Solar Energy Innovation Network Assistance for Early Adopters: Frequently Asked Questions

Jan. 17, 2023 by Alexandra Kramer

An NREL researcher answers frequently asked questions about the technical and analytical assistance provided to communities through the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN).

What Is 'Technical Assistance for Early Adopters'?

NREL is offering targeted technical and analytical assistance to help communities and organizations across the country adopt and apply insights developed through SEIN. One of the objectives of the Innovation Network is to enable other stakeholders facing similar challenges to employ the solutions generated through the program. We are calling teams engaging in this technical assistance "replicators" because these teams will be replicating certain aspects of the original SEIN teams' insights or tools but with their own approach that meets the goals of that replicator team.

Who Can Be a Replicator?

Assistance in applying lessons learned from the Innovation Network is open to all U.S.-based stakeholders, including but not limited to government entities, regulatory authorities, utilities, project developers, and community organizations. Individual organizations and teams of stakeholders are eligible for support.

Which SEIN Projects Are Being Replicated, and Which One Fits My Organization's Goals?

In the fall of 2022, we are providing technical assistance for replicators interested in similar topics to three of the SEIN Round 2 teams projects.

Breaking Barriers

The Breaking Barriers project was designed to improve electricity resilience at four historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in West Atlanta as well as within the surrounding energy-burdened community. To do so, the project undertook work to design and construct innovative urban energy resiliency hubs integrating microgrid technology, solar generation, and energy storage in these West Atlanta colleges and communities. The hubs will help Atlanta HBCUs and the energy-burdened broader community be more resilient, in addition to informing new course curricula at Atlanta University Center campuses and inspiring similar efforts at other HBCUs and beyond.

This project is best for replicators with goals related to:

Resiliency hubs
Community engagement
Addressing energy burden or energy justice communities
Minority serving institutions
Building solar-based curricula for students
Implementing microgrids with solar + storage.

Read the Breaking Barriers project's final report.

Clear Sky Decision Support Toolkit

The Clear Sky Toolkit is a resource to assess the feasibility of commercial-scale solar + storage to support public safety, disaster preparedness, and post-disaster recovery objectives. It provides local government staff, utilities, and other community partners with a screening template and tools for evaluating the potential to deploy commercial-scale solar + storage applications on critical facilities to mitigate the effects of power outages on critical infrastructure and essential services. The toolkit's Clear Sky Decision Support Template and Guide walk users through a structured approach to prioritizing potential sites that provide critical community services for solar + storage investments based on community resilience considerations, site feasibility, power requirements, and utility collaboration.

This project is best for replicators with goals related to:

Commercial-scale solar + storage
Community resilience
Designing for resiliency on critical infrastructure
Disaster preparedness planning for essential services
Prioritizing potential sites to provide resiliency or other emergency services.

For project tools and resources, see the Clear Sky Tampa Bay's website.

Rhode Island Interconnection Tools

This team developed an analytical approach to identify alternative options for managing interconnection costs and streamlining interconnection timelines for distribution system-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems not co-located with load. The project responded to challenges the team identified associated with interconnecting solar PV in rural areas in Rhode Island (e.g., requirements for costly and time-consuming upgrades). The team detailed and applied a technical analysis methodology to identify time-based operational parameters for a distributed energy resource system to mitigate violations on a utility distribution feeder. The project also explored the economic feasibility of the technical options identified. Additionally, the team documented one possible contractual agreement, referred to as an operating envelope agreement (OEA). The objective of an OEA is to identify a mutually agreeable set of technical operating requirements for a PV and storage system (including hours of enforcement, called an "operating envelope") that limits risk to neighboring customers and the utility's electric infrastructure and provides certainty to both the utility and the PV system owner.

This project is best for replicators with goals related to:

Challenges with interconnection or electrical networks
Distribution system connected PV systems
Connecting PV with rural systems or those not co-located with load
Identifying and mitigating violations to a distribution feeder
Developing an agreement to limit risk to electrical infrastructure.

For more information, read:

Use of Operating Agreements and Energy Storage To Reduce Photovoltaic Interconnection Costs: Conceptual Framework, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Use of Operating Agreements and Energy Storage To Reduce Photovoltaic Interconnection Costs: Technical and Economic Analysis, NREL Technical Report (2022)

None of Those Projects Aligns Exactly With My Organization's Goals. Is Replication Flexible?

If your goals or request for assistance do not exactly meet the topic areas that we are offering technical assistance for, we are flexible! As long as your goals are within the same general topic areas (e.g., resilient solar, storage, electrical networks, etc.), we are likely able to work with you to scope technical assistance that aligns with your organization's goals. If your goals are not tangential to these topic areas (e.g., transportation, more general electrification), then we may not be able to provide technical assistance at this time; however, please consider subscribing to the Innovation Network mailing list to learn when new topics are announced.

What Type of Work Can This Technical Assistance Be Used for?

The assistance can be used for:

Short-term, targeted assistance for gaps in technical needs
Techno-economic decision support (using tools such as NREL's REopt^®)
Consultation with NREL subject matter experts
Project design scoping for a future request for proposal
Engineering support
Flexible assistance based on participant's goals and priorities related to NREL's expertise on the selected topic.

The assistance cannot be used for:

Long-term assistance over the life cycle of a project
Formal project development or funding for a solar, storage, or microgrid system
Wages for staff
Grant writing services.

What Does Replication Look Like, Including the Timeline?

We estimate that the process will be 4–12 weeks from start to end.

Step 1: Intake Discussion

After a request form is submitted, the NREL team will schedule a virtual 1-hour intake discussion, where we will discuss the organization's projects, plans, and goals and how NREL's capabilities and tools may align.

Step 2: Develop Scope of Work

From there, we will discuss the proposal internally to bring in the correct technical experts and draft a scope of work (SOW) of technical assistance with up to 100 hours of NREL staff time. Additional follow-up meetings with the replicator may be necessary to further define the SOW. This process may take 2–4 weeks. After the SOW is drafted by NREL, the replicator will have the chance to review the SOW, provide feedback, and confirm that this SOW meets their goals.

Step 3: Deliver Technical Assistance

Once both NREL and the replicator agree on an SOW, the NREL team will begin the technical assistance, communicating regularly with the replicator and delivering on the agreed upon tasks. The technical assistance may be up to 100 hours of NREL staff hours, so depending on the SOW, this process may take 2–6 weeks.

How Much Does the Technical Assistance Cost?

This technical assistance is being offered at no cost. SEIN provides funding to NREL staff to execute the scope of work decided on by the NREL team and the replicator team at no cost to the replicator.

What Is Required From the Replicator?

There is no requirement other than the replicator's participation in scoping meetings, agreed-upon task deliverables, and other mutually agreed upon conversations. If your confirmed scope of work includes analysis that requires additional data, then there may be a need for the replicator to provide organizational data; however, this would not be a requirement unless it was requested and approved by the replicator.

What Is NREL's Goal for Innovation Network Replication?

NREL is interested in addressing barriers to solar deployment. This effort provides NREL the opportunity to share tools, lessons learned, and frameworks that have been successfully developed through SEIN with other interested organizations that might benefit from this work.

How Do I Apply for Technical Assistance?

To receive technical assistance to replicate or use tools from a project of interest, take 10 minutes to fill out a request form:

Campus and Community Resiliency Through Solar + Storage Technical Assistance Request Form (Breaking Barriers)

Siting Resilient Solar + Storage Technical Assistance Request Form (Clear Sky Decision Support Toolkit)

OEAs To Reduce Solar Interconnection Costs Technical Assistance Request Form (Rhode Island's Interconnection Tools)

How Do I Get in Contact With the Innovation Network Team To Ask Additional Questions?

Feel free to reach out to us with any questions at SEIN@nrel.gov