Links to many of the publications below will take you off this U.S. government site.
Interstate Renewable Energy Council. October 2009.Since IREC’s model procedures were last updated in late 2006, IREC has identified several important evolutions in best practices that it has synthesized into these updated model interconnection procedures. Among the important advances incorporated into these model procedures are: clarifying that third party ownership of facilities is permissible, raising the Level 1 system size eligibility from 10 kilowatts to 25 kilowatts, allowing online applications, addressing state-jurisdictional facilities over ten megawatts, and updating provisions related to network interconnections.
Interstate Renewable Energy Council. October 2009.These model net metering rules incorporate updated lessons learned and best practices since IREC's first release in 2003. Among the important advances in net metering rules incorporated within the model IREC rule are: increase in the size of systems eligible for net metering, expansion of program capacity caps, meter aggregation, and accommodation of third-party ownership of net metered systems.
Interstate Renewable Energy Council. October 2009.This guide provides a comprehensive introduction to a span of topics that relate to grid-tied renewable energy sources. The sixth edition has been revised to include information on IREC's recently updated model procedures, alternative billing arrangements for net metering, energy storage and several other emerging issues in the field. This guide is designed for state regulators and other policymakers, utilities, industry representatives and consumers interested in the development of state-level interconnection and net metering policies.
Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL), University of California, Berkeley. September 2009.This "how to" guide is designed for local government officials, local government decision-makers, state policymakers, and civil society groups interested in getting an energy financing district program established in their region.
SmartPower. August 2009.The report, based on recent research, informs states on how they can act more like retail marketers to establish the financial and energy value of solar technology for the consumer. According to the new solar marketing report, use of effective marketing strategies is the key to attracting new customers to solar and bringing this smart technology into the mainstream.
Clean Energy Group. July 2009.Effective marketing guides how, when, and where product information is presented to consumers, with the ultimate goal to persuade consumers to purchase a particular brand or product. This guide explains the classic elements of marketing—the 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion—and the lens they provide for assessing programs that support solar technology deployment. Additionally, the guide identifies market barriers facing solar and how marketing strategies can be used to address these obstacles.
U.S. Department of Energy. July 2009.The U.S. Department of Energy developed this comprehensive resource to assist
local governments and stakeholders in building sustainable local solar markets.
The guide introduces a range of policy and program options that have been successfully
field tested in cities around the country.
The guide describes each policy or program, explains the benefits, provides implementation
tips and options, and includes short examples from local governments across
the U.S.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. June 2009.A solar PV mapping tool visually represents a specific site and calculates PV system size and projected electricity production. This paper identifies the commercially available solar mapping tools and provides a thorough summary of the source data type and resolution, the visualization software program being used, user inputs, calculation methodology and algorithms, map outputs, and development costs for each map.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. May 2009.This report defines a FIT policy, explores U.S. FIT policy design, and highlights a few of the best practices in FIT policy design. It also explores how FITs can be used to target state policy goals and examines policy interactions with other renewable energy policies. An overview of FIT impacts (jobs and economic development) in Europe is included.
American Solar Energy Society. May 2009.This report serves as a tool for municipalities and organizations that are exploring programs to facilitate the installation of solar energy technologies at the local level. The report discusses programs being implemented in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Madison. Program design considerations, lessons learned from program administrators, and recommendations to consider when designing a municipal assistance program are included, but no program design is prescribed. Recommendations should be customized to serve the needs of a specific market.
University of California, Berkeley. April 2009.The Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) Financing Seminar held in Berkeley, California, in April 2009 featured experts on municipal financing of clean energy. Program managers from Berkeley, Palm Desert, Sonoma County, and Boulder discussed their experiences with implementing clean energy financing programs, including property tax financing programs.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. April 2009.This report examines case studies of PV systems integrated into secondary network distribution systems. It includes findings from case studies conducted in San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C.; Denver, Colorado; and New York City, New York.
DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program. March 2009.This five-page report gives an overview of solar access and solar rights issues and recommends ordinances and enforcement mechanisms for the City of Denver.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. March 2009.This report explores the design and implementation of feed-in tariff policies, including a policy definition, various payment structures, and payment differentiation options. The report also discusses the interaction between FIT and RPS policies.
Clean Energy States Alliance. March 2009.The Clean Energy Group (CEG) runs the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), which is a nonprofit organization with members from states with clean energy funds and state agencies. CESA provides information and technical services to its members and works with them to build and expand clean energy markets in the United States. This paper summarizes innovative grant-making approaches and practices that have worked effectively for clean energy programs at the state level.
Clean Energy States Alliance. March 2009.This paper summarizes innovative approaches and practices that have worked effectively for providing small renewable project incentives at the state level.
University of California, Berkeley, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. March 2009.This PowerPoint presentation highlights major findings from a survey conducted by the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) about the most important purchasing considerations for Berkeley residents and businesses that are thinking about installing solar energy technologies. The City of Berkeley used the results of this study to shape its BerkeleyFIRST financing program and its SmartSolar Program.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. March 2009.This report presents the information that homeowners and policy makers need to facilitate PV financing at the residential level. The full range of cash payments, bill savings, and tax incentives is covered, as well as potentially available solar attribute payments. Traditional financing is also compared with innovative solutions, many of which...
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. February 2009.This publication examines the solar lease option for residential PV systems and describes two solar lease programs already in place. As a result of the $2,000 cap on the residential ITC being lifted in 2009, the expansion of the solar lease model across the United States may be slower than anticipated. The lease model, though, still offers homeowners some distinct advantages. This publication helps homeowners revisit the comparison between the solar lease and home-equity financing in light of the change to the ITC.
Boulder County. February 2009.Boulder County’s proposal to its Board of Commissioners contains information about the background of the ClimateSmart Loan Program, outlines key elements of the program, and requests direction from the board on specific program design features.
Sonoma County Energy Independence Program. January 2009.This six-page summary explains the financing process for participants in the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP).
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. January 2009.This report examines the utility-accessible external disconnect switch debate in the context of utility-interactive PV systems for residential and small commercial PV installations. It focuses on safety, reliability, and cost implications of requiring an external disconnect switch.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. January 2009.This report examines the role of financial innovation in PV market penetration. It looks at how financing structures currently being used to support nonresidential PV deployment have, in part, emerged and evolved as a way to extract the most value from a patchwork of federal and state policy initiatives.
American Solar Energy Society, Management Information Services. January 2009.This report includes industry data through 2007 to forecast job growth in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries throughout the United States using a case study from experiences in Colorado.
Sarah Truitt, Kevin Lynn, Sentech Inc.. January 2009.This paper is intended to serve as a tool for municipalities and organizations examining programs to facilitate the installation of solar energy technologies at the local level – no specific program design is prescribed. Readers will be informed about program design considerations, valuable lessons learned, and recommendations to consider when designing a municipal assistance program. Recommendations should be customized to serve the needs of a specific market.
U.S. Department of Energy. December 2008.The DOE Building Technologies Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) published this guide to assist homebuilders contemplating solar-ready or solar homes. This guide helps homebuilders gather the information necessary to determine whether to install solar energy systems on homes or to make homes solar-ready and helps quantify the benefits for home buyers.
Sierra Club. December 2008.This study compares the progress of 131 municipalities in Northern California striving to make permit fees for solar energy installations affordable. The report includes a detailed list of recommendations for municipalities interested in reducing permit fees and streamlining the permitting process.
The City of Austin, CH2M HILL. December 2008.The methodology and results of the Austin solar policy benchmarking project are published in this report, showing how the policies in place in Austin compare with those considered best-in-class for promoting solar energy.
Rahus Institute. October 2008.This guide provides an explanation of the rapidly growing power purchase agreement business model where a “solar services provider” installs the solar equipment at a university, business, or other organization, and the organization pays only for the solar electricity. Using a reader-friendly style and colorful graphics, the straightforward, easy-to-understand digital guide will help organizations throughout the United States understand whether a solar power purchase agreement is right for them, and if so, how to proceed.
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. October 2008.EERE Network News covers national and international energy efficiency and renewable energy news and events. This article contains information about recent growth in U.S. manufacturing of solar cells and modules.
Environmental and Energy Study Institute. October 2008.The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a nonprofit organization established in 1984 by a bipartisan, bicameral group of members of Congress. The institute’s charter is to disseminate timely information and develop innovative policy solutions that set the United States on a cleaner and more secure and sustainable energy path. This fact sheet reports the major findings from job-creation studies in the renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy industries.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. October 2008.This report documents green power marketing activities and trends in the United States, focusing on consumer decisions to purchase electricity supplied from renewable energy sources.
Network for New Energy Choices, Vote Solar Initiative, Interstate Renewable Energy Council. October 2008.This report outlines the best and worst practices in state net-metering and interconnection policies.
City of Berkeley. October 2008.This report contains a detailed account of the planning process Berkeley followed to design a local solar initiative. The plan also includes programmatic details for the Berkeley Solar Initiative.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. October 2008.This report examines the status of renewable energy development at the state level. It also compiles and evaluates the status of best-practice state policy design and proposes a strategy for better understanding the role of policy in renewable energy development based on market transformation principles.
Vote Solar Initiative. October 2008.This report describes the Berkeley model for property tax assessment financing, noting its benefits and potential pitfalls, and serves as a primer for policy makers for implementing this option in their communities.
Solar America Board for Codes and Standards. October 2008.The Solar America Board for Codes and Standards (Solar ABCs) is one of the major projects of the DOE Solar Energy Technology Program’s (SETP) market transformation efforts. Solar ABCs was created as a central body to address solar codes and standards issues. This comprehensive review of solar access law across the United States suggests standards for a model statute and ordinance.
The Vote Solar Initiative. October 2008.This paper describes the Berkeley model for property tax assessment financing, noting its benefits and potential pitfalls, and provides policy makers with a primer for implementing this option in communities across America.
DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program. October 2008.This report serves as a guide for cities to create a comprehensive, city-wide solar plan for their community that facilitates mainstream adoption of solar and serves as a model for other cities to follow.
Solar America Board for Codes and Standards. October 2008.This report reviews four sets of interconnection procedures that regulators often consider when developing state and local procedures.
Network for New Energy Choices. September 2008.The Network for New Energy Choices (NNEC) reviews a wide variety of political perspectives and priorities expressed in a range of local permitting rules in this publication. The report suggests how existing rules can be altered to support growing renewable energy markets.
Solar America Board for Codes and Standards, Interstate Renewable Energy Council. September 2008.This report documents the safe operation of PV systems without a utility external disconnect switch in several large jurisdictions. It includes recommendations for regulators contemplating utility external disconnect switch requirements.
Navigant Consulting. September 2008.This report, prepared for the Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, includes forecasts on the number of jobs resulting from an extension of the federal solar tax credit.
Interstate Renewable Energy Council. September 2008.This report provides recommended training guidelines, training criteria, assessment tools, task analyses, credentialing programs, and other related resources for renewable energy training programs. The report includes recommended facilities, hardware, and materials for PV and SWH training programs.
CH2M HILL. September 2008.The City of Ann Arbor, CH2M HILL, Sandia National Laboratories, and NREL conducted solar site evaluations and trainings at five municipal properties in Ann Arbor. This report includes a detailed report from each site evaluated, financial analysis for the three best sites for solar, recommendations on a framework for future site evaluations, and summary of the training that occurred during the site evaluations.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. August 2008.This paper examines utility experiences when offering the fixed-price benefits of renewable energy in green pricing programs, including the methods used and the impact on program participation.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. May 2008.This report uses 2007 PV system data collected from two city facilities in San Diego to illustrate the impact of binomial rate designs. It includes a financial analysis of PV-system output under various utility rate structures.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. May 2008.This report examines the opportunities and challenges with deploying PV on public-sector buildings and lands.
North Carolina Solar Center, Heinrich Boll Foundation, World Future Council. May 2008.This report reviews FIT legislation enacted and proposed across the United States and discusses the implications of a federal FIT policy.
Clean Energy Group. April 2008.This publication provides a roadmap of actions for states to effectively mainstream solar electricity.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. April 2008.This report—the first in a regular series—contains information on design, early experience, and projected impacts of RPS policies in the United States.
Solar Electric Power Association. March 2008.Working with IREC, the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) surveyed 63 utilities about interconnecting and metering residential PV systems. The study explains how utilities with many PV systems operating in their territories are treating metering, interconnection, documentation, and fees.
Stoel Rives LLP. March 2008.This guide contains insights gained from practical experience assisting participants in numerous PV projects covering a diverse range of sizes and installations, as well as from 15 years of experience serving the U.S. renewable energy industry.
Vote Solar Initiative, Center for American Progress. January 2008.This report includes case studies of four states that have effectively developed robust solar markets. Model policies included in this report provide guidance to states interested in building thriving solar markets.
The Brookings Institute. January 2008.This report quantifies for the first time the amount and most significant sources of carbon emitted—from highway transportation and residential energy consumption—by the 100 largest metropolitan areas in 2000 and 2005.
Clean Energy Group. December 2007.This program guide outlines straightforward strategies to support the adoption of SWH technologies including financial incentives, installer training, and consumer education.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. July 2007.This report uses electricity load data and PV production data from 24 commercial PV installations to compare the value of the electric bill savings across 20 commercial-customer retail rates available in California. The report findings suggest that choices made by utility regulators when determining or revising retail rates can have a significant impact on the future viability of customer-sited commercial PV markets.
Interstate Renewable Energy Council. January 2007.This guide addresses the primary issues associated with the interconnection of distributed generation (DG) to the electric grid. It includes discussions of safety, power quality and codes, legal and procedural issues, net metering, and electrical inspectors.
Interstate Renewable Energy Council. November 2006.IREC’s model interconnection standard incorporates the best practices of small-generator interconnection standards developed by various state governments, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and the Mid-Atlantic Distributed Resources Initiative (MADRI).
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. October 2006.This report examines PV incentive programs aimed at promoting PV system performance including (but not limited to) performance-based incentives (PBI) used in 32 states across the country.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory. October 2006.This report documents trends in green power marketing activities in the United States. The report presents aggregated sales data from all voluntary green power programs in the United States and contains summary data on utility green power programs and green power marketing activities.
Pace University Law School, Renewable Energy Technology Analysis Project. March 2006.Guidelines included in this report form a framework for inspecting and permitting PV systems. Guidelines are divided into two stages: plan checking and field inspection. The objective of these guidelines is to facilitate the installation of safe PV systems at minimal cost.
The Energy Foundation, Navigant Consulting, Clean Power Research. September 2004.This report discusses market potential and barriers to the widespread deployment of rooftop PV in the United States, including information about states that are well positioned for rooftop PV deployment.
National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee. Developed in partnership with American Technical Publishers, the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) created a comprehensive textbook about the design, installation, and evaluation of residential and commercial PV systems. It covers the principles of PV and describes how to effectively incorporate PV systems into stand-alone or interconnected electrical systems. The content includes system advantages and disadvantages, site evaluation, component operation, system design and sizing, installation requirements, and recommended practices.