SEIA Resources
Whitepapers
SEIA produces a variety of research and other supporting resources for the solar industry, ranging from full reports to short factsheets. Below is a list of our whitepapers, organized by date. For a full library of research and resources, click here.
Energizing American Battery Storage Manufacturing
IntroductionThe U.S. solar and energy storage industry has faced a variety of supply chain and policy challenges in recent years, some of which significantly reduced deployment. While our country can overcome these challenges, we must keep two important lessons in mind. One, the United States will continue to face barriers in meeting its full solar and energy storage potential without a robust domestic manufacturing base. And two, the country’s overreliance on imports is an economic and national security vulnerability.
American Solar & Storage Manufacturing Renaissance: Managing the Transition Away from China
The United States is undergoing a transformational buildout of domestic solar and storage manufacturing. Like other industries, the U.S. can and is breaking free from an overreliance on imports while building a resilient and equitable U.S. solar and storage manufacturing base.
Lessons from the Front Line: Principles and Recommendations for Large-scale and Distributed Energy Interconnection Reform
The United States solar industry continues to rapidly expand, but outdated interconnection policies pose a major threat to solar and storage deployment across the nation. Because solar power is one of the lowest-cost resources for electricity and because solar paired with storage is also a way for customers to supply their own clean power and save money when compared with distribution utility costs, applications to interconnect solar and energy storage projects have skyrocketed.
Community Solar Project Siting
A Framework for Producing Zero Carbon Electricity and Serving Ecosystem Enhancement & Conservation
Joint Supplemental Comments on Generation Interconnection Queue Processing and Cost Allocation Reforms
On February 14, 2022, the American Clean Power Association, Advanced Energy Economy, and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) filed supplemental comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to emphasize the need and opportunity for near-term interconnection improvements.
The Solar+ Decade & American Renewable Energy Manufacturing
SEIA has an ambitious goal – solar energy will constitute 30% of all U.S. electricity generation by 2030. To reach this target, the massive growth the solar industry realized over the last decade will need to continue for the next decade. Annual solar installations must increase by 60% above current forecasts between 2022 – 2030. Achieving this goal will result in hundreds of thousands of new U.S. jobs and 700 million metric tons of avoided CO2 emissions.
Installation Best Practices - Residential Portfolios
Developed by the SEIA Quality Assurance Working Group, this document was designed to update installation best practices originally developed by the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group organized by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and is intended to be updated as proper protocol dictates. The primary intention of this document is to provide recommended best practices to facilitate high-quality and consistent residential solar projects.
DER and the Non-Wires Solutions Opportunity
This whitepaper, the fifth in SEIA's series on grid modernization, focuses on the ways in which utilities are deferring traditional distribution grid investments with investments in distributed energy resources (DER).
Recommendations for Utility-Scale Developers - Executive Summary
Best Practices for Land Use and Zoning Project Approval Executive Summary As utility-scale solar projects have become more prevalent in the United States, there has been increasing need for attention to responsible land use and zoning practices. With North Carolina’s rise to the top of the national utility scale solar rankings comes a set of strategies for solar developers, local government officials, and interested community members.
Recommendations for Utility-Scale Developers
SEIA members have access to the full version of this whitepaper, which covers best practices for land use and zoning approval for utility-scale solar projects