The U.S. Department of Energy on Sept. 9 announced an expansion of the National Community Solar Partnership.
The expanded program, now called NCSP+, “grows the successful program beyond supporting community solar to include residential and distributed rooftop solar plus storage, and commercial solar projects with an emphasis on expanding access to the benefits of affordable clean energy in low-income and disadvantaged communities,” DOE said.
APPA joined the National Community Solar Partnership in 2020.
Community solar project capacity in the United States has grown nearly 500% in the last six years, from 1.5 gigawatts at the end of 2018 to over 7.8 gigawatts today.
NCSP has provided over 163 direct technical assistance engagements to organizations in 36 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to support this growing market.
Increasing Access to the Meaningful Benefits of Solar Energy
NCSP+ will fund the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to provide technical assistance, resources, peer networking, and learning opportunities for community solar and low- to moderate-income residential rooftop solar plus storage, community-benefitting commercial solar projects, such as installing solar panels on schools and affordable housing, and distributed solar plus storage projects, such as virtual power plants and microgrids. Learn more and register for NCSP+ on the Networking Platform.
Community Power Accelerator
The DOE’s announcement also includes an expansion of the Community Power Accelerator and new work to protect consumers from predatory practices in the rooftop solar industry.
The Community Power Accelerator online marketplace creates a pipeline of credit-ready clean energy projects and connects them with mission-aligned investors and philanthropic organizations.
With this new support, it will expand beyond community solar to connect viable solar plus storage projects with capital providers, and launch new tools and features aimed to support developers to plan projects and access financing.
The Accelerator will offer new courses and resources focused on distributed solar plus storage technologies and business models, slated to launch in early 2025, as well as a free version of the Foundations of Community Solar Development online course available today.
The Community Power Accelerator, which launched in 2023, has trained over 150 community solar developers and its virtual marketplace boasts 143 verified community solar projects seeking capital --with 180 megawatts of potential community solar, and $1.5 billion in funds committed by capital providers.
Round 3 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize -- which will award $10 million in cash prizes to expand a robust ecosystem of developers that incorporate meaningful benefits into clean energy projects -- is now open and welcomes projects in these technology areas as well as community solar to apply.
Educating Consumers About Predatory Practices
DOE also noted it has partnered with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and other agencies to coordinate efforts to monitor the market to identify trends and propose solutions for fraudulent and predatory behavior in the rooftop solar industry.
This new partnership across the federal government will enable DOE to access data and develop programs to tackle consumer protections in those communities that need it most. DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) is supporting several efforts that are examining the extent and nature of predatory practices happening in the marketplace, developing resources to educate consumers, and working with industry to establish strong consumer protection standards.
