California’s new program will go beyond conventional community-solar design by stipulating requirements to serve equity and just-transition goals

California is finally unlocking community solar for the masses

California leads the nation in rooftop solar installations by a long shot. But it has never managed to craft a viable community solar market for people who can’t put panels on their own roofs. That’s been a glaring oversight in a state where median home prices in major cities have soared above $1 million, pushing home ownership out of reach for millions of residents.

But a late-summer legislative breakthrough could unleash community solar statewide in the next couple of years. AB 2316 passed the legislature by a broad majority last week with widespread support from interest groups — not just solar developers, but also environmental justice organizations, consumer advocates, the homebuilding industry and utility workers. By learning from successes and shortcomings in other states’ community solar programs, California designed its version to benefit customers, developers, workers and the overall power system at the same time.

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Source: Canary Media

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Growing California power system reliability threats could be relieved by a price signal based on RTP linked to smart customer-owned resources

Real-time pricing and demand flexibility targeted to ease California outages

Growing California power system reliability threats made vivid by early September Flex Alerts called by the state’s system operator could be relieved by a price signal based on real-time pricing, or RTP, linked to smart customer-owned resources through new enabling technologies, according to the California Public Utilities Commission Energy Division’s June 22 ”CalFUSE” proposal.

The new approach could transform California’s high penetrations of customer-owned distributed energy resources  into a response to electricity market supply and load fluctuations, commissioners agreed in a July 14 order opening a proceeding to investigate the proposal’s potential.

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Source: Utility Dive

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The Gamma prototype solar-electric vehicle made its public debut at the Fully Charged Live 2022 expo in San Diego

Aptera solar EV prototype makes public debut in San Diego

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We’ve been following an automotive startup’s journey to get its three-wheeled solar-electric vehicle on the road for more than 15 years, and now the latest teardrop-shaped Aptera prototype has made its public debut in San Diego.

The eye-catching Gamma prototype comes from the latest incarnation of Aptera Motors, which began as Accelerated Composites in the early noughties before running out of funds in 2011 and relaunching a few years back.

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Source: New Atlas

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Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12tn (£10.2tn) by 2050, an Oxford University study says.

Switching to renewable energy could save trillions says Oxford study

Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12tn (£10.2tn) by 2050, an Oxford University study says.

The report said it was wrong and pessimistic to claim that moving quickly towards cleaner energy sources was expensive.

Gas prices have soared on mounting concerns over energy supplies.

But the researchers say that going green now makes economic sense because of the falling cost of renewables.

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Source: BBC

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The heat wave stressed CA’s electric grid but, distributed customer-sited batteries, charged by solar panels, helped keep the lights on.

Residential solar batteries helped California’s grid with peak power during heatwave

This week’s record-breaking heat wave stressed California’s electric grid but, once again, distributed customer-sited batteries, charged by solar panels, helped keep the lights on.

A new analysis by the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) shows that California had more than 80,000 customer-sited batteries connected to the electric grid capable of providing 900 MW of solar power.

While not all the batteries were set to discharge during the peak hours of 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. on September 6, an estimated 76% were, which as a fleet, were capable of providing up to 684 MW of power at any given moment. CALSSA estimates that 50% of these batteries’ aggregate power was put into use during peak hours, providing approximately 340 MW of power. To put this into perspective, 340 MW is more than a mid-sized power plant.

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Source: Solar Power World

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The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 extended that tax credit for the decade to come, and we can expect solid continued growth again.

Inflation Reduction Act to give US solar energy industry a much needed boost

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The U.S. solar energy industry has grown tremendously in the past decade. That growth has actually been one of the most phenomenal economic growth stories across the whole U.S. economy. However, the “Covid Era” hit solar hard, and it has struggled to get back on the trajectory it was on.

The latest industry-wide data we have from the U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie show a near leveling off of growth. (Note that all of the following data and analysis from these parties comes from before the passing or even introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.)

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Source: Clean Technica

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Nearly 1TW of under-development solar and wind generation globally could be constructed in the next three years if permitting is accelerated

Faster permitting could bring nearly 1TW of solar and wind to construction in three years

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Nearly 1TW of under-development solar and wind generation globally could be constructed in the next three years if permitting is accelerated through open call procedures and a series of fast-track measures.

That is according to the Global Solar Council (GSC) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), which have called for robust investment signals and faster permitting to speed up renewables deployment to tackle the energy and climate crises.

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Source: PV Tech

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Sunnova Energy is seeking permission from state regulators to develop microgrids for new housing developments that don't rely on established electric utilities.

A solar firm plans to build off-grid neighborhoods in California

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For more than a century, governments have offered electric utilities a monopoly on selling power to homes and businesses so long as they agreed to serve everybody and subject themselves to regulation.

But as homeowners have begun installing solar panels and batteries, that simple arrangement has become more complicated. That has led to fierce battles between utility companies and relatively young solar businesses that sell and install rooftop systems for use by homes and businesses.

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Source: NY Times

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Residential panel installations will jump by 5.6 GW in 2022. Households to add three times more solar than commercial users.

US homes add rooftop solar at a record clip to cut power bills

US households will install a record amount of solar this year to help slash electricity bills, according to a BloombergNEF analysis.

Residential solar installations will increase by about 5.6 gigawatts in 2022, led by Florida, Texas, the Midwest and California, according to a BNEF report Monday.

Higher electricity prices and tax credit extensions in the Inflation Reduction Act are fueling the rebound in residential solar adoption. Consumers are taking ownership of their own power supplies in pursuit of cleaner energy and to reduce their reliance on grids that are becoming more vulnerable to blackouts caused by extreme weather, wildfires and drought.

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Source: Bloomberg

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The California State Legislature passed AB 2316 to create community renewable energy programs for Californians with low income.

California bill requiring utilities to create community solar programs reaches governor’s desk

The California State Legislature passed AB 2316 authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) to create community renewable energy programs, such as community solar + storage, to overcome clean energy access barriers impacting nearly half of Californians who rent or have low incomes while strengthening the state’s power grid.

This priority bill for a diverse coalition of supporters — including advocates for environmental justice, clean energy, ratepayers, home builders and commercial property — now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom who will have until September 30 to act on the measure.

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Source: Solar Power World

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