Project Development Pathway
| Video: Module 1 – Goal Setting and Clarification | This training discusses different types of goal setting for renewable energy development, and the importance of clarifying your priorities as your set out to achieve those goals. |
| Guidance: Guidance for Setting a Renewable Energy Goal | This EPA document provides a framework to local governments for why and how to set a renewable energy goal and discusses the key considerations and benefits of doing so. At the end of the document, there is a three-page worksheet to help you take actionable steps toward setting a renewable energy goal. |
| Example: Tompkins County, NY Public Commitment (Webpage) | Tompkins County, NY’s website details their renewable energy and GHG emissions reduction goals. It also has several iterations of their energy plans, GHG inventories, and resources for local governments in NY that are updating their land use plans. |
| Example: Philadelphia, PA Public Commitment (Municipal Energy Plan) (PDF) (28 pp, 2.8MB) | Philadelphia’s comprehensive Energy Master Plan lays out clear energy efficiency, GHG reduction, and renewable energy goals city-wide. Pages 5-8 and 21-26 are particularly relevant to on-site solar goals. |
| Example: Town of Amherst, MA Public Commitment (Town Bylaw) (PDF) (2 pp, 79K) | A recently approved Amherst Bylaw (Article 15) requires that major new municipal buildings—those costing over $1 million—produce as much renewable energy as they consume. |
| Example: City of Portland, OR Public Commitment (Binding Resolution) (PDF) (7 pp, 3.7MB) | Portland’s Council resolution establishes “binding” city-wide renewable energy goal with biennial progress reports. |
| Example: City of Pasadena, CA Distributed PV Potential Assessment (PDF) (8 pp, 1MB) | This report describes the methodology and results of a Distributed PV Potential Assessment that quantifies the technical potential for distributed PV on rooftops and parking lots in the city. |
| Example: City of Orlando, FL Municipal Operations Sustainability Plan: Progress Report (PDF) (35 pp, 1.7MB) | This progress report focuses on the goals, benchmarks, and action items that City offices and employees take to make the city more sustainable. See pages 10-13 for Orlando’s specific solar installation goals. |
| Example: City of San Diego Solar Energy Implementation Plan (PDF) (22 pp, 521K) | This detailed plan sets various short-term and long-term goals to achieve 50 MW of additional local renewable energy installed by 2013 (and 50 MW of reduced energy consumption by 2020, for 100 MW of “clean energy” by 2020.) |
| Publication: Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Governments | This DOE guide is a comprehensive resource created to assist local governments and stakeholders in designing and implementing a strategic local solar plan. It includes examples and models that have been field-tested in cities and counties around the country, which can help stimulate ideas or provide a framework for a comprehensive solar plan for a community. |
| Tool: Community Solar Solutions Tool | The Community Solar Value Project has designed this toolbox to support developing community solar, shared-solar and integrated DER programs. The toolbox identifies challenge areas, best-practices and innovations that add value, while speeding the path to market for community solar programs. |
- Step 3: Assess your solar site opportunities; catalog site information and collect your utility data
| Video: Module 2a – Screening and Identifying PV Projects | This training discusses the different drivers of PV project potential, the steps of the PV screening process, and how you can assess your site using energy modeling tools, such as REopt Lite, that incorporate these drivers. |
| Video: Module 2b – ReOpt Lite Demo | This training provides a demonstration of NREL’s publicly available web tool – ReOpt Lite – which you can use to evaluate opportunities for PV and storage at your site. |
| Video: Module 3 – Detailed Site Evaluation, Project Validation, and Permitting | This training discusses issues related to conducting a detailed site evaluation which will identify potential barriers such as solar policy, site plans and usage, technical feasibility, economic factors, land use permitting, and mounting type. |
| Video: Site Assessments for Solar Projects | This EPA video explains the steps for assessing the potential of various locations for possible solar project development. It also shares resources to help viewers begin a solar project site assessment. |
| Template: Solar Site Assessment and Utility Data Spreadsheet (XLS)(1 pg, 40 K) | This template is designed to help users collect information about potential solar project sites. |
| Publication: Interconnection: Plugging RE-Powering Sites into the Electric Grid | This discussion paper provides RE-Powering stakeholders with information for efficiently proceeding through the interconnection process for renewable energy projects connecting to the electric transmission and distribution systems. |
| Tool: Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) Tool | This tool allows you to explore the changing economics of the power sector, which are reflected in the cost of generation from new power plants. Select a state and compare the cost of building and operating a new power plant for five different technologies: coal, natural gas (combined cycle), nuclear, wind, and solar (utility-scale) and explore how a range of projections for future technology costs or fuel prices could impact the competitiveness of each type. To illustrate how the cost of different technologies compare, the tool calculates what is known as the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The LCOE represents the total cost of financing, building, and operating a power plant, divided by the total amount of electricity generated by the plant over its economic lifetime, provided on a dollar per megawatt-hour ($/MWh) basis. |
| Tool: Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) Calculator (XLS)(1 pg, 34 K) | This calculator assists in evaluating informal/unsolicited bid pricing for solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. |
| Tool: Distribution Grid Integration Unit Cost Database | This tool allows users to estimate and compare costs associated with the integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems into the standard electric grid. |
| Tool: Reopt Lite | REopt Lite is an online version of NREL’s more comprehensive REopt model. The REopt Lite web tool helps building managers: evaluate the economic viability of grid-connected PV and battery storage at a site; identify system sizes and battery dispatch strategies to minimize energy costs; and estimate how long a system can sustain critical load during a grid outage. Watch a video on using Reopt Lite here. |
| Tool: PVWatts Calculator | This NREL tool estimates the energy production and cost of energy of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. It allows users to easily develop estimates of the performance of potential PV installations. |
| Tool: System Advisor Model (SAM) | This performance and financial model is designed to facilitate decision making for people involved in the renewable energy industry. SAM makes performance predictions and cost of energy estimates for grid-connected power projects based on installation and operating costs and system design parameters that users specify as inputs to the model. |
| Resource: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) | The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) is the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewables and energy efficiency in the United States. DSIRE helps users find incentive programs that can reduce installation or purchase costs of technologies like photovoltaic systems. |
| Video: Module 4 – Project Financing, Policy, and Incentives | This training discusses the policies and incentives that may affect your potential PV project, the different financing types available to local governments, and options between owning or finance a system. |
| Video: Module 5 – Deciding on a Financing Approach and Beginning PV Procurement | This training discusses the nuances of PV financial models and how they impact your PV procurement process. |
| Publication: Steps to a Successful Solar Request for Proposal | This publication summarizes the steps for preparing a successful request for proposal (RFP). It includes case studies drawing from the experiences of the City of Milwaukee, WI and the City of San Jose, CA. |
| Publication: Solar Request for Proposals & Procurement Guidance: Customizable templates to facilitate installing solar on your building (DOCX) (12 pp, 588K) | The purpose of this RFP template is to provide guidance for the procurement of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. This template contains information on project background, scope of work, proposal requirements, evaluation criteria and recommended information to provide to respondents. |
| Guidance: Guide to Making Claims About Your Solar Power Use | This guide describes best practices for appropriately explaining and characterizing solar power activities and the fundamental importance of renewable energy certificates (RECs) for solar power use claims. |
| Publication: Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Arbitrage | This document describes a green power procurement strategy used by electricity consumers to simultaneously meet two objectives: 1) decrease the cost of their renewable electricity use and 2) substantiate renewable electricity use and carbon footprint reduction claims. |
| Video: RECs: Making Green Power Possible | This EPA video addresses common questions and concerns about the role and benefits of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). RECs represent the environmental and other non-power attributes of renewable electricity generation and are a component of all renewable electricity products. |
| Example: City of San Jose, CA RFP for Solar Energy Installations on Municipal Lands (PDF) (32 pp, 404K) | In this example, the City of San Jose, CA put out an RFP for solar PV systems on various city-owned lands and buildings. |
| Template: Model Leases and Power Purchase Agreement (PPAs) | This webpage provides various downloadable and editable PPA agreement templates for commercial and industrial customers. |
| Template: Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Template | This Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) template includes customizable sections covering: Basic Terms and Conditions, System Description, Credit Information, General Terms and Conditions, a Memorandum of License Form, and an Easement Agreement Form. |
| Template: Model Land Lease and Solar Easement Agreement (DOCX) (37 pp, 89K) | This document provides a model land lease and solar easement agreement for community solar gardens. |
| Interactive Website: American Cites Climate Challenge Renewables Accelerator’s Interactive Procurement Guidance | This is a detailed guide for a city to procure different types of renewable energy. It is designed to help city governments effectively and efficiently understand associated processes, tools, and best practices in order to facilitate successful implementation of municipal renewable energy projects. The guidance is broken down into two distinct stages: Developing a Strategy and Executing a Project. |
| Template: Solar RFP Proposal Evaluation Matrix (XLS)(1 pg, 66 K) | This solar proposal evaluation matrix contains suggested evaluation criteria and point values for each criterion to use when evaluating multiple proposals. |
| Template: Local Government Solar Project Press Release Template(7 pp, 127 K) | This document provides examples of press release templates to help municipalities announce their efforts to develop solar projects. |
3 Easy Steps to Solar Panel Installation
Step 1
Simply have the customer fill out the form or give us a call. Customer information is never shared.
When talking to the customer, we’ll determine if the home qualify for solar panels. Homeownership, shading and utility information are some of the items we need to identify before we begin installing solar panels.
Upon qualification set up a convenient time to meet with one of our consultants in home.
Step 2
One of our consultants will further evaluate the roof and shading in person. At this time, we’ll also analyze current electric bills and see what size solar system makes sense for you.
The consultant will build a custom proposal on the spot based solely on the customer’s individual criteria.
Ask if “excited about the savings? All we need is a signature, and the rest is up to us.”
Step 3
The next thing you know, we’ll be calling to schedule an installation date. Solar panel installation is fast and easy, as it usually takes just one or two days.
At this point, our part of the process is complete.
A short time after that, your utility will come out to swap meters. Yes, you’ll be getting a new fancy one that spins backwards! Then BAM! … they flip the switch and you are saving money!
What are the steps to installing solar panels?
DETERMINE WHAT PERMITS THE CITY MAY NEED PULLED … when/where/how much …
- Step 1: Bury Conduit and Build a Platform.
- Step 2: Mount the Panels.
- Step 3: Secure the Rear Legs.
- Step 4: Wire the Solar Modules.
- Step 5: Understand the Wire Connections.
- Step 6: Connect the Cables to the Control Panels.
- Step 7: Ground the System.
- Step 8: Make the Electrical Connections Inside.
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