SEIA Resources
Whitepapers
SEIA produces a variety of research and other supporting resources for the solar industry, ranging from full reports to short factsheets. Below is a list of our whitepapers, organized by date. For a full library of research and resources, click here.
The Solar+ Decade & American Renewable Energy Manufacturing
SEIA has an ambitious goal – solar energy will constitute 20% of all U.S. electricity generation by 2030. To reach this target, the massive growth the solar industry realized over the last decade will need to continue for the next decade. We will need to grow our industry an average rate of 18% annually and install more than 500 gigawatts (“GW”) of solar projects by the end of 2030, including approximately 77 GW in 2030 alone. Achieving this goal will result in hundreds of thousands of new U.S. jobs, more than 14 million solar rooftops, and 500 million metric tons of avoided CO2 emissions.
Installation Best Practices - Residential Portfolios
Developed by the SEIA Quality Assurance Working Group, this document was designed to update installation best practices originally developed by the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group organized by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and is intended to be updated as proper protocol dictates. The primary intention of this document is to provide recommended best practices to facilitate high-quality and consistent residential solar projects.
DER and the Non-Wires Solutions Opportunity
This whitepaper, the fifth in SEIA's series on grid modernization, focuses on the ways in which utilities are deferring traditional distribution grid investments with investments in distributed energy resources (DER).
Recommendations for Utility-Scale Developers - Executive Summary
Best Practices for Land Use and Zoning Project Approval Executive Summary As utility-scale solar projects have become more prevalent in the United States, there has been increasing need for attention to responsible land use and zoning practices. With North Carolina’s rise to the top of the national utility scale solar rankings comes a set of strategies for solar developers, local government officials, and interested community members.
Recommendations for Utility-Scale Developers
SEIA members have access to the full version of this whitepaper, which covers best practices for land use and zoning approval for utility-scale solar projects
Getting More Granular: How Value of Location and Time May Change Compensation for Distributed Energy Resources
The Fourth Installment in SEIA's New Opportunities for Solar Through Grid Modernization Series. For the full series, click here.
Solar Energy & Commercial Real Estate (CRE)
Solar energy offers commercial real estate (CRE) property owners and managers an exceptional opportunity to boost cash flow by reducing utility expenditures, increasing rents, and increasing common areas maintenance (CAM) reimbursements. Installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) array also fosters closer connections with tenants and their client bases, facilitates lease extensions, and enables a sustainable footprint.
Opening C&I Solar Markets with C-PACE
The US solar industry is largely concentrated on the East and West Coasts (Fig. 1), and with good reason: coastal markets have high energy prices, attractive incentives, and diverse ownership models that allow commercial property owners to decide their appetite for investment. However, the majority of US states see lackluster commercial solar development.
Hosting Capacity: Using Increased Transparency of Grid Constraints to Accelerate Interconnection Processes
The Third Installment in SEIA's New Opportunities for Solar Through Grid Modernization Series. For the full series, click here.
Improving Distribution System Planning to Incorporate Distributed Energy Resources
The Second Installment in SEIA's New Opportunities for Solar Through Grid Modernization Series. For the full series, click here.