rooftop

Solar Consumer Education and Protection

Consumers should embrace clean energy alternatives only after educating themselves on the technologies and necessary commitments

Consumer Counts: It is critical that stakeholders in the energy space maintain an open dialogue with consumers and create and uphold good, consistent standards, education and protections.
Byline: 

Sheri Givens

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Response to Cicchetti/Wellinghoff Re: Net Metering

Letters to the Editor: A response to the article by Charles Cicchetti and Jon Wellinghoff in our December 2015 issue

A major mistake is the claim, under net metering, customers who generate power with rooftop solar simply “bank” or “park” their extra electricity with their utility, retaining ownership rights.
Byline: 

Ashley Brown

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Community Solar

Answers to questions you were afraid to ask

Community solar is expected to jump fivefold. What exactly is it and how exactly does it work?
Byline: 

Chris Vlahoplus, John Pang, Paul Quinlan, and John Sterling

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Solar Battle Lines

The fight over customer rooftops, grid funding, and net metering.

Renewable customer generation is growing and regulators should let incumbent regulated monopoly businesses and interests ahead of society and competition.
Byline: 

Charles J. Cicchetti and Jon Wellinghoff

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Solar Shines As Regulatory Battles Abound

A tough legal and financial terrain is confronting producers, utilities and regulators.

State commissions are challenged to find the sweet spot whereby utilities can afford to maintain their systems and homeowners are motivated to go green.
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein

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Before the Death Spiral, a Black Hole

How rooftop solar picks off the utility’s largest and most lucrative customers.

Let's make it clear also that affixing solar panels to your roof won't take you off-grid. Indeed it takes you to even greater dependence.
Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Playing Offense with EVs

How much of a $100 billion market in electric vehicles can utilities capture – or afford not to?

Electric transportation can be the utility sector’s growth engine — $100 billion or more per year — if the industry embraces the opportunities ahead.
Byline: 

Michael Shepard

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ABB to Install Microgrid Solution in South Africa

Submitted by aburr on Fri, 2015-09-04 13:38

ABB will install an integrated solar-diesel microgrid at its Longmeadow premises in Johannesburg, South Africa. The 96,000 square meter facility houses the company's country headquarters as well as medium voltage switchgear manufacturing and protection panel assembly facilities, with around 1,000 employees. The solution includes a rooftop solar PV field and a PowerStore grid stabilizer, that will help to maximize the use of clean solar energy.

Piggybacking on the Grid

Why net energy metering is unfair and inefficient.

While customers may have reached a “net zero” threshold on energy, they are a large net negative on very expensive grid services.
Byline: 

Charles E. Bayless

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Distribution Optimization: Ready for Takeoff

Part 1: How markets today are out of sync.

The time has come to consider options for optimizing distributed energy resources, with the intent of supporting a least-cost, reliable, and clean system that delivers more choice and control for customers.
Byline: 

Sonia Aggarwal and Robbie Orvis

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