New Community Solar Guide Available
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar American Communities program released a community solar guide late last week. The guide presents detailed information about three project models: utility-sponsored projects, special purpose projects formed for producing community solar power and non-profit sponsored projects.
The guide outlines the legal and financial implications of each model, provides practical tools and tips for planning community solar projects, and outlines best practices. It is intended to provide an outline of hurdles community project organizers might incur. The guide also includes an appendix with information about the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Model Community Renewables Program rules.
The guide was developed by Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development, Keyes and Fox, Stoel Rives, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. My colleague Janet F. Jacobs and I contributed to the Community Solar Project Models chapter, the Tax Policies and Incentives chapter and the Securities Compliance chapter.
The Guide to Community Solar can be accessed on and downloaded from the Solar America Communities Web site
Show Me the Money: $12 million for Early Stage Solar Technologies
The Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced today that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (“NREL”) will invest up to $12 million in total funding ($10 million from funds allocated to NREL under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”)) in four companies - three California and one North Carolina - to take early stage PV and CSP technologies to commercialization.
Each company will receive up to $3 million (and the benefit of NREL’s support and expertise) to take prototype and pre-commercial PV technologies and develop pilot/demo projects or full-scale manufacturing projects. Payment of the awarded $3 million will be made over time as each company completes specified project milestones.
DOE is investing more than $117 million in solar energy through ARRA.
FERC Technical Conference on Wind Integration
From our colleague Jason Johns:
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will host a technical conference on March 2 to discuss the challenges of integrating large amounts of variable generation into wholesale markets and the grid. The Commission is also asking for innovative proposals that will help accomplish such large integration. Notably, the conference could hardly occur at a more appropriate time, as wind installation grew by 8,358 MW in the US in 2008 (more than gas-fired capacity) and certain regions of the country are hotly debating the costs of putting wind on the grid. Conference panelists will include Don Furman (Iberdrola Renewables), Brian Parsons and Brendan Kirby (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), Bob Kahn (Northwest & Intermountain Power Producers Coalition) and Steve Oliver (Bonneville Power Administration, which put its first wind integration charge in place in 2008).
