislation to reduce fees and taxes on residential solar projects and restore incentives to Californians that were recently diminished by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)’s NEM 3.0 decision.

NEM 3.0 cut the incentives that utilities were required to pay solar homeowners when pushing surplus power to the grid by approximately 75%, plummeting demand for solar adoption throughout the state and threatening many solar installation businesses. In addition to the projected loss of 17,000 jobs, NEM 3.0 has also jeopardized California’s ability to meet its ambitious clean energy goals.

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Source: Solar Power World

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The North Carolina Utilities Commission has given Duke Energy the green light to move ahead with its PowerPair residential solar-plus-storage incentive program

Duke Energy pilot could open door to VPPs at vertically integrated utilities

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Dive Brief:

  • The North Carolina Utilities Commission has given Duke Energy the green light to move ahead with its PowerPair residential solar-plus-storage incentive program, which will begin enrolling customers in May.
  • The program — capped at 30 MW each for Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas — will award incentives of up to $9,000 for 6,000 customers who agree to install rooftop solar and home batteries and to participate in one of two cohorts. One cohort will test Duke Energy’s time-of-use rates, while another cohort will receive a monthly incentive in exchange for allowing utility control of the installed batteries.

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Source: Utility Dive

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The US solar industry has registered its best third quarter ever with 6.5GW of PV installed in Q3 2023 but residential started slowing down.

US adds 6.5GW of solar PV in record third quarter, residential to decline in 2024

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The US solar industry has registered its best third quarter ever with 6.5GW of PV installed in Q3 2023, but residential started to show a slowdown in certain states.

According to research from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, some of the biggest residential markets – such as Texas, Arizona and Florida – have experienced quarterly and annual declines in installed capacity in Q3 2023, despite a record number of installs with 210,000 systems.

Despite slowdowns in these major states, residential solar installed 1.8GW in Q3 2023, a 12% increase year-over-year and setting another quarterly record. During the first three quarters of the year, the segment is up 24% from the same period last year. In total, 34 states and Puerto Rico have had an annual growth during that period.

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Source: PV Tech

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In 2022, around 10% of all new residential solar installations included paired storage — up from virtually zero in 2015.

Rooftop solar system median size up 200%, with storage pairings rising: DOE lab

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Across the U.S. market, California “dominates” in sheer numbers of residential solar installations, according to LBNL. And 11% of those systems have attached storage, a trend Barbose said is driven in part by rebates for storage and by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Self-Generation Incentive Program.

However, system sizes in California only average 7.1 kW – “near the low end of the spectrum,” LBNL said, which pulls the U.S. median downward. While median system sizes in most states are “well above 8 kW, and in many states above 9 kW,” California’s overall share of the market means national median size is 7.2kW.

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Source: Utility Dive

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The US solar industry is expecting to install an unprecedented 32GW of new capacity in 2023, according to the SEIA and Wood Mackenzie.

US solar installations expected to be a record 32 GW in 2023

The US solar industry is expecting to install an unprecedented 32 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in 2023, according to a report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie.

This year’s anticipated installed solar capacity is a 52% surge from 2022, according to the new “US Solar Market Insight Q3 2023” report.

Supply chain bottlenecks as a result of the pandemic and restrictive trade policies have negatively impacted the solar market in recent years. But these challenges are beginning to recede, and as the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) policies gain momentum, Wood Mackenzie expects total US operating solar capacity to grow from 153 GW today to 375 GW by 2028.

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Source: electrek

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Italy deployed 2.48GW of new PV systems in 2022, with the residential solar segment accounting for almost 50% of the total installed capacity.

Italy hits 25 GW milestone

Italy reached 25,048 MW of cumulative installed PV capacity, spread across 1,221,045 installations, by the end of December, according to new statistics released by Italia Solare, the nation’s solar energy association.

The largest portion of this capacity is represented by PV systems ranging in size from 200 kW to 1 MW, accounting for 8,270 MW or 33% of the total. The second-largest segment is installations with outputs ranging from 20 kW to 200 kW, with a share of 5,057 MW, or 20% of the total.

Solar arrays with capacities of less than 12 kW account for 4,949 MW, or 20% of the total, followed by systems with capacities of 1 MW to 10 MW, for a 16% share, or 3,942 MW.

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Source: PV Magazine

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SMUD and Swell Energy have signed an agreement for Swell to act as the aggregator for the new My Energy Optimizer Partner+ program

Sacramento, Swell aggregate residential solar + battery storage

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To help deliver on its 2030 Zero Carbon Plan to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from its power supply, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and Swell Energy have signed an agreement for Swell to act as the aggregator for the new My Energy Optimizer Partner+ program – a residential customer-driven virtual power plant initiative.

The initial effort will bring 20 MWh and 10 MW of renewable capacity to SMUD by recruiting, installing and aggregating capacity from customers’ battery storage systems located in the utility’s service area. The program has the opportunity to scale to 54 MWh and 27 MW over the term of the partnership. Contract capability is based on a 2-hour deliverable capacity, inclusive of exports with day-ahead notification for up to 240 events per year.

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Source: Solar Industry

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