Resilient Power Economics

Resilient power systems can boost economic resiliency by reducing or stabilizing utility bills. In some cases, these systems can also generate revenue by providing valuable grid services. The resources listed below includes analyses of the economic case for resilient power systems as well as tools to determine whether or not solar+storage makes economic sense for specific buildings.

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Resilient Southeast: Exploring Opportunities for Solar+Storage in Five Cities (Clean Energy Group, 2019)

Resilient Southeast is a series of reports exploring the obstacles and opportunities for solar PV and battery storage to strengthen the resilience of communities throughout the Southeast. The series evaluates the current policy landscape and economic potential for solar and battery storage to provide clean, reliable backup power to critical facilities in five cities: Atlanta, GA; Charleston, SC; Miami, FL; New Orleans, LA; and Wilmington, NC. When the economic value of resilience is accounted for, solar+storage was proven to be a positive investment for all locations and building types examined.

• Webinar: The Economic Case for Resilient Solar+Storage in the Southeast (Clean Energy Group 2019) In this webinar, Clean Energy Group was joined by report series partner the Alliance for Affordable Energy to discuss the findings of the report and how the results impact efforts underway in the Southeast.

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Identifying Potential Markets for Behind-the-Meter Battery Energy Storage: A Survey of U.S. Demand Charges (Clean Energy Group, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2017)

This white paper details the first comprehensive public analysis of the potential size of the commercial behind-the-meter battery storage market in the United States. The researchers analyzed more than 10,000 utility tariffs, finding that five million commercial customers across the country may be able to cost-effectively reduce their utility bills with battery storage technologies today.

• Webinar: Cutting Demand Charges with Battery Storage (Clean Energy Group 2017) In this webinar, the senior vice president of sales for ENGIE Storage explains the business case for demand charge management with battery storage.
• Fact sheet: An Introduction to Demand Charges (Clean Energy Group 2017) This fact sheet contains background information on utility demand charges and the relationship and interaction between demand charge expenses and energy storage.

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The Economics of Battery Energy Storage (Rocky Mountain Institute, 2015)

This report explores four key questions: 1) What services can batteries provide to the electricity grid? 2) Where on the grid can batteries deliver each service? 3) How much value can batteries generate when they are highly utilized and multiple services are stacked? 4) What barriers currently prevent energy storage systems from providing multiple, stacked services to the electricity grid?

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Resilience for Free: How Solar+Storage Could Protect Multifamily Affordable Housing from Power Outages at Little or No Net Cost (Clean Energy Group, 2015)

This report uses project data for buildings in New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. to examine the financial case for installing solar+storage systems to support critical common area loads in multifamily affordable housing.

• Webinar – Resilience for Free: How Solar+Storage Could Protect Multifamily Affordable Housing from Power Outages at Little or No Net Cost (Clean Energy Group, Bright Power, 2015)

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Closing the California Clean Energy Divide: Reducing Electric Bills in Affordable Multifamily Rental Housing with Solar+Storage (Clean Energy Group, California Housing Partnership, Center for Sustainable Energy, Geli, 2016)

This report examines the utility bill impacts of adding battery storage to stand-alone solar in affordable rental housing facilities in California’s three investor-owned utility service territories, each with different rate structures.

• Webinar – Reducing Electric Bills in California Multifamily Affordable Housing with Solar+Storage (Clean Energy Group, California Housing Partnership, Center for Sustainable Energy, Geli, 2016)

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Solar Risk: How Energy Storage Can Preserve Solar Savings in California Affordable Housing (Clean Energy Group, 2017)

This report explores potential risks to the economics of solar investments by California’s multifamily affordable housing sector due to changes in state net metering policies and utility rate structures. The report make two important findings: (1) the changes would significantly reduce the value proposition for a stand-alone solar system, and (2) incorporating energy storage could potentially reverse these negative economic impacts.

• Webinar – Solar Risk: How Energy Storage Can Preserve Solar Savings in California Affordable Housing (Clean Energy Group, Waite & Associates, 2017)

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Energy Storage and Electricity Markets: The value of storage to the power system and the importance of electricity markets in energy storage economics (Clean Energy Group, 2015)

This report introduces electricity markets where storage has begun to play a significant role. The report examines how emerging energy storage markets have developed and the potential for realizing additional value streams through new market mechanisms.

• Webinar – Electricity Markets and the Economics of Energy Storage (Clean Energy Group, Intelligent Generation, 2015)

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Project Qualification Score Card (Geli, 2016)

Simple scorecard to help developers determine which projects may have the greatest potential economic outcome for solar+storage development.

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Installed Cost Benchmarks and Deployment Barriers for Residential Solar Photovoltaics with Energy Storage (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Institute, U.S. Department of Energy, 2017)

This report provides detailed component- and system-level installed cost benchmarks for residential solar+storage systems. In addition to cost information, it examines barriers to increased deployment of solar+storage systems in the residential sector.

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Levelized Cost of Storage Analysis 3.0 (Lazard, 2017)

In-depth study that comparing the costs of various energy storage technologies for particular applications. The analysis identifies 10 use cases, and assigns detailed operational parameters to each. This methodology enables meaningful comparisons of storage technologies within use cases.

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Valuing the Resilience Provided by Solar and Battery Energy Storage Systems (Clean Energy Group, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2018)

This white paper explores the role that placing a monetary value on the ability of solar+storage to avoid losses during grid outages can have on project economics and system design.

• Webinar: Valuing Resilience: Exploring the Role of Solar+Storage in Grid Outages (Clean Energy Group 2018) In this webinar, experts from the National Renewable Energy Lab give an overview of the importance of considering energy resilience when planning and making investment decisions, followed by a discussion of how solar technology can be deployed to help mitigate outages.

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Economic and Resiliency Impact of PV and Storage on New York Critical Infrastructure (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, City University of New York, 2016)

This report analyzes the technical and economic viability of solar and storage on three critical infrastructure sites in New York City: a school that is part of a coastal storm shelter system, a fire station that was flooded during Sandy, and a NYCHA senior center that serves as a cooling center during heat emergencies. Analysis results show that resilient PV can be economically viable for New York City’s critical infrastructure and that it may be similarly beneficial to other commercial buildings across the city.

Financing Resilient Power Projects

Resilient power projects can be financed through a variety of mechanisms, including third-party power purchase agreements and leases, development loans, tax-exempt and taxable bonds, and commercial PACE financing. The resources below discuss consideration and strategies for financing a resilient power projects.

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Planning for an Energy Resilient Future: Energy Project Models and Lessons Learned (U.S. Department of Energy, 2020)

This paper lays out various federal funding opportunities for energy resilience projects, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program. The paper also showcases energy projects that integrate energy efficiency measures and renewable technology.

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Owning the Benefits of Solar+Storage: New Ownership and Investment Models for Affordable Housing and Community Facilities (Clean Energy Group, 2018)

This paper explores additional ownership and financing options for solar+storage projects and low-income communities beyond direct ownership and conventional leasing models.It makes a simple point: there are ownership and financing strategies that can provide many of the economic and other benefits of direct ownership, while overcoming some of the risks and barriers that direct ownership may entail for many project developers.

• Webinar: New Financing Options for Solar+Storage in Low-Income Communities (Clean Energy Group, 2018). In this webinar, report co-author Rob Sanders is joined by guest speakers from National Housing Trust and Urban Ingenuity to discuss ownership and finance models ranging from immediate direct ownership to third party ownership flips to C-PACE financing strategies.

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Financing for Clean, Resilient Power Solutions (Clean Energy Group, 2014)

This paper describes a broad range of financing mechanisms that are either just beginning to be used or that have a strong potential for providing low-cost, long-term financing for solar+storage projects. The goal is to identify financing tools that can be used to implement projects and that will attract private capital on highly favorable terms, thereby reducing the overall project cost.

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Webinar – Financing Solar+Storage with Federal Tax Credits (Clean Energy Group, Deloitte Tax, 2016)

This webinar covers the historical treatment of energy storage combined with renewables under the U.S. Tax Code, as well as recent tax developments and a look at the future of solar+storage tax treatment under various use cases and new regulations.

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A Resilient Power Capital Scan: How Foundations Could Use Grants and Investments to Advance Solar and Storage in Low-Income Communities (Clean Energy Group, 2017)

This report identifies market barriers to deploying solar+storage technologies in low-income markets, and proposes more than 50 grant and investment opportunities that socially minded investors can use to target those barriers.

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Ramp Up Resilient Power Finance: Bundle Project Loans Through a Warehouse Facility to Achieve Scale (Clean Energy Group, 2015)

This report outlines a new clean energy finance model for many resilient power systems to protect vulnerable communities and critical infrastructure from severe weather events.

Project Evaluation Tools

Before heading too far down the project development path, it’s important to perform a high-level assessment of the feasibility of any planned resilient power installation. The free tools listed below are intended to give planners and developers a better understanding of initial design considerations and cost savings before proceeding with a project. These tools are not intended to replace design and engineering expertise, instead they should be viewed as simple, first-pass decision-making tools designed to generate a rough idea of resilient power system sizing, costs, and potential economic benefits.

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REopt Lite: Renewable Energy Integration & Optimization (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2017)

This simplified version of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s REopt modeling software allows anyone to quickly and easily evaluate the economic feasibility of solar PV and battery storage for a building. The free, online tool determines the optimal solar and storage sizing to minimize system costs and maximize energy savings, and can also be used to design a system sized to power critical loads during a grid outage. Clean Energy Group is offering free training and assistance to nonprofit organizations interested in using REopt Lite.

• Webinar: REopt Lite: Sizing Solar+Storage for Savings and Resiliency with NREL’s New Tool (Clean Energy Group, 2017). In this webinar, presenters from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) introduced the beta version of the lab’s new solar+storage web tool, REopt Lite.

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ESyst: Commercial Energy Storage Economic Optimization (Geli, 2017)

With access to over 10,000 electric rate tariffs across 1,300 U.S. utility service territories, ESyst was developed to standardize and simplify the process of sizing energy storage and solar+storage systems for commercial and industrial properties. The free online tool lets users perform in-depth site analyses in a matter of minutes – calculating both a property’s energy and demand charges savings over time. The tool allows users to select from multiple system options according to project needs, financial parameters, and supplier preferences, and includes functionality to download full financial pro formas and a detailed breakdown of how the system will generate value. Clean Energy Group is offering free training and assistance to nonprofit organizations interested in using ESyst.

• Webinar: ESyst: Optimizing Energy Storage Savings with Geli’s New Online Tool (Clean Energy Group, 2017). Highlights of this recording include a 12-minute demo of Geli’s ESyst software (begins at 18 minutes and 45 seconds), followed by a 14-minute case study review of the outputs for a multifamily affordable housing project (begins at 31 minutes and 40 seconds).

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SolarResilient: A Sizing Tool for Resilient Solar PV and Battery Storage Systems (San Francisco Department of the Environment, Arup, U.S. Department of Energy, 2017)

This tool estimates the sizing of solar PV and battery storage system required to provide power for extended periods during a large-scale grid power outage. System sizing is based solely on requirements to meet resiliency goals, not on expected project economics. SolarResilient is designed for buildings that form part of a city’s resilience strategy, allowing building owners and city departments to develop equipment sizing before embarking on more detailed studies.

• Webinar: SolarResilient: A New Tool for Resilient Solar+Storage Design (Clean Energy Group, 2017). In this webinar, Jessica Tse (San Francisco Department of the Environment) and Russel Carr (Arup) introduce and demonstrate a first-of-its-kind, publicly-available online tool for optimizing the size of solar+storage systems.

Developing a Resilient Power Project

There are a number of questions and considerations that should be explored when beginning to develop a new resilient power project. The resources below can help guide you through the process of planning a resilient power installation, including basic step-by-step guidance for approaching a new project and sample Request for Proposal (RFP) templates for both large-scale and behind-the-meter resilient power installations.

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Solar+Storage Project Checklist (Clean Energy Group, 2016)

This checklist is intended to serve as a starting point for developers and planners who are considering implementing a solar+storage project. It focuses on basic questions and considerations that should be explored throughout the decision-making process and suggests some initial steps to consider when beginning a new project.

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Behind-the-Meter Solar+Storage Permitting and Interconnection Guide for Boulder, Colorado (Clean Energy Group, 2018)

This guide reviews permitting and interconnection requirements and processes for the development of residential and commercial-scale solar+storage systems in Boulder, Colorado. While these guidelines are specific to Boulder, the process and steps may be similar to those in other locations. The document may be helpful to project developers beginning to think about the permitting and interconnection processes or for municipalities considering generating guidelines of their own.

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Energy Storage Procurement Guidance Documents for Municipalities (Sandia National Laboratories, Clean Energy States Alliance, Clean Energy Group, 2016)

This guide offers useful information for municipalities to consider as they develop solicitations for resilient energy storage projects. The materials are designed to give specific examples of the elements that should be included in a solicitation for the procurement and installation of a battery storage project that is designed to provide backup power during outages, including a matrix of elements to include in a Request for Proposals (RFP) and sample RFP templates for utility-scale and behind-the-meter storage projects.

• Webinar – Procurement Guidance for Energy Storage Projects: Help with RFIs, RFQs and RFPs (Sandia National Laboratories, Bright Power, Clean Energy States Alliance, Clean Energy Group, 2016)

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Assessing Critical Loads in Community Facilities (Arup, 2015)

This report evaluates emergency load profiles by identifying critical loads and backup power needs for five building types: Department Operating Center, Recreational Center, Police Station, Fire Station, and Cooking Facility. These critical load profiles were developed specifically for San Francisco, California, but the methodologies used and basic findings are broadly applicable to other locations.

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Featured Resilient Power Installations (Clean Energy Group)

This online compilation of existing resilient power projects contains information about system design, services provided, and project financing, as well as detailed case studies for some installations.

Resilient Power Policies

Many states and communities are beginning to lead the way in supporting resilient power technologies through supportive policies and market mechanisms. The following resources are intended to give policymakers and advocates an overview of existing policies and programs, along with guidance to inform the design of new resilient power initiatives.

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Energy Storage: The New Efficiency ― How States Can Use Efficiency Funds to Support Battery Storage and Flatten Costly Demand Peaks (Clean Energy Group, 2019)

This report describes the process of enabling use of state energy efficiency funds to support the deployment of energy storage with performance incentives offered for demand reduction.

• Webinar: Energy Storage in State Energy Efficiency Plans: Lessons from Massachusetts (Clean Energy Group 2019)

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Principles of Equitable Policy Design for Energy Storage (Union of Concerned Scientists, Clean Energy Group, et al, 2019)

UCS, CEG, and a wide range of stakeholders from across the country met in December 2018 to develop a set of principles to ensure equitable deployment of energy storage technologies.

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Solar+Storage for Low- and Moderate-Income Communities: A Guide for States and Municipalities (Clean Energy States Alliance, 2017)

This guide seeks to provide state and municipal officials with information to develop effective solar+storage policies and programs that benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. It explores a range of policy approaches that have been successfully employed and provides program examples from states that have made LMI access to these technologies a priority.

• Webinar: Solar+Storage for Low- and Moderate-Income Communities (Clean Energy States Alliance, 2017)

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What States Should Do: A Guide to Resilient Power Programs and Policy (Clean Energy Group, 2015)

This guidebook is intended to help states establish new policies and support new markets to advance clean resilient power nationwide. It profiles leading state programs and makes recommendations for what other states can do to support the deployment of resilient power systems.

• Webinar – What States Should Do: A Guide to Resilient Power Programs and Policy (Clean Energy Group, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, Oregon Department of Energy, New Jersey Energy Resilience Bank, 2015)

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What Cities Should Do: A Guide to Resilient Power Planning (Clean Energy Group, 2015)

This paper calls for a systematic approach to protecting critical facilities with smarter resilient power solutions. It presents series of guidelines and best practices for cities and towns preparing to deal with the impacts of severe weather events.

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Webinar – Improving Air Quality with Energy Storage: A New Deployment Strategy for Public Health and Environmental Equity (Clean Energy Group, PSE Healthy Energy, 2016)

This webinar describes a new approach to the siting and dispatch of energy storage and demand response resources based on public health considerations. The presenters make a case for policy-driven clean energy deployment strategies based on impacts to air pollution, human health, and environmental justice.

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Does Energy Storage Fit in an RPS? (Clean Energy States Alliance, 2016)

This paper explores the question of how states, which have taken the lead in promoting clean energy through Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), could facilitate increased deployment of energy storage through similar mechanisms.

Additional Resources

Several other organizations across the country have projects dedicated to advancing resilient power technologies. Project descriptions and links are available below.

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Energy Storage Technology Advancement Partnership (U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, Clean Energy States Alliance)

The Energy Storage Technology Advancement Partnership (ESTAP) is a federal-state funding and information sharing project that aims to accelerate the deployment of electrical energy storage technologies in the United States through the creation of technical assistance and co-funding partnerships between states and the U.S. Department of Energy. ESTAP hosts frequent webinar on topics related to resilient power.

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New York City Resiliency Resources (City University of New York, Meister Consulting Group, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

New York City’s Resilient Solar project aims to support the growth of resilient solar electric systems that can supply clean, emergency power and provide energy storage during electricity outages, by enabling the systems to work independently of the grid. The project will create a roadmap for the integration and tracking of resilient solar systems, conduct analysis for deploying resilient solar electric systems on designated critical infrastructure facilities, and provide a calculator for public use.

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San Francisco Solar+Storage for Resiliency (San Francisco Department of the Environment)

San Francisco’s Solar+Storage for Resiliency project aims to expand the solar market by serving as a national model for integrating solar+storage into the city’s emergency response plans. The project team worked closely with stakeholders to overcome regulatory, financial, and technical barriers and create a roadmap for deploying solar+storage for resilience both locally and nationally.

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Solar Market Pathways: Building Resilience with Solar+Storage (U.S. Department of Energy)

This toolkit features the best available resources, tools, and real-world examples to help local governments, community advocates, solar project developers, emergency management professionals, facilities managers, and other stakeholders understand the practical, technical, regulatory, and financial aspects of implementing resilient solar.

Resilient Power Resources in Spanish

Spanish language publications related to resilient power are listed below.

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Comprendiendo Solar+Almacenamiento: respuestas a las preguntas más frecuentes sobre el almacenamiento de baterías y energía solar fotovoltaica (Clean Energy Group, 2020)

La información presentada en la guía se centra principalmente en las instalaciones de Solar+Almacenamiento detrás del medidor ubicadas por el cliente, aunque gran parte de la información también es relevante para otros tipos de proyectos, incluyendo los proyectos de solamente almacenamiento y proyectos de Solar+Almacenamiento de parte frontal del sistema. Está destinado a servir como punto de partida para establecer una base de conocimiento y comprensión para las personas y organizaciones que comienzan a explorar opciones de Solar+Almacenamiento para sus hogares, negocios o instalaciones comunitarias.

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Lista de Cotejo del Proyecto Solar+Almacenamiento (Clean Energy Group, 2019)

La lista de cotejo del Proyecto Solar+Almacenamiento de Clean Energy Group tiene como objetivo servir como punto de partida para cualquier persona que esté considerando emplear un proyecto solar+almacenamiento como energía de respaldo. Los beneficios de la energía solar+almacenamiento son muchos y variados, desde el suministro de energía a las cargas críticas en caso de emergencia, hasta el ahorro de dinero de los propietarios en las facturas de servicios públicos y la generación de ingresos mediante la prestación de servicios públicos y servicios a la red.

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Energía Solar con Equidad Social – Resumen Ejecutivo (Clean Energy States Alliance, 2019)

El objetivo del informe “Energía Solar con Equidad Social” es acelerar la implementación de energía solar en comunidades de escasos recursos en formas que proporcionen beneficios significativos y duraderos para estas comunidades.

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Lineamientos para garantizar una política equitativa de almacenamiento energético (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2019)

En diciembre del 2018, la Union of Concerned Scientists convocó a un grupo diverso de partes interesadas que desarrolló principios consensuados de diseño de políticas equitativas para el almacenamiento energético. Las y los participantes concibieron estos principios como puntos de referencia para los formuladores de políticas que buscan implementar almacenamiento energético de manera que priorice las necesidades e intereses de las comunidades. Este resumen de políticas examina las políticas de almacenamiento energético y equidad en los estados que han avanzado en el tema, y ofrece recomendaciones para los formuladores de políticas en cuanto al diseño de políticas equitativas de almacenamiento energético.