Page 11 - North American Clean Energy March April 2018 Issue

In making solar the lowest cost source of electricity through cost reductions from standardization and preassembly, we set the stage for a truly resilient power system. A solar plus storage CSS product can avoid transmission charges and associated grid (and environmental) impact studies, while providing numerous
grid stability bene ts like voltage and frequency regulation, active power limiting and ramping, dynamic reactive power compensation, and soft and black start capabilities.
Questions Remain
Despite the deep expertise in attendance at the charrette, several questions remained unanswered. What would be the requirements of the solution regarding regional typology selection (dual-tilt/ xed-tilt/tracking), the module and inverter selection (bi-facial, string/central), and the foundation design (screws/piers)? Another open question was the cost and bene t of working with regional vs. national product speci cations; performance-minded participants favored a regional product, while nance-minded participants supported a national product. e group quickly uncovered a host of business model questions, such as who the natural owner of a brick and mortar assembly plant should be, how to manage liability across this new delivery model, and which aspects of the opportunity are most defendable in a competitive landscape.
In the face of less-than-favorable market conditions and tari s, it's
time for the U.S. solar industry to
take advantage of this opportunity
to standardize solar design and installation with a market-based product o ering. RMI and the charrette participants are con dent that an initial version of the product, along with an assembly plant, can be deployed in 2018. Further a eld, the product platform has global potential in places like India and island nations. Existing markets will see positive e ects through improved conversion rates and customer satisfaction, while new markets will become accessible via a low-cost, easy-to-understand o ering. e product will reduce market volatility and uncertainty, and help us transition to a high-throughput model of ultra-low-cost solar energy, ubiquitous and accessible to all.
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North American Clean Energy
Kareem Dabbagh is a manager of RMI’s Shine initiative, focused on bringing ultra-low-cost community-scale solar to market through a whole- systems approach. e Shine team is developing
a product and innovation platform to enable subsidy-free solar energy costs that can compete on the wholesale distribution grid, providing clean energy for everyone.
RMI | rmi.org
Joseph Goodman is a Principal with Rocky Mountain Institute’s electricity practice. He is an energy systems engineer with over 10 years experience in renewables and energy e ciency. He has extensive experience leading multidiscipline design teams, and bringing
new technologies to market.