U.S. Department of Energy awards National industry consortium $2.5 million for a scalable national platform to develop model codes, standards, rules, and processes that will enable reduced deployment times and costs for solar PV installations.
It is with our great honor to announce that SolarTech has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to deploy Solar3.0 – A National Platform for Process Innovation to Deliver PV.
Click Here to read the Press Release
“This is a great accomplishment for our team and the organization”
Solar3.0 delivers process innovation through standardization of local land use, zoning code ordinances, permitting processes and interconnection rules for distributed PV. The team will leverage existing Department of Energy work such as the Solar America Board of Codes and Standards, the Solar America Communities team, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC)-led Solar Instructor Training Network-Regional Training Providers, and others.
SolarTech will build upon this work, conduct technical analysis, training, and stakeholder engagement to develop and promote widespread adoption of best in class tools for permitting, inspection, and interconnection by states, utilities, local jurisdictions, and federal agencies.
The Solar3.0 Team is made up of National, Regional, and Industry Partners including: Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL), UL University (ULU), the International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI), Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), The VoteSolar Initiative, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), SRA/International, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), East Bay Green Corridor (EBGC), Solar Sonoma County (SSC), along with leading industry partners SunPower, Mainstream Energy, Burnham Energy; OnGrid Solar, SolarNexus, and SierraClub. SolarTech will guide the project through Benchmarking, Development, Implementation, and Market Impact phases at national, state and local/regional levels.
The Solar3.0 platform goal is to achieve a 50% reduction in non-hardware BOS costs across approximately 90% of the U.S. solar market in targeted solar communities by 2014 through development and implementation of innovative, scalable regulatory approaches and process enhancements across multiple levels of government and industry.
It is a high leverage investment of DOE funds to catalyze rapid solution paths to achieve SunShot BOS soft cost reduction goals by 2014, create new jobs and save existing ones. The Solar3.0 platform intends to drastically reduce the overhead cost of installing solar projects that will spur economic development, create jobs and provide direct value for communities nationwide. Click Here to Read the Press Release
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