South Carolina – pv magazine USA

More solar installations coming to U.S. military bases

Anne Fischer — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 19:02:53 +0000

In a partnership with Duke Energy valued at an estimated $248 million, the U.S. Department of Defense will be the exclusive purchaser of all output generated by two new solar facilities, which will serve five military bases.

With more than 300,000 buildings and 600,000 vehicles, the U.S. Government is the nation’s largest energy consumer. As a part of the Federal Sustainability Plan that directs the Government to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the Government is quickly ramping up use of solar energy at military bases, five of which will soon be drawing electricity from two solar installations in South Carolina.

In a partnership with Duke Energy valued at an estimated $248 million, the Department of Defense (DOD) will be the exclusive purchaser of all output generated by two new solar facilities. The five military installations across North Carolina and South Carolina to benefit from the clean energy include Fort Liberty, USMC-Camp Lejeune, USMC-Cherry Point, USAF Seymour Johnson and USAF Shaw.

“DoD is leading by example on climate change in ways that will spur new clean electricity production, create good-paying jobs, increase our resilience to climate change, and enhance our national security,” said Andrew Mayock, Federal Chief Sustainability Officer at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Duke Energy estimates that it will provide 135 MW and approximately 4.8 million MW-hours of renewable energy in both states over a 15-year delivery period. According to the DoD, these installations will achieve 75% of their 2030 carbon-free energy requirement. Fort Liberty, for example, will reduce its emissions from electricity by 27% compared to 2022, with cost savings possible by 2040. The two solar facilities, which are expected to become operational in 2026, will be developed, owned and operated by energyRe, according to Duke.

“This project is a great opportunity to assist our military departments and our warfighters in their decarbonization goals and is paramount to reaching our initial goals of Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability. DLA Energy is committed to supporting the administration’s clean energy initiatives and helping the military services and whole-of-government partners achieve their climate change goals,” said United States Air Force Col. Jennifer Neris, director of carbon pollution-free electricity for the Defense Logistics Agency.

Duke Energy reports that it currently owns, operates and purchases more than 5,100 MW of solar power on its energy grid in the Carolinas or enough to power nearly 1 million homes annually. North Carolina currently ranks No. 5 in the nation for overall solar power. With a portfolio of nuclear, hydro and renewable energy, the utility says more than half of its energy mix in North Carolina is carbon-free.

The DoD said in a statement that it will continue to seek partnership opportunities that enable the agency and other Federal partners to achieve President Biden’s carbon-free energy goals and build a robust, clean, and domestically based electricity supply chain by 2030.

“Our partnerships with utility companies are essential to delivering energy resilience for the Army,” said Rachel Jacobson, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment. “These partnerships are helping us put microgrids with carbon-free energy generation and storage on our installations. And our continuing collaboration with Duke Energy allows the Army to contribute to a more reliable commercial grid that strengthens the resilience of the defense communities where our soldiers, military families, and civilians live. I am proud of these partnerships and look forward to expanding them so that our installations always have access to the electricity we need to defend the nation.”

Flexible interconnection with curtailed output can benefit everyone, analyst says

William Driscoll — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 13:00:31 +0000

Allowing flexible interconnection for large solar projects can reduce costs and speed deployment, benefiting developers, ratepayers and utility staff, said a presenter at a North Carolina conference of utility regulators.

Duke Energy Progress has announced network upgrade costs of $470 million to interconnect about 1.9 GW of solar and solar-plus-storage projects in North Carolina and South Carolina that were proposed in response to its 2023 resource solicitation, with an average lead time until interconnection of 4.5 years.

A “significant” portion of the identified upgrades could be avoided “with minimal or zero impact to reliability” if a more flexible interconnection service that provided for occasional curtailment of solar generation could be used, said Tyler Norris, a Duke University Ph.D. candidate and former Cypress Creek Renewables executive, at a meeting of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Under flexible interconnection, a project would be required to curtail its output when transmission is congested.

Norris said North Carolina does not currently allow flexible interconnection for state-jurisdictional projects. Yet he said flexible interconnection would yield benefits for solar developers, ratepayers, and utility staff.

Speed of interconnection is one benefit. Norris noted that Texas, where the grid operator ERCOT allows a form of flexible interconnection, has quickly added solar in recent years. Although North Carolina ranked second in utility-scale solar deployment in 2019, Texas “sort of blew past us, they blew past Florida, and now they’ve surpassed California as well.”

ERCOT’s approach to flexible interconnection, known as “connect and manage,” suits the grid operator’s energy-only electricity market, Norris has previously written, and could be adapted for use elsewhere in the U.S. where electricity markets have a capacity market alongside an energy market.

Norris said the Duke utility’s expected network upgrade costs for the 1.9 GW of projects follow an approval by the North Carolina Utilities Commission for about $600 million in network upgrades “which was precisely intended to integrate more utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage.”

North Carolina does not permit flexible interconnection, Norris said. So the utility’s cost study did not consider the “ability to curtail those resources in real time during peaks” as a way to avoid the upgrades. Many large network upgrades that are allocated to projects in interconnection studies “may be triggered due to rare or even extremely rare contingencies,” he said.

“This isn’t to pick on Duke by any means,” he said. “I think they’re doing a great job on a lot of fronts.”

Norris plans to work with team members at Duke University to analyze the network upgrade costs for the 1.9 GW of solar and solar-plus-storage projects under a scenario in which energy-only interconnection was allowed.

Avoiding network upgrade costs through flexible interconnection would ultimately help ratepayers, Norris said. “All these costs end up going to the ratepayers. We assign them to the projects, but either it shows up for the ratepayers in the form of a higher power purchasing agreement (PPA) price, or in the form of going directly into the rate base.”

Flexible interconnection could reduce the burden on a utility too, Norris said. “We already have a lot of other transmission and network upgrades going on for other reasons,” he said, and “layering more and more” upgrades for particular projects puts “more burden on already strained utility construction teams and planning teams.”

More generally, Norris said that “we’ve already invested a huge amount” in the existing transmission network, and that “if we can get more generators on the system that don’t require more and more network upgrades, we’re making more efficient use of that expenditure we’ve already made.”

Norris noted that in the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent interconnection roadmap, “one of the key themes that came out of it was offering fast track and more flexible interconnection options as a priority solution.”

Norris expects that a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission interconnection workshop set for September 10-11 will address issues related to flexible interconnection.

Bringing lithium-sulfur batteries closer to commercialization

Marija Maisch — Tue, 28 May 2024 15:02:56 +0000

Researchers at the University of South Carolina have successfully transitioned their highly-durable lithium-sulfur battery technology from coin to pouch cells and reported competent energy densities.

From pv magazine EES News

Lithium-sulfur batteries are a promising candidate for high-performance energy storage applications due to their low cost and high theoretical energy density of more than 500 Wh/kg when coupled with lithium metal anodes.

However, developing a highly durable sulfur cathode has been challenging due to the polysulfide shuttling and volume variation of sulfur that leads to chemical and mechanical degradation of the cathode during cycling.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina have made a huge step forward in addressing this issue by developing a simple electrode processing method for producing highly durable sulfur cathodes. These electrodes feature a self-structured binder confinement for sulfur particles using only commercially available sulfur, carbon black, and binder, with no additional components.

The researchers have controlled the dissolution of the binder during the slurry preparation step to form a porous binder/carbon shell structure around the sulfur particles that can entrap the soluble polysulfides and slow down the shuttling mechanism.

The sulfur cathodes achieved through this method offer an outstanding capacity retention of 74% over 1000 cycles, due to a considerable reduction in the lithium-polysulfide shuttling and active material loss. Electrodes with a high areal loading also showed excellent cyclability as well as a high capacity.

The researchers reported these results last year following the completion of the project’s first phase, in which they used coin cells. Now, they are moving to practical battery forms to determine if commercialization is possible.

The team’s current work focuses on pouch cells, which theoretically have the highest energy density since this type has the least amount of waste weight. “Pouch cells usually have lighter and thinner battery casing than the other forms, which leaves most of the volume and weight of the battery for the energy-providing components,” Chemical Engineering Assistant Professor Golareh Jalilvand says.

While the challenges of batteries grow with their size, the USC researchers have reported a fast and successful transition from coin to pouch cells. “We have achieved outstanding lithium-sulfur pouch cells with competent energy densities,” Jalilvand says. “I’m looking forward to seeing the long cycle life and durability of our pouch cells because that’s the last check mark for us and our industrial partner. With that, it might be time to say we have a lithium-sulfur battery that is ready for commercialization.”

Given the long charge-discharge time, the researchers see lithium-sulfur batteries as best suited for applications that do not require fast charging. These include heavy-duty trucks, buses, and other means of transport that need long discharge time, commonly known as milage, and can be kept overnight at charging stations. The technology also shows great potential for stationary applications such as grid-level energy storage as well as space applications.

Solar market update: Southeast U.S.

Ryan Kennedy — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 19:47:42 +0000

State-by-state insights shared at the RE+ Southeast conference held in Atlanta this month.

At the RE+ Southeast regional renewable energy conference held in Atlanta this month, panelists shared that nationwide, solar installations heated up to a record 13 GW deployed in Q4, 2023. The United States is setting the stage for an energy transition carried largely by solar and energy storage, with over 670 GW of cumulative solar installations expected by 2034, multiplying the nation’s current total of less than 200 GW.

Growing power demand and decarbonization goals continue to push solar adoption, and subsidies made available from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are sweetening the pot on both the supply and demand side.

The U.S. Southeast, though not typically a leader in renewables investment, stands to see considerable growth in solar, energy storage, and other emissions-free technologies. Below are state-by-state insights shared by expert speakers at the RE+ conference.

Virginia

Virginia’s solar economy is propelled forward in part by its 2021 Clean Economy Act, which mandated a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and clean energy public interest policies. The RPS requires the state to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2045.

The RPS also requires that 75% of renewable energy credits (REC) procured by the state’s largest utility, Dominion, must be sourced from in-state resources, starting in 2025. Dominion is also required to meet a distributed generation carve-out for projects 1 MW and smaller, which are often rooftop solar installations. The carve-out increases 1% per year.

The RPS creates a long runway for growth in the state, as it declares over 16 GW of solar and wind capacity to be in the public interest. It also declares 2.7 GW of energy storage to be in the public interest and includes a 10% behind-the-meter carve out for distributed storage. Virginia also has an active net metering program for rooftop solar arrays and is developing a shared solar program in its legislative sessions.

Robin Dutta, executive director of Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association, said that changes are needed to ensure the state’s Clean Economy Act is effective. He highlighted that the state lacks a policy infrastructure to establish a tradeable renewable energy credit (REC) market.

Dutta recommended the state approve an introduced bill, HB 638, to increase the distributed generation carveout and limit utility capture of the energy transition through competitive private procurement requirements.

Georgia

Georgia has a strong position in the solar market, ranking seventh in total installed capacity among the states. About 6% of its electricity comes from solar, and over 5,000 people are employed in solar in Georgia.

Numerous requests for proposals (RFP) have been filed in the state, including two RFP for just over 1 GW each in late 2023 and 2025. The Public Service Commission approved a 193 MW distributed solar RFP.

The state’s utility, Georgia Power Company, said it would be 6.6 GW short of capacity over the next 10 years, and submitted a request to the Public Service Commission requesting to source its power predominantly from fossil fuels and utility Mississippi Power. It has also committed to adding 4 GW of renewable energy by 2035.

On the legislative landscape, the conference panelists highlighted several bills to watch in the state, including:

HB 300 “Decommissioning Act”
SB 210 / HB 1152 “Georgia Homegrown Solar Act”
HB 1312 extends Public Service Commission terms and requires elections for PSC members

Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi

The Gulf has among the lowest adoption of solar, but in recent years growth has expanded considerably. Projects are stacking up in regional grid operators’ grid interconnection queues, an approval process that is creating significant bottlenecks for development in the region.

In Louisiana, over 18 GW of standalone solar projects and 5.6 GW of hybrid solar and storage projects are awaiting approval in interconnection queues for the MISO region, and very little in the SPP region.

Mississippi has over 7 GW of standalone solar and nearly 6 GW of hybrid solar projects in queues for the MISO region, and in the TVA region, over 2 GW of solar and 1.7 GW of hybrid projects are in the queues.

Alabama has the least amount of solar on the way in the Gulf region. About 1.7 GW of solar and 1.4 GW of hybrid solar-storage in the Southern region awaits interconnection, while TVA has less than 1 GW in queues for standalone solar.

The panelists recommended watching the following potential policy changes in the Gulf:

Louisiana HB 893 – Solar buffer laws
Louisiana SB 108 – Transmission expropriation
Mississippi Special SB 2001 – Amazon data centers
Alabama – Lawrence County local zoning laws

Order 2023 interconnection reform, passed in July 2023, is expected to help alleviate the sluggish interconnection process in the Gulf region that has been a major damper on development, said the RE+ panelists.

The Carolinas

North Carolina has the nation’s fourth-highest solar capacity, with about 4.8 GW installed, while South Carolina is 16th highest, with about 2.5 GW installed. The panelists said lawmakers’ attitudes towards solar are mostly favorable, with goals to balance costs and benefits to all customers.

North Carolina has one of the nation’s longest-standing renewable portfolio standards, established in 2007. It is one of the largest beneficiaries from incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and plays a major role in the $7 billion Solar for All program.

Both states have an established net metering program, and a community solar market that has largely been adopted by electric co-ops and municipalities, but not by investor-owned utilities.

Regional utility Duke Energy Carolinas plans to retire operational coal plants by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Recent filings have expanded the utility’s load forecast to 33.5 GW as the region’s population grows quickly, and the utility has shifted away from nuclear and towards solar in its roadmap to meet demand.

Tennessee

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has committed to about 2.4 GW of solar installations, with about 1 GW currently operating.

While solar is historically not a large part of TVA’s generation mix, it now represents over half of the projects awaiting approval in its grid interconnection queue. Of the nearly 30 GW of projects awaiting approval, 34% are solar, 20% are solar and storage hybrid projects.

The RE+ panelists said land-use issues are becoming a major focal point for solar development in the Tennessee valley. Other major policy developments have centered around FERC 2023 interconnection, issues with project origination, RFP processes, and power purchase agreement terms, valuation of battery energy storage systems, NEPA reform and the establishment of virtual power plants.

Duke Energy Progress seeks approval for 76 MW solar project in South Carolina

Ryan Kennedy — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 15:43:46 +0000

If approved, the project will be sited adjacent to the operational Robinson Nuclear Plant.

Utility Duke Energy Progress requested approval by the Public Service Commission of South Carolina to build and own a 76 MW solar project next to the existing Robinson Nuclear Plant site in Chesterfield and Darlington counties.

The project in development is planned for a 345 acre site, with construction slated for 2026 and commercial operations in 2027. The facility is expected to supply power to the quickly growing Pee Dee region of South Carolina.

Duke said it is using an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy generation, with a combination of solar, nuclear, natural gas, and hydroelectric sources.

The 76 MW project is expected to create about 200 construction jobs and support tax revenues for Chesterfield and Darlington counties.

The project is expected to take 12 months to construct.

The project will include a new 230 kV solar generation substation and a new 230 kV generation tie line spanning about 250 feet between the substation and the existing Darlington nuclear power plant’s point of interconnection.

During construction, about 175 vehicles will deliver solar panels by a planned access route to the site. Crews will grade the site, dig trenches for cables, dive steel piles into the ground and set equipment in place with heavy equipment. Duke warns that neighbors may hear construction noises as the crew performs work during daylight hours, and it will provide construction notifications to the surrounding area.

Duke Energy Progress has ten regulated utility-scale projects operational across the Carolinas. It has an additional seven projects in the development stage, and one project in western North Carolina, Woodfin, actively under construction.

Image: Duke Energy Progress

The utility said the Robinson site will include support of local pollinator plant species.

As of the end of 2023, South Carolina sourced about 3.29% of its electricity generation from solar. View the progress of solar and other emissions free sources of electricity across the U.S. in the 50 states of solar data browser from PV intel.

Mike Callahan, Duke Energy South Carolina state president, said the proposed Robinson Solar Center is part of “the thousands of megawatts of solar” that will help it achieve its low-carbon goals.

Silfab Solar announces U.S. cell manufacturing, new line of TOPCon panels

Ryan Kennedy — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 18:23:29 +0000

The company invested $150 million in a new manufacturing operation in South Carolina and released new residential and commercial solar panels.

Silfab Solar, a Toronto-headquartered solar cell and module manufacturer, announced it is investing $150 million in a cell manufacturing site in the United States. The York County, South Carolina facility is a 785,000 square foot site that is expected to host over 850 jobs.

The annual production capacity will include 1 GW of cell production and 1.2 GW of additional module production capacity. Operations are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2024, adding critical cell production capacity, a current bottleneck in the U.S. solar supply chain.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to the project and awarded a $2 million Set-Aside grant to York County to assist with the costs of building improvements.

“Silfab Solar selecting York County for a project that requires a highly skilled workforce shows that our workforce development investments are paying off in a big way. Our people are South Carolina’s greatest resource, and we are confident they will help Silfab Solar thrive in its latest venture,” said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.

The company also recently signed a major supply agreement with Norwegian ingot and wafer producer NorSun. Silfab will purchase solar wafers for cell production from NorSun’s planned 5 GW ingot and wafer production facility in the U.S.

New modules

Silfab debuted several new module products at the RE+ conference in Las Vegas. The residential and commercial TOPCon modules will be available starting in Q1 2024.

TOPCon is another milestone in Silfab’s ongoing commitment to innovation and technological advancements to meet growing demand for high-quality, made-in-America PV solar,” said Paolo Maccario, Silfab President and CEO. “Silfab continues to make significant investments in people, facilities, processes, materials and technology that ensure the North American solar industry has an ethically sourced and reliable U.S. solar module partner.”

The x-pattern Elite series 410 W solar module.

Image: Silfab Solar

The TOPCon lineup offers increased power output, higher efficiency in low light conditions, and consistent performance in high temperatures. The company’s new NTC line comes with a 25-year product and 30-year linear performance warranty. The Prime NTC edition builds on the company’s residential modules, featuring a sleek black-on-black look for rooftop installations.

Silfab also announced it will launch the next generation Silfab Elite 430 BG+ in early 2024. Elite is Silfab’s most advanced and highest efficiency panel, utilizing proprietary X-Cell design and back contact integrated cell design for improved performance and durability.

Currently, the module is offered as Silfab Elite SIL 410 and 420. Available in the first quarter of 2024, the Silfab SIL 430 BG+ will include additional half-cell features.

Earth Mount Solar selected for 34 MW of PV projects across the U.S.

Anne Fischer — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 14:27:54 +0000

Erthos projects span five states across U.S. including one on tribal land in Utah.

Erthos, Inc. announced 34 MW of new projects under contract that will feature the company’s Earth Mount Solar, which installs solar on the ground with no mounts or trackers below.

The new portfolio includes sites in California, Utah, Arkansas, Texas, and South Carolina.

Ute Energy Exploration & Marketing was founded by the Ute Indian Tribe to protect the Tribe’s natural resources. The Utah-based developer selected Erthos for its upcoming 3 MW solar project, which will be located on the Tribe’s land in Utah.

“Electrical infrastructure is becoming more and more essential to the Ute Tribes development initiatives. Powering modern controls which monitor and measure emissions are essential to the Tribe,” says Devin Pehrson, CEO of Ute Energy Exploration & Marketing. “The Erthos installation methodology and development plan lead us to the lowest installed cost, which translates into the lowest power rates we could find.”

Erthos also announced contracts with Cedar Lake Power to deliver three new solar plants in South Carolina totaling 10 MW. “Erthos offered solutions to all three of our primary project challenges. They offered the highest energy density for our tightly configured sites, the highest wind rating, and the fastest installation method to address our aggressive schedules.” says a representative from Cedar Lake Power.

Two other undisclosed developers plan projects totaling 9 MW, bringing the newly announced portfolio to 34 MW. Erthos now has 17 solar plants under contract nationwide.

Late last year Erthos announced the signing of an agreement with Industrial Sun LLC for a new utility-scale solar project of more than 100 MWdc in Texas.

In March 2022, the company announced the closing of a $17.5 million Series B funding round in March to scale up production. This follows a $7.4 million Series A in 2019, which launched the company and helped it finalize the earth-mount system architecture. It also funded the development of the autonomous cleaning robot, which drives over the surface of the panels to clean them, which is necessitated by having the solar modules so close to the ground.

“With each new project, Erthos proves its ability to offer a highly attractive alternative to the status quo,” says Jim Tyler, CEO of Erthos. “We’ve said from the start that we can deliver on the lowest cost of energy. Now, with two years of plant operating history, we can prove it with real-world performance data. The word is out, and you can expect many more project announcements soon,” says Tyler.

Erthos will be exhibiting in booth 28048 at RE+ solar trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 12th through 14th.

Biden hails clean energy investments at new Enphase manufacturing site

Ryan Kennedy — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 18:09:53 +0000

President Biden delivered a speech celebrating the $500 billion in recent private investment in U.S. manufacturing. Solar inverter manufacturer Enphase announced its first shipments from a U.S. contract manufacturing facility, owned and operated by Flex.

President Joe Biden arrived in West Columbia, South Carolina to a newly announced inverter manufacturing facility that will deliver Enphase products. The facility, owned and operated by contract manufacturer Flex, is one wave in the record-breaking tide of clean energy investment announcements that have come over the last year.

“Today Enphase is shipping their first microinverters made in America,” said Biden.

Biden celebrated the $497 billion in manufacturing investments that have been announced since the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure laws were passed. Over 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since Biden took office. He highlighted the $11 billion in clean energy investments in South Carolina alone, where he delivered a speech on his new brand of economics dubbed “Bidenomics.”

Biden’s economic model is one focused on bringing middle-class jobs back to the United States, particularly manufacturing jobs, and restoring good-paying jobs to communities that were “sold out” to overseas operations during the end of the twentieth century.

“Trickle-down economics represented a time when we walked away from how this country was built,” said the President. “Bidenomics means restoring the American dream.”

The South Carolina facility is owned and operated by contract manufacturer Flex and will produce Enphase microinverters, the leading provider of inverters of this type.

The inverter provider said it expects to add a total of three contract manufacturing facilities in the United States, producing over 18 million microinverters per year, equivalent to meeting the needs of 1 million U.S. solar homes. The facility will bring 600 jobs to South Carolina, with 1,800 jobs in total being added across the three contract sites.

Enphase estimates it will invest nearly $20 million per manufacturing facility in the U.S. for a total of $60 million in capital investment across all U.S. manufacturing lines in addition to significant capital investments from its contract manufacturing partners.

The South Carolina Flex/Enphase facility will bring 600 jobs.
Image: Enphase

Image: Enphase

“Enphase shares our commitment to accelerating the world’s transition to clean energy through advanced technology and strategic regional manufacturing,” said Revathi Advaithi, chief executive officer, Flex.

Manufacturing clean energy components in the United States has become much more attractive following Biden’s largest-ever $369 billion investment in climate and energy via the Inflation Reduction Act. The Act contains tax credits for producing clean energy components, as well as domestic content tax credit adders for projects that contain a certain threshold of U.S.-made parts.

A survey by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) found that 100% of its respondents perceive the U.S. market to be increasing in attractiveness relative to other major countries in renewable energy investment. The response, made by executives from 43 leading companies with $100 million in annual revenues or investments, is the first time in the ACORE survey’s history that the United States has unanimously been perceived to be increasing in relative attractiveness to other nations.

By 2030, it is estimated the IRA will drive the installation of 950 million solar panels, 120,000 wind turbines, and 2,300 grid-scale battery facilities.

“By 2035, all electricity in America is going to be generated by clean energy,” said Biden.

BMW electric vehicle battery supplier breaks ground on 30 GWh factory

Ryan Kennedy — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 16:46:54 +0000

A South Carolina manufacturing site will host over 1,100 jobs made by Japanese battery provider AESC.

AESC, a Japanese battery technology company, announced it has broken ground on a Florence, South Carolina manufacturing facility. The site will support the company’s multi-year supply agreement with BMW Group, one of the world’s largest auto manufacturers.

The 1.5 million square foot facility will host annual production of 30 GWh of EV batteries. Slated for commercial operations in 2026, the facility is expected to provide over 1,170 jobs.

Batteries produced at the plant will supply BMW’s Spartanburg, S.C. electric vehicle manufacturing site. The next-generation EV batteries produced at the AESC’s facility offer a 20% boost to energy density, while reducing charging time and increasing range and efficiency by 30% compared to current-generation batteries, said the company.

AESC said the new factory will be 100% powered by clean energy, leveraging net-zero technologies from its partners. The company said it will implement renewable energy generation, carbon management and reduction software, and a battery recycling system to accelerate carbon neutrality throughout the entire battery value chain. Furthermore, AESC committed to pursuing responsible sources for its critical battery materials, providing full transparency into extraction methods.

The 30 GWh factory builds on the company’s already large footprint on the U.S., bringing AESC’s total manufacturing capacity to 70 GWh for the U.S. market. Over the past 13 years, AESC has produced power batteries for more than 800,000 electric vehicles across 59 countries.

“Today, South Carolina is proud to celebrate AESC as the company embarks on a historic chapter in our state,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “Florence County has been ripe for an investment of this magnitude — one that will transform local communities and create generational wealth for South Carolinians. The groundbreaking for AESC’s battery cell gigafactory is a landmark moment in the evolution of South Carolina’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle industry.”

Individuals interested in joining the AESC team in Florence can visit a recruitment website to explore opportunities.

Manufacturers of clean energy components from across the world are increasingly targeting the U.S. market for production following the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which packs in considerable tax credits and other incentives to support a domestic supply chain. In addition to tax credits for producers, purchasers of electric vehicles are offered a tax credit of up to $7,500 for a new vehicle, and up to $4,000 for a used one.

The American Clean Power Association said in the first eight months following the passage of IRA, 46 clean energy manufacturing facilities were announced, bringing an expected 18,000 or more U.S. jobs. Across the 46 announced facilities, 26 are solar manufacturing sites, 10 are utility-scale battery storage factories, 10 are wind power fabrications, two of which are for offshore wind technology development.

BorgWarner announces two U.S. battery and EV charging factory expansions

Ryan Kennedy — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 19:23:06 +0000

The company invested $42 million in a 3 GWh South Carolina expansion and $20 million in a Michigan plant upgrade.

Battery producer BorgWarner made two announcements of significant expansions to its manufacturing facilities in South Carolina and its home state of Michigan.

BorgWarner announced it will invest $42 million in the expansion of its Seneca, South Carolina facility. In addition to upgrading existing factory capacity, the investment will help fund the expansion of 3 GWh of new battery pack production lines.

The company expects to add 122 new jobs across production, technical support, manufacturing, engineering, maintenance, and supporting function roles over a three-year span as a result of the investment. Expansion projects are slated to begin in Q2 2023, with expected completion in the first half of 2024.

The battery producer said it worked closely with the State of South Carolina and Oconee County for approval of the expansion. Volker Weng, vice president and general manager, said the expansion moves the company closer to its goal of enabling lower-emissions transportation.

On the same day as the South Carolina announcement, BorgWarner released a report that said it will invest $20 million to expand the capabilities of three of its existing Michigan facilities, while also adding a new electric vehicle service center. An additional 186 jobs are expected to be created as a result of the investment.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation granted the company $1.86 million for the project via its business development program.

Image: BorgWarner

BorgWarner said the project will accelerate development, manufacturing and testing of EV products and EV charging infrastructure. This includes battery modules and packs, DC fast chargers, and microgrid control and operations devices.

The investment will be split across the three facilities. An Auburn Hills facility will add new electrification labs that will house testing equipment and new research and development areas. The Dearborn facility will expand its footprint by about 7,000 square feet, adding a DC fast charging wing. The new enhancements are expected to double the facility’s production and enable a second shift schedule.

“On top of creating more pathway jobs in the community … we intend to use the grant to expand BorgWarner’s manufacturing capability and presence, enhance volume capacity and grow our cross-functional departments,” said Frédéric Lissalde, president and chief executive office, BorgWarner Inc.

BorgWarner posted a full year 2022 net sales of $1.5 billion, with an adjusted operating margin of 10.1%. It expects earnings to range $1.6 to $1.75 billion in 2023, with a similar adjusted operating margin.

Sunrise brief: Four bottlenecks of developing small-scale utility solar in California

pv magazine — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 11:14:32 +0000

Also on the rise: Organizations show support for California solar carport and highway incentives. Hounen to build 1 GW solar module factory in U.S. And more.

New Mexico introduces low-income solar act SB 432 would require equitable distribution of benefits of on-site solar, limiting utility fees on low-income housing solar installations, and more.

Potential savings from new electric transmission reached decade peak in 2022 High electricity prices and severe weather helped drive record transmission values across many regions in 2022 offering potential savings, said Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Organizations show support for California solar carport and highway incentives A coalition of 64 organizations led by Environment California submitted a letter of support for SB 49.

Huonen to build 1 GW solar module factory in U.S. China-based module manufacturer Huonen Solar plans to build a panel manufacturing facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina. The factory will produce modules for the U.S. market.

Electriq Power secures financing to support Sustainable Community Networks in California $300 million in financing will help enable access to zero-up-front-cost, clean energy systems for California homeowners.

The four main bottlenecks of developing small-scale utility solar in California The CPUC, California legislature and other authorities having jurisdiction must address these issues or risk constraining jobs, CO2 mitigation, and clean energy deployment.

Hounen to build 1 GW solar module factory in U.S.

Vincent Shaw — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 20:00:20 +0000

China-based module manufacturer Huonen Solar plans to build a panel manufacturing facility in Orangeburg, South Carolina. The factory will produce modules for the U.S. market.

From pv magazine global

Zhejiang-based solar panel maker Hounen Solar says it will invest $33 million through its U.S. subsidiary to acquire a factory building in Orangeburg, in South Carolina.

The governor’s office of South Carolina has confirmed Hounen’s plans. The company says the building will host 1 GW of solar module production lines.

“Our new solar panel production plant will enable us to produce monocrystalline silicon PV panels for the U.S. market.” said Hounen CEO Jufang Ly. “We are grateful for the help and support of the South Carolina team and look forward to additional business opportunities in the state.”

Hounen Solar says the new factory will create 200 new jobs. It is the third Chinese manufacturer to announce a new solar module factory in the United States since the introduction of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Earlier this week, Longi Solar and US solar project developer Invenergy agreed to jointly construct a 5 GW solar panel factory in Pataskala, Ohio, via a newly founded company, Illuminate USA. A press release from Illuminate USA says the plan will cost $220 million. Invenergy said it has invested $600 million in the facility.

In January, Chinese panel maker JA Solar unveiled a plan to build a 2 GW PV panel factory in the U.S. state of Arizona. The solar cell and module maker said in a statement that it has already leased land for the manufacturing facility at an unspecified location in Phoenix, Arizona. The factory is expected to start commercial operations in the fourth quarter of this year, it said, adding that it will lead to the creation of 600 new jobs.

Duke Energy reports Q4 loss, pending job cuts

Michael Schoeck — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:32:59 +0000

Duke’s five-year capital plan of $65 billion is focused on energy transition investments, which it says is a considerable increase over previous budgets, while its current budget removes almost $3 billion of capital it would have invested into the utility solar and distributed generation business.

Duke Energy reported a $531 million loss in Q4 2022 as it wrote down the value of its commercial renewable energy business currently on the auction block. The utility also announced plans to cut $300 million in expenses in 2023, partly through layoffs out of its Charlotte, N.C. headquarters.

During its Q4 2022 earnings call, chief financial officer Brian Savoy did not say how many jobs are being cut, but said the measure includes a “modest” number of staff as well as external contractors and consultants.

The investor-owned utility reported FY22 earnings per share of $3.33, considerably lower than reported EPS of $4.94 in FY21. Its reported earnings per share (EPS) is down based on the impairment on the sale of the commercial renewable energy business.

“Our path forward is clear and underpinned by the strength of our regulated businesses, a disciplined approach to cost management and a robust (five-year) $65 billion capital plan,” said Lynn Good, chief executive office of Duke. “We’re well positioned to earn solidly within our 5% to 7% growth rate through 2027.”

In November 2022, Duke Energy launched an auction for its commercial renewable energy platform, which is expected to close in the second half of 2023. Good said the utility is “on track to exit both the utility scale and the distributed energy businesses” this year.

Duke’s five-year capital plan of $65 billion is focused on energy transition investments, which Savoy said was considerable increase over previous multi-year budgets, while its current budget removes almost $3 billion of capital it would have invested in the utility solar and distributed generation business. In other words, the utility is increasing its regulated business spending by $5 billion, for which Duke says will result in a 7.1% earnings-based CAGR growth rate through 2027.

Savoy defended the company’s book value of the commercial renewables portfolio platform at $3 billion, despite the utility writing down a $1.3 billion impairment charge since the sale process launched in Q3 2022. This led analysts to deduce the renewables platform will see proceeds of less than $1.7 billion.

Duke’s Q4 2022 results was marred by severe weather from winter storms hitting the southeast region, which forced its primary utility business Duke Energy Carolinas to issue a curtailment and power conservation notice during the Christmas week. Earlier in the month, up to 45,000 residents were in the dark in Moore County, N.C., due to a reported shooting incident at two sub-stations that were under investigation by the FBI, regional and local law enforcement.

Duke Energy initiated a sale process for its commercial renewables business, which includes a 3.5 GW wind and solar portfolio, in September 2022. In November the company said the value for the renewables business could exceed a book value of $4 billion. Media outlets including Infralogic reported the utility is being advised by Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Securities for the review of its renewables platform.

Duke’s common shares traded at $97.55 per share today, up 4.65% from $93.22 per share on Nov. 2, when it reported Q3 2022 earnings. The utility has a $75.1 billion market capitalization and provides electric services to 8.2 million customers in six states, and gas services to 1.6 million customers in five states.

The utility has a 2030 goal of achieving net zero natural gas fleet emissions and a 50% reduction in gas emissions from its electric business, with full net zero emissions by 2050. The company continues to invest in grid enhancements including energy storage, hydrogen and advanced nuclear technologies.

Last week, the utility completed construction on a 2 MW solar and 4.4 MWh storage project in Hot Springs, N.C., an Appalachian town with population of just 500. The microgrid uses lithium batteries from Wärtsilä Energy and provides grid reliability services to the electric grid, such as frequency and voltage regulation and ramping support and capacity during system peak power usage.

“Duke Energy has numerous smaller microgrids on our system, but this is our first microgrid that can power an entire small town if its main power line experiences an outage,” said Jason Handley, general manager of Duke Energy’s Distributed Energy Group.

South Carolina 108 MW solar, 198 MWh battery project finds offtaker

Ryan Kennedy — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 17:57:05 +0000

Once complete, Dominion Energy South Carolina will purchase power from the project developed by Southern Current, an energyRe company.

South Carolina utility Dominion Energy will add considerable renewable energy generation and grid-balancing energy storage capacity as it has signed a 108 MW solar, 198 MWh energy storage power purchase agreement.

The project is developed by Southern Current, an energyRe company. The 572-acre facility is expected to reach commercial operations and begin delivering clean energy at the grid-scale in 2024. Named Lone Star solar, the project stands alone as the largest battery under development in Dominion Energy South Carolina service territory.

Next steps for the project include acceptance from the Public Service Commission of South Carolina and other related regulatory approvals. Once complete, the project will represent an estimated $200 million invested toward powering the equivalent of about 17,000 homes and businesses.

Lone Star Solar is expected to generate $10 million in local property taxes and create 185 temporary construction jobs. In total, the project is expected to avoid more than 140,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

“This agreement will stimulate significant local investment, job creation and emissions reductions across the region. Building on Southern Current’s industry leadership, we are harnessing our expertise and experience to advance renewable energy in the Southeastern United States and beyond,” said Miguel Prado, chief executive officer, energyRe.

Southern Current was acquired by energyRe in Q3 2022, bringing along a portfolio of more than 9 GW of projects in development.

energyRe is advancing several high-profile renewable energy projects across the United States, including Clean Path, NY, which is an $11 billion public-private partnership to develop 3,800 MW of new wind and solar power in New York. The project also includes a 175-mile, underground 1,300 MW HVDC transmission line in the state.

Upon operation in 2027, Clean Path NY is planned to deliver 8 million MWh of electricity annually and reduce fossil fuel-fired electric generation in New York by 22% per year on average.

Distributed joint venture

In a joint venture with Starwood Energy, energyRe also launched Radial Power, a distributed solar developer serving large real estate, commercial and industrial customers.

In partnership with Related Companies, a large-scale real estate investor, the joint venture seeks to build cost-saving distributed solar assets. Starwood and Related Companies together have over 102,000 residences in their portfolios.

Radial Power’s stated goals include leveraging its codified set of proprietary tools and processes to design and deliver a fully financed deployment plan for portfolios with 1,000+ assets of various classes within 45 days from initial contact.

“The increasing cost competitiveness of clean energy technologies, maturing regulatory frameworks, and local, state, and federal incentives serve as tailwinds for adoptions of clean energy solutions,” said John Bates, CEO of Radial Power. “Radial Power seeks to access this enormous market opportunity and to deliver significant economic and environmental value to stakeholders across the board.”

South Carolina solar

South Carolina’s solar industry was essentially born six years ago in 2016, when a boom in both residential and utility-scale solar occurred in the state. Before this, there was an infinitesimal cumulative capacity of solar. In 2020, the state experienced peak deployment, with nearly 600 MW of capacity installed, the vast majority of which was utility-scale.

Major solar projects in South Carolina.
Image: SEIA

South Carolina ranks among the top three sunniest states east of the Mississippi River along with Florida and Georgia. However, it lags cloudier states like New York and Massachusetts in terms of solar deployment. Thus far, just over 2 GW of solar has been installed in the state.

In total, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that $2.6 billion has been invested in solar in South Carolina to date. There are 73 solar companies, including 18 manufacturers in the state. SEIA projects an additional 1.4 GW will be installed over the next five years, which would mark a deceleration in deployment compared to the previous five. This projection may not include the increased buildout that is expected following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes a record $370 billion in climate and energy spending.

Read about South Carolina’s solar incentives here.

Tennessee manufacturer to power operations with 526 kW rooftop solar array

Ryan Kennedy — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 16:53:25 +0000

Solar Alliance completed the design, engineering, and installation. Plus, REAP grants help rural small businesses save on solar.

Solar Alliance, a residential and commercial solar provider, announced it has completed design, engineering, and installation of a 526 kW rooftop solar array. The project was developed on the roof of a manufacturing site for advanced seal manufacturer AESSEAL.

Once activated, the Rockford, Tennessee rooftop solar installation is expected to provide on-site renewable energy that AESSESAL said will meet the power demand of a large portion of the assembly, quality control, engineering, and customer service divisions. The project is a step along the way toward the company’s goal of achieving net-zero emission.

Commercial rooftop arrays can call for a variety of engineering solutions to best fit the mounting surface. In this design, Solar Alliance used a combination of ballasted and flush mounts to secure the solar modules to the roof. The array is among the largest rooftop installations in the region.

AESSEAL also designs water management systems, that along with seals, help conserve billions of gallons of water and millions of dollars for their customers.

“Water management is another way to meet sustainability goals,” said Chris Staackmann, operations manager, AESSEAL. “We’re committed to our customers; we’re committed to the environment.

Solar Alliance provided the engineering and electrical support for the project, as well as coordination with its East Tennessee based construction crew to install the system, which covers most of the 50,000 square foot facility.

Since it was founded in 2003, Solar Alliance has developed $1 billion of renewable energy projects that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. It has served a wide array of customer sites, including homes, farms, manufacturing sites, professional buildings, data centers, retail centers and utility installations. The company operates primarily in Tennessee and Kentucky, along with North and South Carolina and Illinois.

REAP the benefits

Solar Alliance has developed several projects that qualify for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Energy for America (REAP) Grants. The REAP grant provides grants and low-interest loans for small business owners in rural areas.

The REAP program awards grants between $2,500 and $500,000 for solar projects, energy efficiency grants of $1,500 to $250,000, and a loan and grant combination with an amount exceeding $1,500 for the grant portion. The maximum incentive one can receive within this range is 25% of the total project cost and is anticipated to increase in the near future to 50% of allowable project costs per updated federal programs.

The program is available not just to farmers and small agricultural practices, but to small businesses as defined by the Small Business Administration. Solar Alliance said businesses with 500 or fewer employees have qualified for REAP grants. Eligibility starts with location and is focused on rural areas where 50,000 or fewer people live.

REAP grants help small businesses lower the cost of investing in solar. Image: Solar Alliance

“I think the mission of the grant is very straightforward: Lower your operating costs, become more competitive, sell more products at an equal or improved value, create more jobs, create a larger tax base, grow the community” said Harvey Abouelata, vice president, Solar Alliance.

“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to spread the word about the grant availability. If the money does not get used in your state, it goes back to the federal fund to get redistributed to other states around the country. This is your tax money; keep it at home working for you,” said Abouelata.

Longtime Loudon County family business Wampler’s Farm Sausage has utilized REAP to support its development of several energy efficiency and solar energy projects. Wampler has since become an ambassador for the benefits of REAP and working with a developer like Solar Alliance.

“It’s important when you have a partner that’s going to come in and do a project for you, that they know not just the technical side of how to install but dealing with the tax credits and the accelerated depreciation, and all the things that are involved in helping you justify the project and know what the payback’s going to be,” said Wampler.

Solar Energy Loan Fund surpasses $30 million of residential loans

Michael Schoeck — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 15:08:50 +0000

The non-profit green bank has sourced credit to clientele of which 74% are low-to-moderate income homeowners.

The Solar Energy Loan Fund (SELF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing unsecured financing solutions to Florida and Southeast U.S. residents adding solar and home improvements, recently surpassed $30 million of cumulative loans.

As a green bank and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), to date SELF has provided loan products to historically underserved and underbanked low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities such as retirees, working class families, veterans, disabled homeowners and those with poor credit background.

SELF has issued more than 3,000 green home loans, which average about $10,000 per loan but can range up to $50,000, for rooftop solar, high efficiency air conditioners, roofing repairs and other residential sustainable improvements.

“SELF is an implementation tool to retrofit and build new resilient, affordable housing while fostering green jobs, energy equity, resilience, and clean energy for all,” said Doug Coward, executive director of SELF. “LMI homeowners are the most susceptible population to climate change, heat waves, and severe weather, and they have participated and benefited the least from the fast-emerging clean energy economy.”

Fort Pierce, Florida-based SELF was formed in 2010 with $3 million in seed grants from the Department of Energy. The non-profit prides itself as being the first local national green bank. In recent years SELF expanded outside of Florida into Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, and has partnerships with the cities of Orlando, St. Petersburg and the Atlanta (Georgia) Housing Authority.

Unlike traditional banks, SELF knocks down traditional barriers by advancing financial inclusion and filling key gaps that have historically set back LMI communities from accessing small loans for home improvements, including solar.

SELF has two dozen investors, including crowdfunding platform, KIVA.org, while 900+ contractors throughout the Southeast are able to assist customers with loan accessibility through SELF. The non-profit has leveraged the original DOE grant by a 13:1 margin and provided financial assistance to more than 9,000 people.

Maria Duanne Andrade, chief financial officer of SELF, created the agency’s inclusive underwriting process based on the homeowner’s ability to repay the loan balance, rather than a credit score-based rating system. Its credit system enabled the launch of its flagship Green Home Loan program for LMI homeowners with less than 2% default rates.

“Green banks have the power to unlock economic, environmental, and social benefits, especially in underserved communities,” said Andrade. “Financial systems are overly reliant on credit scores, and traditional underwriting methods leave too many people behind.”

SELF-originated loans are primarily funded by either crowd-funding or a mix of local banks, impact funds and faith-based institutions such as churches.

Port St. Lucie, Fla. resident Ed Agliardo received SELF and St. Lucie County PACE financing for a solar system.

SELF loan financial terms:

Renewable Energy Projects: 8 to 9.5% APR with 5 to 10-year loan term
Energy Efficiency Projects: 8 to 9.5% APR with 3 to 5-year term
KIVA crowdfunded loans: 5% fixed interest with 3 to 5-year terms

Residential projects eligible for financing include:

Weatherization and insulation
Replacement of inefficient air-conditioning systems
Solar thermal and solar photovoltaic systems
Roofs, windows, doors, and hurricane shutters
disability products and aging in place

SELF finances various home sustainability projects.

Green Bank meets Fintech

In recent years, SELF’s Andrade has put the loan originator into adjacent markets, providing green loan products to minorities, small building landlords and developers of affordable housing buildings, as well as a septic to sewer loan product.

Meanwhile, the organization has been pivoting to keep up with the emergence of financial technology applications that provide rapid access to small loan products. In December, SELF’s plug-and-play fintech platform received a $3 million grant from JP Morgan Chase in order to provide capital to minority and novice affordable housing developers.

According to EnergySage, other providers of secured and unsecured solar loans in Florida and the southeast region include Climate First Bank, Dividend Finance, Sungage, Sunlight Financial, Sunnova Energy, Mosaic, GreenSky Credit and EnerBank USA.

According to Wood Mackenzie, the solar loan market grew 37% from 2021 to 2022. Homeowners see the greatest monthly savings on 25-year loans, which also match a residential solar installation’s warranty period.

Interest in residential solar financing will continue to grow now that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) extended the solar investment tax credit at 30% for another 10 years.

Tracking solar policy winners and losers in the Southeast

Ryan Kennedy — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 16:39:49 +0000

The Southern Environmental Law Center shares its review of policies slowing down or speeding up the adoption of solar in the South.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) completed its fifth year of tracking solar policies of major utilities in the Southern U.S., identifying the “makers” that have encouraged solar adoption, and the “brakers” that are slowing it down.

“No path to widespread solar adoption can bypass the South,” said Jill Kysor, senior attorney and leader of solar initiatives for SELC. “Many utilities have implemented good solar policies that lower customer electricity bills, create local jobs and advance the clean energy economy. Others have opted for punitive policies that hurt their customers and the entire region by leaving solar potential untapped.”

Called Rates of Solar and launched in 2018, the SELC project tracks ~10 GW installed or committed solar capacity. Now in its fifth year, the SELC project tracks over 23 GW of capacity across the region. Approximately 25,000 homes and businesses had rooftop solar in the project’s six-state study region in 2018, and now that number has quadrupled to over 100,000 homes and businesses.

SELC said Southern states have a lot to gain from improving policies to make solar more accessible to customers and embrace the solar industry, which has grown at an average annual rate of 33% over the last decade. Solar represents a strong economic engine that could help a region with higher poverty rates than most of the U.S., and an opportunity for ratepayers to save on their utility bills.

Net metering policy has emerged as one of the central indicators of whether a utility region is a “maker” or “braker,” said SELC.

The organization’s Rates of Solar tool allows users to understand how much their utility company charges (or pays) when you adopt solar.

Brakers

Alabama is a prime example of a solar “braker,” with only around 500 residential solar customers, said SELC. Since 2013, utility Alabama Power has imposed some of the nation’s highest monthly fees on rooftop solar customers of any regulated utility. Every year, the average rooftop solar system of 5 kW accrues $300 of additional fees imposed by the state’s largest utility, totaling more than $9,000 in fees over a system’s lifespan.

Another state with low solar buildout is Tennessee, which has under 3,000 residential customers. With a lack of net metering and low and inconsistent export rates, it is very difficult to estimate potential savings of a system.

Georgia is a state that has made some incremental progress, introducing net metering in 2020, but leaving a low participation cap of 5,000 spots for over 2.5 million customers. The program filled up in less than four years.

Recently, utility regulators voted against expanding the popular net metering program in Georgia and instead adopted a new solar export rate that falls just below 7 cents per kWh. The new policy offers a slight improvement on the existing rock bottom rates, regulators missed an opportunity to do more, said SELC.

Makers

SELC said North and South Carolina “lead the pack” in solar policy. North Carolina leads the six-state region with over 35,000 installations to date. The state implemented a net metering policy in 2005 for its two major utilities, Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress. The state has also gotten a boost from a rebate program implemented from 2017 to 2022. Revisions to the current net metering and rebate framework have been proposed but are still pending with state regulators.

South Carolina has the highest per capita solar installation rate and over 29,000 customers have gone forward to date. The state has active net metering policies that were established in 2008 and distributed energy resource programs that helped jumpstart the market in 2015. New time-of-use based net metering policies were adopted in early 2022.

SELC said Virginia is catching up to the Carolinas quickly following the passage of the Clean Economy Act of 2020, which lifted the state net metering cap from 1% to 6% of the utility’s peak lead forecast. Net metering has been active in the state since 2020.

Sunrise brief: Solar-plus-storage kept the lights on in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona

pv magazine — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 11:42:01 +0000

Also on the rise: Landfill solar project to cover 63% of South Portland’s municipal electricity needs. 50 states of solar incentives: Florida. And more.

High electricity rates push homeowners to consider solar Rising electric rates, grid instability, environmental concerns and decreased solar costs are all reasons for homeowners to go solar, according to a study by Rocket Solar.

Landfill solar project to cover 63% of South Portland’s municipal electricity needs The brownfield-sited project will bring the city’s municipal electricity to 80% sourced from solar.

50 states of solar incentives: Florida Aptly nicknamed the Sunshine State, Florida is a leading market for PV deployment. However, it lags other states in terms of policy support.

South Carolina electric co-op pursues batteries and other alternatives to a proposed gas unit Utility-scale batteries are being pursued by many utilities, the generation and transmission co-op utility said in explaining its decision, while aggregated distributed resources “can be counted on as predictable generation capacity.”

Solar-plus-storage kept the lights on in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona Sunnova SunSafe solar + storage systems generated a total of nearly 2 GWh of energy total with 3.4 million hours of aggregate back-up power, or an average of 128 hours of power generated per household.

South Carolina electric co-op pursues batteries and other alternatives to a proposed gas unit

William Driscoll — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 15:00:18 +0000

Utility-scale batteries are being pursued by many utilities, the generation and transmission co-op utility said in explaining its decision, while aggregated distributed resources "can be counted on as predictable generation capacity."

South Carolina’s Central Electric Power Cooperative will not participate in a new gas-fired generating unit that utility Santee Cooper has proposed, to replace coal-fired units at a site near Georgetown, South Carolina.

Instead, Central plans to replace its share of about 1.1 GW of capacity from retiring coal units through power purchase agreements, utility-scale batteries, distributed energy resources, and participation in future power plants built in the state.

Central described utility-scale batteries as “a technology proven to be technically possible and currently being pursued by utilities all over the country.”

Distributed energy resources, Central explained, are “batteries, generators and demand-side management programs, all aggregated to represent a utility-scale solution.” When aggregated, the resources “become utility-scale and can be counted on as predictable generation capacity. These resources would grow out of FERC Order 2222, which has accelerated their advancement to utility scale.”

Central is a generation and transmission utility that aggregates power supply for 20 electric distribution cooperatives serving 860,000 customer accounts. The cooperative owns community solar and peaking generators but obtains most of its power through long-term purchase agreements with Santee Cooper, Duke Energy Carolinas, and the Southeastern Power Administration.

“There was not a meaningful cost difference in the top options that are available,” the cooperative said in a statement, saying that its analysts “supplement cost considerations with broader strategic goals and include independent risk assessments. Central’s members say they want competitively priced wholesale power costs, reliable delivery of energy, and, increasingly, they want supplier and fuel diversity.”

“I think there were several members of the staff and certainly a number of our board members who were surprised” at the decision of the cooperative’s board, said Robert Hochstetler, Central’s president and CEO. “But we went where our requirements and the opportunities took us. The solution had to be affordable, the power supply had to be reliable, and we needed to be ready by 2029,” when the last coal unit near Georgetown is set to retire.

With Central’s board having approved the overall plan, the utility will develop a detailed plan over the next year, Hochstetler said.

Coordination agreement

Central has already sourced solar power directly, rather than through a joint arrangement with Santee Cooper, by entering contracts with solar developers.

Direct sourcing was made possible by a 2013 coordination agreement between Central and Santee Cooper, which allows Central to opt out of any proposed Santee Cooper generating unit, and to independently meet its power needs that would otherwise have been met by its share of Santee Cooper’s proposed generating unit.

Central now receives about 70% of its wholesale power supply from Santee Cooper, and beginning in 2029, it will still receive more than half of its power from Santee Cooper, the cooperative said, “continuing the long and significant relationship the companies have benefited from for decades.”

Joint resource planning with Santee Cooper has identified the need for additional solar generation to economically meet the needs of the Central-Santee Cooper system, the cooperative said, adding that it “looks forward to the opportunity to participate in that process.”

For more on South Carolina read 50 states of solar incentives: South Carolina.

Duke Energy raises rates in South Carolina

Anne Fischer — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 18:41:01 +0000

Despite Duke’s purported commitment to clean energy, the utility is citing rising fossil fuel costs in the decision to raise rates.

South Carolina’s Public Service Commission approved Duke Energy Carolinas’ request to raise utility bills by 10.4%, which will amount to more than $12 per month for a typical residential customer. The blame is being laid on rising fossil fuel costs.

“We are disappointed that the Public Service Commission continues to pass 100% of rising fuel costs to customers without addressing the fundamental problem: heavy reliance on fossil fuel resources exposes customers to substantial cost risk, as opposed to the significantly cleaner, more affordable resources that are available and ready to go,” said Kate Mixson, staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Earlier this year the Public Service Commission rejected Duke’s attempt to plan for increased use of renewable energy. Yet this is the third time this year that the Public Service Commission has approved utility rate increases due to rising gas costs without addressing its impact on customers and the underlying problem.

“The risks of relying too heavily on fuel-dependent resources will be visible in customers’ bills during a time when many families already have to make tough financial decisions,” said Megan Chase-Muller, state policy director at Upstate Forever, a nonprofit conservation organization that protects land, water, and the unique character in upstate South Carolina “We hope Duke and Commissioners recognize the impact they have on regular customers burdened with absorbing all of the cost risk for fossil fuels and take steps to prioritize renewables,” Chase-Muller said.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, almost 90% of U.S. homes are heated primarily by natural gas or electricity. As noted in its Winter Fuels Outlook, which was released this month, the EIA expects wholesale prices for natural gas to be higher this winter than last winter. Because natural gas is the most common fuel used to generate electricity in the United States, higher natural gas prices lead to higher retail prices for electricity.

“Our current system puts all the risk on customers. Customers pay for all the gas and coal burned in Duke power plants; the utility’s shareholders do not,” said Maggie Shober, Research Director at Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “South Carolinians will continue to be hit with fuel rate increases until the Commission requires utilities to expand affordable clean resources that lower customer bills like energy efficiency and renewable energy.”

Sunrise brief: Multi-day iron-air battery startup nets $450 million investment

pv magazine — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 10:19:21 +0000

Also on the rise: Generac to bring EODev hydrogen fuel cell power generators to North America. 50 states of solar incentives: South Carolina. And more.

Morningstar unveils DC/AC inverters for off-grid applications U.S.-based solar controller producer Morningstar has launched a new line of off-grid inverters, featuring six models ranging from 150 W to 2,500 W. Production and deliveries are scheduled to start this year.

Generac to bring EODev hydrogen fuel cell power generators to North America The generator uses a fuel cell and a lithium iron phosphate battery, so it is silent and emits only warm water and filtered air.

50 states of solar incentives: South Carolina South Carolina has over 2 GW of solar installed, much of it coming online in the last five years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Multi-day iron-air battery startup nets $450 million investment Boston, Massachusetts startup Form Energy announced the Series E financing round.

HelioVolta wins American-Made Solar Prize for software innovation SolarGrade software is a fieldwork platform by HelioVolta that includes pre-made workflows and pre-written issue descriptions that help reduce time on site.

50 states of solar incentives: South Carolina

Ryan Kennedy — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 19:15:38 +0000

South Carolina has over 2 GW of solar installed, much of it coming online in the last five years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Incentives

Perhaps the most significant incentive in the state is the personal tax credit, which covers 25% of system equipment costs. The incentive credits a maximum of $3,500, or 50% of taxpayer’s tax liability for that taxable year, whichever is less. If the amount of the credit exceeds $3,500 for each facility, the taxpayer may carry forward the excess for up to ten years.

The South Carolina state government maintains a database of active incentives and net metering structures for the various utilities across the state. Incentives and rates vary widely, so those interested in residential and commercial solar can find more information about opportunities with their utility provider here. For example, Santee Cooper customers are eligible for a rebate of $1.05/W of solar energy that they install on their roofs, up to $6,300.

Image: SC.gov

The state also offers net metering, which involves crediting a customer on their bill for excess solar production they send to the grid. Net metering rates vary widely by utility and customer rate type, so it is important to understand how much value the solar system will receive for its production. Here is an example of utility SCE&G’s rate structure:

Rate 2: low use residential service	Consumption has not exceeded 400 kWh for each of the previous 12 billings months	Basic facilities charge: $10 Rate: $0.10712/kWh
Rate 5: time-of-use residential service	Price of electricity depends on time of day	Basic facilities charge: $14 Off-peak charge: $0.10537/kWh On-Peak: Summer: $0.31611/kWh Winter:$0.28450/kWh
Rate 6: energy saver	Home must meet thermal requirements	Basic facilities charge: $10 First 800 kWh: $0.13231/kWh Excess over 800 kWh: Summer: $0.14551/kWh Winter: $0.12699/kWh
Rate 8: residential service	Standard charge for residencies	Basic facilities charge: $10 First 800 kWh: $0.13701/kWh Excess over 800 kWh: Summer: $0.15071/kWh Winter: $0.13153/kWh

Using the Solar Calculator from SolarReviews is another method for getting a customized estimate of your solar savings potential based on zip code, utility provider, and average utility bill.

Residents and business owners in South Carolina will also be eligible for any qualifying federal incentives, including the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC was recently extended at 30% of the eligible equipment costs of a solar array for the next ten years. Unlike the state tax credit, you may be eligible for a direct payment of the incentive, rather than rolling over year-to-year based on your tax appetite.

A solar victory

A landmark case for the solar industry was spearheaded by SEIA in 2019, when the state passed the Energy Freedom Act. The act led to numerous solar victories and opened the gate for the record year of deployment in 2020. Provisions included:

Eliminated the net metering cap for residential solar.
Ensured fair and transparent rates for both residential and large-scale solar.
Reformed the process behind utility resource planning.
Ensured fair and timely contracts for large-scale solar providers.

“After a unanimous vote in the South Carolina House, we are glad to see that the Senate also approved this critical legislation, which will lower electricity bills and create jobs across The Palmetto State. That the bill passed with strong bipartisan support is a testament to the hard work of our many partners and allies in the state, and clean energy champions in the Legislature,” said SEIA president Abigail Ross Hopper.

Landmark project

Earlier this year, Pine Gate Renewables announced the financing of Beulah Solar, its 20th project in the state, which will bring 101 MW of capacity to Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. Located in Saluda and Lexington Counties, Beulah Solar is expected to provide enough electricity to power approximately 23,000 homes in the area each year, through a 10-year power purchase agreement with Dominion Energy South Carolina.

Major solar projects in South Carolina.
Image: SEIA

Pine Gate said the project will provide $166,000 in tax revenue each year for the counties over the lifespan of the project’s anticipated 40 years of operation ($6.6 million total).

Pine Gate currently has 19 operational projects in South Carolina, with 16 more under construction or in development. Blue Ridge Power is facilitating the engineering, procurement and construction of Beulah Solar, which is expected to become operational in the spring. John Hancock provided the preferred equity, Churchill Stateside Group provided the tax equity and Live Oak Bank provided the permanent loan for Beulah Solar.

Up next

The last stop on the pv magazine tour of solar incentives brought us to North Carolina. Next, we will travel south to Georgia, a top 10 solar state, and home to Sen. Jon Ossoff, who drafted the influential Solar Energy Manufacturing for America (SEMA) bill.

Read more pv magazine USA coverage on South Carolina here.

Nine gigawatt solar manufacturing facility being scouted for Qcell module manufacturing

John Fitzgerald Weaver — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 13:42:08 +0000

Qcells is communicating with officials in Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas to select a site for a nearly fully vertically integrated 9 gigawatt manufacturing facility

Qcells is searching for a place to build a nine gigawatt per year manufacturing facility for their newly branded solar panels in a nearly fully vertically integrated facility. The company is researching locations in Texas, South Carolina or nearby its current base of Georgia.

Qcells has not yet announced these ambitions publicly; however, these plans align with their public position of investing in US manufacturing capacity – if and when the solar module manufacturing credits were passed as part of a climate bill. In fact, these credits were included in the Inflation Reduction Act – which has been passed by the Senate and the House, and is now awaiting the President’s signature.

The potential facility came to light via a series of documents, (1, 2 and 3) in the Local Government Assistance & Economic Analysis Division of Lancaster, and surrounding school districts, in Texas.

The total investment in the facility is estimated to be at least $1.829 billion. Of that, $461 million will be paid to construction workers, and will peak at almost 4,000 individuals in the second year of construction. Once construction is complete, the facility will employ 204 ‘non-qualifying’ permanent positions, and 25 ‘qualifying’ positions. The qualifying positions will have an average income of at least $78,522 per year.

The facility would include a “fully integrated value chain from Ingot, Wafer, Cell, and Module.” The filing notes that raw materials will be shipped in by common carriers – including glass, frame, back sheet, and polysilicon.

Some of the machines, equipment, and tools that will be onsite include:

Mono grower
Jaw Crusher
Ingot measurement equipment
Diamond wire saw
Laser doped selective emitter
Oxidation furnace
Cell test & Sorter
Deionized and Ultra-Pure water systems

And while the facility might not be 100% vertically integrated onsite – the polysilicon, glass, and frames will be trucked in – Q Cells’ parent company happens to control the largest solar polysilicon manufacturing in North America. The Moses Lake facility has a current annual manufacturing capacity of 20,000 metric tons (MT) of polysilicon. Hanwha Solutions, the largest shareholder of the facility and the parent company of Q Cells, has announced they plan on retrofitting and restarting the facility in 2023.

A 9 GW per year facility using 3 grams of polysilicon per watt, would require a bit more than 27,000 MT of raw polysilicon per year. Considering the Moses Lake facility manufacturing gear is a few years old, and Hanwha is a global leader in manufacturing technology, one would expect that these facility upgrades could meet Texas’ needs.

The company recently announced a new partnership with a glass manufacturing facility in Canada. This facility has a total glass manufacturing capacity equivalent to 16 GW of solar output.

The company currently has a 1.7 GW per year module assembly facility in Georgia, and has announced 1.4 GW of additional capacity. Q Cells informed pv magazine USA that these new facilities will be in addition to the current and announced facilities. In total, this would bring the company to 12.1 GW of solar panel assembly capacity in the United States.

Qcells reached out to pv magazine USA to note that the official filings don’t necessarily represent the total number of jobs, and the company expects there to be several thousand permanent jobs at the site.

Duke seeks to procure an additional 700MW of solar in 2022

Tim Sylvia — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 16:23:48 +0000

If approved, the new procurement would raise Duke's total 2022 solicitation to 1,300MW, a figure equivalent to 30% of all the solar the company has installed in North Carolina to date.

Duke Energy Carolinas has filed a proposal with the North Carolina Utilities Commission under which the utility is seeking bids this year 700MW of solar projects, in addition to the roughly 600MW of solar the company is already seeking through previously-announced procurement.

Duke shares that it is undertaking this additional procurement due to North Carolina’s recently-passed House Bill 951 (HB 951), a measure which formally adopted Governor Roy Cooper’s goal of 70% carbon emission reduction by 2030 into state law. Also outlined in the bill is the requirement that 55% of new solar generation under Duke’s Carbon Plan is to be supplied from solar energy facilities that are company-built. The remaining 45% of the total MW of any solar energy facilities procured under the Carbon Plan are to be supplied through the execution of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with other companies.

Just like the company’s earlier procurement, the 700MW proposed could be constructed in either North or South Carolina, though the company will likely prioritize development in North Carolina, in order to meet the requirements of HB 951. Additionally, all construction in either state will be done in those states’ Duke Energy Carolinas service territories, but not their Duke Energy Progress service territories.

Under the earlier solicitation, Duke’s utilities and commercial renewables division, Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions, was allowed to win up to 30% of bids in that round, a figure that will hold if the new proposal is approved by regulators.

While Duke’s proposal is still subject to regulatory approval, a company spokesperson shared with pv magazine that a quick approval would mean that the company could create an open window for bids from May 31 through July 15. Winners could be announced later in early 2023, with projects possibly online in early 2026. This initial solar procurement will be the first of a series of annual solar procurements, with the capacity to be built under each subsequent procurement to be determined by the state regulators as part of approval of the Carbon Plan.

Even considering the vast capacity of solar that Duke has brought to the North Carolina grid, the two combined solicitations, assuming the proposal is approved, represent a roughly 30% increase in installed solar capacity.

Soltage invests in 31MW community solar portfolio

Tim Sylvia — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:39:26 +0000

The investment is the company's third as a part of its Iris capital vehicle, created in partnership with Harrison Street to fund and depl0y 450MW of new distributed solar and storage projects across the United States.

Soltage, along with Harrison Street, an alternative energy investment firm, announced the companies’ most recent investment in solar. The investment was made through the companies’ previously-announced $250 million partnership to fund solar and other clean energy infrastructure assets to be developed by Soltage.

This time, the two companies have invested $52 million in a 31MW portfolio of five solar projects set to be constructed in South Carolina and Illinois. The portfolio consists of one project in Illinois and four projects in South Carolina, and the electricity generated from these projects will be sold to municipal, commercial and residential community solar customers, as well as local utilities.

“We are proud to announce this investment, building on our 15-year track record of developing and investing in renewable energy assets to serve our diverse base of electricity consumers,” said Soltage Co-Founder and CEO, Jesse Grossman.

Soltage and Harrison Street first announced their $250 million partnership in March 2021, and under it, the two plan to deploy 450 MW of distributed solar and storage projects across the U.S. All assets developed will be owned by the partnership and operated by Soltage.

The first was in a 14.5MW portfolio of solar assets representing $30 million of project costs. The projects entered service in 2021 across five sites in Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

In August 2021, the two announced a joint investment in a 20MW project portfolio of community solar assets and Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) solar projects located in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maine.

Policy leads the way: Impactful action at the state level in 2021

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 17:00:26 +0000

While federal policy action (or inaction) grabs all the headlines, let's look back at some of the most impactful state and local developments from 2021.

Delaware boosts its RPS

Gov. John Carney, D-Del., signed into law SB33, which raises Delaware’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for regulated utilities to 40% by 2035. The new law raises Delaware’s previous RPS goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025. The RPS solar carve-out also will nearly triple from 3.5% by 2025 to 10% by 2035.

New Mexico gains a community solar program

With the signing of SB 84, New Mexico became the 21st state to establish a statewide community solar program. Regulators have until April 2022 t0 evaluate existing community solar programs and develop rules for a state program. The law also calls on regulators to develop a list of low-income service organizations and programs that may pre-qualify low-income customers.

Arizona regulators kick the can on clean energy goals

Arizona utility regulators voted 3-2 to advance an amended package aimed at moving Arizona’s regulated utilities to 100% carbon-free energy by 2070. The vote came after the energy rules package failed at the commission’s May 5 meeting. The package is generally seen as inactive and laggard, even falling behind the stated goals of the state’s investor-owned utilities.

Texas works to protect its grid

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bills 2 and 3 into law on June 8. The laws are intended to change how parts of the state’s power grid must prepare for extreme weather and how the Electric Reliability Corporation of Texas (ERCOT) is governed.

The legislation was sparked by a mid-February winter storm that lasted for days and crippled much of the state’s electric power grid. Power plants that had not been winterized were particularly hard hit in a near carbon-copy of a power outage that hit the state in February 2011.

An action-packed year for New Jersey

In July, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) voted unanimously to implement a new solar incentive program that it said will enable up to 3,750 MW of new solar generation by 2026.

The Successor Solar Incentive Program (SuSI) was part of a nearly three-year process mandated by the Clean Energy Act of 2018 to replace the state’s Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC) program with new incentives that encourage solar development while minimizing ratepayer cost.

The regulatory agency said that solar energy is expected to generate approximately 10% of New Jersey’s total electricity needs once the program is fully implemented.

In October, the BPU voted to approve 164 MW of new community solar projects, with all of that capacity aimed at serving low-to-moderate-income (LMI) households.

Regulators also said that the state will transition the two-year-old pilot community solar program to permanent status. The decision to move to a permanent program now rather than wait for a third year of the pilot to commence was driven by the pilot’s success so far.

The community solar program is administered by New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program. It provides access to solar energy through a subscription-based model.

Just a few weeks later, in November, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law bill A3352, which requires all new warehouses in the state to be built as solar-ready buildings.

Now, new warehouses (defined as any building 100,000 square feet or larger and that primarily is used to store goods for resale) built on or after July 1, 2022 will need to be optimized for solar. If the structure is intended to use hot water, then it also must allow for the installation of a solar water heating system.

North Carolina: State of compromise

North Carolina’s 2021 was marked by new policy at the price of concessions. In October, the State Legislature passed House Bill 951 (HB 951), a measure which looks to formally adopt Governor Roy Cooper’s goal of 70% carbon emission reduction by 2030 into state law.

The bill looks to put many of the state’s coal plants on an accelerated retirement schedule, at a schedule to be determined by state regulators.

The bill also calls on state regulators to develop a plan for the state’s utilities to achieve the emissions reduction goal, mandate if passed, through power generation, transmission and distribution, grid modernization, storage, energy efficiency measures, demand-side management, and emerging technology, no later than the end of 2022.

However, also included in the bill are reduced oversights for Duke Energy, including the freedom for the utility to institute multi-year rate plans (MYRP), a rate structure that the utility has been pursuing for some time. The MYRP is a process by which the utility can start charging customers for projected future costs. The current process looks backward at costs actually incurred.

To end November, Duke energy came to terms on compromise with a number of environmental organizations regarding the company’s new net metering compensation structure. The new rates include minimum monthly bills, non-bypassable charges, and grid access fees for larger systems, all things that solar advocates have long argued against as harmful for the health of the state’s rooftop solar market.

Healthy net metering policy in South Carolina

In late May, the South Carolina Public Service Commission issued final rules for net metering, which the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) said will better align with customer behavior and electricity system needs.

The net metering regime for current solar customers will be extended through 2025 or 2029, depending on when customers switched to solar. At the end of that period, customers can continue with the current setup at 2025 or 2029 retail rates, or switch to the new program. Key elements of the new program include time-of-use rates and rebates for smart thermostats, both of which SEIA said better align customer behavior with electricity system needs.

Power to the NIMBYs in Ohio

Ohio legislators in June passed legislation granting county commissions the power to stop new wind and solar development projects in their tracks.

Senate Bill 52 would require renewable energy project developers to share their application with township trustees 30 days before applying for a certificate from the Ohio Power Siting Board. HB 118 currently awaits referral to a House committee.

Township trustees, after reviewing the application, could then move to call for a referendum petition. If that petition receives signatures representing at least 8% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, then the project must be voted on at the next primary or general election before moving forward.

Critics of the bill have argued that it adds an additional and unnecessary bureaucratic step to the project development process, one which has already been bogged down by the Ohio Power Siting Board’s lengthy application project. These same constraints do not apply to oil and gas projects.

No small feat: Illinois passes new, sweeping energy package

Potentially the most arduous fight of the year (and the end of 2020) ended this fall, as the Illinois Senate passed The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (SB 2408), a sweeping energy package that sets the state on a trajectory toward 100% clean energy by 2050.

The measure is expected to provide a pathway forward for the state’s solar industry, which has been languishing for almost a year following the exhaustion of previous incentives.

New York plans for 10 GW of distributed solar by 2030

Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan that is expected to generate enough clean electricity per year to power nearly 700,000 additional New York homes, including those in disadvantaged communities.

The roadmap proposes a strategy for expanding the state’s NY-Sun initiative into one of the largest solar programs in the nation, expected to spur approximately $4.4 billion in private investment and create 6,000 additional solar jobs across the state. The expansion will also deliver at least 35% of the benefits with a goal of 40% from the investments to disadvantaged communities and low-to moderate- income New Yorkers.

A job unfinished: The battle over net metering continues in California

Earlier in December, California became the first state in the country to mandate that solar power plus energy storage be integrated into all future commercial structures via its most recent update to building codes. Additionally, the new building code added a requirement that all new residential construction must be ready for the addition of energy storage. The regulatory body estimates this requirement may add 280 MW of annual solar capacity, as well as 400 MWh of energy storage.

The value of that added solar capacity is fueling the hottest debate in residential solar for the time being, as California still looks to make a final decision on its third iteration of net metering – NEM-3.

The vote is highly charged. At least 17 parties have submitted opinions backed by financial and legal arguments sent directly to California’s Public Utility Commission (CPUC). The whole of the legal filings – thousands of pages of documents – can be found on the CPUC website.

Various parties are arguing in favor of an 80% reduction to solar’s net-metering value, as well as monthly fees of $75 for homeowners with solar systems attached to the grid. Commercial customers could be facing fees from $800 to $3,400 per month. These fees would negate most of the savings for installing solar power.

The various players and proposals involved in the proceedings are far too nuanced to be done justice in a roundup, so we refer you to pv magazine’s full gauntlet of previous coverage, plus other solar voices chiming in.

Proterra plans to open EV battery factory in South Carolina

Tim Sylvia — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 20:15:55 +0000

The company's first battery system factory on the East Coast is expected to produce multiple gigawatt hours of annual battery capacity and create more than 200 new jobs.

Proterra, which designs and manufactures zero-emission electric transit vehicles and EV technology equipment for commercial applications, announced plans to open a new EV battery system manufacturing plant in South Carolina to produce the battery systems for Proterra commercial electric vehicles, including delivery and work trucks, industrial equipment, buses, and more.

The company has committed to a minimum investment of at least $76 million and expects to generate more than 200 new jobs over the next several years at the 327,000 square foot battery system production plant. The factory is expected to begin operations in the second half of 2022, with multiple GWh of annual production capacity for Proterra’s battery systems. By 2025, the factory is expected to support additional battery system production capacity, as well as the production of ancillary systems incorporated into electric medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles and equipment.

Proterra’s new battery system manufacturing facility will be located at the 42.76-acre Carolina Commerce Center in Greer, South Carolina near Proterra’s electric bus manufacturing facility in Greenville, South Carolina. By opening the company’s first EV battery system factory on the east coast of the United States, Proterra will bring battery production closer to its customers and its own Proterra Transit electric bus manufacturing operations.

The new South Carolina factory represents the company’s third battery production facility nationwide. In December 2020, the company opened its second battery production site co-located in its EV bus manufacturing facility in Los Angeles County.

Proterra’s ZX5 battery-electric transit buses are utilized by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, as it moves toward to a planned fully electric fleet by 2028. Proterra has, to date, delivered 25 electric busses to the agency, as well as five Proterra 1.5 MW fleet chargers with 104 remote EV charging dispensers.

EDP Renewables builds 39 distributed solar projects for Walmart

Ryan Kennedy — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:22:45 +0000

The projects span seven states and total 38.3 MW in capacity.

EDP Renewables said it has neared completion of a 39th distributed solar project for Walmart, part a portfolio of projects that began in 2020. The two now have partnered on 51 projects.

Comprised of both rooftop solar and ground mounts, the 39 projects’ combined capacity is 38.3 MW. Walmart commissioned EDP to build projects in Arizona, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Louisiana, Maryland, and South Carolina.

Recently, Walmart, in partnership with developer Nexamp, served as anchor tenant to support 129 MW of solar projects in New York. The retailer signed up for a share of each of 23 Nexamp projects across the state, equivalent to about 50 MW of the portfolio.

Walmart set a goal in 2020 to target zero emissions by 2040 across its global operations, and aims to use renewable energy to power all its facilities by 2035.

The company said 36% of its operations worldwide are powered by renewable energy. As of the end of 2020, Walmart had more than 550 onsite and offsite projects in operation or under development in eight countries.

Soltage and Harrison street partner on a 20 MW community solar and PURPA portfolio

Tim Sylvia — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 12:02:21 +0000

The partnership is the two companies' second under Soltage's Iris capital vehicle, and the two ultimately plan on deploying 450 MW of new distributed solar and storage projects across the United States together.

Soltage and Harrison Street, an alternative energy investment firm, have announced joint investment in a 20 MW project portfolio of community solar assets and Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) solar projects located in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maine.

This 20 MW portfolio marks the second investment with Harrison Street for Soltage’s Iris capital vehicle, with the other being the March 2021 announcement that the two would collaborate on a $250 million partnership to fund solar and other clean energy infrastructure, with the ultimate goal of deploying 450 MW of new distributed solar and storage projects across the United States.

All of the assets will be owned by the partnership and operated by Soltage. The partnership’s first investment after the initial $250 partnership announcement was a 14.5 MW portfolio of solar assets, representing $30 million of project costs.

This portfolio will serve customers including investor-owned utilities purchasing electricity via PURPA contracts, as well as businesses buying solar to meet clean energy goals and secure reduced electricity costs.

Earlier this summer, on July 27, Soltage announced that it raised a $130M debt facility led by Silicon Valley Bank, with that capital set to be used to finance a 110 MW national portfolio of projects across six states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Maine, Illinois, Virginia and Maryland.

Like today’s announcement, the projects included in that portfolio will be community solar assets and PURPA installations, again serving investor-owned utilities and businesses. It’s a bit strange that both announcements have referenced the building of community solar projects, yet none of the potential energy buyers listed are homeowners or those without access to distributed generation of their own.

Unlike today’s announcement, significant progress has already been made on many of the projects in that July portfolio, with soltage reporting that the construction of this portfolio will be staged over the next three quarters, with construction currently underway on ten projects across four states.

Who is working against distributed solar: State campaigns in the East

Tim Sylvia — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 17:47:05 +0000

A new report explores who is behind efforts to curb distributed energy and solar deployment. In this part, we look at the report's investigation of state-level campaigns focused on the eastern U.S.

A host of utilities across the United States have gone on the anti-solar offensive, using the influence and capital at their disposal to support legislation and institute policies intended on striking down the efficacy of distributed generation. Those are some of the allegations included in a report released by Environment America, the Frontier Group, and the United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

The first part of this series looked at the report’s investigation of national anti-solar players, including the organizations and front groups that use cash and influence to advance their anti-solar agenda.

While these groups may be national, their targeted campaigns almost always are focused at the state level. The report looked at a handful of such campaigns, starting on the East Coast.

NERA

Established in Massachusetts in 2013, NERA has a record of opposition to net metering policies in New Hampshire and Maine, according to the report. It gained national notoriety in 2020 for its efforts to substantially roll back net metering in Maine.

In April 2020, the group filed a petition asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to roll back net metering and replace it with gross metering. Under the proposal, utilities would pay solar users a low credit for supplying solar energy to the electric grid, and charge those users a higher electrical rate equivalent to what non-solar users paid for any energy they consume. The group argued that distributed solar energy sales should be regulated under the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act. The petition also would have laid the groundwork to eliminate the state’s ability to promote renewable energy policies that incentivize solar.

The petition ultimately was unanimously dismissed by FERC, after a concerted effort across the renewable landscape to oppose the measure. FERC concluded that NERA failed to prove any harms or controversies that the commission specifically should address. It did not, however, explicitly rule out FERC jurisdiction over solar customer sales to the grid.

Ohio

The report authors point to Ohio as a case study of how aggressive utility anti-solar campaigns have resulted in policy changes that undermine rooftop solar.

First, the authors outlined how utilities succeeded in convincing Ohio lawmakers to weaken the state’s renewable energy standard (RES). In 2014 the RES (which was designed to achieve a 12.5% renewable share by 2025) had its progress frozen for two years and the end date moved back a year.

This, however, pales in comparison to the saga of HB 6. Passed by the state legislature in July 2019, the legislation was referred to by clean energy expert David Roberts as “the worst piece of energy legislation in the 21st century” and “the most counterproductive and corrupt piece of state energy legislation” he had seen.

HB 6, which took effect in October 2019, cut the renewable energy standard target to 8.5% by 2026 and eliminated the standard altogether after 2026. The law also cut utilities’ required savings from energy efficiency from 22% below 2008 levels by 2027 to 17.5% – which most utilities had already achieved – and then allowed them to end their efficiency programs.

Additionally, HB 6 imposed surcharges on ratepayers to bail out two nuclear power plants, which First Energy, an Ohio utility, claimed were losing money; and two coal plants, one in Ohio and one in Indiana, owned by a utility-controlled collective. The effect of the new law was to remove incentives for further renewable energy development and energy efficiency increases in the state while providing over $1 billion to subsidize four uncompetitive power plants.

On March 31, 2021, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill passed unanimously by the state Senate which revoked HB 6’s nuclear subsidies, though it did include a provision keeping subsidies for the coal plants and maintaining the renewable energy and energy efficiency rollbacks.

Florida

Florida has no renewable portfolio standard, does not allow solar power purchase agreements (PPAs), and requires homeowners to carry general liability insurance for any residential solar power system over 10 kW in capacity. While the state offers net metering, property tax exemptions for renewable energy equipment, and special residential loans for renewable energy property upgrades, the reports authors argued that the state’s overall policy framework is not conducive to rooftop solar growth.

Historically, the authors said, the state’s three investor-owned utilities, Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy, and Tampa Electric Company, have backed campaigns and policy changes which have served as roadblocks to expanding the role distributed solar plays in the state.

The report cited a 2018 study by Integrity Florida, which claimed that the utilities directed more than $43 million to political parties, candidates and committees over the 2014 and 2016 election cycles. That was followed by another alleged $9.2 million doled out in 2020.

The authors argued that this spending is an attempt by the utilities to influence how they are regulated by contributing to legislators who would, once in office, be in charge of nominating a list of potential regulators for consideration by the governor.

The report also alleges that the utilities purposely delayed connecting new systems to the grid for months, which would cost customers significant money, and that the state’s utilities have backed groups that point out the shortcomings of distributed solar.

South Carolina

The last East Coast state analyzed in the report is South Carolina. The report focused on Dominion Energy South Carolina’s 2020 proposal to state regulators, which would have more than doubled monthly ratepayer service charges, added a $5.40/kW solar subscription fee to solar customers’ monthly electric bills, and cut the net metering credit that customers receive.

Multiple advocacy groups claimed that Dominion’s proposal would have slowed the state’s rooftop solar market. Frank Knapp, president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce said that approval of the proposal would essentially say goodbye to all future residential solar development in the state.

South Carolina regulators unanimously approved an alternative, solar-friendlier bid to keep net metering in place while also gradually transitioning Dominion Energy’s net metering program to an existing time-of-use rate schedule for customers.

Attempts to discourage rooftop solar development aren’t limited to the East Coast. The report touched on action that has occurred west of the Mississippi, even in states where rooftop solar has long enjoyed success as a resource. More on that in the next entry in this series.

Palmetto launches Instant Proposal service

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 20:18:47 +0000

Using data from Mapdwell, Palmetto can now generate and design a residential solar system proposal in a minute.

Palmetto, a Charleston, S.C.-based software company focused on home energy savings, has launched Instant Proposal, a service which enables a solar system proposal to be generated and designed within 60 seconds of a Palmetto sales member entering a homeowner’s utility information into the Palmetto system.

The service is made possible by Mapdwell, a division of Palmetto, which provides actionable data tools including remote site assessment and solar potential mapping technology, licensed from MIT. Mapdwell is able to accurately map three-dimensional rooftop geometry and determine solar access for every square meter of the roof, for every hour of the year. The technology takes into account variables like shading from neighboring buildings, the role of existing vegetation and other obstructions, and local weather data.

While currently available in 24 states, founder of Mapdwell and Palmetto Executive Vice President, Eduardo Berlin, shares that the company is in the process of building it out to cover the entire country.

On top of Mapdwell, Palmetto’s existing planning service allows potential customers to quickly estimate utility costs saved by switching to solar, supplementing their per-installation services with long-term monitoring and lifetime system support.

Here’s why regulators rejected Duke Energy’s IRPs in South Carolina

Tim Sylvia — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 13:00:28 +0000

Not a single IRP presented under South Carolina's Energy Freedom Act has been accepted by state regulators. Could that be because the utilities are acting like the law doesn't exist?

South Carolina regulators offered details on their decision to reject integrated resource plans (IRP) proposed by Duke Energy and direct the utility to modify its existing and future IRPs.

The IRP included measures that would have impacted electricity retail rates, availability of solar-plus-storage power purchase agreements, coal plant retirement, and other energy events in the state.

Now, regulators have directed Duke to make changes to and update its cost assumptions for solar PPAs and storage and solar + storage projects; to modify its natural gas price forecast to reflect real-word supply risks; to reflect the capacity benefits that solar and storage can provide for both summer and winter peak demand based on actual system installation data; to increase the amount of solar than can be connected to the grid each year; and to properly model the cost impacts of the plan on ratepayers.

The South Carolina Public Service Commission’s (PSC) decision noted the impact of Kevin Lucas’ testimony on its decision, and included a number of his recommendations in the final order. Lucas is the Solar Energy Industry Association’s senior director of Utility Regulation & Policy. The weight that the PSC put on his testimony furthers the commitment that South Carolina regulators have made to upholding objectives laid out in the state’s 2019 Energy Freedom Act.

Integrated resource plan reform was one of the major changes made by the 2019 act. The law allows regulators to require all-source solicitations for new generation above 75 MW if they find it to be in the public interest. It also instituted transparency requirements for a utility’s avoided cost calculations, a factor that came into play in its recent decision rejecting the Duke Energy IRP.

In December, the PSC rejected Dominion Energy South Carolina’s proposed IRP, saying that it failed to include a demand-side management resource or power purchasing options. The Dominion IRP also did not model any renewable energy additions prior to 2026, or any coal retirements prior to 2028. It also would have raised solar customers’ basic service charge to $19.50 a month, added a “solar subscription fee” of $5.40/kW a month, and slashed the solar export credit that customers could receive.

In 2019, SEIA’s Director of Government Affairs Maggie Clark referred to non-transparent avoided cost calculations as “a major barrier to large-scale solar procurement” in South Carolina.

In the law

Utility Reform Director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Maggie Shober said that the recent Duke Energy decision was “absolutely a result of the Energy Freedom Act” and regulators holding Duke to “what is called for in that law.”

She said that the rejections of IRPs from Duke Energy and also from Dominion don’t mean that the utilities are purposefully acting against consumer and climate interests. Rather, these were the first IRPs filed under the Energy Freedom Act, and reflect a learning process on the part of the utilities as they seek to understand what will or won’t fly with the commission and the new rules.

“Instead of working hard to be sure they complied with all the new rules, both Duke and Dominion have basically done what they would have absent the Energy Freedom Act and talked about how it complies (when it doesn’t),” said Shober.

Every IRP presented before the PSC since the passing of the Energy Freedom Act has been rejected, with the PSC advocating for ratepayers and the expansion of renewable energy procurement every time.

The PSC’s commitment to adhering to the provisions laid out in the Energy Freedom Act have been lauded across the solar industry.

For example, Vote Solar, said in a statement that Duke Energy’s plans to build out “risky gas-fired power plants” would have violated their own climate commitments and “left ratepayers holding the bag.” Vote Solar said it applauded the South Carolina PSC for “putting the public interest first” by rejecting Duke’s plans and instructing them to develop new ones that put clean energy “on an even playing field.”

When the IRPs were first rejected, a representative for Duke told pv magazine that the utility was evaluating the PSC’s decision and that it would better understand the decision’s implications once the utility received the commission’s order.

“We appreciate there are diverse views on transitioning to a lower carbon future, and we actively engaged stakeholders across South Carolina and North Carolina to solicit input from them to inform the planning process,” the representative told pv magazine.

Does the Southeast need wholesale power markets in order to hit its renewable goals?

Tim Sylvia — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 19:59:47 +0000

A new report from ACORE, the American Clean Power Association, and SEIA explores the benefits of instituting real-time, wholesale energy markets across the 12 Southeast states as a way to accelerate renewable resource adoption.

Santee Cooper and Central Electric Power contract for 425 MW of new South Carolina solar

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 18:51:08 +0000

The new capacity--which goes by names like Chester White, Lambert, and Hemingway--represents an addition equal to nearly 40% of all solar installed to date in the Palmetto State.

North Carolina is no longer the Southeast’s most solar state

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 16:15:24 +0000

The fourth edition of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy's Solar in the Southeast report shows that Florida has passed North Carolina in total installed capacity, while South Carolina has passed its northern neighbor in the context of a solar watts per customer ratio.

Two Duke IRPs shot down by South Carolina regulators

Tim Sylvia — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 17:31:12 +0000

South Carolina regulators rejected Duke Energy Carolina and Duke Energy Progress' Integrated Resource Plans, and demanded a "single and clear" recommendation.

How the Southeast can achieve 100% clean energy

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 19:46:48 +0000

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy identified two pathways that the Southeast's big utilities could follow to achieve 100% renewable generation against the backdrop of a possible federal mandate.

South Carolina regulators approve net metering rules for residential solar

David Wagman — Thu, 20 May 2021 21:35:29 +0000

Regulators approved a multi-party stipulation that caps solar applications through the end of 2021 at 1.2 MW for Duke Energy Carolinas and 300 kW for Duke Energy Progress each month.

South Carolina regulators save net metering, reject Dominion’s proposal

Tim Sylvia — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 17:40:55 +0000

Regulators agreed to keep net metering in place while transitioning to Dominion Energy's existing time-of-use rate schedule for new solar customers.

Gas South sets $50 million investment goal for solar energy

Tim Sylvia — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 20:16:39 +0000

The company has also completed its first utility-scale installation, as well as invested millions into community solar projects.

South Carolina’s solar boom continues as another 100 MW of capacity enters service

Tim Sylvia — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 20:55:05 +0000

The 98 MW Centerfield Solar project enters service, marking Pine Gate's 18th operational project in South Carolina.

Bridgestone powers S.C. tire plant with 2 MW solar project

Joe Bebon — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 18:37:40 +0000

The tire maker said the solar project will help the company reach its global goals to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.

Dominion plans to ditch all South Carolina coal by 2030

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 17:50:59 +0000

After having its initially proposed integrated resource plan shot down by regulators, the utility has done a heel-turn and plans to replace the coal with 2 GW of solar, up to 900 MW of battery storage, and 1 GW of natural gas by 2048.

Duke brings its Green Source Advantage program to South Carolina

Tim Sylvia — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 19:16:58 +0000

The program, which allows large-scale customers to offset power purchases by securing renewable energy directly from project owners and energy suppliers, has been successful so far in North Carolina.

Renewable energy advocates give Duke Energy failing grades in IRP ‘report card’

Tim Sylvia — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 14:55:27 +0000

Evaluating the 15-year energy generation plans outlined in the most recent IRPs for both Duke Energy Carolina and Duke Energy Progress, the group takes issue with Duke's commitment to fossils and lack of renewable additions, among other criteria.

South Carolina regulators tell Dominion to rethink its coal fleet

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 16:33:56 +0000

Regulators ordered the utility to evaluate the risks and environmental costs of operating its coal plants, and consider options to replace the plants with clean energy alternatives.

Aggressive new fees for South Carolina solar customers draw fire

Tim Sylvia — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 23:27:26 +0000

The proposed fees could end up costing the solar average homeowner more than $700 annually. Critics call the fees an attempt to take away consumer control over their power bills.

Morning Brief: Another day, another utility fighting net metering — Ameren in Illinois this time

Eric Wesoff — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 06:00:57 +0000

Also in the brief: Aurora adds battery backup recommendations to its solar design software, Global energy storage capacity could grow at a CAGR of 31%.

Morning Brief: Duke Energy reaches deal with Sunrun, Vote Solar to modernize rooftop PV in South Carolina

Eric Wesoff — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 08:00:48 +0000

Also in the brief: 67-MWdc Lotus Solar Farm in Madera County, California, developed by 8minute Solar Energy, is now fully operational. Plus First Solar's secondary offering for the Waltons, and Natron gets $20 million for battery scale-up.

Duke Energy, developers and regulators advance solar in the Carolinas with ‘queue reform’ and cluster studies

Jean Haggerty — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 10:00:43 +0000

To address developers’ frustrations with its interconnection process, Duke Energy worked with solar industry associations to map out a second proposal aimed at rationalizing its interconnection process in 2022, after the existing queue is cleared.