The Power of the Elements: Growing Residential Solar Installations and Weather’s Impact on Renewable Grid Operations

Hosts Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle discuss two recent stories from NREL:   

• In 2023, the SolarAPP+ automated online permitting platform streamlined the approval process for residential rooftop solar installations, reducing project timelines by approximately 14.5 business days compared to traditional methods. This advancement not only saved over 15,400 hours of permitting department staff time but also eliminated more than 150,000 business days in delays, accelerating the adoption of clean solar energy across 97 local governments in the United States.
• In a groundbreaking study, NREL analyzed the evolving impact of extreme weather events on the U.S. power grid as renewable energy integration increases. The study found that despite growing renewable energy sources like wind and solar, the grid's resilience to extreme weather remains robust, challenging traditional definitions of "extreme" weather and emphasizing the importance of planning for periods of low renewable output.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at podcast@nrel.gov. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Transcript

Kerrin: Welcome to Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast, brought to you by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. We’re highlighting the latest in clean energy research and innovations happening at the lab. It’s Wednesday, June 26. I’m Kerrin Jeromin.  

Taylor: And I’m Taylor Mankle. Kerrin, summer is in full swing here! You can feel it out there, too! 

Kerrin: Absolutely. The sunshine is here, it is strong, and you know, there’s really no feeling like a warm, sunny day.   

Taylor: No kidding! And the sun—or the sun’s power—is one of our topics this episode!  

Kerrin: Specifically, how we’re harnessing its power in the form of photovoltaics.  

Taylor: And how NREL is helping residential solar projects harness the sun’s power faster, safer, and more efficiently.  

[music]  

Taylor: Alright, Kerrin. Are you ready for a fun stat? You know I’ve always got them ready. 

Kerrin: I am always ready for your fun stats. Go!  

Taylor: Ok, so. There were 671,000 new solar photovoltaic systems installed on residential rooftops in the United States in 2022 alone.  

Kerrin: Wow – that’s powerful.

Taylor: No kidding. 

Kerrin: And with NREL’s free automated online permitting platform—which we call SolarApp Plus, residents and solar installers can fast track the permitting process for their solar photovoltaic—or PV—systems.  

Taylor: The app compiles a checklist to streamline and enhance safety for the final inspection.  

Kerrin: And get this—through SolarApp Plus, projects get installed about 2 weeks sooner compared to traditionally permitted projects. 

Taylor: You know, traditional solar permitting methods vary between jurisdictions, and the costs and sometimes confusing installation timelines can cause a lot of uncertainty for both solar installers and homeowners.  

Kerrin: Which was the driving factor to develop SolarApp Plus: To help US communities standardize local government permitting for most residential rooftop PV and solar plus storage systems, while ensuring those systems meet the latest code requirements for safety.   

Taylor: NREL launched the platform in 2019 and it’s pretty much continued to grow ever since. The lab recently released some performance data from last year.  

Kerrin: Does it contain more fun stats?  

Taylor: You better believe it!  

Kerrin: Yes!  

Taylor: Alright, so here’s another fun one: Solar App Plus projects have cut out more than 150,000 business days of permitting-related delays in 2023 alone. 

Kerrin: Ok, yeah.

Taylor: Can you believe that? 

Kerrin: Yeah, no. That’s pretty amazing. One of the biggest benefits of SolarApp Plus to solar installers is that it cuts down on solar PV project timelines. It reduces the full permitting timelines by—get this—31%! 

Taylor: Whoo! 

Kerrin: And saved more than 15,000 hours of permitting department staff time. That’s incredible. 

Taylor: It is, and they keep coming. Here’s another one Kerrin: by the end of 2023, 97 local governments had publicly launched the SolarApp Plus platform for their communities to use, with 70 more on the way.  

Kerrin: We love it. Listeners, you can find many more fun facts in the performance review on nrel.gov. But we bet you’re probably wondering: these are some impressive numbers—but why do we want to standardize and automate the solar permitting process? Why does it even matter?  

Taylor: Totally. And the simple answer is that it’s critical to making it easier for American homeowners to get their electricity from the sun.  

Kerrin: And more rooftop solar in US communities can mean local job creation, lower utility bills, energy resilience, and the ability to decarbonize the local grid. It’s a win all around, really.  

Taylor: And best part? It’s totally free for local governments.  

Kerrin: Free is good. And hey! Here’s a bonus prize for our dedicated audience who listen to this podcast first thing to start off your Wednesday... there is a webinar happening today–June 26– that will discuss the 2023 performance in more detail.  

Taylor: Yep! It’s called SolarAPP Plus 2023 Performance Review Webinar and it’s happening today on Zoom at 1 p.m. Mountain. You can register at nrel.gov. Good thing you listened to this episode early if you’re stopping by!  

[music] 

Kerrin: Alright, Taylor, stand back. Next, we are talking about my favorite subject—weather!  

Taylor: Oo - when world’s collide, Kerrin, better believe I’m going to lean on you here, as our resident meteorologist!  

Kerrin: Thank you very much! Yeah, this one’s interesting to me. There is so much to learn about how extreme weather can impact the power grid. 

Taylor: OK, I can actually help here a little bit. Thankfully, there’s a study from NREL called “The Evolving Role of Extreme Weather Events in the U.S. Power System with High Levels of Variable Renewable Energy.” This is a first-of-its-kind study that modeled scenarios to figure out the relationship between extreme weather and the electric grid. 

Kerrin: And more importantly, how to keep the grid reliably running as we increase our use of renewable energy sources that can be tied to nature. Like—solar, wind, water. The study really explores how we define extreme weather, and how that definition changes as our grid becomes more reliant on weather-based energy resources.  

Taylor: When we think of extreme weather today, most of us naturally imagine the events that cause major disruptions to our daily lives and are worthy of front-page news—which is front of mind for many right now as many of our coastal and island communities enter hurricane season. Now, the study is important because of that very term: extreme weather. More and more we’re hearing about severe storms, unprecedented cold spells and heat waves—and their impacts on electric utilities, grid operators, and, ultimately, us as customers. But, NREL found the power grid impacts of extreme weather events do not increase as more wind and solar power are added to the grid. It’s complicated, and we’ll explain why in just a minute—but there’s a potential offset factor during extreme events.

Kerrin: To explore this whole idea, NREL analysts investigated two questions: First, whether increasing levels of wind and solar power tied to the grid make it more challenging to reliably operate the power system during extreme weather events. And second, if renewable technologies change, what types of weather events we consider to be “extreme” based on how they impact grid operations.  

Taylor: And they used three key components for this: The first, NREL’s Regional Energy Deployment System model—or ReEDs—to simulate the evolution of the bulk power system. Second, historical weather data for the years 2007 to-2013, and third, a commercial electricity production cost modeling simulation tool. 

Kerrin: So, the reason that extreme weather events don’t impact the grid more even with increasing amounts of wind and solar is that wind and solar power tend to remain available even in extreme weather events, really just due to the meteorological nature of these systems themselves.  

Taylor: And this is where the meaning of that term “extreme weather” has changed. Now stick with us as we explain…  

Kerrin: Right, so here’s an example: People in a heat wave will probably start using fans and air conditioning to stay cool

Taylor: Right. 

Kerrin: And that puts a higher load on the grid. But at the same time, a hot day is often also a sunny day. 

Taylor: True.

Kerrin: And that means solar energy systems are creating a lot of power at the same time.  

Taylor: Right, and the same thing could happen on a cold winter day where more people are using their heaters, but that cold front could also come with strong winds that increase wind power generation.  

Kerrin: So the new “extreme” in weather conditions is actually moderately intense hot or cold weather conditions that occur simultaneously with long periods of low wind or cloudy skies. Now that is what has the impact on power system operation, more than a super intense or sunny heat wave. 

Taylor: It’s a little bit of a brain twist to think about, but it tells us some really important information about how to understand weather impacts moving forward.  

Kerrin: Especially as the grid is driven by more renewable energy!  

Taylor: The study shared more findings on extreme weather grid impacts, which you can check out at nrel.gov.   

[music]  

Kerrin: Alright, so we talked about summer being here at the beginning of the show, Taylor, but that just makes me think. As of next week, we’ve been doing this podcast for an entire year! 

Taylor: Wow.

Kerrin: Wow!

Taylor: Time flies. 

Kerrin: Doesn’t it, though?

Taylor: And to our listeners who have stuck with us from the beginning, thank you for spending your Wednesday mornings with us, or whenever you listen. To those just getting to know the show, we are SO excited to have you here.  

Kerrin: And speaking of our fantastic listeners, before we go, shall we share some listener mail, Taylor?  

Taylor: Ah, yes! I’ve got one, from Sean! Should I just read it?     

Kerrin: Go for it!    

Taylor: Alright, so Sean says: Hi Kerrin and Taylor, I'm a big fan of the Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and the high-quality production your team brings to these biweekly episodes. The diverse topics, valuable insights, and your amazing  energy make each episode highly entertaining and informational. I especially enjoy hearing from other researchers at NREL, such as Shashank Yellapantula, discuss their novel research. I wanted to give a big thanks to you, along with the rest of your team for producing such amazing content. I just listened to today's release, and look forward to the next one!    

Kerrin: Awe, that’s so sweet! Thanks, Sean! We really appreciate it. And we really do enjoy this, and love hearing that you enjoy the show.   

Taylor: Yes, it brings us so much joy as well. And listeners, if you want to share your thoughts with the podcast, send us a note at podcast@nrel.gov. Or, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! 

Kerrin: That’s right. We’ll be back in two weeks with more news from NREL. Thanks for listening, everyone. 

[music]    

Taylor: This episode was adapted from NREL news articles from June 2024 written by Madeline Geocaris and Harrison Dreves. Our theme music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode  music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino, of Drift B-C. This podcast is produced by NREL’s Communications Office and recorded at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are