Community Solar Design and Implementation Best Practices

November 30-December 1, 2023 | Online :: Central Time

1123-community-solar

The exponential growth of harnessing renewable energy, offering individuals, businesses, and organizations the opportunity to share in the benefits of solar power without the need for on-site installations is the groundbreaking approach known as community solar. This inclusive and sustainable model expands access to renewable energy for those unable to install solar panels on their properties, promoting environmental stewardship, energy equity, and community engagement. This conference will deepen your understanding of community solar and facilitate the growing movement towards a cleaner, more inclusive energy future.

Learning Outcomes

Attendees will gain practical skills and insights on how to:

• Identify community solar benefits and potential impacts on the energy landscape
• Recognize the incentives, challenges, and opportunities for successful implementation
• Examine various financing options and business models available for community solar projects and assess their viability and sustainability
• Identify effective strategies to engage and involve communities in the development and ongoing management of community solar initiatives
• Discuss marketing techniques and customer acquisition strategies to attract participants and ensure the success of community solar programs
• Recognize the challenges and solutions related to integrating community solar projects into the existing grid and navigating interconnection processes
• Analyze real-world case studies of successful community solar projects, drawing lessons from best practices and successful implementations

Thursday, November 30, 2023 : Central Time

9:00 – 9:20 a.m. :: Overview and Instructions

9:20 – 10:00 a.m. :: Introduction to Community Solar & Updates from the United States Department of Energy

• Community solar basics
• Benefits and advantages of community solar
• Overview of different community solar models
• Community solar resources and opportunities from the Department of Energy National Community Solar Partnership

Anna Balzer, Solar Community Engagement Coordinator with Boston Government Services, supporting the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technology Office

10:00 – 10:45 a.m. :: Policy and Regulatory Framework              

• Local, state and federal policies and regulations
• Exploring incentives, grants and financing options
• Navigating interconnection and permitting processes

Miana Campbell, Community Solar Lead – New Mexico, InClime

10:45 – 11:00 a.m. :: Morning Break

11:00 – 11:45 a.m. :: Best Practices for Grid Integration

• Interaction between community solar and the grid
• Grid interconnection requirements and considerations
• Grid integration challenges and solutions
• Engagement with LSE

Benjamin Piiru, Director of Grid Integration, Nexamp

11:45 a.m.  – 12:45 p.m. :: Legal and Contractual Considerations                     

• Drafting and negotiating community solar agreements, including subscriber contracts, PPAs and site leases
• Addressing legal issues related to access, ownership and maintenance responsibilities
• Resolving disputes related to community solar contracts, project performance or interconnection issues
• Addressing legal challenges and litigation trends specific to community solar projects

Solar Landscape Representative

12:45 – 1:30 p.m. :: Break for Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. :: State Program Designs

• Clean Energy State Alliance (CESA) State Program Designs
• Solar for low-income households and disadvantaged communities

Bentham Paulos, Senior Research Associate, Clean Energy State Alliance (CESA)

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. :: Community Engagement                                          

• Strategies for community outreach and engagement
• Building partnerships with stakeholders
• Overcoming barriers and addressing common concerns

Kevin Dunshee, Chief Commercial Officer, Solar Landscape

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. :: Afternoon Break

3:45 – 4:30 p.m. :: Making Community Solar Work for the Community

• Community benefits under different ownership models
• Greater community engagement
• Toolkit for community solar planning

Dwayne Breger, Ph.D., Director, UMass Clean Energy Extension, Extension Professor, Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst

 

Wednesday, December 1, 2023 : Central Time

9:00 – 9:45 a.m. :: Accelerating Adoption of Community Solar: How the Consumer Choice Modeling (CCM) Method Can Improve Community Solar Build Out

• Updates on progress in community solar adoption
• Major challenges with driving community solar subscriptions
• How the CCM technique helps companies, governments and other organizations “get it right the first time” and can expedite penetration of green technologies
• Combining artificial intelligence (AI) with CCM to improve marketing success

Tom Cooper, Director – Client Solutions, Pacific Consulting Group

9:45 – 10:30 a.m. :: Putting the Community in Community Solar

Oregon Clean Power Cooperative is Oregon’s member-owned cooperative for renewable energy that is helping shift the community to a more sustainable future. This session will include discussion of the following projects:

• Community-financed projects
• Low-income projects
• Agrivoltaic sites for community solar projects

Dan Orzech, General Manager, Oregon Clean Power Cooperative

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. :: Morning Break

10:45 – 11:30 a.m. :: Case Study: Siting Community Solar Projects in an Emerging Market

With the target squarely placed on community-scale solar projects by the unprecedented tax credit bonuses in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, development activity is flooding states that have Community Solar legislation on the books. Yet in these emerging markets, renewable energy has been under development for decades already and with that experience come lessons about site selection that developers can employ to find success. In this presentation, a case study will be used to examine how bringing a creative mindset to these emerging markets affords developers a great chance to maximize their origination efforts and build a thoughtful, successful portfolio.

Leo Cox, Jr. Development Manager, SunShare

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. :: Case Study: Community Solar Arrays that Interact with Microgrids for Diesel-Off Operations

Renewable energy operations in the Northwest Arctic allow tribes to take control of their own future through a community solar array.

Ingemar Mathiasson, Energy Manager, Northwest Artic Borough

12:00 – 12:45 p.m. :: Case Study: Norway Brightfield Project

This presentation will share how UGE developed, financed, and built its 1 MW ground-mounted community solar project on a capped landfill in Norway, Maine. As a “brightfield” project, a contaminated brownfield site turned solar farm, this project brings an extra layer of environmental and economic benefit to the surrounding community. The development of this project involved key collaboration with the Center for an Ecology Based Economy, a local grassroots environmental organization, and the town of Norway. Local businesses and the town will use the cheaper, cleaner energy generated by the project. This project provides a blueprint for projects that both repurpose otherwise unusable brownfield land, and build strong ties and collaborations with the local communities in which they are developed.

Mateo Chaskel, Managing Director, UGE

• Anna Balzer, Solar Community Engagement Coordinator with Boston Government Services, supporting the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technology Office

• Dwayne Breger, Ph.D., Director, UMass Clean Energy Extension, Extension Professor, Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst

• Miana Campbell, Community Solar Lead – New Mexico, InClime

• Mateo Chaskel, Managing Director, UGE

• Tom Cooper, Director – Client Solutions, Pacific Consulting Group

• Leo Cox, Jr. Development Manager, SunShare

• Kevin Dunshee, Chief Commercial Officer, Solar Landscape

• Ingemar Mathiasson, Energy Manager, Northwest Arctic Borough

• Dan Orzech, General Manager, Oregon Clean Power Cooperative

• Bentham Paulos, Senior Research Associate, Clean Energy State Alliance (CESA)

• Benjamin Piiru, Director of Grid Integration, Nexamp

We will be using Microsoft Teams to facilitate your participation in the upcoming event. You do not need to have an existing Teams account in order to participate in the broadcast – the course will play in your browser and you will have the option of using a microphone to speak with the room and ask questions, or type any questions in via the chat window and our on-site representative will relay your question to the instructor.

• Microsoft recommends downloading and installing the Teams app if possible. You may also use the Edge browser or Chrome.
• You will receive a separate email with a unique link to a personalized landing page which will include links to join all sessions of this event.
• If you are using a microphone, please ensure that it is muted until such time as you need to ask a question.
• The remote meeting connection will be open approximately 30 minutes before the start of the course. We encourage you to connect as early as possible in case you experience any unforeseen problems.

Please Note: Confirmed speakers do not need to register and are encouraged to participate in all sessions of the event. If you are a speaker and have any questions please contact our offices at 1.303.770.8800

Please Note: This event is being conducted entirely online. All attendees will connect and attend from their computer, one connection per purchase. For details please see our FAQ

If you are unable to attend at the scheduled date and time, we make recordings available to all attendees for 7 days after the event

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EVENT:

Community Solar Design and Implementation Best Practices

November 30-December 1, 2023 | Online

Your registration may be transferred to a member of your organization up to 24 hours in advance of the event. Cancellations must be received on or before October 27, 2023 in order to be refunded and will be subject to a US $195.00 processing fee per registrant. No refunds will be made after this date. Cancellations received after this date will create a credit of the tuition (less processing fee) good toward any other EUCI event. This credit will be good for six months from the cancellation date. In the event of non-attendance, all registration fees will be forfeited. In case of conference cancellation, EUCIs liability is limited to refund of the event registration fee only. For more information regarding administrative policies, such as complaints and refunds, please contact our offices at 303-770-8800

Credits

EUCI is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 1.0 CEUs for this event

Requirements for Successful Completion of Program

Participants must sign in/out each day, be in attendance for the entirety of the course to be eligible for continuing education credit.

Instructional Methods

Power Point presentations, case studies, Q&A

---

Upon successful completion of this event, program participants interested in receiving CPE credits will receive a certificate of completion.

Conference CPE Credits: 11.5
There is no prerequisite for this Conference.
Program field of study: Specialized Knowledge
Program Level: Basic
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
Advanced Preparation: None

EUCI is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its web site: www.nasbaregistry.org

 

Who Should Attend

This program will inform professionals at:

• Utilities (IOUs, Municipal and public power) and local distribution companies (LDCs)
• Solar project developers and third party owners (ESCOs)
• Regulators (PUCs)
• Solar consultants
• Attorneys
• Solar and renewable energy advocates
• Community organizations interested in promoting community solar

Whose expertise supports the following:

• Solar programming and development
• Renewable energy initiatives and measures
• Rate case development and management
• Regulatory, policy and governmental affairs
• Legal
• Resource and long-range planning