Alternative Energy White Papers

Developed by the SEIA Quality Assurance Working Group, this document was designed to update installation best practices originally developed by the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group organized by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and is intended to be updated as proper protocol dictates. The primary intention of this document is to provide recommended best practices to facilitate high-quality and consistent residential solar projects. The broader objective in developing and maintaining this document is to build confidence among potential solar customers, regulators, investors, rating agencies, and other stakeholders in the concept that residential solar systems are a valuable home improvement, a consistent and long-term electric generating resource, and credit-worthy investment asset class.

Key data highlighted in the white paper includes more than five years of outdoor weathering at 3M’s state-of-the-art, geographically diverse test locations (3 outdoor sites representing 3 distinct climates). The data shows virtually no film degradation and most importantly, consistent optical performance of the film and electrical output of the test modules.

Lightweight, durable plastic composites are continuing to replace steel, aluminum, and fiberglass in the manufacturing of outdoor products. Innovative new developments and refinements have further expanded the performance spectrum of plastics in recent years, particularly for use in electrical and electronic components. Consequently, plastic components are becoming more common in PV solar mounting systems.

With billions of dollars invested and gigawatts of solar installed every month, savvy investors and owners understand that to maximize financial returns and optimize solar power plant performance, a well-thought-out plan for a complete operations and maintenance (O&M) program must be baked into the economics of any project before the first boots hit the ground. Single-axis trackers (SATs) have become increasingly popular because of the higher energy yield they produce compared to fixed-tilt systems. This white paper discusses and analyzes the factors to consider when evaluating tracker technologies from an O&M perspective.

With so many competing interests and limited time, fulfilling the responsibilities of a solar energy professional is becoming more challenging. With those increasing pressures in mind, we partnered with experts and technicians across the country to collect resources that colleagues in your industry are using to make their lives easier. We compiled this list and want to share these resources with you.

After a decade of explosive growth in the residential solar photovoltaic (PV) market, in 2017 California saw its first decrease in annual residential solar installations. This paper suggests that the most probable cause of this downturn is the beginning of market saturation in the residential retrofit market (as differentiated from the new construction market). It also illustrates how the new construction market, which is growing rather than declining, can mitigate a downturn in the retrofit market when sufficient housing growth and aggressive new construction policies or initiatives exist. The analysis suggests that 15 - 20,000 jobs are at risk in California if steps are not taken to mitigate the downturn.

Together with 3E - provider of consultancy services and software for sustainable energy systems - we have analyzed highly accurate irradiation data of more than 200 weather stations with state-of-the-art satellite derived data. How these compare and differ is described in the whitepaper.

Solar fastener leader HellermannTyton has developed a white paper to address one of the most frequently asked questions regarding solar wire management: Which is better – plastic or metal? “Plastic or Metal? How Wire Management Materials Impact the Lifespan of Solar PV Installations” will help solar designers and installers make informed decisions that result in safer, longer lasting solar installations. The report includes a primer on different plastic compounds that demonstrate longer life in the menacing solar environment.

This paper, the fourth in SEIA's series on grid modernization, focuses on the ways in which the location of a DER can provide various grid benefits and may lead to changes in DER compensation. As with the rest of the papers in this series, the experiences of two leading states, California and New York, are examined. These two states are in the process of conducting extensive work examining new locational values and location-based tariffs and can serve as models for other states that are considering similar policies.

TÜV Rheinland PTL (TÜV), an independent analyst, recently released a report on the economic and risk analysis of two tracker architectures. The first architecture studied is a system driven by a single motor, linked by a rotating driveline to multiple tracker rows. The second architecture is a system where each row operates as a self-contained unit with a dedicated photovoltaic (PV) panel, battery, motor, and other tracker system components.

This whitepaper provides an overview of C-PACE and how it can be used to encourage the growth of commercial and industrial (C&I) solar markets in the United States.

This white paper investigates when to use pyranometers and when to use reference cells in outdoor PV system performance monitoring. There are different purposes for outdoor PV system monitoring. For organisations monitoring PV system performance at many different locations, possibly employing different PV cell types, use of pyranometers is easy. For O&M organisations, the use of PV reference cells is difficult to manage. IEA and ASTM standards for PV monitoring recommend pyranometers for outdoor PV monitoring. Hukseflux Thermal Sensors offers measurement solutions for the most challenging applications. Our main area of expertise is measurement of heat transfer and thermal quantities such as solar radiation, heat flux and thermal conductivity. Hukseflux sensors, systems and services are offered worldwide via our office in Delft, the Netherlands and local distributors.

Concentrated solar power (CSP) and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) methodologies generate electricity by focusing a large amount of sunlight onto a much smaller area. To maximize efficiency, the sunlight needs to be accurately focused. Being off by even a single degree could result in a significant drop in efficiency, and the biggest impact to the cost of delivering solar energy is efficiency. As with most systems, the accuracy is limited by the accuracy of the sensors used in that system. There are a number of different types of sensors that can be used in these systems. This paper discusses why an absolute inclinometer is the most effective sensor solution and why the US Digital T7 is superior to other inclinometers available today.

In our view, Italy is on the edge of becoming one of the most attractive country for developing unsubsidized solar PV power plants. The continuous decrease of solar PV equipment cost, together with a positive fiscal framework evolution over the recent past, are driving down the LCOE for utility scale plants, allowing Italy to be a serious candidate for a new boom of utility scale solar development. The paper further discusses the rationales and the key challenges of our view.

This new resource details the convergence of residential solar and smart home tech and shows how solar delivers utility savings and increased resale value for today’s homeowners.

The global Solar Business Technology Association as a partner of the European Technology and Innovation Platform for Photovoltaics (ETIP PV) and a member of ETIP PV Secretariat has prepared a white paper regarding the questions of quality, reliability and performance for the European PV Industry. The PV sector has evolved extremely fast in the last decade and in 2016 crossed the 100 billion EUR turnover threshold. In a context of this fast market development, components are improving constantly, while operators are implementing more efficient processes and PV system prices are dropping dramatically.

Professional weather sensors form the heart of large solar plants supporting their operation and performance. Lufft was the first manufacturer to combine several sensors in one housing, bringing the largest multiparameter weather sensor family with 19 members into being. Many of them are well-suited for solar site assessment and continuous monitoring. The most commonly used one is the WS600 delivering data on temperature, air pressure, wind, relative humidity and precipitation. Through its open protocol, it can easily be attached to radiation sensors e.g. from Kipp&Zonen. Other models have an integrated Silicon, Second Class or Secondary Standard radiation sensor.