Hey folks, this is Sarah with your solar industry highlights from the past week. One development worth noting– the Brattle Group has published a True Value Test, aimed at determining the true economic value of energy-efficient programs and development. This could encourage more cities and municipalities to take the leap in greening their energy supply. Read on for details:
How the cash flows when we electrify buses, agriculture and more
The Brattle Group has developed a Total Value Test to help determine a more accurate economic valuation of energy efficiency programs historically, including case studies of city bus electrification, indoor agriculture, and water heating. The report identifies 26 categories of potential costs and benefits, from administrative costs to production costs to air quality, employment, and more. Brattle produced three case studies to test the model, including one for city bus electrification, and one for indoor agriculture.
What this means:
Although there is still work to be done in calculating complex impacts such as noise pollution and air quality, the Total Value Test could be a useful tool for budget-conscious municipalities. The more we can prove that renewables have real economic value in addition to positive environmental impact, more cities will adopt forward-thinking energy policies. Berkley, California recently became the first U.S. City to ban all gas infrastructure in new construction. We can only hope that more cities will soon follow suit. Read the full article on the Total Value Test >
In the meantime, if you are considering a solar project and would like a detailed assessment of the upfront cost and return over time, reach out to Commercial Solar Guy for a commercial solar installation cost assessment.
More solar news:
In lab secrets, Tesla is talking about 20-year lithium ion batteries
Researchers have found that over three years of testing lithium-ion NMC532 graphite battery cells have the potential to stay structurally sound long enough for cars to reach greater than 1 million miles, and grid-connected energy storage to last more than 20 years under daily use. Read the full article >
Radio killed the solar power operations and maintenance contract
Enel’s vision of future inverters include individual sub-component health monitoring, while Southern Power spoke of paying closer attention to onsite transformers while presenting at O&M conference PV Operations Dallas 2019. Commercial Solar Guy was on hand at the conference and has your full report. Read the full article >
Residential solar plus storage is taking over Hawaii’s grid
Sunrun’s solar+storage Brightbox systems – 1,000 of them totalling 4.3 MW of capacity – are included in a contract for grid services submitted to Hawaii regulators. Read the full article >