Solar Market Grows Despite Legislative Rollbacks

CHANDLER, Ariz. — The solar market is growing in the U.S., but more opportunity brings more challenges. Sun Valley Solar Solutions (SVSS), based in Chandler, Ariz., is witnessing growth in the industry with some push back from legislators.

SVSS recently completed a 1.7 MW solar PV installation at the Gatorade bottling and packaging facility in Tolleson, Ariz. The system, which includes more than 5,000 Canadian Solar modules, stainless steel racking from Applied Energy Technologies and three Advanced Energy inverters, is expected to generate 3 million KwH each year.

“Companies in particular are using solar as a way to offset the absorptive bills that they get,” said Pel Abbott, vice president of marketing with Sun Valley Solar Solutions. “[The residential market is having a steady growth because people are still just becoming aware that solar power gives them electricity for their home.”

The major benefit in choosing SVSS, is that the company is constantly improving in order to bring their clients the most efficient and lasting product possible. Founders Joe Messner and Russ Patzer, are former Intel engineers. Upon founding the company in 2006, they immediately began to research what technologies would be the best for the dry desert heat of Arizona.

“The biggest change has been in financing. The technology is pretty tried and true. We work with what we feel are the best panels, which is Sun Power,” Abbott said.

The Need for Battery Storage

Though SVSS uses what they believe is the best solar PV technology available, one technological advancement sorely needed on the solar market is battery storage, Abbott said.

“In terms of changing technology, I’m hopeful that in the future we’re going to be seeing a lot more storage,” she said. “The battery technology is really where we need to make some advances.”

Researchers and engineers from across the nation are searching for a way to develop affordable battery storage technology that has the ability to hold large amounts of energy from installations. The U.S. Department of Energy, for example, funded a project at Harvard University that is developing a type of flow battery to bring energy storage capacity up and costs down.

Abbott hopes that 2014 will be a year of advancement for solar battery storage.

“I am hoping that we see a lot more battery storage for the average homeowner and for the small business,” she said. “I think it will revolutionize everything.”

The Politics of Solar

A major obstacle for many states in pursuing solar energy can be state lawmakers. A long battle between solar advocates and the Arizona Corporation Commission, the five-person panel responsible for making energy policy decisions in the state, resulted in a fee of 70 cents per kilowatt of installed power on home operators that rely on net metering.

“For some reason they’re fighting net metering, which is really important to our industry,” Abbott said. “They’re doing it throughout the nation. It’s not just Arizona waging that war.”

Colorado is also seeing a push back to solar developments in the state as well, Abbott said. Xcel Energy, a utility provider to several states, is pushing to impose a similar fee like the one in Arizona.

“Colorado was really going after rooftop solar in a big way and now all of a sudden there’s this big fight. Who’s behind all this? What are they really up to,” Abbott said. “We need to take control of all this. We need to do what’s right for our country.”

There are several reasons for the clash between solar advancements and lawmakers, Abbott said, from corporate lobbyists to simply a fear of the unknown. However, Abbott believes that the nation must follow the advice of the nation’s scientists and be part of the global solution to provide renewable energy.