Jigar Shah, Director, discusses reviving the U.S. rooftop solar market with VPPs and batteries. Topics cover California's NEM 3.0, lessons from S-GIP, VPPs for load growth, and incentivizing system dispatchability. The conversation also explores VPP reliability and utility infrastructure utilization.
Rooftop solar industry adopting VPPs for dispatchability and grid optimization.
Shift towards NEM 3.0 focusing on self-consumption and transparent compensation for solar and batteries.
Deep dives
Rooftop Solar Industry Challenges and Shift to VPPs
The rooftop solar industry, facing challenges leading to tough times, is undergoing a transformation with a focus on Distributed Energy Resources like Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). With a declining rooftop solar market, a shift towards distributed generation, including battery storage, is emphasized. The evolution from traditional solar installations to VPPs aims to address the demand for dispatchability, especially with increasing battery attachment rates in homes.
Impact of Net Energy Metering (NEM) Changes on Rooftop Solar
Changes in Net Energy Metering (NEM), particularly in California, where large rate hikes have impacted the residential rooftop solar market, have led to decreased solar deployments and increased battery attachment rates. NEM 3.0 shifts focus towards self-consumption with batteries, highlighting the importance of transparent compensation structures for solar and battery usage to optimize grid operations effectively.
Transition to Recycled Steel in Solar Industry
The potential shift from using carbon-intensive aluminum to domestic recycled steel in solar module frames is explored as a means to improve the sustainability and resilience of the US solar industry. By analyzing the benefits of recycled steel, such as reduced carbon emissions and eligibility for domestic content incentives, stakeholders aim to enhance the industry's supply chain efficiency and environmental footprint.
Grid Modernization and Virtual Power Plants for Load Management
The conversation shifts towards leveraging Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and grid modernization initiatives to address peak load management challenges in the electrical grid. By enhancing the flexibility and efficiency of grid operations through VPPs, coupled with strategic load scheduling and battery storage integration, utilities can optimize grid asset utilization and mitigate the impact of load growth on electricity rates.
The U.S. rooftop solar market has tanked. Residential applications in California, the largest market in the country, plunged 82% from May through November 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Contractors are going bankrupt. The big culprits are high interest rates and California’s subsidy cuts. But there are some bright spots. Battery attachment rates in California have surged.
So what will it take to revive the U.S. rooftop solar market?
In this episode, Shayle talks to Jigar Shah, director of the Loans Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy. Jigar argues that the rooftop solar industry should reinvent itself, relying on batteries and virtual power plants (VPPs). He also argues that regulations should focus on system-level dispatchability.
Shayle and Jigar cover topics like:
The pros and cons of California’s latest regulations, new energy metering or NEM 3.0
Learning from the mistakes of California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (S-GIP)
The role of VPPs and rooftop solar in meeting accelerating load growth
Incentivizing system-level dispatchability
How VPPs complicate the sales pitch for rooftop solar
How VPPs could help utilities increase the utilization of infrastructure
Catalyst is supported by Origami Solar. Join Latitude Media’s Stephen Lacey and Origami’s CEO Gregg Patterson for a live Frontier Forum on May 30th at 1 pm Eastern to discuss Origami’s new research on how recycled steel can help reinvigorate the U.S. solar industry. Register for free on Latitude’s events page.
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