The IREC Blog

All municipalities, counties, and regional organizations are eligible to pursue designation as SolSmart Gold, Silver, or Bronze.

By Gwen Brown & Sky Stanfield After 5 years of work, in late April 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission announced the launch of a new process for resolving disputes that arise during the interconnection of distributed energy resources, like solar and energy storage, to the grid.  While time will tell how the process plays...

IREC’s 2021 Annual Report covers our biggest highlights from last year, including key wins from our Regulatory, Workforce, and Local Initiative teams, metrics that quantify our impact, and more. “2021 was a momentous year in IREC’s 39-year history, marking our merger with The Solar Foundation—another leading clean energy nonprofit with a commitment to independence, rigor,...

Originally published in Solar Power World Registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs) are a proven workforce development tool that is employer-driven and worker-centric. They provide a pathway for new employees to earn an entry-level salary while learning the trade through a combination of on-the-job training and related classroom instruction, with progressive wage increases as they learn and...

Communications Coordinator Schedule: Full-time Salary Range: Commensurate with experiencePosition reports to: Communications DirectorLocation: FlexibleSalary Range: $50,000 – $58,000 annuallyBenefits: Health, dental, vision insurance, retirement match, personal time off, flexible work schedule About the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC)IREC is a national nonprofit working toward a 100% clean energy future that is reliable, resilient, and equitable. IREC...

Interconnection has been making headlines more and more in recent months, as states around the country grapple with the reality that effective interconnection policies are essential to enabling rapid deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs), from community solar arrays to residential solar-plus-storage systems.  One of those states is Minnesota, where the local investor-owned utility Xcel...

Conducting a hosting capacity analysis (HCA) can provide much-needed clarity—provided the analysis is based on accurate and validated data. To help improve HCA data and address common challenges encountered in previous analyses, IREC and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released a suite of best practices for HCA data validation.

The new guide covers national trends and projections for the solar workforce, offers detailed descriptions of high-demand, entry-level solar jobs, and describes advancement pathways that can lead to rewarding careers.

The BATRIES Toolkit is the culmination of over a year of research and analysis by utility and industry experts to develop solutions to eight barriers to energy storage interconnection.

The Assistant Director coordinates with partners and stakeholders to develop robust training-to-jobs pipelines for a range of clean energy sectors, including solar, storage, energy efficiency, building electrification, and electric vehicles.

IREC and a team of partners are launching a free series of self-paced, interactive, online professional development courses on the plan review and permitting process for residential solar PV systems.

Interconnection is a crucial, yet often overlooked, issue for enabling timely deployment of solar and other clean energy projects. Literally every grid-connected project must go through the interconnection process and delays can thus impact projects of every size and type. Across the country, outdated and cumbersome interconnection policies put the brakes on clean energy development, hindering market growth and the rapid climate action needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

IREC has selected Maricao for community partnership to produce renewable energy locally.

A growing number of states and municipalities across the United States are setting ambitious climate and energy goals that call for large-scale decarbonization across economic sectors. In order to achieve their targets, states will need to aggressively deploy a range of tools, including distributed and large-scale renewables, energy storage, energy efficiency, and building and transportation...

Transportation electrification is essential to helping states and the federal government achieve their energy and climate targets. Electric vehicles (EVs) can provide myriad benefits, from reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions to vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services—in which electric vehicles can both charge from and send energy back to the grid, providing grid benefits.  Before V2G...

2021 was a busy year full of exciting projects, milestones, and new synergies at IREC! Despite the challenges of the continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, at IREC we’re heartened to reflect on the many wins we achieved to advance our vision of a 100% clean energy economy. None of this would have been possible...

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the National Council for Workforce Education (NCWE) today announced the creation of a new cross-sector initiative to improve clean energy education, training, and job placement efforts and outcomes.  The National Clean Energy Workforce Alliance (“The Alliance”), supported with grant funding from Bank of America, will align the efforts...

The Sustainable Energy Action Committee and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council today announced the launch of a new clearinghouse website housing educational resources and recommendations related to the permitting and inspection of clean energy systems. The website can be accessed at: https://sustainableenergyaction.org/.  The Sustainable Energy Action Committee (SEAC) brings together diverse clean energy stakeholders to...

In the Puerto Rican solar industry, much remains to be done to achieve equity and inclusion.

Through the Solar Ready Vets Network, IREC is connecting service members and veterans with solar training and career pathways, and advancing the industry’s efforts to invest in military talent as part of a broader, long-term workforce development strategy.

The Veterans Pathways were developed under the Solar Ready Vets Network, a national solar workforce development initiative led by IREC that connects transitioning service members and veterans with training, career development resources, and jobs

The IREC-led SolSmart program is excited to release an updated version of the national Simplified Permit Guidelines for residential solar and battery storage.

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm is challenging 60 new communities to achieve SolSmart designation in the next six months.

In 2017, Oklahoma City only issued one permit for residential solar. Yet local officials saw untapped potential for solar energy in Oklahoma’s largest metro area, and they worked with SolSmart to achieve Bronze designation that year as a stepping stone to future growth. Their predictions were well founded: Recent years have seen a surge of interest in...

This position has closed. Director of Workforce Programs Type: 100% of full-time; exemptPosition reports to: Vice President for Workforce DevelopmentSalary range: $100-110KLocation: FlexibleBenefits: Health insurance, retirement match, personal time off, flexible work schedule IREC is a nonprofit working toward a 100% clean energy future that is reliable, resilient, and equitable. Our mission is to build the foundation for rapid...

A workforce development program for high school students models how valuable career maps can be in helping students connect classroom content to future careers.

IREC's SolSmart program has released new guidance to help local officials apply an equity lens toward their plans to expand solar energy use.

While the immediate disaster has ended, far more remains to be done to build a resilient and prosperous future for this island home to more than 3 million Americans.

A new paper, Key Decisions for Hosting Capacity Analyses, shares key lessons about a new grid mapping tool that can help utilities and states better integrate clean energy technologies on the electric grid.

UNPREDICTABLEcity, part of the newest cohort of SolSmart Advisors, is working to help the entire Central Ohio region enjoy the benefits of solar energy.

In the final installment of our team features series, which highlights IREC’s staff and programs following the official merger with The Solar Foundation, we are excited to introduce the Regulatory Engagement program!

For this episode of the Local Energy Rules podcast, host John Farrell speaks with Yochi Zakai, attorney with Shute, Mahaly, and Weinberger representing Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). The two discuss hosting capacity analysis and how publicly shared grid information can help solar developers, electric customers, and others make more informed decisions.

SolSmart Announces New Advisors and Partners! SolSmart has continued to grow rapidly since its public launch in April 2016. Over 400 municipalities, counties, and regional organizations nationwide have earned Bronze, Silver, and Gold designations for fostering the development of local solar markets.  Today, the program continues to focus on helping additional local governments tap into...

We talked with the Local Initiatives team to discuss the focus of the team’s work, projects they’re currently working on, what they like best about what they do, and why they’re excited about the merger.

IREC announced that it has merged with The Solar Foundation, welcoming The Solar Foundation’s staff and programs into a single, expanded nonprofit dedicated to the rapid adoption of clean energy.