Financing has been with solar since its earliest days. Before the lease and the power purchase agreement (PPA), residential solar customers would often purchase systems with cash. Cash payments are a form of financing, as the customer is choosing to purchase a solar...
In keeping with our mission of powering intelligent energy decisions, Clean Power Research is introducing a 10 km Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) dataset for use in Clean Power Research API services. Programmatic access to this high-resolution dataset and the...
Determining whether solar is right for you depends in large part on the amount of solar resource available where you live. Each month, we generate the PV Power Map using SolarAnywhere® irradiance data. These maps provide more than just an indication of the solar...
Falling photovoltaic (PV) system prices along with financing and installation innovations are driving continued rooftop solar growth—expected to be 30% in 2013 as reported by GTM Research. These customer-sited power generation resources are increasingly impacting...
Greentech Media’s recent article “How to Make Money from Land as a Solar Developer,” highlighted critical steps in the development of large solar projects that can make or break profitability. These include sizing the plant, applying for interconnection and a power...
As we discussed in an article last month, it’s no secret that solar power generation can vary from season-to-season based on local weather conditions. So given this variability, how do PV system owners—whether residential, third-party, commercial or utility-scale...
A critical aspect of the financial health of solar leasing companies or other ‘third-party owners’ (TPOs) is the performance of their ‘fleet’ of installed PV. When a PV system is not operating at peak performance, it's not producing as much power as expected, which...
Intuitively, we know that solar power generation is dependent on seasonal weather conditions. The January and February PV Power Maps, published in the May/June 2013 issue of Solar Today, illustrate that this year was no exception, with month-to-month variability...
Investment in PV presents unique risks, as the amount of energy a PV system produces is as variable as the weather. Unfortunately, quantifying PV risk can be just as daunting as predicting the weather. Today, researchers have access to more research methods and more...