PV Peer Network Conference Call. Friday, July 11, 2008 at 1 pm EDT.

Moderator:  Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy States Alliance

As states seek to develop a sustainable solar market, common strategies have emerged to overcome the financial, regulatory, and institutional barriers to solar deployment.  In this session, policy experts will report on the latest and greatest in state initiatives to: include solar in the electricity mix; target high-value solar applications; market solar to the consumer, and drive down solar PV costs.

Presentations will include:

• Introduction: Recent Developments in State Policy Support for Solar
  Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy States Alliance
• New York State: Building a Local Solar Market
  Jeff Peterson, NYSERDA
• California Solar Initiative: Progress Report
  Sanford Miller, Renewable Energy Program, Lead, New Solar Homes Partnership, California Energy Commission
• New Jersey Solar Policy Innovation
  David Hill, VEIC
• Use of Renewable Portfolio Standards to Advance Solar
  Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Details for this call will be sent to the PV Peer Network Listserve. If you would like more information, please contact Maria Blais.

The report describes the key policies and program strategies that have emerged as effective tools for states to advance wide-spread solar deployment. The report’s recommendations are based on the input and lessons learned of the members of the Clean Energy States Alliance, a coalition of state clean energy funds working together to support renewable energy technologies.

The report recommends that states serious about local market-making focus on the following interventions:

• Provide predictable, long-term financial incentive support for solar projects
• Establish “PV friendly” laws such as expanded net metering, simplified interconnection standards, streamlined local permitting, and renewable portfolio standards with solar targets
• Ensure sensible incentive program design to reduce customer transaction costs
• Stimulate favorable solar financing programs
• Commit to use of solar on public buildings
• Support local work force training and development
• Educate consumers on the merits of solar

The report also provides specific examples of state program features and policies that we believe to represent “best in class” approaches.  It is hoped that states will use the report as a blueprint for actions they can pursue to effectively mainstream solar electricity.

Download the report
File format: PDF
Source: Clean Energy Group  

Solar 2008 Conference, May 8, 2008

8:30 am - 10 am PDT: State Solar Policy Initiatives: Recent Developments and Lessons Learned

Moderator:  Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy States Alliance

As states seek to develop a sustainable solar market, common strategies have emerged to overcome the financial, regulatory, and institutional barriers to solar deployment.  In this session, policy experts will report on the latest and greatest in state initiatives to: include solar in the electricity mix; target high-value solar applications; market solar to the consumer, and drive down solar PV costs.

Presentations Include:

• Introduction: Recent Developments in State Policy Support for Solar
  Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy States Alliance
• New York State: Building a Local Solar Market
  Jeff Peterson, NYSERDA
• California Solar Initiative: Progress Report
  Sanford Miller, Renewable Energy Program, Lead, New Solar Homes Partnership, California Energy Commission
• New Jersey Solar Policy Innovation
  Scott Hunter, Renewable Energy Program Administrator, NJ Office of Clean Energy, NJ Bureau of Public Utilities
• Use of Renewable Portfolio Standards to Advance Solar
  Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

March 11, 2008. IREC Solar Seminar: State Solar Policy Trends.

IREC call featuring Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy Group. Call presentation: 

• State Solar Policy - Policies, Programs and Trends (PDF) 

Members of the PV Peer Network and CESA are invited to join us on Friday, April 18th at 1 pm ET for a conference call featuring a presentation by Steve Weisman, co-author with Mark Sinclair of a new Clean Energy Group report, "Clean Energy States Program Guide - Mainstreaming Solar Photovoltaic Electricity: Strategies for States to Build Local Markets."

This newly published report recommends specific strategies that states can use to build local markets for solar technologies with focus on:

• Sustained financial support for projects
• Laws and regulations
• Smart program design
• Long-term financing
• PV friendly building codes
• Installer support and training
• Education and marketing

Call-in details will be sent to members via the list serve. The presentation PDF can be downloaded by clicking here.

The Council of State Governments (CSG) has released a Supplement edition to the 2008 Suggested State Legislation, a valued series of compilations of draft legislation from the states about topics of current interest and importance to the states. The CSG Committee on Suggested State Legislation compiled this supplement as part of Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry’s initiative as the 2007 CSG President, which focused on alternative, sustainable energy.

That initiative addressed America’s need to diversify its energy sources and the role states can plan to make that happen. This Suggested State Legislation "Supplement" contains articles, Suggested State Legislation drafts, recent state legislation, and state legislation from previous SSL dockets, which address a variety of state policies to help generate power from renewable sources and steps the states and consumers alike can take to conserve energy.

Download the document (Link)
File Format: PDF
Source: The Council of State Governments

Download the press release and pamphlet.
File Format: PDF
Source: NYSERDA

Link to the article
File Format: HTML
Source: SolarNation

The Governor of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) recently announced a new solar PV initiative—Commonwealth Solar. 

Over the next four years, $136 million will be dedicated to the support of solar PV projects. The contributors of the funds include the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which will reserve $68 million from ratepayer funds, the MTC, which will set aside $10 million per year from the Renewable Energy Trust, and the final $28 million will come from the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources’ Alternative Compliance Payment Fund established under the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program.

The funding will be segmented in 6-month blocks to be distributed via a non-competitive application process for the installation of PV projects at residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and public facilities. The first block—$8.5 million—will reserve a minimum of $2 million for public building and $1 million for residences.

The program includes a cap on outstanding awards in order to ensure both progress and competition. This means that the MTC will not process new applications from installers that have more than $1.2 million in uncompleted PV projects or more than $400,000 in uncompleted residential PV projects. The program recommends, but does not require, that installers obtain certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).  
 
The Commonwealth Solar program includes a requirement that all applicants, prior to receiving a rebate, must perform an energy audit, or demonstrate that one has been performed within the last six years. The MTC recommends, but will not require implementation of any feasible measures recommended by the audit, with one exception; non-residential facilities requesting a rebate for a 100 kW PV system or greater, must implement the audit measures, or explain why they will not.
 
The capacity-based rebates are set at a base of $2/watt for residential installations with adders available for system components manufactured by Massachusetts companies, below moderate assessed home values, and below certain moderate income criteria. 
 
The non-residential rebate levels decrease based on the size of the system and range from $3.25/watt for smaller systems (1-25 kW) to $1.50/watt for systems > 250 kW. There also are adders for Massachusetts components and public buildings.
 
The Commonwealth Solar Program Handbook, application materials and additional information may be found at http://www.masstech.org/solar.  

This CESA-LBNL case study describes the mechanics of a new type of photovoltaic (PV) financing program recently proposed by the City of Berkeley, California, and being considered by other cities throughout the U.S. Specifically, these cities propose to offer their residents the ability to utilize increased property tax assessments as a means of repaying over time the up-front cost of installing PV systems.

Although this type of program has a number of appealing features, two fundamental program characteristics — government involvement and an attractive interest rate — may cause the IRS to consider such programs to be "subsidized energy financing," which in turn would reduce or eliminate the ability of program participants to take advantage of the Federal investment tax credit for solar. This case study explores this particular issue through both a rudimentary review of relevant tax law, as well as a quantitative analysis of the potential financial benefit of such programs relative to commercially available financing alternatives, and how much of that relative benefit might be eroded by the possible loss of the Federal credit.

Download the Document
File Format: PDF
Source: Clean Energy States Alliance