 Resource variability is just one issue that solar-plus strategies can address.
The Solar Value Project represents leading energy thinkers and doers, ready to make community-scale solar better through strategic design, storage, and load flexibility. Initially designed to support public power, electric cooperatives and the communities they serve, the Solar Value Project has contributed to the growth of community solar and solar-plus strategies nationwide. We offer a planning framework that encompasses best practices and innovations, as well as practical frameworks for stakeholder collaboration and economic assessment. We also highlight the challenges that smaller and more rural utilities face and the rewards that their efforts can bring.
This website was first launched through our work on a U.S. DOE-funded effort, the Community Solar Value Project. A selection of those CSVP resources is provided under the tab for Shared Solar. Today, we also feature more recent work on SPECs–Solar-Plus for Electric Co-ops and for clients, including the National Community Solar Partnership. Check out our latest blogs and resources on this home page. |
|
Site Founders Cliburn and Associates and Extensible Energy (now Elexity) initiated the Community Solar Value Project in 2015, with partners from Olivine and Navigant Consulting (now Guidehouse). We were joined by SMUD and other utilities that wanted to "make community solar better." Our path led to ground-breaking work in solar-plus-storage and load flexibility. Today, Cliburn has updated many of those resources and added new work from the Solar Plus for Electric Co-ops project and new experiences in the field. 
National Solar Conference 2024 Highlights Policy As a past board member and fellow in the American Solar Energy Society, Jill Cliburn will present at the National Energy Conference in May 2024 in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, ASES hosts a treasure trove of archives of past solar conferences, 2018-23. Hear still-relevant keynote speakers and browse slide sets on the topics of your choice. 
Navigation Tips: Solutions Pages are Now Under "Shared Solar" As part of the NREL Solar Energy Innovation Network, our Solar-Plus for Electric Co-ops project developed tools and resources aimed at helping smaller utilities to plan and procure solar plus storage. Storage and load flexibility are a large part of our work, even as we continue to support the National Community Solar Partnership. Our older, program design work is now under the Shared Solar tab. |
Blog: Calling for a New Generation of Solar Heroes As awards committee chair for the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), I just had the pleasure of calling out nine solar heroes and honoring them at the ASES National Solar Conference in Boulder, Colorado. You'll find their bios through that link. But this year, I also spoke at the conference to encourage a new set of energy and climate heroes. These heroes are not professional researchers or even full-time volunteers. They are our neighbors. The build-out of solar, battery storage, and related technologies on a scale and at the pace required to beat climate change must be a collaboration among developers, technology innovators, and citizens. It requires courage and leadership from neighbors in rural and urban-adjacent communities everywhere. Contrast an envisioned solar build-out that targets a "GW per week" on average of solar with findings in a May 2023 report from Columbia Law School, which cites nearly 300 current projects for solar and other renewables that have encountered local opposition. Local siting restrictions are in place in some 35 states, and nine states have imposed statewide restrictions on siting renewables. This NIMBY trend has been covered by NPR radio, The New York Times, and other media. But in my experience, the trend is more ominous—and much more complex—than most of these sources portray. Read more News and Resources Solar Today Magazine: Cliburn Addresses Solar and Storage Disinformation The Spring 2024 issue of Solar Today magazine features news and commentary from Jill Cliburn, addressing the growing problem of disinformation about large-scale solar and battery storage. Cliburn draws on her own field work and on interviews and documentation from projects around the U.S. that have faced local opposition. Research included her application of AI tools to assess public comments on the 100-MW solar, plus 48-MW (4-hour) battery project proposed near Santa Fe, New Mexico (see archived Blog), and it probes the questions, "What are trusted sources for solar and storage information, and how can we increase their impact?" Cliburn also will drive discussion on this topic at the National Solar Conference in May. See the summary poster here. New for 2024! Updated Tool for Electric Cooperatives and Public Power Engaged in Community Solar Program Design As part of our current work for the National Community Solar Partnership, Cliburn and Associates has updated a community solar business case tool, also known as the Elevate/COUs model. This tool offers an easy way to present project benefits and costs to a local utility board, in order to obtain the "green light" to dig deeper into developing an IRA funding proposal or financing and program plan. It was initially developed by consultants at Elevate and West Monroe Partners for a U.S. DOE (SETO) project. Cliburn and Associates broadened the applicability of this tool under separate efforts for the North Carolina Clean Technology Center and the National Community Solar Partnership. In its latest iteration, we focus on helping co-op members of Tri-State G&T to design programs with significant impacts for low-income households. Many co-ops and public power utilities will find the tool useful for early-stage decision-making, outreach and fine-tuning program designs to meet local needs. See the Shared Solar section for a presentation report; the model is available upon request at this time, and will be posted soon. Cliburn and Associates and NCSP Release a New Primer on Software and Services That Support Community Solar Success Another product, recently released by the National Community Solar Partnership, is designed to help all kinds of community solar development partners and stakeholders to assess their needs and choices among community solar software toolkits. Providers call these cloud-based toolkits their SAAS (software as a service) platforms. They are designed to manage a breadth of community solar needs, ranging from project performance and reporting to customer relationship management (CRM) and billing services.Typically community solar platforms offer secure, limited access for a range of users. The Community Solar Software and Services Primer provides links and brief highlights describing more than a dozen platform providers, from highly integrated platforms built to serve large, multi-state developer portfolios to relatively basic templates that single-project developers and non-profits can customize for their needs. Cliburn notes that these software products are functionally "the face of community solar" that most customers will interact with and identify as their community solar provider." Therefore, it is critically important for individual developers to carefully consider which platform they are going to choose. Timely Webinar Offers a Citizens' Primer on Large-Scale Solar and Storage As part of our work initiating a citizens' resource center to better understand and assess urban-adjacent solar, Jill Cliburn co-presented a webinar for the Santa Fe, NM, Green Chamber of Commerce in August 2023. She was joined by Abbas Akhil, an industrial engineer and Principal in Renewable Energy Ventures, LLC. Akhil had served as a staff scientist at Sandia National Labs, as a utility engineer for PNM, and as Representative (Albuquerque) to the New Mexico State Legislature. He has authored guidebooks on energy storage technology and directed projects nationwide, including a current project at Picuris Pueblo. The webinar was not specific to any one proposed project, but focused on clarifying aspects of solar and storage design and safety, which are top citizens' concerns. View the webinar here. Solar Solutions for Texas Electric Cooperatives 2023 We were pleased to contribute recently to a virtual workshop on Solar Solutions for Texas Electric Cooperatives, which was produced by the Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES), featuring presentations organized with our support through the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP). Jill Cliburn, who is a Technical Advisor to the NCSP, presented an overview of new resources, an update on incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and relevant co-op case studies. Other cases studies presented featured Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative in Texas and La Plata Electric Cooperative in Colorado, as well as a discussion led by Karl Rábago, Rábago Energy LLC, on reassessing the value of local solar. Enjoy a recording of the workshop on the TXSES website, and download Jill's slide presentation here. New! SPECs Solar-Plus Model and Guide Address Policy and Market Game-Changers for Non-Profit Utilities Over the past year, Jill Cliburn and Technical Associate Christian Casillas teamed up with the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center to test the SPECs Early-Stage Decision Model (ESD) with public power communities in North Carolina. In the course of that work, we demonstrated the model's appeal to both electric co-ops and public power utilities. We made enhancements to the model and fixed minor bugs to improve usability for all users. Since coincident peak demand reduction has been a major driver for NC Electricities members, a new CP-reduction (only) scenario was added to the list of use cases that already supported forward-looking "value stacking" scenarios. Refinements in the Version 4 model and manual also address varying peak forecasting capabilities and supply-chain uncertainties that affect today's solar and storage pricing. Most important, new benefits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 are incorporated. The IRA opens more direct-purchase options for co-ops and munis, as well as technical design options for solar- and/or grid-charged battery systems. The ESD's ability to quickly assess changing market conditions and to support broader community participation in early-stage decision-making remain among the model's greatest strengths. We invite readers to check out the ESD Model, its fully documented User's Manual, and on-line educational guidance. From what we can tell, the Solar Value Project is one of only a few solar and storage modeling tools that jumped on the need to update for today's game-changing market and policy conditions. Workbook from NREL and APPA Outlines Community Solar Solutions for 2022 and Beyond You don't have to work for a public power utility to appreciate the new Municipal Utility Community Solar Workbook, released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and American Public Power Association this summer. We, at the Solar Value Project, are proud to see that some of the resources posted on our own Shared Solar web pages are referenced in the document, including timeless webinars featuring public power's community solar innovators, resources explaining common solar business models, a procurement library (see also, our newer library of solar-plus RFPs), and a catalog of community solar projects that use different customer-facing pricing options. But even if we love working at the forefront of community solar, the truth is, a lot of great new things have happened in the field of community solar in the past 5 to 7 years, when most of our original Shared Solar resources were developed. We've kept up with postings and blogs on these pages. But this Workbook is truly a treasure trove of current best practices, and we highly recommend it! Cliburn Expands Associates Roster to Ready for New TA Assignments If your organization is looking for technical assistance (TA) to expand community access to solar, then catch the latest news from the National Community Solar Partnership. The NCSP already represents more than 1,000 member organizations in all 50 states. It offers a breadth of technical assistance (TA), and the recently streamlined TA application process is easy. Cliburn and Associates has been a NCSP TA provider and coach to a total of twelve projects so far, regarding program design, pricing, policy, marketing strategy, stakeholder engagement and more. Last year, Cliburn presented at a national NCSP conference on her engagement with the State of Rhode Island, as they planned a low/moderate income carve-out for their existing community solar program. Looking ahead, we have added some new, outstanding independent associates the Cliburn team roster, including Dr. Christian Casillas and Dr. Gilbert Michaud, in order to contribute to the growing success of the NCSP. Stay tuned!
|