Do we have enough engineers to conduct interconnection studies?
As two regional grid operators have flagged a shortage of qualified engineers to conduct interconnection studies, pv magazine usa spoke with Kalyan Chilukuri, a vice president with Electric Power Engineers, about industry staffing challenges and measures that might help.
DOE offers $26 million to demonstrate that grid can run on clean energy
The Demonstration Program intends to fund up to 10 projects that show how large-scale solar, wind, and energy storage can support the power grid by automatically adjusting to changing demand and disruptions.
It’s time to fix our nation’s broken interconnection process
The good news is that we know what to do. Interconnection has been studied extensively by numerous industry groups and research organizations, which have arrived at some essential guiding principles for reform.
Connecticut to allow distributed resources to compete with distribution grid upgrades
Connecticut would join five other states in enabling distributed storage, solar and other non-wires alternatives to compete with traditional distribution system capacity upgrades, under a program being finalized by Connecticut regulators.
Solar groups call on EIA to provide data on interconnection, outages, and manufacturing
The data would help solar and storage providers to speed deployment, said Solar and Storage Industries Institute and the national solar trade group, SEIA.
Americans beginning to correlate extreme weather with a climate crises, but purse strings are still tight
A recent poll found that 70% of Americans see climate change as a crisis or major problem. And while 78% of Americans reported being personally affected by extreme weather, only 39% are willing to take on costs to prevent it.
Sunrise brief: Delaware launches free solar panel program for low-income households
Also on the rise: Aerial inspection of solar plants goes mainstream. Faster, lower-cost interconnection by combining ERCOT, MISO, PJM approaches. CleanCapital acquires BQ Energy. And more!
Faster, lower-cost interconnection by combining ERCOT, MISO, PJM approaches
ERCOT’s approach enables interconnection in 2 to 3 years, whereas recent regional transmission planning by MISO and PJM found cost-saving ways to interconnect 53 GW and 75 GW of renewables respectively, said a Brattle transmission expert.
GE partners with Department of Energy on solar, energy storage, grid integration research
General Electric is partnering with national laboratories and universities on two projects; one to design behind-the-meter energy storage and another to enhance utility visibility of behind the meter solar generation.
Sunrise brief: Groundbreaking ruling in California simplifies grid connection process for distributed solar and storage
Also on the rise: Single axis trackers on a commercial rooftop increase generation 37%. Tesla Powerwall owners called to take part in the emergency load reduction program pilot. And more.
