Welcome to States Advancing Solar

States Advancing Solar is an initiative of Clean Energy Group and the Clean Energy States Alliance, with funding support from the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program. Clean Energy Group is partnering with the Council of State Governments on its outreach and education efforts. This web site serves as a resource and tool kit for states interested in developing or revising a state solar support program. The site offers introductory information on solar energy technologies and the major policies and tools being used by states to support solar. It also highlights successful state solar programs that can be used as models by states looking to develop solar programs. The site provides links to state solar programs across the country and to other organizations and resources concerning solar energy technologies. Please note: Clean Energy Group is available to provide pro bono assistance to states interested in evaluating policies, programs, and activities to advance solar markets. Contact Mark Sinclair or Maria Blais for assistance.

State Solar Spotlight:  August 2010

Focus on Energy: Solar Hot Water Incentive Program

Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy program, offers one of the few solar hot water incentive programs in the U.S. targeted specifically at high-end commercial users. Incentives are available for high-volume hot water consumers such as hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and fire stations, and generally cover 20-25% of the installed cost of the system (30-35% for nonprofits) and are based on modeled savings.

Fort Atkinson High School Pool, Solar Hot Water System, 2009

Bonus incentives are available for projects that incorporate efficiency, and adders may also be available from local utilities. Due to the maturation of and increased interest in efficiency and solar technologies in Wisconsin, the incentive levels and procedures for project approval are subject to change in 2011.
  

The levels of incentives provided are one factor in stimulating commercial solar hot water installations in Wisconsin, but other, non-monetary program elements are just as important. These elements include:

  • Technology specificity: Focus on Energy has developed a program just for commercial solar hot water, meaning it is not in competition with other technologies that may meet different objectives (such as PV for electricity generation).
  • Non-competitive, ongoing: As long as funds remain in the program and all elibility criteria are met, commercial solar hot water projects are assured funding in a first-come, first-served manner on a rolling basis.
  • Simple paperwork: Focus on Energy provides a form with detailed instructions for the customer and his or her installer to fill out, requiring all the information that the program administrators will need to determine a project’s eligibility. The installer base has been well-trained to facilitate the submission of this paperwork for approval.
  • Broad applications allowed: Focus allows for systems in situations ranging from hot water to process heating to pools heating, meeting the needs of most potential high-use customers.
  • Assistance offered: Focus helps customers at both the front and the back ends of the process, from offering discounted site assessments, design review, a list of installation requirements, and a preapproved list of contractors to verifying systems post-completion and requiring monitoring systems on larger installations, so the program and the customer can track a system’s effectiveness.

The following chart illustrates the success of the program since its inception:

These incentives have served a wide variety of applications, including:

  • Dentists’ offices
  • Laundromats
  • Landscaping firms
  • Churches
  • Health care clinics
  • Hospitals
  • Hotels
  • Restaurants
  • Schools
  • Public pools
  • Apartments
  • Industrial applications

  

The photo of this Super 8 hotel in Monroe, WI was taken on a January 2009 morning with sub-zero temperatures. The six frosty collectors were installed as a pressurized system, so the fluid had not warmed enough to begin circulation. The controller on the 8-collector drainback system had started the pump to begin circulation for pool heating.

 

Special thanks to Kari  Heinrich, Solar Hot Water Lead,  Focus on Energy for her assistance in preparing this Solar Spotlight.

A PDF file of this program summary and other State Solar Spotlight Program case studies can be found on this website under State Activities.

 

New Developments

  • Aug '10 WI Focus on Energy Solar Hot Water Incentive Program

    State Solar Spotlight:  August 2010

    Focus on Energy: Solar Hot Water Incentive Program

    Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy program, offers one of the few solar hot water incentive programs in the U.S. targeted specifically at high-end commercial users. Incentives are available for high-volume hot water consumers such as hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and fire [...]

  • Jun '10 PV Peer Network Webinar – Solar ABCs Policy Recommendations

    June 25, 2010 – 1 pm EDT
    Title: CESA Update Call: Solar ABCs Policy Recommendations
    This monthly Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) update WEBINAR will feature the Solar America Board for Codes and Standards (Solar ABCs) new policy recommendations addressing the use of qualification and reliability standards for photovoltaic (PV) modules. Currently, there is no qualification or reliability [...]

  • Jun '10 State Clean Energy Fund Support for Renewable Energy Projects – Key Findings from the 2008 CESA National Database

    by Clean Energy States Alliance and Peregrine Energy Group. This new report from CESA demonstrates how state clean energy funds have emerged as a major driver of renewable energy projects across the U.S. Within the past decade, states from Connecticut to California have funded 52,000 projects using the full range of renewable energy technologies, including [...]

  • Mar '10 Solarize Portland

     The Energy Trust of Oregon, a nonprofit public purpose organization dedicated to energy efficiency and renewable energy development, is partnering with the City of Portland and local neighborhood coalitions to offer residents of Portland a unique group purchasing mechanism for installing solar electric systems in their communities. Solarize Portland is an innovative program that helps residents overcome the financial [...]

  • State Clean Energy Program Guide: A Review of Emerging State Finance Tools to Advance Solar Generation

    by Charles Kubert and Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA). March 2010.
    This CESA report provides an overview and specific examples of three creative finance tools that any state can use to support PV in the context of an existing RPS: solar set-asides, feed-in tariffs, and reverse auction mechanisms. These tools are primarily targeted at commercial- and [...]

  • Mar '10 New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) Guidebook – 3rd Edition

     The California Energy Commission has released publication #CEC-300-2010-001-CMF. This guidebook, adopted by the Energy Commission at its Business Meeting on January 27, 2010, describes the requirements to receive incentives for constructing energy efficient, solar homes under the NSHP.
    The New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) is part of a comprehensive statewide solar program known as the California [...]

  • Feb '10 CEG – CSG Webcast: Renewable Energy Finance and Policy Toolkit

    March 30, 2010
    1 pm – 2 pm EDT
    Renewable Energy Finance and Policy Toolkit
    Clean Energy Group and Council of State Governments Webcast
    State clean energy funds and programs have a variety of financing tools at their disposal to support distributed renewable energy deployment.  Historically, states have relied heavily on rebates and other forms of direct project assistance.  [...]

  • More »

Mark Your Calendar

  • No events.