New Funding to Help Train Professionals Managing Distributed Energy Technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $4.5 million in funding for education and training programs to help first responders, safety officials, and building managers and owners who are newly interacting with distributed energy resources, such as solar energy systems, energy storage systems, efficient building technologies, and alternative-fuel vehicles. This program will provide professionals with educational materials and training that prepare them to work safely and effectively with new energy technologies. The Education Materials for Professional Organizations Working on Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developments (EMPOWERED) funding program is a collaborative effort across three Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy offices: Solar Energy Technologies Office, Vehicle Technologies Office, and Building Technologies Office.
Learn more on EMPOWERED.
Request for Information on Potential Funding for Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings in Connected Communities
DOE is seeking public input on a potential funding opportunity to demonstrate and evaluate the capacity of energy-efficient buildings to interact with one another and the grid to provide greater degrees of demand flexibility at scale. “Connected Communities” —groups of grid-interactive efficient buildings that collectively work to maximize efficiency—leverage smart technology, distributed energy resources, flexible loads, and grid integration to cost-effectively reduce energy use and peak demand while improving the occupant experience. These services can be especially beneficial to public-sector stakeholders managing critical infrastructure and providing community services.
The Request for Information (RFI) allows a wide range of stakeholders to work with DOE on issues related to Connected Communities and help design and shape the goals of a potential Connected Communities funding opportunity. DOE anticipates awarding 4–6 projects of up to $7 million each in the form of cooperative agreements, or up to $42 million, and intends to issue the funding opportunity in summer 2020 via the EERE Exchange.
Responses to the RFI must be submitted electronically to CCPilotsRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Read and respond to the full RFI. Learn more about the Connected Communities program.
Funding Available for Rural Energy Savings Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now soliciting letters of intent for loan applications under the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), which assists rural families and small businesses achieve cost savings by providing loans to eligible entities that agree to make loans to qualified consumers to implement durable cost-effective energy efficiency measures. To be considered for financing, submit an electronic letter of intent to resp@usda.gov by May 18, 2020. For more information, visit the funding announcement.
Solar Energy Innovation Network Team Round Two Selections
DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) selected eight teams for the Solar Energy Innovation Network, a collaborative research effort to develop new solar energy applications in two areas: rural communities and commercial-scale settings. The teams will have access to critical technical expertise and facilitated stakeholder engagement so that their replicable innovations can make their way into the real world.
The teams are listed below:
- Commercial-Scale Solar
- Groundswell, Inc.
- Sustainable CUNY of the City University of New York
- Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
- Reno, Nevada
- Solar in Rural Communities
- Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources and Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers
- UMass Clean Energy Extension at University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Cliburn and Associates, LLC
- East River Electric Power Cooperative and University of Minnesota.
This round of the Innovation Network will end in spring 2021, and the teams will present their findings to other entities facing similar challenges. Sign up for the Innovation Network mailing list to stay informed of their progress.
New: 2020 U.S. Energy & Employment Report
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The Energy Futures Initiative and the National Association of State Energy Officials published the 2020 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, the fifth annual in-depth survey of the U.S. labor force and skills trends in five energy sectors across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey found that the U.S. Energy and Energy Efficiency sectors currently employ 6.8 million workers, and added 120,300 new jobs in 2019, over 7% of all newly created jobs nationwide. The report tracks employment trends in fuels; electric power generation; transmission, distribution, and storage; energy efficiency; and motor vehicles. To download the full report, state reports, and Executive Summary, visit the report website. |
Now Available: SLOPE Platform Beta Demonstration
On February 20, DOE and NREL demonstrated and answered questions about the State and Local Planning for Energy (SLOPE) Platform Beta, which featured an introduction to SLOPE Beta’s components:
- Electricity and natural gas consumption
- Energy efficiency potential
- Renewable energy technical generation potential
- Levelized cost of energy.
The demonstration also highlighted example use cases for state and local governments to effectively leverage SLOPE's capabilities. Access the SLOPE demo recording.
The SLOPE Platform, a collaboration between eight DOE technology offices and NREL, is a tool to enable more data-driven state and local energy planning by integrating dozens of distinct sources of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and (coming soon) sustainable transportation data and analyses into an easy-to-access, online platform that supports state and local decision making. Access SLOPE Beta. For more information on the Beta, please view the SLOPE fact sheet.
New Tutorial Videos for REopt Lite™
Have you heard about REopt Lite, but need some guidance on how to use the tool? Or have you never heard of it, but are you looking for a web tool that allows users evaluate the economic viability of distributed energy technologies, identify system sizes and battery dispatch strategies to minimize energy costs, and estimate how long a system can sustain critical load during a grid outage? Look no further – users can now view a series of short tutorial videos for REopt Lite. The videos provide an overview of REopt Lite inputs, plus in-depth reviews of the tool’s load profile, advanced utility rate, and resilience inputs, along with overviews of the tool’s financial and resilience optimization outputs.
CAISO Shows Wind Can Play a Major Role in Renewable Integration
NREL, California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Avangrid, and General Electric recently demonstrated the capability of large utility-scale wind plants to provide essential reliability services to the electricity grid. Partially funded by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, the testing was conducted in late 2019 over several days at Avangrid’s 131-megawatt Tule Wind Farm, east of San Diego.
The testing covered a range of the wind plant’s capabilities to provide frequency and voltage support, including ramping, regulation up and down following CAISO’s dispatch signals, primary frequency response, and reactive power and voltage control even when wind is not blowing.
The testing was successful, and the resulting CAISO report concludes that many existing wind plants have the necessary hardware to provide the full suite of essential grid services, provided some simple changes are made in how they operate. Access the report for more information.
New Website on Optimizing Solar PV Performance for Longevity
The federal government alone has increased the amount of on-site solar photovoltaic (PV) systems tenfold in the last eight years. The performance of PV systems for any building owner can be optimized throughout their 20- to 30-year lifespans by conducting proper operations and maintenance (O&M). This new website offers an overview of PV performance, how to measure it, and how to optimize it with an O&M plan. Check out Optimizing Solar PV Performance for Longevity.
Opportunities for ESPCs in Data Centers
May 21, 1:00–2:30 p.m. EDT
This webinar will present an overview of opportunities for using energy saving performance contracts (ESPC) and what makes data center efficiency improvements uniquely positioned and well-suited for an ESPC. Join the webinar on Thursday, May 21 from 1:00–2:30 p.m. EDT. Register now.
Church in Fairfax, Virginia to be state’s first C-PACE project: The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax will be the first property in Virginia to take advantage of the new commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) program to upgrade its aging heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system.
Connecticut Green Bank Surpasses 300 Closed C-PACE Projects at the End of 2019: According to the Connecticut Green Bank, the state's C-PACE program surpassed 300 closed projects at the end of 2019, reaching a total of more than $163 million in clean energy financing investment in local businesses.
Learn about what types of EERE funding are available for state and local governments. To view all open funding opportunity announcements, access:
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