PowerClerk®: The preferred choice over SaaS giants for utility program management
As a Salesforce cofounder, I’ve been involved in engineering SaaS solutions for many years. I believe that traditional, comprehensive platform-oriented cloud and hybrid approaches, including those from SaaS giants, are often not the best option for utility and agency...
| Oct 2, 2024 PowerClerk®: The preferred choice over SaaS giants for utility program management
As a Salesforce cofounder, I’ve been involved in engineering SaaS solutions for many years. I believe that traditional, comprehensive platform-oriented cloud and hybrid approaches, including those from SaaS giants, are often not the best option for utility and agency...
Solar for All: Best practices for designing effective solar programs
The Solar for All initiative has awarded $7 billion in federal funding to states, cities, territories and tribes across the U.S. The funding is being used to design and implement solar programs that directly benefit communities, with a focus on low-income and...
Reducing interconnection backlogs amid growth in utility-scale electric generating capacity
The U.S. saw utility-scale electric generating capacity increase by 21% during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Most of the new capacity came from utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage. According to the U.S. Energy Information...
WattPlan expands coverage of solar rooftop data
Clean Power Research® is excited to announce an enhancement to WattPlan®, our personalized rate and DER customer education and engagement software for utilities and energy agencies. As of July 1st, all rooftop solar estimations on WattPlan sites started using Google’s...
AESP Energy Intel magazine feature: remote bulk efficiency auditing
Brittany Farrell, Senior Researcher at Clean Power Research, recently published an article in AESP’s Energy Intel quarterly magazine (page 61). The article illustrates how utilities can use existing energy-usage data and innovative modeling to audit the energy...
Investigating variation of soiling and snow loss models using SolarAnywhere® data
Soiling and snow on PV systems can lead to significant annual energy losses, reaching up to 50%1 and 40%2 in certain regions. Our study investigates common models for estimating soiling and snow-related energy impacts. By analyzing these soiling and snow loss models...
SolarAnywhere Data Version 3.8 includes new high latitude irradiance data
Clean Power Research® releases a new SolarAnywhere® data version annually. This year’s update addresses the changing needs of the solar industry as projects expand to more northern, snowy locations with appreciable wind risk by offering new high-latitude irradiance...
2024 Solar Risk Assessment report: Data-driven insights address emerging risks
This sixth annual Solar Risk Assessment (SRA) report is now available, offering deep insights into extreme weather and operational risk, and for the first time, battery energy storage system (BESS) risk. The report is published by kWh Analytics and features articles...
Ensuring Transparent Information for Consumers in Home Energy Upgrade Programs
During the White House Consumer Convening in D.C. earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) introduced a voluntary "Consumer Bill of Rights" framework for States to incorporate into their upcoming Home Energy Rebate programs. The framework outlines 12 key...
PowerClerk Innovates, Surpasses Two Million Interconnection Projects
The intelligent and coordinated integration of renewable energy projects into power grids is critical for ensuring grid resiliency. Unfortunately, the process of interconnecting these projects is often hindered by disjointed, outdated processes that don’t scale to...
Solar for All: Best practices for designing effective solar programs
The Solar for All initiative has awarded $7 billion in federal funding to states, cities, territories and tribes across the U.S. The funding is being used to design and implement solar programs that directly benefit communities, with a focus on low-income and...
AESP Energy Intel magazine feature: remote bulk efficiency auditing
Brittany Farrell, Senior Researcher at Clean Power Research, recently published an article in AESP’s Energy Intel quarterly magazine (page 61). The article illustrates how utilities can use existing energy-usage data and innovative modeling to audit the energy...
Ensuring Transparent Information for Consumers in Home Energy Upgrade Programs
During the White House Consumer Convening in D.C. earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) introduced a voluntary "Consumer Bill of Rights" framework for States to incorporate into their upcoming Home Energy Rebate programs. The framework outlines 12 key...
PowerClerk Innovates, Surpasses Two Million Interconnection Projects
The intelligent and coordinated integration of renewable energy projects into power grids is critical for ensuring grid resiliency. Unfortunately, the process of interconnecting these projects is often hindered by disjointed, outdated processes that don’t scale to...
Leading electric utilities choose Clean Power Research
Clean Power Research is honored to take a leading role in utility and energy agency digitalization initiatives On behalf of the entire team at Clean Power Research, I wish our utility and energy agency customers a Happy New Year and thank you for a great 2023. We’re...
Case Study: APS implements PowerClerk® to enable efficient, flexible FERC generator interconnection management
Arizona Public Service (APS) experienced a surge in FERC Large Generator Interconnection applications, due to a growing demand for siting renewable energy projects in Arizona. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has stringent requirements for connecting...
More than 65 utilities trust Clean Power Research to accelerate their energy transformation
In 2019, Clean Power Research reached a milestone when we reported that all Top 10 U.S. utilities relied on one or more of our products to support their energy transformation efforts. In 2021, we witnessed a step change by our utility customers as the tempo of the...
Leveraging utility trusted advisor status to drive EV growth and grid reliability
The electric vehicle (EV) market continues to sizzle across the country, setting a record for quarterly sales in Q1 and Q2 of 2021. Through April 2021, EV sales were up 130 percent over 2020, and exceeded 2019 sales by 75 percent. Utilities have recognized the...
Deployment of utility COVID-19 relief program using PowerClerk®
A Case Study from CLEAResult & Liberty Utilities While coverage of COVID-19 continues to dominate the daily news cycle, new information on the economic challenges facing utilities and their customers continues to emerge. In times like these, many companies are...
Leading electric utilities choose Clean Power Research
Clean Power Research is honored to take a leading role in utility and energy agency digitalization initiatives On behalf of the entire team at Clean Power Research, I wish our utility and energy agency customers a Happy New Year and thank you for a great 2023. We’re...
How utilities can forecast DER impact by leveraging customer insights, operational data and data analytics
Utilities must meet consumer demand with reliable supply amongst changing consumer habits. The DER tidal wave is on its way, powered by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), aggressive state, federal and utility emission reduction goals, and growing customer interest in...
Insights for utilities tackling complex, equitable EV programs
Tailwinds for electrifying transportation continue to strengthen. Utilities across the country are developing programs to accelerate EV adoption and efficiently roll out charging infrastructure. While some utilities have successfully piloted or launched their first...
More than 65 utilities trust Clean Power Research to accelerate their energy transformation
In 2019, Clean Power Research reached a milestone when we reported that all Top 10 U.S. utilities relied on one or more of our products to support their energy transformation efforts. In 2021, we witnessed a step change by our utility customers as the tempo of the...
Leveraging utility trusted advisor status to drive EV growth and grid reliability
The electric vehicle (EV) market continues to sizzle across the country, setting a record for quarterly sales in Q1 and Q2 of 2021. Through April 2021, EV sales were up 130 percent over 2020, and exceeded 2019 sales by 75 percent. Utilities have recognized the...
Tucson Electric Power builds a better customer experience with WattPlan®
With the rapid expansion of distributed energy resources (DERs), utilities are offering new types of electric rate plans to their customers. These traditional and renewable rate plans give customers new options, but knowing which rate to choose can be confusing. When...
All top 10 U.S. utilities trust Clean Power Research
At Clean Power Research, we think of ourselves as a modestly sized company doing big work. We are a passionate team of engineers, scientists and customer-obsessed service professionals focused on delivering world-class software solutions to utilities and the solar...
As community solar grows, scaling customer engagement is critical
Solar energy production is booming in the United States. According to the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration), “U.S. solar generation has increased from 2 million MWh in 2008 to 96 million MWh in 2018.” The growth of solar has coincided with the proliferation...
Move beyond worst-case distribution planning with DER adoption forecasts and probabilistic planning
Distribution engineers today are responsible for designing the future of a critical infrastructure system, yet uncertainty pervades the process. Traditional methods of load forecasting and system planning are becoming less tenable due to the growth of distributed...
Investigating variation of soiling and snow loss models using SolarAnywhere® data
Soiling and snow on PV systems can lead to significant annual energy losses, reaching up to 50%1 and 40%2 in certain regions. Our study investigates common models for estimating soiling and snow-related energy impacts. By analyzing these soiling and snow loss models...
SolarAnywhere Data Version 3.8 includes new high latitude irradiance data
Clean Power Research® releases a new SolarAnywhere® data version annually. This year’s update addresses the changing needs of the solar industry as projects expand to more northern, snowy locations with appreciable wind risk by offering new high-latitude irradiance...
2024 Solar Risk Assessment report: Data-driven insights address emerging risks
This sixth annual Solar Risk Assessment (SRA) report is now available, offering deep insights into extreme weather and operational risk, and for the first time, battery energy storage system (BESS) risk. The report is published by kWh Analytics and features articles...
Reduce uncertainty with higher-resolution typical year solar resource data
Typical year irradiance datasets (TGY, TDY) summarize solar resource at a location. This data is generated to reflect the most probable (P50) monthly total irradiance, based on a long history of solar resource. SolarAnywhere calculates typical year data from a maximum...
Case study: BayWA r.e. reduces OPEX by transitioning from aging and obsolete instrumentation to SolarAnywhere®
BayWa r.e. Operations Services LLC provides O&M services for a fleet of ~1 GW of renewable energy assets, both owned by BayWa r.e. and assets of other clients. Services include a real-time comparison of actual to expected, weather-adjusted energy output. This...
Case study: Zeitview ensures advanced energy system inspection quality with SolarAnywhere®
Zeitview (formerly known as DroneBase) is an innovator in the field of aerial energy system inspections. They recently launched North American Solar Scan, a service that provides insight into every solar asset in the U.S. above 1MW.Zeitview utilizes planes and drones...
Case Study: Invenergy Services Drives Operational Excellence with SolarAnywhere®
On-site meteorological stations and site-specific satellite data work together in this case study featuring Invenergy Services.Invenergy Services is a clean energy asset O&M provider that has honed its offerings through 20 years of experience and a portfolio of...
SolarAnywhere® 2023 updates advance modeling accuracy for bifacial, terrain shading and wildfire risk assessment + Postman API documentation
Globally, the cumulative installed capacity of solar PV is set to triple by 2027, accounting for nearly 22% of total power capacity. With this rapid expansion and growth of solar in diverse geographical and climatic regions, solar stakeholders now face unprecedented...
SolarAnywhere® Data accuracy independently validated by Fraunhofer ISE
While weather data is just one of many inputs into PV modeling tools, data accuracy plays a key role in reducing PV project uncertainty and risk. As a result, we frequently are asked “How accurate is SolarAnywhere® Data?” This is a question we take seriously. In fact,...
Solar+ home proven: a milestone reached
This article is a follow-on to Clean Power Research’s 11-part series on Solar+ homes series. Solar+ homes describes how homeowners can combine simple energy efficiency measures, solar PV, electric vehicles (EVs) and appliance electrification to create households that...
MN Solar Pathways: Illuminating pathways to 10% solar
On March 30, 2017, the Minnesota Department of Commerce along with its core team, kicked off its Department of Energy-funded MN Solar Pathways project aimed at finding the least-risk, best-value solutions for MN to achieve its solar energy goals. Clean Power Research...
Hot topics at Intersolar NA 2015: ITC, solar + storage and snow!
San Francisco once again played host to the Intersolar North America conference in July. For industry veterans, this year’s event was familiar: crowded registration lines, bumping into old friends and a busy exhibition floor. On the other hand, this year’s hot...
Valuation of solar plus storage in Hawaii
Clean Power Research recently took on the challenge of developing a new methodology for performing a hybrid solar plus storage (solar + storage) valuation study for systems in Hawaii. The methodology was commissioned by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc....
Solar + storage in Hawaii: Making cents of time-of-use economics
As Hawaii works through a host of complex interconnection issues, the solar industry is taking a fresh, new look at energy storage. Grid-connected storage has been around for years, promising a wide array of uses—from energy arbitrage and frequency regulation, to...
Is it rational for the value of solar to exceed existing average retail electricity rates?
The utility and solar industries are in a heated debate about how to compensate customers who have distributed photovoltaic (PV) energy systems on their homes. Net energy metering (NEM) is currently the predominant approach used in the U.S. However, to understand any...
Transparency in the value of solar: When 9 cents equals 12 cents
Minnesota’s recently enacted Value of Solar (VOS) methodology was developed with full public vetting, including three public workshops and a review process that enabled stakeholders to actively participate and provide input. The process used to develop the policies...
Getting to the bottom of the EEI and NRDC statement on net metering
The Edison Electric Institute (“EEI”) and the Natural Resource Defense Council (“NRDC”) recently issued a joint statement targeted to state utility regulators “to advance support for utility policies that enhance the electric power grid for the benefit of all...
2014 solar trends episode 1: The Phantom Meter
The New Year is a natural time to take stock of what was and what is to come. This month, we’ll highlight the solar trends we anticipate emerging over the course of 2014. We start today with 2014 solar trends episode 1: The phantom meter. Of course, the battle over...
Reducing interconnection backlogs amid growth in utility-scale electric generating capacity
The U.S. saw utility-scale electric generating capacity increase by 21% during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Most of the new capacity came from utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage. According to the U.S. Energy Information...
WattPlan expands coverage of solar rooftop data
Clean Power Research® is excited to announce an enhancement to WattPlan®, our personalized rate and DER customer education and engagement software for utilities and energy agencies. As of July 1st, all rooftop solar estimations on WattPlan sites started using Google’s...
AESP Energy Intel magazine feature: remote bulk efficiency auditing
Brittany Farrell, Senior Researcher at Clean Power Research, recently published an article in AESP’s Energy Intel quarterly magazine (page 61). The article illustrates how utilities can use existing energy-usage data and innovative modeling to audit the energy...
Ensuring Transparent Information for Consumers in Home Energy Upgrade Programs
During the White House Consumer Convening in D.C. earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) introduced a voluntary "Consumer Bill of Rights" framework for States to incorporate into their upcoming Home Energy Rebate programs. The framework outlines 12 key...
PowerClerk Innovates, Surpasses Two Million Interconnection Projects
The intelligent and coordinated integration of renewable energy projects into power grids is critical for ensuring grid resiliency. Unfortunately, the process of interconnecting these projects is often hindered by disjointed, outdated processes that don’t scale to...
Leading electric utilities choose Clean Power Research
Clean Power Research is honored to take a leading role in utility and energy agency digitalization initiatives On behalf of the entire team at Clean Power Research, I wish our utility and energy agency customers a Happy New Year and thank you for a great 2023. We’re...
Streamlining utility service requests to achieve decarbonization goals
Utilities today are working to achieve decarbonization goals while simultaneously responding to a surge in customer actions such as EV charger installation, new building construction, independent power production and more that lead to service requests. This poses a...
Case Study: JEA drives solar program excellence and resolves backlog with PowerClerk
JEA®, a community-owned utility in Jacksonville, Florida, faced a challenge that resonates with electric utilities and energy agencies big and small: a growing backlog of solar interconnection applications. Manually processing solar interconnection applications led to...
Podcast: Georgia Power expands solar access with innovative energy programs and WattPlan®
It’s energizing to showcase the innovative ways our utility customers like Georgia Power are accelerating the energy transition by expanding customer access to renewable options. Celebrating their efforts isn’t just a joy; it’s a chance to inspire other utilities and...
Investigating variation of soiling and snow loss models using SolarAnywhere® data
Soiling and snow on PV systems can lead to significant annual energy losses, reaching up to 50%1 and 40%2 in certain regions. Our study investigates common models for estimating soiling and snow-related energy impacts. By analyzing these soiling and snow loss models...
SolarAnywhere Data Version 3.8 includes new high latitude irradiance data
Clean Power Research® releases a new SolarAnywhere® data version annually. This year’s update addresses the changing needs of the solar industry as projects expand to more northern, snowy locations with appreciable wind risk by offering new high-latitude irradiance...
2024 Solar Risk Assessment report: Data-driven insights address emerging risks
This sixth annual Solar Risk Assessment (SRA) report is now available, offering deep insights into extreme weather and operational risk, and for the first time, battery energy storage system (BESS) risk. The report is published by kWh Analytics and features articles...
Reduce uncertainty with higher-resolution typical year solar resource data
Typical year irradiance datasets (TGY, TDY) summarize solar resource at a location. This data is generated to reflect the most probable (P50) monthly total irradiance, based on a long history of solar resource. SolarAnywhere calculates typical year data from a maximum...
Leading electric utilities choose Clean Power Research
Clean Power Research is honored to take a leading role in utility and energy agency digitalization initiatives On behalf of the entire team at Clean Power Research, I wish our utility and energy agency customers a Happy New Year and thank you for a great 2023. We’re...
Case study: BayWA r.e. reduces OPEX by transitioning from aging and obsolete instrumentation to SolarAnywhere®
BayWa r.e. Operations Services LLC provides O&M services for a fleet of ~1 GW of renewable energy assets, both owned by BayWa r.e. and assets of other clients. Services include a real-time comparison of actual to expected, weather-adjusted energy output. This...
Case study: Zeitview ensures advanced energy system inspection quality with SolarAnywhere®
Zeitview (formerly known as DroneBase) is an innovator in the field of aerial energy system inspections. They recently launched North American Solar Scan, a service that provides insight into every solar asset in the U.S. above 1MW.Zeitview utilizes planes and drones...
SolarAnywhere® 2023 updates advance modeling accuracy for bifacial, terrain shading and wildfire risk assessment + Postman API documentation
Globally, the cumulative installed capacity of solar PV is set to triple by 2027, accounting for nearly 22% of total power capacity. With this rapid expansion and growth of solar in diverse geographical and climatic regions, solar stakeholders now face unprecedented...
SolarAnywhere® Data accuracy independently validated by Fraunhofer ISE
While weather data is just one of many inputs into PV modeling tools, data accuracy plays a key role in reducing PV project uncertainty and risk. As a result, we frequently are asked “How accurate is SolarAnywhere® Data?” This is a question we take seriously. In fact,...