Q: When you talk about the overall success of solar power in the US, doesn’t it allcomedown to acceptance by the utility industry?

A: Solar will achieve its greatest success when the unique value of solar is maximized by both electric utilities and their customers. In terms of acceptance, there has been a sea change among electric utilities in just the past two to three years. Utilities know that solar is here to stay and that it will steadily grow in significance. The next step, one that is at the core of SEPA's mission, is to help utilities to fully engage in solar and turn solar into a positive and productive part of their businesses.

Q: What is the biggest challenge when it comes to getting utilities to embrace and integrate solar into their energy mix?

 A: Solar is the first widely available energy source that virtually any electric utility customer can deploy at their home or business to meet part of their daily need for electric power. This presents a significant challenge to the utility business model of the past century, which was built upon a centralized grid, with virtually all resources supplied and managed by the utility. 

Solar, though still less than one percent of our electricity supply, is one of the leading elements in a shift to a grid that will become increasingly decentralized. The change will be exciting, but complex. It is in the best interests of all parties that the essential value of the greater grid is vigorously maintained as a part of this change.

Q: What is the outlook for utility-initiated solar projects as we draw closer to 2015?

In a nutshell, a lot of growth, with a lot of variety. There are two significant trends underway that are rapidly turning utilities from largely reactive participants in solar to active ones. Both have been triggered by the rapid fall in the price of solar over the past few years. First, utilities in growing areas of the country are procuring solar not just to meet a renewable mandate, but because solar is being bid in as a least cost resource. Second, there is growing demand from utility customers for solar. This has sparked the launch of dozens of utility-led community solarprogrammes, primarily at municipal and electric co-op utilities. In addition, several utilities are developing rooftop or customer-sited solar offerings.

Q: Technology innovation is probably most key for solar to advance. What do you expect to see in this area moving forward, when it comes to inverters and energy storage solutions?

Q: In the case of inverters, the products on the market today are capable of delivering the ancillary services, such as voltage regulation and supply of reactive power that will benefit the grid and increase the value of solar. But taking full advantage of "smart" inverters requires the adoption of updated industry standards and most likely regulatory change.

In the case of energy storage, we need to see a further fall in cost for the economics to work.  The combination of fully functional inverters and affordable storage will go a long way to overcoming the limitations of solar due to its intermittency. Both tools will make solar a far more grid-friendly resource. 

Q: Can you discuss the evolution of solar forecasting tools, including accuracy, how they are currently being utilized, and how that is expected to develop in the future? 

 A: Forecasting the availability of a variable renewable resource began more than a decade ago when wind energy was taking off in the United States. With the rapid growth of solar, those forecasting tools are being adapted to help utilities and grid operators anticipate solar production from a day-ahead to a five minutes ahead basis.

At least three US utilities - Tucson Electric Power, Hawaiian Electric and Arizona Public Service - as well as the California Independent System Operator - have already begun relying upon solar forecasts as part of their grid management and operations.  We expect much more dynamic and widespread use of solar forecasting in the next five years as the software continues to improve and grid operators more fully integrate these tools into their communications and control programmes.

Q: What are utilities doing differently now in order to integrate large amounts of solar and other renewables that are now available to them?

Q:Solar is affecting utilities at all levels of their organisations, from strategic planning to daily operations. Pacific Gas & Electric, for example, receives 4,500 interconnection requests every month. In the last few years, it has shortened the approval time from weeks to an average of four days. It is in the process of fully automating the interconnection process. The goal is to make approvals for standard interconnection an instantaneous transaction.

Georgia Power, for example, has gone from zero to 60 in solar in two years, even though the state of Georgia does not have a renewable mandate for utilities. Responding to the fall in the cost of solar, and interest from the public service commission, Georgia Power created a renewable development group within the utility in 2013. By the end of 2016, Georgia Power will have added 900 MW of solar to its portfolio in a two-year span.

SEPA is an educational non-profitorganisationdedicated to helping utilities integrate solar energy into their portfolio.