News

Low-income households are more likely to adopt rooftop solar if they live near other low-income rooftop solar adoptersOver a decade of research has shown that rooftop solar is contagious (in a good way). Households that install solar can influence their neighbors to install solar too. The “solar bug” can spread in many ways: households can see panels on their neighbors’ rooftops, or... Read more

Residential behind-the-meter solar-plus-storage systems are growing rapidly, driven in large measure by customer demand for backup power. At the same time, residential energy consumption patterns are changing as homes become more energy efficient, as smart devices allow for more dynamic control of home appliances and equipment, and as customers switch to heat pumps and other electric end-uses. How... Read more

States are increasingly interested in gas distribution system planning and the role that demand-side resources can play in maintaining an affordable, reliable, equitable, and low-carbon energy system. In particular, public utility commissions and utilities are exploring the role of non-pipeline alternatives (NPA) – an investment or activity that defers, reduces, or avoids the need to construct... Read more

Collaboration between Berkeley Lab and USGS produces the most detailed and comprehensive publicly available large-scale solar facility database to date. Berkeley Lab, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), released the United States Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database (USPVDB) today. The USPVDB is a detailed and comprehensive dataset of ground-mounted large-scale solar (LSS)... Read more

Accompanying technical brief demonstrates its use for evaluating the backup power performance of distributed solar+storage systemsMost power interruptions are relatively short, typically lasting minutes to hours, but they are also unpredictable. Assessing the potential of solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems (PVESS) to mitigate these interruptions requires the ability to account for... Read more

Resource adequacy (RA) – the ability of the power system to meet load whenever and wherever is needed – has come under scrutiny with recent widespread interruptions due to weather events and the challenges brought on by decarbonization. Our report titled “A Guide for Improved Resource Adequacy Assessments in Evolving Power Systems” proposes a technical-institutional roadmap to assist... Read more

Several states in MISO and SPP previously opted out of allowing third-party aggregators of retail customers to directly participate in the demand response programs of organized wholesale markets following FERC Order 719. Some have begun to explore the possibility of allowing direct third-party participation in organized wholesale markets in light of FERC Order 2222 which requires states to allow... Read more

We are pleased to release the 2023 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. While focused on key developments in 2022, this report explores trends in deployment, technology,... Read more

China has implemented reforms in its electricity markets as part of its goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, but the country has not fully realized the potential cuts in emissions. Recent work led by Jiang Lin of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) helped explain why. The “results begin to fill a notable gap in our understanding of what mediates the effectiveness of... Read more

For roughly the past year, 21 public utility commissions have been receiving technical assistance from a consortium of National Laboratories, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and funded by the Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Initiative, a collaborative partnership of five DOE Offices: Fossil Energy and Carbon Management; Nuclear Energy; Electricity; Energy Efficiency and... Read more

Berkeley Lab-EPRI study quantifies the pros and cons of multiple participation models for hybrid power plants Utility-scale hybrid storage projects are on the rise in the U.S. The growth of these unique resources – which comprise battery energy storage and a separate technology, often solar or wind, behind the same point of interconnection – creates uncertainties for system operators, who... Read more

Inflation Reduction Act promises new market dynamics for wind deployment and supply chains We are pleased to announce the release of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s annual “Land-Based Wind Market Report: 2023 Edition.” The release provides an updated overview of data and trends in land-based wind energy in the U.S., in the form of a report, a briefing slide deck, a data file, and a... Read more

Wind energy continues to see growth, solid performance, and attractive prices in the U.S., according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). With levelized costs averaging under $40 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for newly built projects, the cost of wind is well below its grid-system, health, and climate value.... Read more

Building efficiency and electrification deliver half of buildings sector emissions reductions, with the other half attributable to power sector decarbonizationAchieving ambitious U.S. federal and state carbon reduction goals hinges on rapidly accelerating the adoption of climate change solutions across all sectors of the economy. To date, research and policy efforts have largely focused on... Read more

Updated data compilation from Berkeley Lab tracks operating 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. While most of the current interest involves pairing photovoltaic (PV) plants... Read more

A growing number of states are increasing their attention to and emphasis on equity in utility regulatory decision-making. In order to guide state decision-makers in applying and incorporating equity concepts in regulatory processes, Berkeley Lab is pleased to announce the release of a report titled Developing an Equity Framework for State Regulatory Decision-Making. The report contextualizes... Read more

Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing programs provide a mechanism for commercial property owners to finance energy improvements and can provide a variety of both private and public benefits. Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C. have legislation that enables C-PACE but many programs grow slowly and may take years to originate their first project.1 Berkeley Lab’s new... Read more

New research from Berkeley Lab, Michigan State University, and the University of Michigan draws insights from 54 interviews of residents, developers, and policy makers around seven large-scale solar projects across the U.S. Large-scale solar (LSS, defined here as ground-mounted photovoltaic projects ≥1 MWDC) has grown rapidly in the U.S., accounting for nearly half of new electric generating... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of Berkeley Lab’s 2023 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

Recent ISO New England and New York ISO studies complete a U.S.-wide picture on interconnection costs amid dramatic growth in interconnection queuesWith the recent publication of interconnection cost analyses for ISO New England (ISO-NE) and the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), Berkeley Lab is pleased to announce that our series of briefs analyzing interconnection costs and trends... Read more

In the United States development of new wind and solar plants has outpaced development of new transmission. Transmission allows load centers to access electricity generated from low-cost resources in other areas. Congestion occurs when transmission limits are reached and can prevent low-cost resources (like wind and solar) from being fully utilized, limiting their market value and maintaining... Read more

Decarbonizing the electricity sector will likely require a broad portfolio of clean energy technologies and development approaches. “Community renewables” has proven to be a popular development model that promises to broaden public support for renewable generation, but at present is largely limited to a single technology: solar. New research from Berkeley Lab seeks to leverage the success of... Read more

Two new papers by authors at Lawrence Berkeley Lab and US Department of Energy explore possibilities for integrating energy justice into policy and researchClimate, environmental, and clean energy policy and research efforts in the United States are increasingly centering energy justice. Energy justice is “the goal of achieving equity in both the social and economic participation in the energy... Read more

Average interconnection costs for withdrawn projects are 5x higher than for projects with completed studies, whose costs have largely remained stable despite dramatic growth in SPP’s queue. We are pleased to announce the release of a brief analyzing interconnection costs in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) territory, which finds that network upgrade costs have risen, especially among projects that... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of a new Berkeley Lab report titled “A Snapshot of EV-Specific Rate Designs Among U.S. Investor-Owned Electric Utilities", which will also be discussed in an upcoming webinar on Thursday, May 11 at 1 PM Pacific / 4 PM Eastern.EV-specific electric utility rates have a profound effect on the underlying economics motivating EV adoption. State utility... Read more