News

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has released the latest edition of its annual report, Residential Solar-Adopter Income and Demographic Trends. The report is based on address-level data for 4.1 million residential households across the country that installed rooftop or other onsite solar through year-end 2023, representing 87% of all U.S. residential PV systems. It describes trends in... Read more

A new guide for electric utilities, states, and stakeholders addresses current challenges for integrated resource plans (IRPs), the roadmaps for meeting forecasted electricity demand.Most states today require regulated electric utilities to file an IRP every 1 to 5 years, and some utilities voluntarily prepare these plans (see map). IRPs historically focus on the bulk power system (including... Read more

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, together with other national energy labs, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and the National Association of State Energy Officials, invites state public utility commissions, energy offices, and governor’s offices to attend a webinar to learn more about how and when states can engage in transmission planning and cost allocation... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing the latest opportunity for state public utility commissions (PUCs) and state energy offices (SEOs) to receive extended duration, high impact technical assistance. The Resources and Assistance for State Energy Offices and Regulators program will begin accepting applications for Deep Dive technical assistance requests on November 1st, 2024 which will... Read more

The Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) conferred an Energy Research and Analysis Star of Energy Efficiency Award to Jared Langevin and Andy Satchwell of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), for their pioneering modeling of building sector decarbonization scenarios.The U.S. Building Sector Decarbonization Scenarios to 2050 detailed, for the first time, the intersection of the building... Read more

Organizers:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | https://eta.lbl.govUniversity of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics | https://are.berkeley.edu/ Time: Monday, November 4th at 5:00 - 6:00 pm US Pacific timeLanguage: EnglishRegistration: Register in advance for this meeting: https://lbnl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AUJsipNZRd2VvHaX6nb5Qw. After registering, you... Read more

In this exciting role, you will lead energy, economic, market, and/or technical research within an area of specialization that informs the development of energy/environmental policies (e.g., in support of a U.S. Department of Energy policy program). The research will cover topics such as electric distribution system planning, utility regulation, demand flexibility in buildings, aggregations of... Read more

We are pleased to release the 2024 edition of Berkeley Lab’s Utility-Scale Solar report, which presents analysis of empirical plant-level data from the U.S. fleet of ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV), PV+battery, and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants with capacities exceeding 5 MWAC. The report explores trends in deployment, technology, capital and operating costs, capacity factors,... Read more

Home battery storage paired with solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can reduce utility bills under certain rate structures while also providing backup power during power interruptions. For power interruptions that come with some warning (such as those caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters), customers are often able to charge up their battery in advance. But many power interruptions come... Read more

We are pleased to announce a new study that examines the value of adding batteries to wind and solar plants located in areas that face transmission congestion.We examine two types of areas facing transmission congestion. These areas represent portions of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) or Independent System Operators (ISO) territory selected based on particular pricing patterns: The... Read more

In this report, Berkeley Lab provides foundational data on demand flexibility programs and rates in residential and commercial buildings in the United States in order to inform program and rate design and support regulatory decision-making. We describe the structure of demand flexibility events and the types and levels of incentives offered. We also report data on program outcomes, including... Read more

Newly released data compilation from Berkeley Lab tracks operational and proposed plantsImproving battery technology and the growth of variable renewable generation are driving a surge of interest in “hybrid” power plants that combine, for example, utility-scale wind and/or solar generating capacity with co-located batteries. A newly released briefing from Berkeley Lab tracks and maps both... Read more

Solar energy has the potential to be a core energy resource in the Southeastern U.S., especially when combined with investments in electricity storage. Currently, solar photovoltaic (PV) generation contributes less than 5% of the region’s electricity, but some utilities in the Southeast are exploring resource planning scenarios in which solar PV accounts for as much as 40% to 45% of generation... Read more

Berkeley Lab and USGS released a large update to the most detailed and comprehensive publicly available large-scale solar facility database to date with systems installed through mid-2023. Berkeley Lab, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), recently released a significant update to the United States Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database (USPVDB). The USPVDB is a detailed and... Read more

Webinar series facilitates conversations on key solutions to interconnection challenges outlined in DOE’s transmission interconnection roadmapOn September 19th from 12-2pm ET, Berkeley Lab will host a webinar to discuss Goal #3 from the roadmap, the promotion of economic efficiency in interconnection. We will introduce key solutions related to this interconnection goal, as well as hear from... Read more

Kickstart your solar learning with a new free, self-paced online course, called Foundations of Community Solar Development! This eight-module course prepares community-based organizations, small or new solar developers, and others to develop, finance, and build community solar projects that benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. Interested participants can enroll and begin the course at... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of the latest edition of Berkeley Lab’s Tracking the Sun annual report, describing trends for distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States, including the growing contingent of distributed solar-plus-storage systems. The report is based on data from roughly 3.7 million systems installed nationally through year-end 2023, capturing close to... Read more

Berkeley Lab study reveals how industry engages with energy host communities when developing large wind and solar projects. The increasing deployment of utility-scale wind and solar energy across the US highlights debates about the appropriate role for the public in siting and permitting decisions. Important to these discussions is a thorough understanding of the current engagement practices and... Read more

Though 2023 was a relatively slow year for new wind power deployment in the United States, the industry continues to see growth, solid performance, expanding supply chains, and attractive prices, according to a report prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).With power sales prices ranging from less than $20 to more than $40 per... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of Berkeley Lab’s 2024 edition of U.S. State Renewables Portfolio & Clean Electricity Standards.The report provides an overview and status update on U.S. state renewables portfolio standards (RPS) and has been expanded to also cover 100% clean electricity standards (CES) adopted by a growing number of states. The report, published in slide-deck form... Read more

Berkeley Lab report studies strategies for accurate, timely, and cost-efficient income verificationThe Inflation Reduction Act has created substantial new programs that support the adoption of solar power by low-income households, including the $7 billion Solar For All program and the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program, which increases the investment tax credit for certain types of... Read more

Advances in electric appliances, electric vehicles (EVs), rooftop solar and energy storage — plus incentives from utilities and governments — are attracting growing consumer interest in these technologies. Consumer investments may include upgrades for electric service panels, especially when installing multiple electrification measures in older homes (see photo). In some cases, utilities may... Read more

Society is increasingly dependent on electricity for essential services. The Energy Information Administration (Short Term Energy Outlook) and many utilities are projecting surging electricity demand from data centers and new manufacturing facilities, leading to expected all-time highs in nationwide electricity consumption.To effectively serve growing power needs, electricity grids must be... Read more

We are pleased to announce that we have just released a new dataset of decommissioned wind turbines that have been confirmed as dismantled. The decommissioned turbine dataset can be downloaded in Excel format from the LBNL webpage here. Variable definitions and related information are available in the USWTDB codebook, available at the same link.Decommissioned wind turbines are regularly... Read more

In 2023 additional electricity transmission would have provided the most value for links that crossed between grid interconnection regions in the United States or crossed between system operator regions within the same interconnection. The U.S. has three interconnection regions covering the western U.S., the eastern U.S., and Texas. Added transmission value is equivalent to reduced cost. Many... Read more