This article was originally published in BPA Connections from Building Performance Association (BPA). Jobs in high performance building design, construction, and retrofitting are crucial roles in the U.S. economy. And they will only become more important as the nation looks to…
Up Front with Gwen Brown 
The New Resource Growing the Pipeline of Qualified Workers for Energy Efficient Buildings
California Marks Important Milestone for Balancing Grid Needs, Consumer Protection in Key Smart Inverter Function
New reporting requirements for California utilities provide greater customer protection regarding the use of volt-watt, an important smart inverter function. Volt-watt is one of the “scariest” smart inverter functions for customers and developers, and this is a first of its…
Tagged with: clean energy, distributed energy resources, energy storage, grid, Renewable Energy, rooftop solar, smart inverters, solar, volt-watt
Minnesota PUC Fines Xcel Energy $1 Million for Interconnection Failures
Minnesota utility Xcel Energy was fined one million dollars on Thursday for exceeding a maximum number of customer service complaints as a result of significant delays in its processing of interconnection requests for solar projects. A ruling from the Minnesota…
Joining Forces for Rapid Progress Toward Clean Energy
An Interview with Larry Sherwood and Andrea Luecke on the Merger Between the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and The Solar Foundation The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and The Solar Foundation recently announced an agreement to merge into a single,…
State Interconnection Rules: The Gatekeepers to Energy Storage
This article was originally published in the Fall 2020 issue of Solar Builder Magazine and on its website on November 19, 2020. FERC Order 841, which was upheld by a D.C. Circuit Court ruling this summer, made clear that states…
Why Improving Local Solar & Storage Codes Brings Us Closer to a Clean Energy Future
Imagine your company designs and installs solar PV systems and energy storage systems. In your current project, you’re designing a freestanding solar array for a customer that will shade a parking lot. While you’ve designed countless PV systems in this…
Tagged with: clean energy, energy storage, permitting, project, Renewable Energy, seac, solar, sustainability
Navigating Grid Modernization and Unlocking the Grid of the Future
The U.S. electricity grid today operates in a dramatically different context than when it was originally built. Considerable upgrades are needed to meet the changing demands of the modern era, such as the significant expansion of renewable energy, energy storage,…
