for solar are where the utilities are supportive of the regulations that ultimately make projects successful.” Utilities’ supportiveness of solar also determines how successful interconnection will be. “Interconnection is essential to any solar project and the first thing we tackle,” said C.J. Colavito, Vice President of Engineering at Standard Solar. Colavito says the biggest challenges to interconnection are cost and timing, both of which can be determined by
Another challenge to interconnection is that some states and utilities are starting to approach maximum capacity for solar permitted on some distribution circuits in their current system to ensure reliability. Colavito points to examples of New Jersey in particular, and some areas of Massachusetts and Maryland. “That’s why you want to hustle on interconnection,” As solar projects with storage continue to grow, some of the utilities’ concerns might be alleviated. As states move toward 100% clean energy, storage will eventually be inexpensive enough to mitigate this challenge in some situations, Colavito says. Already, New York and Massachusetts offer incentives for solar storage projects, which can be used to ensure reliability. Behind-the-meter storage can be used for resilient (backup) power and demand-charge reduction, as well as load shifting—shifting energy purchases from high-cost times to lower-cost times. Federal and state policy will in large part determine the ease of solar financing and interconnection moving forward, as well as the enormous potential role for solar and storage to disrupt the way utilities do business. says Colavito—the first projects to get in the interconnection queue will be successful.
the utility’s desire to see the program succeed. Utilities will conduct— or use a third-party company to conduct—a study as a first step on interconnection, which
Interconnection is essential to any solar project and the first thing we tackle.
can take up to six months. These studies determine how potential projects can be added to the grid and whether additional infrastructure or upgrades would be needed for the energy to be added to the grid. Many utilities are reluctant to connect solar systems, as some are concerned it threatens the traditional utility business model, while others claim that solar might affect reliability. As a result, they may have limited staff to support interconnection, conduct the study slowly, or charge high costs, all of which can affect a project’s ability to get off the ground. This is particularly true for large, investor-owned utilities that can be conservative about the solar energy on the grid, whether their concerns are justified or not. On the other hand, smaller municipalities and co- ops can be easier to work with, says Colavito, where “the interconnection costs for the same type of work can be 30 percent of what you would pay with some investor-owned utilities.” Colavito says that good relationships with the utilities—something Standard Solar strives to forge— and knowing the right questions to ask can help move the interconnection process along. “We see how they’re managing solar in different places and we bring the strategies and solutions from one place to another to maximize its likelihood of success and reduce costs,” says Colavito.
Right now, the project financing landscape is uncertain, because as Coleman notes, many companies are dropping out of the tax equity market amid uncertainty in the political landscape and the COVID-19 recession. The upcoming federal government and state elections will also be closely watched by investors and utilities and will determine the way solar projects move forward in the future. As an increasing number
We see how they’re managing solar in different places and we bring the strategies and solutions from one place to another to maximize its likelihood of success and reduce costs.
of states set clean energy targets, stimulus packages are under consideration and climate change has become a key issue in the presidential election, utilities and investors may treat solar differently, and solar companies will continue to have to be nimble in their approach. ❂
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