pvMB 3/12/19: Rhode Island’s solar siting bill, POWERHOME expands to Indiana… and more!

Hello and welcome to this Tuesday pvMB. Today we’ll be checking out NREL’s city-level siting data, a solar canopy protecting a car dealership from hail, Sierra Club and SunPower’s rebate program and everything else to prep you for your day.

March 12, 2019 Tim Sylvia

RGS Energy, Youtube Video

Solar siting bill gets hearing in RI – Thursday March 14, 4:00 p.m., that’s when the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources’ solar siting bill, a two-year endeavor, will finally have a hearing. The bill is an attempt to settle the many disputes over the siting of solar plants, with a statewide standard giving a preference towards brownfield, landfills, gravel pits and parking lots. Source: Eco RI News

POWERHOME expands to Indiana – “Indiana residents soon will have another alternative to grid energy with POWERHOME Solar announcing today the expansion of its operations into The Hoosier State… POWERHOME designs, permits, sells, finances, installs, maintains and monitors solar energy systems and panels for residential and commercial applications. The company works with homeowners and business owners to create custom rooftop or ground-mounted solar systems that generate renewable energy, lower electric bills and reduce carbon footprints.” Source: POWERHOME Solar

NREL provides city-level siting data – “The Department of Energy’s Cities Leading through Energy Analysis and Planning (Cities-LEAP) project published three new pathways to use data to inform more strategic energy decisions at the local government level.” Source: NREL

Sierra Club and SunPower partner for rebate program – Thanks to a new partnership program, Sierra Club members and supporters who purchase or lease a residential SunPower system can receive a $1,000 mail-in rebate. Furthermore, SunPower will match each rebate with a $1,000 donation to Sierra Club. Source: SunPower

Solar and wind just keep getting cheaper in Minnesota – Since just last year, the costs of developing new wind and solar projects in Minnesota have fallen dramatically – 16% for wind and 23% for solar. With subsidies factored in, new wind developments cost $26 per MWh, while their solar counterparts cost $39 per MWh. In addition to falling prices, Minnesota has also accomplished reaching 25% of the electricity generated in state coming from renewable resources. Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

Solar installation helps avoid automotive destruction – What do you do to protect the endless rows of shiny new cars at your dealership from hail? Set up a solar carport, of course. At least that’s what Scott Ehrlich, owner of Ehrlich Toyota decided to do. The installation features a solar carport, as well as an LED retrofit, an energy management system and a battery backup. The carport provides 120% of the dealership’s energy usage, with the excess energy being sent back to the grid. Source: Greeley Tribune

DOE to provide $17 million for solar on tribal lands – “…up to $17 million in new funding to deploy energy infrastructure on tribal lands. This funding through the DOE Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs will support Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations, interested in harnessing their vast undeveloped energy resources.” Source: DOE

And finally, some storage news to end your brief:

#Energystorage has come a long way since the last time such bill was in TX legislature (2015). New proposal to decide on #battery storage ownership by transmission & distribution utilities in @ERCOT_ISO market. Hopefully it does better than last time. https://t.co/hkRUfPq8WV

— Ravi Manghani (@RaviManghani) March 11, 2019

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