In half of the states, the protocols for connecting distributed rooftop solar energy resources don’t talk about energy storage. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council has made a detailed toolkit available to help states deal with this problem.
Although, Energy storage sometimes increase the capacity of a distribution circuit by controlling when rooftop solar energy send to the grid. This is in line with a set of tools to help states remove barriers to using distributed storage.
Also, Partner at the legal firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger Sky Stanfield were there. They said in a webinar that energy storage is only in half of the ways that states connect.
IREC oversaw hosting both the webinar and the making of the toolkit. IREC is updating the standards for how distributed energy storage systems. This is to connect each other to help the states with their projects.
The Rooftop Solar Interconnection Problem and its Solution
Stanfield says that when there are a lot of projects in the queue at the same time. However, the process of connecting them takes longer and is difficult.
According to IREC’s chief regulatory engineer Brian Lydic, the current process of approving one project at a time cannot keep up with the demand. He also said that there needs to be an effective plan for the thousands of smaller projects that apply.
Midhat Mafazy, a Regulatory Programme Engineer for IREC said that standard export measures like using utility grid relays. Or certified power control systems (PCS) could speed up applications for interconnection.
As electric cars and heating systems become more common, Radina Valova, Vice President of IREC’s regulatory programme, said that training in the future would cover a wide range of ways to connect systems. She said that a “more future-looking model” of holistic planning that includes distributed resources has benefits like fair cost sharing and faster connections.
The US Department of Energy’s Office of Solar Energy Technologies (SETO) paid for the toolkit and training programme. The 211-page toolkit released in March and offers sample text that states can use to modernize their interconnection policies.
Overall, The toolkit was made with the help of the California Solar & Storage Association (CSSA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), among other groups It should help regulators, utilities, storage developers, and other parties involved in the process of interconnection.