The pioneering firm Griddy says that its real-time pricing app shows customers when they can use more low-priced solar and wind power, while saving money in the process. An investment from EDF Group will help Griddy expand its reach to the New York and PJM grid regions.

A hosting capacity map saves time and money for developers of distributed solar. Utilities in California, New York, and elsewhere have already posted these maps online, and now two Georgia solar groups have asked state regulators to require Georgia Power to provide a hosting capacity map for its service area.

Pumped hydro storage is highly cost competitive for large-scale energy storage, according to a report published by the San Diego County Water Authority. The report models a pumped hydro project as securing better financing terms than battery storage.

By excluding storage from its resource plan, the Virginia utility also excluded solar + storage, proposing up to 3.2 GW of gas-fired peaking units instead. Separately, a solar association and the utility agreed that modeling should use a solar capacity factor higher than the 23% value specified by regulators.

Democratic Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee has called for 100% “clean, renewable and zero-emission” electricity by 2035. Solar could meet half that total if installed capacity increased at a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent.

A Georgia solar association and a citizen’s group have brought analyses showing a much greater cost-saving solar potential in Georgia than the meager 1 GW that Georgia Power proposed in its 20-year resource plan.

Solar plus storage can deliver, at lower cost, the same generation profile as “mid-merit” gas generating units in a number of cases studied, per an analysis published by Fluence.

Of Earth’s 500,000 potential sites for closed-loop pumped hydro storage, the largest U.S. site under development is in Arizona. If the project is built, the potential for pairing with solar could open new opportunities for solar development.

A “virtual power plant” can aggregate distributed solar and storage to help balance supply and demand, and provide grid services. Nearly half of the utility executives interviewed by Deloitte said their firm is considering such a solution, also known by the acronym DERM system, or DERMS.

By using high projected costs for solar, low costs for natural gas, and capping solar installations at 500 MW per year, the Tennessee Valley Authority “did not optimize for what is best for Tennessee Valley residents,” says a citizens group.