NREL Conduit Blog

Local governments nationwide are pursuing strategies to improve the sustainability, resiliency, and energy futures of their communities. A host of federal and non-profit tools and programs exist to support these strategies, but until now no single program has focused specifically on helping cities address all of their energy, sustainability, and resiliency challenges. Continue reading

This three-part STAT Chat podcast series features Joyce McLaren, a senior energy analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, discussing value of solar (VOS) policy, including what it is, how it is developed, and which methodologies are being used in the marketplace. Continue reading

Last week, two members of NREL's Solar Technical Assistance Team—Liz Doris and I—had the opportunity to travel to Jamaica to discuss the country's net billing program with a variety of stakeholders. Our work under this project is being funded by the State Department’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID), but we were able to draw extensively upon our experience supporting state and local governments through STAT. Continue reading

When analysts want to compare the cost of generating electricity from various sources such as wind, solar, coal, and natural gas, they often use a metric called the levelized cost of electricity or LCOE. This amount is typically displayed as cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). In the power industry, the LCOE is also referred to as the “bus bar” cost. Continue reading