 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 strategies for stakeholder collaboration. The site is also a source of curated information to help policymakers consider how large, grid-scale solutions and local integrated solutions can work together to equitably meet climate imperatives.
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. |
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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." Today, Cliburn has updated many of those resources and added new work from the Solar Plus for Electric Co-ops project and new work in the field. 
Cliburn Poster Takes Top Award at National Solar Conference 2024 Jill Cliburn was recognized at the American Solar Energy Society,'s National Energy Conference in Washington, D.C., for a poster presentation. The poster summarized research and strategy to mobilize local advocates to help speed deployment of utility-scale solar and storage. ASES archives are available here. 
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. |
Streamlined Decision Tool Helps Co-ops and Public Power Design Community Solar and Solar-Plus Solutions 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 spreadsheet-based modeling tool offers an easy way for program managers to present project benefits and costs to a local utility board. That first "green light" is often the first hurdle on the path towards successful program implementation. It is also a hands-on teaching tool for those who might not be familiar with project development and program-design terms. The tool was initially built on an open-source model created by Elevate Energy 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 focused on helping local co-ops served by Tri-State G&T to design community solar to deliver savings per share of 20% or more, relative to standard residential rates. Tri-State program managers expect that implementation of this program model with appropriate marketing and customer engagement features can make a big difference for participating low-income households. G&T is also motivated to achieve its goal of assuring that local co-ops can develop their full allowance of distributed generation. Tri-State's Ellen Ross and Cliburn co-presented about this effort at the Rocky Mountain Utility Exchange Conference in Vail, Colorado, in September 2024. In her presentation, Cliburn discussed ways that other consumer-owned utilities could adapt lessons-learned and customize the model. This includes a novel option to use part of the community solar project's generation to boost beneficial electrification efforts, with impacts that surpass the savings from solar shares alone. Slides are available here. The slide deck includes direct contact information to contact Cliburn or Ross. 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. 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 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). You can find that 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.
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