7.4 Community Shared Solar Electric Generation and Storage Systems

The 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards allow the possibility for the Standards requirements for photovoltaics on the site of the residential building to be fully or partially offset by Community Shared Solar Electric Generation. Community Shared Solar Electric Generation means solar electric generation or other renewable technology electric generation that is installed at a different site. Also, the batteries that can be installed in combination with photovoltaics on the building site to gain performance standards compliance credit can be fully or partially offset by Community Shared Battery Storage Systems that are installed at a different site. Community Shared Solar Electric Generation Systems and Community Shared Battery Storage Systems could be installed in combination or separately. Such systems are hereinafter referred to just as Community Shared Solar Generation Systems.

For these offsets to become available, entities who wish to serve as administrators of a proposed Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System must apply to the Energy Commission for approval, demonstrating that several criteria specified in Section 10-115 of the Standards are met, to ensure that the Community Shared Solar Generation System provides equivalent benefits to the residential building expected to occur if photovoltaics or batteries had been installed on the building site. The Energy Commission will carefully consider these applications to determine if they meet these criteria. If approved, Energy Commission approved compliance software will be modified to enable users to take compliance credit for buildings served by that Energy Commission approved Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System.

Any entity may apply to serve as administrator of a proposed Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System, including but not limited to utilities, builders, solar companies or local governments. The entity will be responsible for ensuring that the criteria for approval are met throughout (at least) a twenty-year period for each building that uses shares of the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System for partial or full offset of the onsite solar electric generation and batteries, which would otherwise be required for the building to comply with the Standards. Throughout that period the administrator will be accountable to builders, building owners, enforcement agencies, the Energy Commission, and other parties who relied on these systems for offset of full or partial compliance with the Standards. Records demonstrating compliance with the criteria must be maintained over that period, with access to those records provided to any entity approved by the Energy Commission.

Entities interested in applying to serve as administrator of a proposed Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System should become thoroughly familiar with the criteria for approval specified in Section 10-115, and contact the Energy Commission Building Standards Office for further discussion and explanation of the criteria as necessary.

In general, the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System must meet the following:

7.4.2 Enforcement Agency

The Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System must exist and be available for enforcement agency review early in the permitting process, and shall not cause delay in the in enforcement agency review and approval of the building that will be served by the Community Shared Solar Generation System. All documentation required to demonstrate compliance for the building and the compliance offset from the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System shall be completed and submitted to the enforcement agency with the permit application. The enforcement agency must be provided facilitated access to the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System to verify the validity and accuracy of compliance documentation.

7.4.3 Energy Performance and Minimum Community Shared PV and Battery Storage Size

Energy Commission approved compliance software must be used to show that the energy performance of the building’s share of the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System is equal to or greater than the partial or full offset claimed for the solar electric generation and batteries, which would otherwise be required for the building to comply with the Standards.

The minimum community shared solar size dedicated to the building and the annual kWh equivalence may be measured in one of two ways: (1) Using the CBECC-Res Simplified approach for PVs and the CFI orientation option, or (2) by modeling the actual attributes of the system using the detailed approach. When the detailed approach is used, the compliance software will determine a minimum kW size that will represent the portion of the community solar resource dedicated to the building, based on PV system component performance characteristics, azimuth (orientation and tilt), inverter type, tracking versus fixed systems, climate zone and CEC weather files containing solar availability data.

Additionally, If the community shared solar resources is coupled with a community shared battery storage system, in the CBECC-Res, the modeled PV system must also be coupled with at least a 5 kWh battery storage system to determine the size share of the community solar resource dedicated to the building. Also, the portion of the community shared battery storage system dedicated to the dwelling must match the battery storage size modeled in CBECC-Res.

7.4.4 Dedicated Building Energy Savings and Bill Reduction Benefits

A specific share of the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System, determined to comply with the Energy Performance requirement above, must be dedicated on an ongoing basis to the building. The energy savings benefits dedicated to the building shall be provided in one of the following ways:

B. Utility energy reduction credits that will result in virtual reductions in the building’s energy consumption, including but not limited to generation credit, solar charge, program charge, and power charge indifference adjustment (PCIA) charge; or

C. Payments to the building that will have an equivalent effect as energy bill reductions that would result from one of the other two options above.

For all three options mentioned above, the reduction in energy bills resulting from the share of the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System dedicated to the building shall be greater than the cost that is charged to the building to obtain that share of the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System. In other words, a building that participates in an approved community solar program, cannot be charged more than the same but nonparticipating building that has no onsite PV system and does not participate in a community solar program.

7.4.5 Durability

The benefits from the specific share of the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System must be provided to each dedicated building for a period not less than 20 years.

7.4.6 Additionality

The specific share of the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System must provide the benefits to the dedicated building that are in no way made available or attributed to any other building or purpose. Renewable Energy Credits that are unbundled from the Community Shared Solar Electric Generation System do not meet this additionality requirement.

Example 7-8

Question:

To help entities that might want to apply to the Energy Commission for approval of a Community Shared Solar Energy Generation System, please provide examples of each of the three optional ways energy savings benefits could be provided to comply with Section 7.4.3.2.3.

Answer:

Examples would include:

Actual reductions in the energy consumption of the building: This could be accomplished by locating the PV systems for several houses on a carport on common land in a subdivision, and direct wiring the unique PV panels serving each house to an inverter that is located on the home’s site. For homes served by utilities that are subject to compliance with Net Energy Metering requirements, the common land that is hosting the PVs on the carport would have to be adjacent to (could be directly across a street) the houses that are being served by the PV system. All other requirements of Section 10-115 would have to be met.

Utility energy reduction credits that will result in virtual reductions in the building’s energy consumption that is subject to energy bill payments: This could be accomplished for qualifying multi-family dwellings by participation in an approved virtual net metering program, which has PVs installed on the multi-family project site, and energy bill credits that reduce each dwelling unit’s monthly electricity bill consistent with Net Energy Metering requirements. Alternatively, this could be accomplished through a community shared solar program administered by a utility (like the Green Tariff Shared Renewables, or GTSR), for which a remote renewable resource is paid for through shares purchased for each home, and energy bill credits are that reduce monthly electricity bills are allocated based on the homes’ shares, including but not limited to generation credit, solar charges, program charges, and nonparticipant charges. All other requirements of Section 10-115 would have to be met.

Payments to the building that will have an equivalent effect as energy bill reductions that would result from one of the two options above: This could be accomplished by builders installing PV systems on other properties they own to offset the compliance requirement for onsite PVs on homes they build. The homes would pay for a share of the PV systems on the other properties. The builders would be obligated to make an ongoing cash payment back to the homes for the home’s share of the electricity generation achieved by the PV systems on the other properties. The share of the ownership of the PV systems on the other properties and the corresponding sharing of the electricity generation achieved by the PV systems on the other properties would not be accounted for through a utility system – the ownership share would not be paid to the utility and the payment for the share of the electricity generation achieved by the PV systems on the other properties would not be provided through a utility bill. The entire program would be administered by the builder for a 20-year period for each home. All other requirements of Section 10-115 would have to be met.

Example 7-9

Question

Could you also explain what the cost requirements are in the last sentence of Section 7.4.3.2.3 that says: “In other words, a building that participates in an approved community solar program, cannot be charged more than the same but nonparticipating building that has no onsite PV system and does not participate in a community solar program.”

Answer

In a nut shell, regardless of the three options above is chosen, it must be cost effective to the home for the home to participate in a community shared solar electric generation system program. The home will pay for its share of the community renewable resource, and will receive either energy bill reductions, credits or cash payments for the electricity that is generated by the community renewable resource. The $ value of the bill reductions, credits or cash payments must exceed the cost to the home to pay for its share of the community renewable resource.

Let’s take a hypothetical example of a Green Tariff Shared Renewables Program (GTSR) that is required by statute to be operated by the Investor Owned Utilities. The following shows the costs that the program charges a home to obtain shares of the program’s community solar resources, and the energy bill credit. The charges and credit are allocated per KWh generated by the home’s share of the community renewable resource.