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Make the most of your DER interconnection data: virtual metering
In a previous blog post, we detailed the responsibility of distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection managers to capture DER system specifications for their system planners and distribution engineers. Since then, even more U.S. utilities have turned to...
Curtailment of low-cost renewables a cost-effective alternative to ‘seasonal’ energy storage
Last month, Utility Dive highlighted one of the major findings from our recent Minnesota Solar Pathways work: Minnesota study finds it cheaper to curtail solar than to add storage. In this article, we explain how some curtailment of low-cost renewables such as solar...
Demystifying battery storage for residential energy customers: solar self-consumption (Part 2)
Grid-connected battery storage is an exciting, new and rather mysterious technology. This blog is the second in a series that will help equip utilities to demystify battery storage for their residential customers. The first blog post discussed ways residential...
Video: Residential electrification with a Solar+ home (real-life example)
What can a typical residential customer that doesn’t live in a new home do to address greenhouse gas emissions? Electrification of energy consuming activities such as transportation, space and water heating, lighting and refrigeration is an affordable option—even for...
Demystifying battery storage for residential energy customers: an overview (Part 1)
Grid-connected battery storage is an exciting, new and rather mysterious technology. The press is particularly interested in the solar + storage technology bundle. Headlines declare how inexpensive it is to bundle PV with batteries. Some articles even suggest that an...
Change is a constant: why agile software development fits today’s utility
As a developer of software for utility companies, we're frequently asked for information about integrating PowerClerk®, WattPlan® and SolarAnywhere® into utility processes. Often these requests include long lists of questions about product features and pricing, as...
A better way for utilities to forecast DER adoption
Since the Great Recession, utility planners have consistently over forecasted peak and total load. Econometric models used in the past are failing: energy efficiency continues to decouple load growth from Gross Domestic Product and customer energy habits are changing....
New SolarAnywhere PXX Data Streamline Probability of Exceedance Energy Calculations
Until now, SolarAnywhere® has offered two types of data: time-series and typical year (TGY). Today we’ve added a third option, probability of exceedance, or PXX for short. The “XX” refers to the probability that the level of irradiance will be exceeded in a given...
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...
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Just how great was the solar resource in 2013 in California? Record setting!
2013 marked the driest year on record in most regions of California. While this weather pattern led to many brown lawns and thirsty reservoirs, clear skies allowed many locations to experience well above-average PV energy generation potential. To better understand...
The solar value proposition part 2: Charting a new path using data and analytics
In Part 1 in our series on the solar value proposition, we looked at a new approach to valuing PV. With this new approach, there is a need to quantify deferred and avoided generation, as well as transmission and distribution capacity increases through peak-load...
Solar forecasts generated from satellite images help balance power grid
What do NASA and NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) have to do with balancing the power grid? Plenty, it turns out, for areas with a high penetration of solar energy production. Read about the link in NASA’s Energy Innovations blog...
Impact of the North American Monsoon on solar variability
Solar energy output is predominantly affected by seasonal solar variations and weather. The angle of the sun to the solar panel changes with the time of day and seasonal variations, changing the available solar resource in predictable ways. Weather also affects the...
2014 solar trends episode 3: Solar Financing – A New Hope
Financing has been with solar since its earliest days. Before the lease and the power purchase agreement (PPA), residential solar customers would often purchase systems with cash. Cash payments are a form of financing, as the customer is choosing to purchase a solar...
Flexibility meets reliability: PVWatts and NSRDB now available through Clean Power Research API services
In keeping with our mission of powering intelligent energy decisions, Clean Power Research is introducing a 10 km Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) dataset for use in Clean Power Research API services. Programmatic access to this high-resolution dataset and the...
Power from solar: how much can you expect?
Determining whether solar is right for you depends in large part on the amount of solar resource available where you live. Each month, we generate the PV Power Map using SolarAnywhere® irradiance data. These maps provide more than just an indication of the solar...
Case study: Forecasting production of 170,000+ distributed PV systems
Falling photovoltaic (PV) system prices along with financing and installation innovations are driving continued rooftop solar growth—expected to be 30% in 2013 as reported by GTM Research. These customer-sited power generation resources are increasingly impacting...
How much is your land worth? Using solar irradiance data to quantify energy potential
Greentech Media’s recent article “How to Make Money from Land as a Solar Developer,” highlighted critical steps in the development of large solar projects that can make or break profitability. These include sizing the plant, applying for interconnection and a power...
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Solar Power International 2015: Solar in Disneyland
Disneyland provided the backdrop for the Solar Power International (SPI) conference in Anaheim this year. As the biggest solar-focused conference in the U.S., exhibiting at SPI provides a great opportunity to find out firsthand what is on the mind of the industry—that...
Tapping the win-win-win of rate reform
Utilities nationwide are adding variety to residential electric rate plans and reconsidering how to value rooftop solar. Rate changes being considered include demand charges and net metering “2.0” policies that provide customers less than full retail credit. These...
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...
Five to thrive: Key characteristics of great utility customer engagement
"The utilities that succeed in educating their residential customers may be [the best positioned not only] to survive, but [also to] thrive in the new customer-centric electricity landscape that is now taking shape." – 2015 Utility Residential Customer Education...
Lessons from SEPA’s Utility Solar Conference Part 2: Stop worrying about rooftop solar (start focusing on opportunities)
For all the talk of utility death spirals, a single graph from GTM Research’s Shayle Kann, presented at the recent Solar Electric Power Association’s (SEPA) annual Utility Solar Conference (USC), should give U.S. utilities significant comfort that residential solar...
Lessons from SEPA’s Utility Solar Conference Part 1: Get electric rates right to fill the belly of the duck
The Solar Electric Power Association’s (SEPA) annual Utility Solar Conference (USC) is the premier utility solar conference in the United States, and the in-depth discussions between utility and industry leaders can be counted on to portend where solar is heading. At...
UVIG technical achievement award presented to Tom Hoff
Last week, the Utility Variable-Generation Integration Group (UVIG) recognized Tom Hoff, Clean Power Research founder and president of Research and Consulting, with an award for his ongoing contributions to solar forecasting. The ability to forecast the output of tens...
Connecting 150,000 solar customers to PG&E’s electric grid
This week, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) announced a major milestone: connection of 150,000 solar customers to their electric grid. This achievement is the result of PG&E’s long commitment to supporting their customers going solar, and comes with some...
Our top 3 in 2014
In 2014, we covered a wide range of topics on the Clean Power Research blog, from the differences between solar resource datasets, to deep dives into value of solar calculations. The top three posts of the year followed suit, reflecting interest in topics that address...