Solar Electric
Distributed Batteries Reach 700+ MW, But Much More Needed
Battery systems installed at California homes and businesses now total 721 megawatts, with roughly 70% percent of them, about 42,000 systems, charged by clean electricity connected to rooftop solar. That’s according to an Oct. 26 report by the California Solar and Storage Association.
The report says collectively the emissions-free systems comprise the largest battery in […]
Subsidies Spurred Small Solar Growth, Focus Shifts to Home Energy Storage
Hundreds of articles have addressed the controversy over how much residential solar rooftop owners should receive for the excess power they send to the grid to continue advancing solar, with utilities long claiming this burdens the solar have nots. But last week, the Energy Commission highlighted something else that’s helped solar advance in the state: the New Solar Home Partnership
Solar Groups Propose Customer-Owned Solar-plus-Storage Microgrids to Regulators
An innovative proposal from Vote Solar and other solar advocates would demonstrate that customer-sited solar and storage can provide reliability and resiliency. The Joint Solar Reliability Parties microgrid docket filing with the California Public Utilities Commission proposes rebates for adding storage.
11.5 GW of clean energy assures reliability, CCAs add more renewables
To attain 11.5 GW of clean electricity by mid-decade, no additional fossil fuel plants will be needed to ensure grid reliability, California Energy Commission staff concluded Sept. 30. In late May, the California Public Utilities Commission mandated that the utilities add 11.5 GW of greenhouse gas emissions-free resources, including 1,000 MW of new geothermal […]
Outgoing Vote Solar Chief Highlights Work to Make Rooftop Solar Mainstream
Browning, with microphone, and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Adam Browning, executive director of Vote Solar for the last 15 years, is leaving his post at the end of this month. When he began working on rooftop solar at the turn of this century, it was the only solar game in town. […]
SMUD on the Verge of Net Metering Breakthrough
The Sacramento Municipal Utilities District is expected to approve Sept. 16 a novel solution for crediting customer-owned solar, which solar advocates support. Meanwhile, much of the rest of California continues to fight over net energy metering.
The SMUD board is considering a multi-faceted rate design that reduces the retail compensation to solar owners but adds […]