Tag Archive for: rooftopsolar

A new study shows rooftop solar will save California $2.3B this year, countering claims that it burdens the grid and stifles solar growth.

California’s rooftop solar is a benefit, not a cost, to the state

For years, California utilities, regulators, and consumer advocates have argued that residents with solar panels on their rooftops are making electricity more expensive for everyone else in the state.

In August, a state agency released the latest report detailing this so-called cost shift caused by the rooftop solar industry. The report claimed that in 2024 alone rooftop solar will impose $8.5 billion in extra costs onto customers of Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric, the state’s three major utilities.

But a new analysis commissioned by a distributed solar and storage trade group finds just the opposite — that California’s nation-leading 17 gigawatts of rooftop solar have actually saved customers about $2.3 billion on their utility bills this year.

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Source: Canary Media

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A recent poll of California residents showed broad support for the expansion of solar and energy storage in the state.

Californians across party lines voice support for solar, distrust of utilities

A recent poll of California residents showed broad support for the expansion of solar and energy storage in the state. A poll of 800 registered California voters conducted by Global Strategy Group, North Star Opinion Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) found that solar is popular across party lines.

The poll was represented by 55% self-reported Democrats, 13% Independent, and 32% independent or Republican leaning, with 17% of the total respondents identifying as Trump voters.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Rising energy prices could spur 47% of U.S. households to install rooftop solar by 2050, according to analysis by Enverus.

Rising power prices could drive nearly half of US households to rooftop solar

Dive Insight:

Rising power bills and falling solar installation costs stand to accelerate residential solar installations in the years to come, according to Enverus.

Technological advances continue to drive down the cost of rooftop solar panels — as they have done in years past, Kang said. Increases in efficiency have decreased the number of panels needed to supplant a household power bill, he said. The residential solar industry could also get a boost from interest rate cuts that began this week.

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Source: Utility Dive

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Jobs in the U.S. clean energy industry in 2023 grew at more than double the rate of the country's overall jobs

US clean energy jobs growth rate double that of overall jobs, report says

Jobs in the U.S. clean energy industry in 2023 grew at more than double the rate of the country’s overall jobs, and unionization in clean energy surpassed for the first time the rate in the wider energy industry, the Energy Department said on Wednesday.

Employment in clean energy businesses – including wind, solar, nuclear and battery storage – rose by 142,000 jobs, or 4.2% last year, up from a rise of 3.9% in 2022, the U.S. Energy and Employment Report said. The rate was above the overall U.S. job growth rate of 2% in 2023. Overall energy jobs rose 250,000, with 56% being in clean energy.

Unionization rates in clean energy hit 12.4%, more than the 11% in the overall energy business, it said. That was driven by growth in construction and utility industries and after legislation passed in 2022 including the bipartisan CHIPS Act and President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the department said.

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Source: MSN

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Homes and businesses in South Africa have added 3,526 Megawatts of rooftop solar in just a span of two years!

South Africa now has over 12GW of wind & solar generation capacity

South African homes and businesses have added 3,526 MW of rooftop solar in just two years! It is just wonderful to see how fast electricity generation capacity can be added from rooftop solar. According to data from South Africa’s national electricity utility company, Eskom, there were about 2,264.5 MW of rooftop solar PV installed in South Africa as of July 2022. According to Eskom’s latest update, South African homes and businesses have now installed 5,790.5 MW of solar PV.

The distributed solar sector has been growing at a much faster rate than South Africa’s utility-scale renewables programme. South Africa started off well in this area over a decade ago with its Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP), which is aimed at bringing additional megawatts onto the country’s electricity system through private sector investment in wind, biomass, and small hydro, among others. Since its inception, REIPPP has successfully added 6,430.2 MW to South Africa’s energy mix.

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Source: Clean Technica

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CBD joined the legal challenge to a California rule banning solar contractors from installing or maintaining photovoltaic battery storage.

New ally joins fight to defend rooftop solar in California

A leading U.S. green group on Tuesday joined the legal challenge to a California rule banning solar contractors from installing or maintaining photovoltaic battery storage.

The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) joined an amended lawsuit filed in San Diego County Superior Court against a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulation enacted last year in accordance with the wishes of Pacific Gas & Electric and two other investor-owned utilities.

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Source: Common Dreams

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Watts-Willowbrook Church of Christ celebrated the commissioning of a new 12-kW rooftop solar and upcoming battery storage installation.

Compton church adds resiliency with rooftop solar + storage

Watts-Willowbrook Church of Christ, known as “The Brook,” in collaboration with RE-volv and California Interfaith Power & Light (CIPL), celebrated the commissioning of a new 12-kW rooftop solar and upcoming battery storage installation. The church’s move to adopt solar energy aims to alleviate financial strains, build community resilience and bolster local clean energy projects and advocacy efforts.

The celebration included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a speaking program featuring remarks from the Compton Mayor Emma Sharif, and a resiliency workshop. The Mayor presented two awards, recognizing The Brook and Ms. Linda Cleveland, long-time community activist and church secretary, for their environmental leadership and contributions.

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Source: Solar Power World

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About 60% of customers have included battery energy storage with their rooftop solar installation, up from roughly 10% prior.

California is now a batteries-included rooftop solar market

California transitioned its rooftop solar policy on April 15, 2023, eliminated net energy metering (NEM) and moving toward a net billing tariff (NBT) structure. The change essentially cut the rate paid to customers for exporting their excess solar production to the grid by about 80%. On year later, Lawerence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has released a report evaluating changes in the state’s rooftop solar market.

LNBL found that rooftop solar installations in California were roughly equal in 2023 to 2022. However, 80% of the systems installed were NEM 2.0 installations rushing into interconnection queues before the April 15, 2023 deadline to secure the more lucrative rate structure. To date, about 50,000 systems have been interconnected under the new NBT structure, in addition to 200,000 NEM systems interconnected over the same period.

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Source: PV Magazine

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State regulators slashed solar programs that school districts rely on to cut energy bills and finance sustainability projects. A new bill could fix that.

California bill would undo rules making it hard for schools to go solar

California regulators’ hostility to rooftop solar may have hit its political limit, at least when it comes to the impact on public schools.

In the past few months, a host of bills seeking to reverse or amend California’s regulatory push against rooftop solar have faltered in the state Capitol. The exception, so far, is Senate Bill 1374. The bill would amend the November California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) decision that prevents schools, farms, apartment buildings, and other types of customers from using the solar power they generate to offset their power purchases from Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric, the state’s three major utilities.

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Source: Canary Media

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New grants for Solar for All programs aim to install solar panels and boost community solar access for over 900,000 low- and middle-income residents nationwide.

Making solar affordable: This $7B US investment expands solar for all

Widespread access to solar power is vital to transitioning the US away from climate-warming fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. There’s a problem: Rooftop solar panels are expensive, with prices in the tens of thousands of dollars putting them out of reach for many Americans.

Newly expanded government programs, backed by $7 billion in grants announced Monday by the Biden administration for Earth Day, aim to close that affordability gap. Called Solar for All, they’re intended to make clean energy accessible by offering free or low-cost rooftop solar panels or community solar access. Essentially, the programs provide a share in the power provided by a nearby solar facility.

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Source: CNET

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