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San Francisco has just become the first major city to require that all new buildings must utilize solar panels.

The city’s Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the ordinance. Drafted by City Supervisor, Scott Weiner, the new law mandates that all new building projects both residential and commercial units of ten floors or less must incorporate solar panel systems. This new law builds upon a previous one which stated that 15 percent of new building rooftops must be “solar ready”.

“Activating underutilized roof space is a smart and efficient way to promote the use of solar energy and improve our environment” – Weiner said. In further justification – “We need to continue to pursue aggressive renewable energy policies to ensure a sustainable future for our city and our region.”

An additional 7.4 megawatts due to the effects of this legislation is enough solar power for approximately 2,500 homes in San Francisco.

The legislation will also take the city that much closer to achieving its goal of providing 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. It is predicted that this law will enable the city to prevent the emissions of 26.3 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Mr. Weiner is also well aware of the economic benefits of this new solar legislation. Solar adoption will help the residents of San Francisco save money on their electric bills. This new ordinance will also increase the more than 75,000 total solar jobs that California currently has.

It should go without saying that this new plan bodes well for cities across America. The successful implementation of this new solar law will be an impetus for other major cities to take action as well. In fact, this idea should be that much easier for other cities to make happen because many of them do not currently have much solar capacity on their grids.

It is expected that city supervisors all across the country will soon propose similar solar legislation.

It’s fairly simple – solar is both an environmental and economic win.

Perhaps the most significant story in solar power doesn’t necessarily involved solar at all. The biggest story in the renewable energy industry in the coming years will be energy storage. Energy storage systems will be deployed in great numbers for both renewable energy applications and conventional energy storage uses as well.

However, discussing solar plus storage will be a primary focus on this site in the coming months. In fact, a new section will be appearing soon that will delve into storage specifics as well as profiles of the most prominent energy storage companies.

The significance of the changes that affordable energy storage will affect cannot be understated. This will truly have a massive effect on the entire energy landscape. Wind and solar power will finally be able to stand on their own, dramatically increasing their adoption rates.

The “elephant in the room” of course is Net Metering. While many states have progressive net metering policies that benefit solar customers, some states are currently looking into more regressive changes. The good news is that it won’t matter. Energy storage systems will replace the need for net metering. Instead of selling excess solar energy, homeowners and businesses will store it for later use.

As businesses and homeowners begin to see the value in solar plus storage systems, utility provided electricity will begin to take a secondary role. Microgrids will start showing up everywhere, offering much less reliance on the traditional grid model. Independent, decentralized energy production and storage will allow for a much more resilient source of power, especially in parts of the country that are prone to natural disasters.

So what’s the expected timeline for these energy storage solutions to start arriving?

Well some companies are already offering their energy storage systems and even more will become available by the end of 2016.

Again, current pricing and future pricing expectations will be discussed more in detail on upcoming storage pages. However, prices are currently low enough for deployment in high priced electricity markets in the U.S.; namely Hawaii, California and parts of the North East. It won’t be long before we can expect to see battery backed up solar panel systems all across the country.

Now is the time to go solar. Energy storage systems can be easily added when the economics are right, which will happen sooner than many think.

Large, utility-scale solar farms have recently been asked to be shut off at certain times by power companies.

Solar capacity has grown to such a point in California that, in combination with natural gas, wind, hydropower, and nuclear power, too much electricity may find its way onto the grid. The grid can only handle so much power before a black out occurs.

In effect, grid operators have had to tell solar farms to temporarily shut off at certain times of overall high energy production. Keith Casey, VP of California Independent System Operator, says that solar is “…zero carbon, clean energy. It would just be a travesty to curtail large amounts of it.”

In response to this dilemma, solar companies and grid operators are looking to expand their solar reach across state lines. Basically, when California is producing more solar than it can use, nearby states will buy the excess electricity.

Of course, much still has yet to be worked out as far as which utilities to work with. While California has strong renewable energy policies, other nearby states do not share the same goals.

For example, PacifiCorp operates a grid in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon and is the largest owner of coal plants in the Western U.S. This utility might not be too quick to purchase power from a source of energy in direct competition to theirs. Also, California would be unlikely to purchase power from PacifiCorp as state law adds extra expense to fossil fuel generated electricity.

In addition to sending solar power across state lines, California utilities are starting to implement energy storage solutions on a large scale. Energy storage is by far the biggest key to the long term development of renewable energy.

Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison must install a total of 1.3 gigawatts of energy storage by 2020 in order to maximize the utility of existing solar farms. In fact, there are already a small number of very large battery banks being used by these utilities to store excess power.

While battery technology seems to be the “go-to” way to store power, other methods such as molten salt and compressed air technologies are currently being developed.

The good news is that the costs for battery energy storage is continuing to fall and will be much more cost effective in the coming years. No major breakthroughs in technology is required for this to happen. Costs will naturally fall as the energy storage industry expands.

A big picture viewpoint is that the renewable energy industry is going through some major growth pains. However, there’s good news on the horizon as excess solar power will be eventually be utilized to a great extent through regional sales and on site storage.

If anything, the bigger story here is storage, not regional solar sales. Affordable energy storage will allow homeowners and utilities alike to make the most of their solar power systems.

Expect to see many more energy storage stories in the coming months and years.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) just released a study that shows that the United States can provide about 40 percent of its electricity needs via rooftop solar (PV – photovoltaics).

A new study showed a potential of 1,118 gigawatts compared to an estimate from 2008 that only showed 664 gigawatts of potential solar electricity. The new revised estimate is almost twice as much for two reasons; improved knowledge of building suitability and increased solar panel efficiency over the past 8 years.

Robert Margolis, NREL senior energy analyst has stated that “This report is the culmination of a three-year research effort and represents a significant advancement in our understanding of the potential for rooftop PV to contribute to meeting U.S. electricity demand.”

A total of 128 cities were analyzed by the NREL. This sample size represents about 25 percent of the total amount of buildings in the country. Not surprisingly, a city in California topped the PV suitability list. Overall, the state could provide 74 percent of its electricity sales via rooftop PV. However, Concord, New Hampshire and Buffalo, New York also were found near the top of the list.

This study can be seen as further proof that solar’s potential is truly astounding. The 40 percent figure only takes into account PV solar and only on rooftops. Carports, ground mounts, and utility scale solar was not included.

As far as other forms of solar are concerned, it’s not an either or debate. Margolis has stated that “There’s been a lot of debate about whether large-scale solar is a solution versus rooftop solar. There’s a lot of technical potential for rooftops and for large-scale solar – both have roles to play.”

Perhaps the most important idea related to this report is that rooftop solar represents the democratization of energy. Distributed generation puts more power and money into the hands of those who use it. This is the true value of solar power.

It might be easy to underestimate this 40 percent figure, but in terms of electricity costs, we’re talking about many billions of dollars going into the pockets of homeowners and business owners all across the country. Of course, utilities will continue to invest into large-scale solar and even offer their own PV programs for residential and commercial use.

The big picture here is that this is yet another example of the vast untapped potential for solar power. The combined potential of utility-scale solar with its distributed generation rooftop pv can more than provide for all of our collective energy needs.

Oregon governor Kate Brown, with bipartisan help, has recently signed into law a groundbreaking piece of legislation.

The Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Act can be seen as one of the most progressive clean energy bills so far. It states that the two largest utilities in Oregon must phase out coal use by 2030. It also requires that the utilities provide that at least half of their electrical production comes from renewable sources by 2040.

Many that have supported the bill argue that it is a vital step in greenhouse reduction goals for the state. The main goal has been to reduce emissions by 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Besides coal, the other main non-renewable source of energy for the state is natural gas, coming in at 11.8 percent of total electrical consumption.

Coal currently provides about 33 percent of the state’s energy needs. Residents also rely on coal generated electricity provided by nearby states. In fact, the state’s only coal plant is scheduled to go offline by 2020. Oregon’s clean energy bill requires that any electricity used in the state is not produced by the burning of coal.

Hydroelectricity and wind provide 44 percent and 5 percent of the state’s electric needs, respectively. With hydroelectricity counted as being a renewable energy source, the state’s goal of 50 percent renewable energy has essentially been met.

A true renewable energy goal would see a much greater implementation of wind and solar power. In fact, solar is virtually non-existent. The state’s untapped solar energy potential is tremendous. Sure, it’s not the sunniest state in America, but Germany is cloudier and solar power works in that part of the world.

The bottom line is that the Oregon must eventually adopt a considerable amount of wind and solar power if it is to replace a third of it’s energy that is lost as coal use is phased out.

Hopefully other states will look to follow Oregon’s lead in taking a meaningful step towards a clean energy future.

Xcel Energy, Denver’s electric utility, has been given permission by State regulators to test the integration of utility scale battery systems with the grid.

This energy storage test, also utilizing solar power, is part of the Innovation Clean Technology program. The utility requested permission to invest $9.1 million which was given final approval by The Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

The testing is taking place at two locations – one in the Stapleton neighborhood and the other at the Panasonic complex.

Xcel has promised to make available all information concerning milestones and associated costs of the projects to the PUC and the general public.

The Panasonic test site includes a utility-scale solar power system and a large battery closer to the airport. This project can act as a microgrid – providing backup power and delivering extra energy to the regional grid.

Six battery systems will be installed at customers’ homes who have already gone solar at the other test project in Stapleton.

Xcel has also installed another six batteries on their feeder powerline to handle excess electricity from solar homeowners nearby.

These energy storage pilot programs in Denver are vital in testing not only the capabilities of current battery technologies but also to be prepared for the future growth of solar power.

As Xcel and power companies across the country continue to experiment with the integration of solar power and energy storage systems, we’ll also begin to witness the private sector to start offering solutions as well.

In fact, the energy storage market has grown considerably in the past year. According to Greentech Media, the U.S. energy storage market grew 243 percent from 2014 to 2015. The market is predicted to grow many times more by 2020.

What does this mean to the average homeowner who has gone solar or is thinking about it?

It means that net metering issues will disappear in the coming years. Solar customers in some states currently do not get much compensation for their excess solar power. Some utilities have managed to be able to pay far less than the retail rate for homeowners’ solar power.

Once homeowners begin adding energy storage systems to work in conjunction with their solar panel systems, they’ll be able to keep and use all of the electricity that their systems produce. They will no longer be at the mercy of what their utilities want to compensate them for their solar energy.

There are surely many people who have been “on the fence” about going solar because of the very contentious net metering debates. Readily available affordable energy storage solutions will massively change the solar landscape and convince all of those people to finally invest in their own solar panel systems. This will create a situation in which people are essentially off-grid, utilizing the grid as a type of emergency back up.

As far as costs are concerned, we’ve already seen a very high percentage of the potential reduction in the cost of solar already happen. Now all we need is to see the cost of energy storage to drop in the coming years. It’s just a matter of when (a few short years), not if this happens.

So kudos to Xcel Energy for embracing solar and energy storage technologies.

A U.S. Government agency has just claimed that it has achieved the “holy grail” of energy storage.

The agency is called the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (Arpa-E). The breakthrough involves the next generation of battery storage technology that has the potential to play a large role in completely changing the energy landscape.

Arpa-E’s director, Ellen Williams, had this to say – “I think we have reached some holy grails in batteries – just in the sense of demonstrating that we can create a totally new approach to battery technology, make it work, make it commercially viable, and get it out there to let it do its thing.”

This is the sort of breakthrough that many in the private sector, such as Tesla Energy, have been searching for.

The agency was founded in 2009 under Obama’s economic recovery plan. It’s a “moonshot” program – too risky for much of the private market, but an example of a program that has the potential to pay off substantially.

“Our battery teams have developed new approaches to grid-scale batteries and moved them out,” said Williams. She’s also mentioned that multiple companies have been utilized to get this technology out to utilities. The timeline for implementation involves the next five to ten years.

If these new energy storage technologies are truly commercially ready in the next few years this could be a tremendous boon for wind and solar power. It’s important to mention that the assumptions with something that is commercially viable are that it is both technologically effective and cost effective, among other things.

It could also be assumed that this same technology can be used at the residential level. Even if that’s not the case, battery storage costs will continue to fall regardless of this story. Those who go solar now will be that much more ready to take on battery storage when it’s even more economical to do so.

This truly is great news for the near future implementation of solar power at the utility scale. Viable and cost effective large scale energy storage is really the only obstacle from preventing a much greater use of solar power.

It will be exciting to finally see these technologies introduced to the energy marketplace so that we can finally witness a major transition to renewable sources of energy.

Coming off a great year in 2015, the solar power industry is poised to do even better this year.

As basically a part 2 to the last post about 2015’s record solar year, this one will be about expectations for the remainder of 2016.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration just released figures concerning scheduled utility-scale power installations for this year. New expected electric capacity involves 9.5 gigawatts of utility-scale solar, 8 gigawatts of natural gas, and 6.8 gigawatts of wind. It’s important to note that while the 9.5 gigawatts of solar is more than the other two sources of power mentioned, it does not include a few more gigawatts of solar that will be added at the residential and commercial scales.

A shining example of why this could truly be a great year for solar is that if proposed utility-scale solar projects are completed, this will be the first time that solar was the largest single source of new electric capacity.

The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates that the total value from residential solar could be as much as 4 gigawatts, bringing the total solar capacity to almost 14 gigawatts for the year.

It’s fair to mention that a significant part of solar power’s quick growth pace is due to the investment tax credit, which has been recently extended another five years. It’s also important to note that solar is actually cost effective even without tax subsidies.

What’s the big picture take away here?

The big picture is that while solar power continues to expand at a rapid pace, we’re still witnessing the very beginnings of an eventually massive industry. While solar installations are occurring more quickly than other sources of energy, solar still makes up for a very small percentage of total power generation.

Solar may still be small scale, but there’s nothing to stop it’s much wider adoption. This is, in fact, is what’s beginning to happen. It’s very early days still.

The mass deployment of utility, commercial, and residential-scale solar coupled with affordable and effective energy storage will enable solar to become our primary source of energy in the coming decades.

Other sources of energy will simply not make nearly as much sense as solar power. Solar will be the cheaper option and the obvious choice from environmental and sustainability perspectives.

So here’s to another great solar year ahead….and many decades to follow!

The numbers are in from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association for 2015 and it’s official; solar had its biggest year yet.

A total of 7,286 megawatts of solar pv capacity was installed last year. For some perspective, this is enough energy to power approximately 1 million homes. There is now a total of 25 gigawatts of solar in the United States.

The president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, Rhone Resch, had this to say – “monumental year for the U.S. solar industry.” He also said we can expect to see “solar continue to reach unprecedented heights as our nation makes a shift toward a carbon-free source of energy that also serves as an economic and job-creating engine.”

As you can see from the graphic, a large majority of solar capacity was added in just the last 5 years. We’re witnessing the beginnings of a major shift to solar power generation.

2015 also marks the first year that solar installations outpaced natural-gas additions. Solar provided almost 30 percent of new electric capacity last year.

As far as the state rankings are concerned, the top four states have maintained their positions from 2014. States that have gained considerable solar ground include Utah (up 16 spots), Georgia (up 8 spots), New Hampshire (up 8 spots), Oregon (up 7 spots), and Florida (up 4 spots).

Here are some key statistics for 2015 –

• The more than 7 gigawatts from 2015 now puts the cumulative total to 25 gigawatts. There was only 2 gigawatts of installed solar in 2010.
• The residential solar market grew at a considerable 66 percent and for the first time surpassed the 2 gigawatt mark. Solar homes now amount to almost a third of the total U.S. solar industry.
• While struggling relative to residential, the non-residential segment broke the 1 gigawatt barrier.
• More than half of total installed solar pv is utility-scale. This market segment grew 6 percent last year.

It’s pretty exciting to be witnessing such a transformative event begin to transpire – the beginnings of a change in how we power society.

The big picture viewpoint is that this is still just the beginning for solar adoption in America. There’s still much work that needs to be done before solar supplies a significant amount of energy for the U.S.

However, if these growth trends continue, we’ll see solar become the single largest producer of power for the U.S. by 2050.

The price is right. The technology more than capable…. The time for solar is now.

Early 2016 has seen some setbacks for the residential and utility-scale solar power industry. New regulations in Nevada have made installing solar financially unattractive for homeowners and The Clean Power Plan has been temporarily halted.

It’s easy to see how news stories like these can cast doubts in the minds of those who read them. Many on the sidelines might be thinking – “Is the future of renewable energy uncertain?”

On the contrary, there are more reasons than ever to be optimistic about the future adoption of solar power at all scales.

In fact, the solar power industry in America is set to have one of, if not its biggest year yet. So while there have been some recent solar roadblocks, the new economics of solar power are too good to ignore. We can look forward to many more people going solar as the savings in doing so continue to add up.

What about changes in net metering rules and extra fees being charged to solar customers?

Sure, these are certainly considerable issues currently. As previously mentioned, we’ve just seen the worst case scenario play out in Nevada and it looks like those rules in that state won’t be changing anytime soon.

Utilities currently have the power to make or break residential solar. The good news for homeowners across America is that this will not be the situation for long. Energy storage companies are starting to offer much more cost effective home energy storage systems. Solar plus affordable battery storage will be the real game changer.

In the coming years, it will become feasible for millions of homeowners to be largely energy self-reliant. What will happen then? How will our power companies try to prevent that from happening?

The answer is that they won’t be able to. If we truly do live in a free country, freedom of choice will be preserved. The power of monopolistic control will be removed. Much in the same way that old phone companies were not able to keep people using their landlines when cell phones arrived, the same will happen with solar plus storage.

The grid will be relegated to serving as some sort of back up service. Will the utilities be able to charge a ridiculously high fee as a back up energy provider to those still connected to the grid? Not likely at all. This would simply trigger mass grid defection.

Energy ownership through solar power and energy storage systems represents the largest economic opportunity since home ownership. This idea cannot be understated. A significant percentage of homeowners also owning the energy they require would add up to a massive transfer of wealth. This is the democratization of electricity. This is what is becoming possible through distributed solar power and battery systems. Many homeowners are going solar right now, knowing that they will be able to add battery back up systems in the near future.

There’s bound to be more pessimistic and short sighted news stories about solar. Just remember to consider the big picture, and it will be easy to be very optimistic about the future of solar power.