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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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3 steps to reducing solar customer acquisition costs
In anticipation of the soon-to-be released NREL report that benchmarks solar soft costs in 2010, plenty of media attention is being given to soft-cost reduction strategies. According to NREL’s data, customer acquisition and system design make up 11 percent of the cost...
20-million solar calculations served
This week, the engine that powers Clean Power Estimator® calculated its 20-millionth solar estimation (at least since we started counting). This marks a milestone for Clean Power Research and is a bellwether of industry growth. Since it launched in 1998, the rate of...
WSJ analysis reveals a truth about the economics of solar: sunlight is just one factor
Would you believe that Denver and Los Angeles have a similar return on a solar investment? Or that Brooklyn has better returns than either of those locations? Or that installing a solar system in Minneapolis or Portland, Oregon, could pay-off? These are the questions...
Gearing up for Solar Power International (SPI) 2012 in Orlando
SPI is next week in Orlando! Six of us will be there from our Kirkland, WA and Napa, CA offices. If you’re attending, please stop by Clean Power Research at booth #4058, right next to the “Energy Networking Station” in Hall B. Areas of emphasis for Clean...
The Ford Electric looks like a car and drives like a car…because it is a car
Recently Ford hosted an electric vehicle (EV) demonstration in Seattle that a colleague and I were fortunate to attend. At the demonstration, we were able to test drive the 2012 Ford Focus Electric. Not only was it very fast off the line, but we were impressed with...
Planning for solar part 2: High frequency data
Our previous post discussed how to produce solar PV production profiles for fleets of PV systems. In it we highlighted the importance of including both system diversity (tilt, orientation, shading, etc.), and geographical diversity (system locations and relative...
Planning for solar part 1: Solar fleet modeling
With the proliferation of grid-connected solar—whether from a few large, utility-scale systems, or from thousands of small, behind-the-meter systems—utilities are grappling with integration of these distributed, variable power generation resources. Over the next three...
When it comes to understanding solar resource risk, not all datasets are created equal
When it comes to ensuring that solar investments live up to power-production expectations, one important element is understanding the uncertainty of the solar resource. The lower the uncertainty of the background solar resource, the higher the likelihood a solar...
Intersolar North America 2014: The year of O&M and bankability
I often hear complaints that solar tradeshows aren’t offering much that is new and exciting—but I beg to differ. Every year I see trends emerging—trends that are often overlooked until months after the show. Intersolar North America was no exception. This year I was...
CSI RD&D project results: Forecasting behind-the-meter PV for the California ISO
In a recent NREL report, interviews of 13 operating entities in the Western Interconnection found that “Variable generation (VG) forecasting is widely considered to be a key means of integrating wind and solar power efficiently and reliably as these resources become...
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...
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2016: The year of enhanced energy price competition
You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing about the price of oil. While in past years that often meant oil prices were skyrocketing, today, oil is threatening to hit 20-year lows (in inflation adjusted dollars). Right now, oil demand is so low, and supply is so...
The proof is in: Integrating PV into the grid is better with behind-the-meter solar forecasts
In recent years, Clean Power Research created a solar forecast method to accurately predict power production of “invisible,” behind-the-meter PV systems—typically those found on homes and commercial buildings. In our approach, forecasts are generated by simulating the...
With electric vehicles and solar, the ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts’
Is it possible to save more money by combining an electric vehicle (EV) with a home solar PV system rather than considering each individually? Often the answer is yes, and the additional savings can be substantial. To help energy consumers answer that question,...
U.S Department of Energy SunShot Initiative Award Helping Commercial Buildings Get the Most from their Solar Investments
The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative has awarded funding to EdgePower and Clean Power Research to develop technology that will help commercial buildings maximize the financial return of their solar PV investments. By integrating solar forecast technology...
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...