The Clean Coalition has partnered with the City of San Diego, which was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to participate in a collaborative effort to explore new ways solar energy can improve the affordability, reliability and resilience of the nation’s electric grid.

The City of San Diego is one of nine teams selected to join the program, which is known as the Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN).

“We selected teams that are experimenting with promising ideas to use solar power to improve the future of grid security and resilience in their communities,” said Kristen Ardani, who leads the SEIN at NREL.

The City of San Diego’s participation in the Solar Energy Innovation Network will include financial, analytical and facilitation support as the City develops programs to address the new challenges and opportunities stemming from local solar and other distributed energy resources in San Diego. The solutions developed and demonstrated by the San Diego team will serve as a blueprint for other communities nationwide facing similar challenges and opportunities.

With over 100,000 solar installations, San Diego is already one of the nation’s top solar cities. But as in many U.S. cities, the potential for commercial-scale solar in the area remains largely untapped. In addition to the conducting a Solar Siting Survey, the Clean Coalition will also design a design a feed-in tariff (FIT) with streamlined interconnection to unlock the potential of this underserved market segment.

“San Diego is showing leadership on local renewables and climate,” said Craig Lewis, Executive Director of the Clean Coalition. “Our partnership will provide the City with effective tools for integrating commercial-scale solar as a big part of achieving the City’s 100% renewables and other climate-related goals.”

The Clean Coalition will conduct a Solar Siting Survey to identify the technical potential for commercial-scale solar throughout the City of San Diego. The Clean Coalition’s unique Solar Siting Survey methodology not only identifies viable solar siting opportunities across the urban and suburban environments, but also evaluates those opportunities based on the interconnection potential of the local grid for each identified site.

“San Diego’s Climate Action Plan is our roadmap to a cleaner, more energy efficient city,” said Mario X. Sierra, Director of the City’s Environmental Services Department. “Our partnership with the Clean Coalition will help us create economic and sustainable opportunities for our community while moving us to cleaner, more affordable energy sources.”

“The Clean Coalition’s Solar Siting Survey and CLEAN Program design are powerful tools to maximize local solar power, delivering a trifecta of economic, environmental and resilience benefits to communities,” said Lewis. “We’re excited to help San Diego unlock the tremendous potential of commercial-scale solar and provide a model for other communities to expand clean local energy.”

NREL is operating the Solar Energy Innovation Network with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. NREL pursues fundamental research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies to transform the way we use energy.

News item from Clean Coalition