The Solar ABCs has released a new report entitled A Generalized Approach to Assessing the Rate Impacts of Net Energy Metering that presents a thorough examination of the impact of net metered solar facilities on non-participating customers' utility rates. It puts forward a methodology for the valuation of net energy metering (NEM) focused on best practices. Information in this report will assist state policy makers, utility planners, utility regulators, and all other stakeholders who must evaluate the potential rate impacts of NEM in their states. Download and read the report. 

This Solar ABCs white paper addresses an important safety issue in the design of many U.S. photovoltaic (PV) systems. This safety issue-undetected faults in grounded PV array conductors-came to light during investigations into two well-publicized PV system fires. The first occurred on April 5, 2008, in Bakersfield, California, and the second occurred on April 16, 2011, in Mount Holly, North Carolina. This paper provides a basic explanation of the cause of these fires, followed by an outline of a limited research plan designed to develop solutions. It also includes fire mitigation strategies and equipment recommendations to reduce fire danger in new and retrofit applications based on preliminary results of the fire investigations.  Download and read the report.

The Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) Common Functions for Smart Inverters report is now available online. This report summarizes the work of an industry collaborative effort that has been underway since 2009, which defines the common functions and communication protocols for integration of smart distributed resources with the grid. Furthermore, this report provides a compiled summary of the function descriptions that this industry collaborative effort has produced thus far. Each function is presented in the form of a proposal, which is the language used by the volunteer working group. This reflects the fact that the functions are not legal standards unless and until they are adopted by a standards development organization (SDO).

The goal is to enable high-penetration scenarios in which a diversity of resources in varying sizes and from varying manufacturers can be integrated into distribution circuits in a manageable and beneficial way. This requires a degree of consistency in the services and functions that these devices provide and uniform, standards-based communication protocols for their integration with utility distribution management and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.  Download and read the report.