Solutions Beyond the Box

NOTE to Users: Our Website was re-vamped in 2021. These outdated "Solutions" pages were saved because some older links are still "out there." Please REDIRECT to the new, Shared Solar tab. "Solutions" and "Shared Solar" web pages are similar, but the Shared Solar pages are more current!

The Community Solar Value Project (CSVP) has reviewed a score of program design processes, some reflecting actual program experience and others distilled from lessons-learned. In this section, including this web page and five others (see below), we present our approach. Here you’ll find tools to help you set up and run your own process and to address challenges in five specific areas of community solar program design. As this is a work in progress, we appreciate your comments and questions.

Our first recommendation: Avoid casting any program design process in stone–even our own. Every planner's process will focus on different driving concerns (time, budget, relationships, etc.), and every one will be messy. As we like to say, “The map is not the territory.” Review some different processes. You'll find several on our Process page. We strongly suggest that your team choose one to start; customize it, and keep it in mind as you proceed. It will serve both as a tool for unifying diverse team members and as a checklist of key program-design considerations. Yet, many times along the way, you will have to decide whether it is better to resist or to yield, when challenges arise that call on you to make adjustments your chosen process.
 
A good process diagram can be a good organizing tool, but sometimes, the succession of boxes... the idealized steps... will not match up with your real-world, day-to-day need for solutions

With practical matters in mind, CSVP has created a Solutions toolbox that “goes beyond the box,” addressing the likelihood that several activities will be in play at once, timelines will be interrupted by events outside of your control, and solutions that save time and ease tensions are valuable in achieving your ultimate success. If at any time, and in any order of real-world events, you find yourself facing challenging questions, just click on the side of the box (below) that describes your challenge area, to find practical tips and resources.
Every utility planner’s process emphasizes a different aspect of the the challenge (time, budget, relationships, etc.). The CSVP process (center) emphasizes cross-departmental collaboration and the interplay between customer value and utility value. It seeks to create a high-value “win-win.” For a close-up look at the CSVP process and how it works with other processes and resources — including those shown above — see the Solutions Process page, also described below.

1. The Process

CSVP provides an archive with sources for various, useful community solar program-design process diagrams. It also includes a CSVP white paper on cross-departmental utility program design, based on a two-part CSVP blog. Lessons-learned in developing utility-based community solar programs are captured in two webinars, which are archived with downloadable slides, for easy review. We also provide a presentation, summarizing best-practice program design for utility-led community solar, developed by CSVP and applied by its lead firms, Extensible Energy and Cliburn and Associates.

2. Strategic Design

This challenge area introduces the benefits of community-scale solar, and of designing with strategic integration value in mind. We provide a brief introduction to strategic-design best practices, including ways to properly frame the decision between siting locally or acquiring the solar resource from a centralized, remote project. An abstract of the CSVP GAP analysis process offers a preview of economic considerations, covered in more depth in the Net Value Assessment & Pricing section (6) of this Solutions toolkit. To show how one design element can be used in strategic applications, we offer a webinar and resource list on solar shade structures. Shade structures can be especially useful for community solar in urban areas, where siting is difficult. And, while not all low-income community solar program designs are strategic from the utility perspective, they may bring benefits that are highly valued by community stakeholders.

3. Procurement for Products & Services

Whether the community solar resource is utility-developed, acquired by power purchase agreement (PPA) or provided as part of a turnkey program package, the procurement process for community solar services and resources is a rich area for improving net value. CSVP provides a market landscape assessment, an introduction to program financing models and a procurement resource guide with tips on developing the solar project RFP. These resources were produced with support from Navigant. CSVP's concise outsourcing decision key is also provided, as well as a library of utility-led RFPs for various community solar programs and community-scale projects.

4. Target Market Research & Segmentation

Customer-driven program design is a relatively new approach for utilities, but it is required for success with community solar. For this challenge area, CSVP provides a process checklist and guide specific to community-solar market research. Two webinars are linked to this topic, showcasing work by team members from Olivine (Grounded Research and Consulting) and Cliburn and Associates. A factsheet provided by Navigant on the question of whether to include certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) in the offer is also included, along with References to other marketing resources.

5. Companion Measures

Interest in solar-plus-storage has boomed since CSVP first proposed addressing storage and demand response (DR) as companion measures for community solar. These companion measures do not have to be exclusively tied to the community solar offer, but planners for any community-scale solar acquisitions will benefit from the integrated program-design perspective. A modeling study of solar plus storage and DR, prepared with Utility Forum member PNM Resources, introduces the technical value of our “triple play.” We also provide two publications, a guide to DR measures and a guide to storage measures on either side of the meter. These are the first detailed guides of their kind–taking the perspective of the utility program designer, who is charged with making sure utility innovations also demonstrate replicable, scalable program options. See also a customer-side storage program planning checklist, and a guide to resources (links, webinars, and presentations) pertaining to specific solar-plus challenges. Also included: CSVP webinars and presentations that emphasize relatively low-cost, customer-side strategies, which offer a practical way to start.

6. Net-Value Assessment & Pricing

This section provides detail on CSVP’s streamlined analytic process, which speeds the path from community solar project design and procurement to competitive program pricing. It includes a paper and presentation on CSVP’s GAP economic analysis. This approach is characterized by a) framing with a narrative that utility decision-makers can readily understand, and b) by focusing on a limited number of benefits, in order to meet a (net LCOE) cost target, which can drive competitive program pricing. Three generic models illustrate how this GAP analysis applies in different utility and market settings. A webinar and blog on pricing strategy illustrates the next step. In applies ready pricing tools and presents options for a winning community solar offer. In addition, a pricing table illustrates 10 utility CS pricing strategies. CSVP’s documentation of the SMUD plan from its work with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District is also included. SMUD’s program comprises a portfolio of shared-solar choices. Among these are three that speak directly to the CSVP mission