Topics - Renewable Energy Deployment

EIA Response to SI2 and SEIA Comments on Data Collection

In July, the Solar and Storage Industries Institute (SI2), and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), made the case that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) should be collecting more data on a variety of issues, including: utility interconnection queues, interconnection costs, the state of the solar supply chain and solar manufacturing, and more information on electric grid operations itself. In an informal response to SI2, EIA pushed back on the organization’s claims. 

Solar and Storage Industry Calls for Stronger Transmission Planning Rules to Meet the Clean Energy Boom Ahead

Yesterday the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) filed comments in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) on transmission reforms that will meet the needs of a rapidly changing energy mix and better consider the systemwide benefits of transmission assets. 

Solar and Storage Industry Backs Banking Reforms that Bolster Equitable Clean Energy Deployment

Today the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is urging banking regulators to expand the use of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to include financing support for solar and storage projects of all sizes.

SEIA Comments on the Community Reinvestment Act

In comments submitted on August 4, 2022, the Solar Energy Industries Association urges banking regulators to expand use of the CRA to include financing support for solar and storage projects of all sizes. 

Safer, Faster, Cheaper: How SolarAPP+ Is Cutting Through Bureaucracy to Boost Solar Deployment

A residential solar home in Denver, Colorado.  More than half a million residential solar systems were installed in the United States in 2021, representing a 30% year-over-year uptick in installed solar capacity. This is great news for households looking to both stabilize and lower their energy costs, but for the thousands of local jurisdictions responsible for permitting and inspecting each and every system to ensure code compliance, this flood of new projects can quickly become a bureaucratic nightmare.  

Managing Growth

FERC Reveals Interconnection Reforms That Could Unleash Solar Energy Potential

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) detailing the proposed interconnection reforms the Commission would like to adopt in order to clear interconnection backlogs and speed clean energy deployment. 

Solar Executives Flock to Washington to Urge Congressional Action on Reconciliation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two dozen leading solar industry executives are in Washington this week urging Congress to pass critical clean energy policies in budget reconciliation legislation.

Interconnection Whitepaper Details Near Term Reforms Needed to Extricate Hundreds of Gigawatts of Solar Power

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) released a whitepaper detailing the extensive interconnection reforms needed to rapidly decarbonize the electricity grid. Across the country state and federal leaders are doubling down on their clean energy goals, but distribution utilities and regional transmission organizations (RTOs) are struggling to keep up with overflowing interconnection queues. 

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.