The States Advancing Solar Resource Center is a continuously updated list of reports and other publications regarding solar technologies and state solar programs. The materials listed below are seachable by Title, Author, and by Topic Categories. Please see the Topic Tags for all documents that relate to a particular topic.
Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy Group and Steve Weisman, Peregrine Energy Group. April 2008.
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:
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
CSG 2008 SSL Energy Supplement. The Council of State Governments, 2008.
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
NYSERDA unveiled a $6-million clean energy workforce training initiative that will invest in a range of clean energy sectors including solar photovoltaic systems, small wind turbines, and biogas energy systems. It will also develop a solar workforce through programs at community colleges across NY. This effort will develop a workforce that can design, install, and maintain renewable energy systems to ensure the successful implementation and promotion of renewable energy technologies. February 2008.
Download the press release and pamphlet.
File Format: PDF
Source: NYSERDA
Mark Bolinger, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, February 2008.
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
Mark Sinclair, Clean Energy States Alliance, December 2007.
This CESA State Program Guide describes a number of straightforward strategies that states can implement to support adoption of solar hot water (SHW) technologies, including provision of financial incentives, training for installers, and education to help customers make informed decisions. It also provides recommendations for the development of effective solar hot water (SHW) incentive programs and addresses SHW’s potential, obstacles to the realization of this potential, and mechanisms by which states can overcome these obstacles.
It also provides an excellent reading list for general SHW information and reports concerning the SHW programs in Oregon and California.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: Clean Energy States Alliance
P. Denholm and R. Margolis, NREL/TP-670-42463, December 2007.
In this report, the authors quantify the state-by-state per-capita ’solar electric footprint’ for the United States. They use state-level data on population, electricity consumption, economic activity and solar insolation, along with solar photovoltaic (PV) array packing density data to develop a range of estimates of the solar electric footprint. They conclude that the solar electric footprint, defined as the land area required to supply all end-use electricity from solar photovoltaics, is about 181 m2 per person in the United States. Two key factors that influence the magnitude of the state-level solar electric footprint include how industrial energy is allocated (based on location of use vs. where goods are consumed) and the assumed distribution of PV configurations (flat rooftop vs. fixed tilt vs. tracking). The solar electric footprint is about 0.6% of the total land area of the United States with state-level estimates ranging from less than 0.1% for Wyoming to about 9% for New Jersey. The report also compares the solar electric footprint to a number of other land uses. For example, we find that the solar electric footprint is equal to less than 2% of the land dedicated to cropland and grazing in the United States.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: NREL
PV Incentives Table (August 2007)
Solar Water Heating Table (August 2007)
File Format: MS Word
State-by-State Solar Incentive Tables for PV and Solar Hot Water Heating, courtesy of Segue Energy Consulting, LLC., NREL and DSIRE. Updated August 2007.
The tables identify tax credits, sales and property tax incentives, rebates, grants, performance-based incentives, loans, and net metering offered by states and utilities as of August 2007. Data points on the tables are hyperlinked to the DSIRE database for further information.
Bernadette Del Chiaro, Environment CA Research and Policy Center, and Timothy Telleen-Lawton, Frontier Group. April 2007.
This report, published by Environment California, quantifies the energy, environmental, and energy savings potential for solar water heating in California and across the United States.
In April 2007 Assembly Member Jared Huffman introduced AB 1470 to create California’s Solar Hot Water and Efficiency Act of 2007. CALSEIA is working closely with Environment California, the sponsor of this bill, to support its enactment.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Souce: CAL SEIA
P. Dehlom, NREL Technical Report, NREL/TP-640-41157, March 2007.
This report provides an overview of the technical potential of solar water heating to reduce fossil fuel consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. residential and commercial buildings.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: NREL
Mark Bolinger and Ryan Wiser, LBNL, and Edwin Ing, Law Offices of Edwin T.C. Ing. March 2006. Updated February 2007.
This CESA - LBNL Case Study examines how much economic value do new and expanded federal tax credits really provide to PV system purchasers, and what implications might they hold for state/utility PV grant programs. The report begins with a discussion of the taxability of PV grants and their interaction with federal credits, as this issue significantly affects the analysis that follows. We then calculate the incremental value of EPAct’s new and expanded credits for PV systems of different sizes, and owned by different types of entities. The report concludes with a discussion of potential implications for purchasers of PV systems, as well as for administrators of state/utility PV programs.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: Clean Energy States Alliance
Tom E. Hoff, Clean Power Research, December 2006. NREL/SR-640-40845.
This NREL handbook is designed for agencies and utilities that offer or intend to offer incentive programs for customer-owned PV systems. Its purpose is to help select, design, and implement incentive programs that best meet programmatic goals. It discusses the various incentive structures that are used, and then discusses qualitative and quantitative tools to design appropriate incentive structures. It also includes a section on program administration considerations. This is an excellent resource for state policy makers considering the use of financial incentives for residential and commercial PV installations.
Download the Document
File Format: PDF
Source: NREL
Galen Barbose, Ryan Wiser, and Mark Bolinger, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. October 2006.
This CESA-LBNL case study examines the approaches used to encourage PV system performance - including, but not limited to, performance-based incentives (PBIs) - used by 32 prominent PV incentive programs in the U.S. The report provides a point of reference for assessing the current state of the art, and to inform program design efforts going forward. The report examines the approaches to encouraging PV system performance – including, but not limited to, PBIs – used by 32 prominent PV incentive programs in the U.S. (see Table 1). It focuses specifically on programs that offer an explicit subsidy payment for customer-sited PV installations. PV support programs that offer other forms of financial support or that function primarily as a mechanism for purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) through energy production-based payments are outside the scope of our review. The information presented is derived primarily from publicly available sources, including program websites and guidebooks.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: Clean Energy States Alliance
SEIA - Solar Energy Industry Association. Version 1.2. May 2006.
The SEIA Guide to Federal Tax Credits for Solar Energy provides comprehensive information as to how the incentives for both commercial and residential applications may be claimed. Key considerations in calculating the value of federal incentives for a solar project include:
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: SEIA
Prepared by Clean Energy Group and Peregrine Energy Group, Inc. February 2006.
This Clean Energy State Program Guide describes how state clean energy programs, in partnership with state housing agencies, can advance the use of clean energy technologies in low-income residential housing. The report provides states with targeted strategies for implementing a program to support and encourage the application of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the development of affordable, multi-family homes.
This Program Guide includes:
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: Clean Energy States Alliance
Galen Barbose, Ryan Wiser and Mark Bolinger, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. February 2006.
This CESA - LBNL Case Study summarizes programmatic experience and lessons learned from the state clean energy funds and describes early efforts by state clean energy funds to support the deployment of PV in new, market-rate homes. The report focuses on the activities of clean energy funds in nine states (California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Minnesota) that have funded specific projects and/or have offered targeted programs for PV in market-rate residential new construction. It also includes a review of several other state or local organizations whose efforts are particularly noteworthy or have some direct bearing on the efforts of clean energy funds in the same state – however, the report does not attempt to comprehensively review the activities of entities other than state clean energy funds.
The report concludes with a summary of steps states can take to encourage PV adoption in market-rate, residential new construction and points to a number of basic lessons for how state clean energy funds and other organizations can address these issues and more successfully tap the residential new construction market for PV.
Download the document
File format: PDF
Source: Clean Energy States Alliance
We have provided this link to Solar Works’ commercial case study page to introduce viewers of this website to some end-results of solar installations. Solar Works provides a "gallery" of case studies under their Residential, Commercial and Education tabs. These case studies display a project’s photo, overview, specifications and environmental benefits.
Solar Works, Inc. is the leading renewable energy systems integrator in the northeast with over 800 solar energy installations and 25 years of experience. They have an extensive portfolio of solar electric and solar thermal system installations for residential, commercial, education and institutional clients.
Link to the Website
Format: HTML
Source: Solar Works, Inc.
The US DOE EERE Solar Energy Technologies Program has developed a web page that explains technical terms that are frequently used in discussions of PV and solar technologies, and many other terms having to do with electricity, power generation, concentrating solar power (CSP), solar heating, and solar lighting.
Download the document
File Format: HTML
Source: US DOE EERE
Ryan Wiser and Mark Bolinger, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Peter Cappers, Neenan Associates; and Robert Margolis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, January 2006.
This report provides an in-depth statistical analysis of PV system costs in California. Through mid-November 2005, a total of 130 MWAC of grid-connected solar capacity was installed throughout California, making that state the dominant market for PV in the United States, though it still stands a distant third on a worldwide basis behind Germany and Japan.
The results presented here are based on an analysis of 18,942 grid-connected PV systems totaling 254 MWAC, either installed, approved for installation, or waitlisted (approved but awaiting program funding) under what are currently the two largest PV programs in the state. This analysis provides insights on California’s PV market by exploring cost trends, and by untangling the various factors that affect the cost of PV systems. Results also have important policy ramifications, as they address the interaction between incentive levels and installed costs, and the relative cost of different PV applications.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: LBNL
DOE EERE Consumer Guide, December 2003. DOE/GO-102003-1834.
If you’d like to find out more about solar heating for your home or pool, this booklet is a good place to start. Here, you’ll learn how solar heating systems work, how they’re used, their benefits, and how to purchase one yourself. Please note, however, that this booklet isn’t a technical guide to designing and installing a system. For that, you’ll need to consult an experienced solar heating contractor.
Download the Document
File Format: PDF
Source: NREL
Mark Bolinger and Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. June 2003.
This LBNL report briefly discusses lessons learned from states with clean energy funds regarding their experiences with "buy-down" programs used to offset the high up-front costs of PV systems. These include capital grants and rebates. This report discusses how various states are crafting new programs to promote PV deployment based on their experience.
Download the document
File Format: PDF
Source: Berkeley Lab