Tag Archive for: californiasolar

Californians overwhelmingly agree that more solar is good for the state’s economy and will save California families money.

Californians overwhelmingly agree that everyone benefits when more people go solar

Nearly 9 in 10 Californians believe solar customers should be fairly compensated for the power they sell back to the grid, and 85% say the state should be doing more to encourage solar adoption, according to new polling released today by Global Strategy Group (GSG), North Star, and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

This broad consensus follows a series of decisions by state regulators that have hurt California’s solar industry, including a significant and rapid cut to compensation rates that solar customers receive for the unused power they sell back to the grid.

Californians overwhelmingly agree that more solar is good for the state’s economy and will save California families money. According to the poll, 84% of voters say that everyone benefits when more people go solar, and 79% don’t trust their utility to be honest about what is causing higher prices.

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Source: SEIA

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As solar grew in CA batteries were added to store excess midday energy and release it during evening peak demand, addressing the "duck curve"

This chart shows how California is massively extending solar use into the evening

As solar energy became a larger and larger portion of California electricity generation, there were rising concerns about the infamous “duck curve.” Solar energy was starting to dominate midday electricity generation, forcing curtailments even, while peak electricity demand in the evening was a tad too late for solar to be helpful.

The core solution, of course, was for batteries to come in and soak up extra midday electricity generation and then disperse it in the evening. Thus, California has installed a lot of battery storage on the grid in the past few years.

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Source: Clean Technica

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Since the introduction of NEM 3.0, a significant uptick in interest in battery add-ons among residential solar customers has been observed.

California solar installers get well-acquainted with batteries in NEM 3.0 era

California is regularly seen as a leader in clean energy, and no area of the country has more solar or energy storage deployments. Remarkably though, the attachment of batteries to residential solar installations has been low — until recently, only 10% of home solar systems in California also had batteries. New net-metering rules in the state are dramatically changing the solar + storage landscape though, and solar installers are keeping busy with the new normal.

In 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission enacted an overhaul of the state’s net-metering program. Since April 15, 2023, any new solar installation feeding energy onto the grid is now compensated for that power through a net-billing tariff. This new structure, known as NEM 3.0, significantly reduces the compensation for behind-the-meter solar systems — by as much as 75%, when compared to systems operating under the NEM 1.0 and NEM 2.0 structures.

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Source: Solar Power World

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California’s record 10GW of grid batteries are finally pushing solar generation into post-sunset hours at a meaningful scale, new data shows.

Batteries are taking on gas plants to power California’s nights

California spent the last decade building up a massive fleet of batteries to help clean up its electrical grid. This spring, those storage plants passed a major threshold, and now are visibly reshaping the state’s power grid — just as clean energy advocates said they would.

Governor Gavin Newsom announced in late April that California hit the 10 gigawatt mark for installed battery capacity, well beyond what any other states — or entire countries — have achieved. That’s about 13 times more battery capacity than the state had installed just five years ago, and it’s enough to make batteries a meaningful portion of the state’s power supply. For reference, 10 gigawatts are enough to meet about 20 percent of the peak electricity demand recorded in the grid managed by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).

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Source: Canary Media

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California’s highest court granted review to a lawsuit challenging a “regressive” rooftop solar policy called NEM 3.0.

California Supreme Court to review rooftop solar net metering

A controversial rooftop solar rulemaking decision has risen to the Supreme Court of California, with the state’s highest court granting review for a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity.

The case involves the state’s NEM 3.0 net metering scheme and the rate structure that went into effect in April 2023. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a request by the state’s largest investor-owned utilities to cut compensation to customers that export excess solar generation to the grid, a process called net energy metering.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Fresno USD officially inaugurated a district-wide solar energy & storage portfolio with a combined power generating capacity of 17.5 MW.

California school district inaugurates 17.5-MW solar-storage portfolio

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Fresno Unified School District (Fresno USD) has officially inaugurated a portfolio of district-wide solar energy and storage portfolio with a combined power generating capacity of 17.5 MW which was realised in partnership with US distributed solar and storage developer ForeFront Power.

The portfolio includes 40 projects with solar canopies and energy storage systems across 31 district sites. It will produce 23.5 million kWh of clean electricity annually, covering the power consumption of over 3,000 homes.

The newly-launched assets are expected to save the District over USD 40 million (EUR 36.6m) throughout its 20-year lifespan, according to a press release published Wednesday.

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Source: Renewables Now

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According to forecasts from Wood Mackenzie, California’s residential solar market will see a 40% decline in 2024.

A new reality: The path forward for California’s solar and storage industry

California’s rooftop solar and storage market is changing, and the industry is learning to operate in this new reality.

California has been America’s top solar market for over a decade, installing more solar capacity than any state every year until Texas took over in 2021. While California reclaimed the number one ranking in 2022 and installations look strong in 2023, the shift in 2021 may be a preview of what is to come.

In late 2022, after years of debate, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved a new way to compensate rooftop solar customers for the excess energy they generate. This decision moves the state from retail rate “net metering” to a new “net billing” structure that cuts the value of rooftop solar credits by about 75%.

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Source: SEIA

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CA’s risk of blackouts has fallen as more renewable energy & batteries are added to electric grid, reducing the need to import electricity

California is less likely to have blackouts thanks to solar and big batteries

California’s risk of power shortfalls and blackouts has fallen as more renewable energy and batteries are added to its electric grid, while such threats in New York rose thanks to higher electricity demand and new restrictions on gas-fired power plants, industry regulators said.

“The challenge in New York is the New York City area,” Mark Olson, a manager at the North American Electric Reliability Corp., said Wednesday on a call with reporters about its latest reliability report. “Under high demand, getting transmission to flow into the load centers could be a challenge.”

In California, on the other hand, the risk of blackouts has fallen as more renewable energy and batteries are added, reducing the need to import electricity from other regions, NERC said. The grid has been designated “elevated risk,” which means it has enough energy for normal conditions though could fall short in extreme weather.

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Source: Bloomberg

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The US Department of Transportation has given a grant of nearly $202m to California’s ongoing solar-powered high-speed rail project.

California solar high-speed rail gets $202m federal boost

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The US Department of Transportation has given a grant of nearly $202m to California’s ongoing solar-powered high-speed rail project.

The money will fund the construction of six grade separations in the city of Shafter, Kern County. They will vertically separate roads from current freight railways and future high-speed railways where the roads and railways intersect to avoid accidents and smooth the flow of road and rail traffic.

The grant was made through the federal 2022 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements programme.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority, the state-mandated body delivering the scheme, said it was the largest award it has received since the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November 2021.

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Source: Global Construction Review

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California must take all necessary steps to expedite that access by adopting strong community solar plus storage program design.

California needs more community solar. A lot more.

OPINION – Leading the way is nothing new to Californians. Not only does California lead the country in clean energy, we’re also the fifth-largest economy in the world and a hub of global technological innovation. But we now face the same increasingly strong headwinds as other parts of the country – addressing housing, climate, and affordability crises all at the same time.

Our state’s ambitious residential building efficiency standards solve one half of the equation, by requiring renewable energy to power them. Yet, these new requirements cannot be fulfilled unless all forms of solar are accessible and expanded. The state’s utility regulator has an opportunity to tackle housing costs and energy affordability challenges all while enhancing the state’s leading efforts at addressing climate change. California must take all necessary steps to expedite that access by adopting strong community solar plus storage program design.

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Source: Capitol Weekly

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