EnergySage offers one-stop shopping for solar PV

"We're essentially taking success from other industries and applying that to PV," explained EnergySage CEO Vikram Aggarwal. "We want consumers to see apples-to-apples comparisons with a standard set of assumptions, and the tools to make the right decision."

In general, consumers overall "are still very skeptical" about how solar PV and other renewable energy technologies (more on that later) can actually help them, Aggarwal noted. Educating consumers about the application, suitability and economics of solar PV, and how they can apply together to different situation, to a consumer's own property in a specific region, what it will cost and save them-"once those are answered, interest goes up tremendously," he said.

Founded in 2009, Cambridge, mass.-based EnergySage received a $500,000 DoE Sunshot grant in June 2012 to build out the platform for solar PV, part of the DoE of broader efforts to reduce "soft costs" associated with solar outside systems and hardware. The software already existed as an offline product; now they've made it into an online solar marketplace with transparency – a comprehensive one - stop shop.

Part of the EnergySage platform's service is in education, helping to drive the appeal of solar and other renewable energy technologies. Consumers are encouraged to create their own case studies describing their installed clean energy system, with information about its size, cost and savings; they're so able to rate their quotes and installer experiences and relay advice for others.

The platform's other goal is to reduce the time and money that suppliers and advertisers spend to acquire customers. Search costs can now exceed 25 percent of the entire system cost. SolarCity has cited 44 percent of new customer acquisitions. EnergySage did its own surveys and calculations, and came up with about $1.10 / W spent by the average residential installer on customer acquisition. Thus, EnergySage's online marketplace serves up to solar installers a plate of qualified and educated customers, to whom they can sell very quickly with a short sales process, closing a transaction in several weeks instead of several months, Aggarwal says.

How it works

A consumer posts basic information about the property, energy usage, and current electricity payments. A network of installers browses that information and can flag their "interest" in the project or formally submit a quote. A user guide offers suggestions along the way to improve the listing, to add more information and improve the listing so suppliers can better run their calculations and provide more targeted, speedier quotes. The platform's dashboard that shows a tally of what a customer will continue to pay the utility if they take no action, effective form of negative reinforcement, Aggarwal points out.

The platform's formulas "are not necessarily that complex," said John Gingrich, head of corporate development at EnergySage; "it's what we think are the most important metrics to customers." Two assumptions made are a standard 2.5 percent inflation rate to utility electricity prices, and REC/SREC values, though it "tend(s) to the conservative side," he noted. (Eventually consumers will be able to toggle assumptions for these two factors.)



For installers, their EnergySage dashboard should look similar to tools they're already using, like Salesforce.com. They can jump in and out of leads picking what's interesting to them. based on a consumer's profile it takes about 10 minutes to provide a quota, inputting cost, type of hardware (panels, inverter, technology parameter monitoring system), and a financing option. Installers can also see if others have expressed in interest in a prospective customer.

Installer in EnergySage's database are not self-selected; they go through a 10-point checklist, including being licensed in the state and approved to process rebates. Other qualifications include number of years in the market, focus on solar PV technology, and other quality metrics including speaking directly with the of the installers business ownership. "Once we ve done that vetting we let the marketplace judge them," Gingrich said.

The revenue model for this solar PV matchmaking service is a per-watt commission taken from business-winning installers. That will evolve as EnergySage batch gets into new markets with different sensitivities and price points, but "we want providers to have the fee same as there's a level playing field," said Gingrich. Installer for it's a very low-risk model, with a direct and committed pipeline of customers who are primed to move fast with approval and financing, says Vikram. EnergySage adds value to the transactions by helping educate and shepherd customers along the decision-making process, and opening quotes (and defining all the factors involved) in a clean, consistent, comparable format.

On early customers' perspective

We spoke with one EnergySage consumer users in Massachusetts, who knew he wanted a solar installation but clearly didn't want to repeat the typical process of looking up and vetting contractors. "" I could have done it on my own, but I'd have to be really motivated go find people, "but without knowing where to start or who to talk with," he explained. "I don't think I would have got this far - and wouldn't have understood it all either."

After plugging in a few criteria from his electric bill - total monthly kWh used, how much the last bill what, etc. - he's received a icone of roof-top solar proposals, all for system that could'nt around 50-54 percent of his electrical needs, meet with varying options for ownership from fully owned/paid up - front to zero-money-down and covered. After fielding several proposals, some via the site and later through offline follow-up ("responsiveness is free," he advises to installer using the platform) he's wants nearly decided on a third-party-owned option that pay itself off in about five years, and save him maybe $10,000 over 20 years.

Future expansion

EnergySage is initially targeting solar PV, but wants to help consumers research and shop for whatever clean energy technologies and systems would work best for them: solar hot water, geo thermal, combined heat/power, biomass, and even small scale wind. "We can take you and really empower you to make that decision, understand why one option vs. the other," Aggarwal said. "There's a very vast application for this kind of shopping experience." Hey Lake competition coming from larger solar installers such as SolarCity and SunRun Sungevity, who have the marketing muscle to stretch into multiple markets.

Currently EnergySage covers Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and "very soon" will expand to Rhode Iceland and Pennsylvania. Aggarwal expects the network to expand to 10-15 states by the end of this year, taking about two to four weeks to build out the site for a new state.

EnergySage has added some private investment to the DoE Sunshot funding, and is in discussions for another round of funding next year; most institutional investors step in once a product has demonstrated traction in the marketplace, Aggarwal noted. "We don't require a large capital infusion to break even," he added; "one or two million should be sufficient."

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Department of energy offers $10 million for algae biofuels

The Energy Department on January 17 announced that up to $10 million available to the potential of bio-fuels from algae is produced. The funding supports research projects to increase the productivity of algae cultivation systems and demonstrate algae harvesting and processing technologies, such as centrifugation and extraction. The Department encourages applicants from industry to apply universities and laboratories April 1, 2013.

These research projects maximize the yield from algae and production of bio-fuels helps intermediates that are the products of the cultivation of algae and preprocessing to improve. The yield of biofuel helps intermediates, lowering the cost of biofuels, and while enhancing the sustainability of biofuels algae by capturing energy from all parts of the raw material available. On a large scale, speed could help these technologies marketing of domestically produced low-cost biofuels from algae. A portion of the costs by at least 20% of the total cost of the project is required. The Department of energy progress warning message is displayed.

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Energy Department offers online training for residential PV inspectors

The SunShot initiative free online tool helps skills learn code inspectors to ensure recommendations needed.
Credit card: Craig Miller Productions

The Department of energy announced on October 1, a free online training program for building and electrical code officials, inspections for residential photovoltaic (PV)-solar energy systems perform. This training program helps a consistent and optimized PV test process in jurisdictions across the country, to establish cost reduction and time savings for consumers.

The photovoltaic-online training (PVOT) program is used a learning tool to illustrate the video and photos to the correct techniques for safe solar systems that meet all relevant building and electrical codes. It includes seven online modules, offers classes in subjects such as roof and ground mounted PV arrays, electrical requirements, equipment reviews, and accelerated allows. The first six lessons contain sequential material, while the last module offers a virtual stroll along a roof line, which looks similar to an inspector in a real situation. The PVOT program tracks each participant progress and test results and meet professional licensing requirements for ongoing training in most cities and States. The curriculum complies with current national electrical code requirements and industry standards that are referenced in the modules.

Although the program is designed the code officials, it is suitable solar installers, architects, and students for consumers who are interested in this growing area. While participation in the course is free of charge, there is a nominal fee for obtaining continuing education units by International Association of electrical inspectors (IAEI). The Interstate Renewable Energy Council developed the PVOT program for the Energy Department as part of the SunShot initiative solar instructor training network, to strengthen the quality and the capacity of the solar-PV vocational training in the country. The Department of energy progress warning message displayed.

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New York Offers $107 Million for Large Solar Power Projects

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on August 9 announced that $107 million is available for a major solar power incentive program that will increase the amount of electricity generated by photovoltaic (PV) systems throughout New York. The NY-Sun Competitive PV Program, administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, seeks proposals for PV systems greater than 50 kilowatts to be installed at larger commercial and industrial customer sites.

The newly established NY-Sun Competitive PV Program will make $36.4 million available in 2012 and $70.5 million in 2013. This phase of the program is available through the end of 2013 for PV projects in New York City and upstate New York at eligible customer sites. This is an expansion of a two-year-old program that previously focused on large PV systems for the commercial, industrial, and municipal sectors exclusively in New York City, Westchester County, and the lower Hudson Valley. All projects will require co-funding to best leverage state resources with funding capped at $3 million per project. See the New York press release and the NY-Sun Competitive PV Program initiative website.

The governor also signed a series of bills on August 17 as part of the NY-Sun initiative that will make solar energy more affordable for homeowners and businesses. The new laws include statewide tax credits for the lease of solar equipment and power purchase agreements, statewide sales tax exemptions for commercial solar equipment, and an extension of the real property tax abatement in New York City for solar installations. See the New York press release.

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Energy Department Offers $5 Million to Spur EV and Alt Fuels Adoption

The Energy Department on May 8 announced that up to $5 million in funding is available this year to help expand the use of alternative fuel vehicles, including electric vehicles (EVs), in cities and towns across the country. The funding will help cut through red tape for homeowners and businesses, provide training for mechanics and first responders, and support community planning to expand fueling infrastructure. The Energy Department anticipates awarding 10 to 20 projects this year to be completed within two years. The support of alternative fuel vehicles is part of a strategy to increase energy security in the United States, reduce emissions, and help drivers save money.

This initiative will help communities streamline and quicken permitting processes, and coordinate alternative fuel vehicle and EV infrastructure deployment across state, regional, and local governments. Selected projects will also help communities build workforces with the skills to facilitate these vehicles and infrastructure by training first responders and mechanics. In addition, they will provide resources, such as educational materials and tools, to help consumers understand the economic and environmental benefits of alternative fuel vehicles, and to choose the right vehicle for their needs.

The Energy Department seeks proposals that address barriers to the adoption of these vehicles, provide safety training, coordinate initiatives, and drive market development and transformation to make alternative fuel vehicles and fueling infrastructure widely available. Proposed projects should cover each of these areas. This funding opportunity does not provide for the purchase or installation of vehicles or infrastructure. DOE strongly encourages organizations to form teams that include one or more active, designated Clean Cities coalition as well as other partners with relevant experience and expertise. Applications are due by June 18, 2012. See the Energy Department Progress Alert and the funding opportunity announcement.

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Department of energy offers $ 9 million to improve the forecasting-solar

The Energy Department on 23 April announced is that $ 9 million available this year to help utilities and grid operators better forecast when, where and how much solar power in U.S. solar power plants are produced. Improved solar forecasts can make operators to integrate more solar power into the grid, and to ensure that the economic and reliable delivery of renewable energy. The selected projects, part of the DOE's SunShot initiative, takes up to three years and will need more than 20% of the total budget from private and other sources.

Changes in weather can cause variations in the solar power industry. Improved forecasting technologies help utilities and makes better predict operator, when clouds and other weather-related factors will reduce the intensity of incoming sunlight in solar installations. This information allows utilities and operators, to more accurately anticipate changes in the production of solar power and take measures to ensure the stability of the national power grid. This can reduce the costs for the integration of solar power stations in the network.

DOE selects competing one or two projects for this funding, potentially partnership with national laboratories, universities and industry. Winner is striving to improve the accuracy of the solar forecast in the demand forecast, short-term (1-6 hours) and day-ahead time frame. The Energy Department plans to fund projects that improve can integrate modelling, ground-breaking methods for accurate prediction find solar energy output, for solar energy in power system operations advanced weather forecasts and show the economic benefits and improved reliability of more accurate forecasts. See DOE progress alert, the full announcement for the funding opportunity Exchange and the SunShot initiative Web site.

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Energy Department Offers $2.5 Million for Biomass Stoves

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

The Energy Department announced on April 13 that up to $2.5 million will be available this year for applied research to advance clean biomass cookstove technologies for use in developing countries. The funding will support the development of innovative cookstove designs that allow users to burn wood or crop residues more efficiently and with less smoke than open fires and traditional stoves. DOE, along with other federal agencies, is a founding partner of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership to advance cookstove technologies that improve indoor air quality, reduce carbon emissions, and deliver important benefits for developing nations around the world.

The World Health Organization cites indoor smoke from cooking and heating as one of the top 10 threats to public health in developing countries, contributing to nearly two million deaths each year. Clean cookstoves with reduced emissions and increased energy efficiency will help prevent some of these deaths caused by smoke exposure. Energy-efficient cookstoves also reduce fuel use, slow deforestation, and reduce the time families have to spend collecting fuel.

The Energy Department encourages organizations including small businesses, non-profits, universities, and national laboratories, to submit proposals for applied research and development grants to develop clean and efficient cookstoves. To help ensure the technologies developed will be usable and adopted, the research and development work will be based on assessments of user needs, and prototypes will be tested in the laboratory and in the field. DOE is also interested in supporting the development of a software tool that integrates research findings to help stove designers and manufacturers improve a wide range of cookstoves. See the Energy Department press release and the Funding Opportunity Announcement.

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Energy Department offers up to $15 million for biomass fuel supplements

The Department of energy up to $ 15 million is announced on 6 April oil biomass-based supplements be demonstrated, can be mixed with petroleum. Known as "Bio oil", these precursors for fully renewable transportation could fuel in the oil refineries make processes, the conventional gasoline, diesel and jet fuel without requiring changes to existing fuel distribution networks or engines are integrated. The goal is to U.S. use of foreign oil and diversify the nation's energy portfolio to help.

The Department of energy expects full prototypes finance between five and ten projects in the financial year 2012 on bio oil to create, which tested in oil refineries and develop comprehensive technical and economic analyses of organic oils how could function can be used. The prototype organic oils are manufactured from a variety of raw materials. Domestic industry, universities, and laboratories are all eligible to apply. The results will be future efforts aimed at bio oil technologies forward and bring this renewable fuels on the market information. See the press release of Ministry of energy and the funding opportunity announcement.

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White House offers $ 14 million for advanced materials

The White House on 22 March announced a 14.2 million $ DOE effort to accelerate the development and deployment of stronger and lighter materials for advanced vehicles. The initiative helps to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and limiting carbon pollution.

The funding will support that help development of high-strength, lightweight carbon-fiber composite materials and advanced steels and alloys, vehicle manufacturers improve the fuel economy of cars and trucks ensuring and enhancing the security and performance. Replace cast iron and conventional steel parts with lightweight materials offers manufacturers include additional security features, integrated electronic systems, and emissions control equipment for vehicles without increasing its weight. Use lighter materials reduces also the fuel consumption of the vehicle. For example, a total weight of 10% reduction in fuel consumption by 6% - improve 8%.

DOE wants to finance projects in three main areas of materials research and development, including the development of modelling tools delivers higher performance of carbon fiber composite materials, is doing the same for advanced steels and explores new lightweight, high-strength alloys for energy-efficient car and truck engines. The Department accepts applications from industry, laboratories and University led teams to deal with these challenges and technologies that drive innovation in vehicle design. Applications are due May 7, 2012. See DOE press release.

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DOE Offers $6 Million for Fuel Cell EV Data Collection

DOE announced on March 1 that up to $6 million will be available this year to collect and analyze valuable performance and durability data for light-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Projects selected will gather data from next-generation FCEVs as they are operated in real-world conditions. The goal is to identify ways to lower costs, improve fuel cell durability, and increase overall vehicle performance.

DOE seeks applicants to design and implement projects to monitor the performance and durability of advanced FCEVs for up to five years. The projects—which share costs equally—will supply information on fuel cell system operation and other vehicle data to the Hydrogen Secure Data Center at DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for analysis and comparison. Data will be collected from various makes and models of FCEVs so that engineers and scientists can measure the performance and technical progress of a range of fuel cell systems. The conclusions drawn from the data by NREL will help identify and focus future research and development efforts and gauge progress toward fuel cell performance and cost targets. See the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy progress alert, the Funding Opportunity Exchange website, and the Fuel Cell Technologies Program website.

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DOE Offers Over $12 Million to Spur Solar Energy Innovation

DOE announced on February 8 more than $12 million in funding to speed solar energy innovation from the lab to the marketplace. The funding, which will be made available through the agency's SunShot Incubator program, will support advancements in hardware, reductions in soft costs, and the development of pilot manufacturing and production projects. Each awardee will make significant cost-share commitments.

The SunShot Incubator program, part of the SunShot Initiative, helps launch new startups and business units within existing companies to accelerate the innovative solar technology development. Since 2007, DOE has invested $60 million through the Incubator in promising technologies as they are brought from lab to marketplace. These investments have catalyzed $1.6 billion in private sector support.

The current funding opportunity builds on the SunShot Incubator Program's history of successful partnerships. Nearly 40 companies have participated in the Incubator, including Colorado-based PrimeStar Solar. In 2007, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and PrimeStar began a cooperative research and development agreement to transition NREL's cadmium telluride solar technology to commercial production. Primestar later received a $3 million Incubator award to commercialize its low-cost photovoltaic solar panels. Primestar is now owned by GE, which has launched a $600 million investment in the Primestar and the construction of a large-scale manufacturing plant in Colorado that will employ more than 350 workers to produce state-of-the-art solar panels.

Applications are due April 9, 2012. See the DOE press release, the funding opportunity announcement, and the SunShot website.

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DOE offers universities possibilities for SunShot solar further objectives

DOE is University research teams support the search for ways to improve the heat-transfer fluids for the concentration of solar power systems.
IMG credit: U.S. Department of the Interior

DOE announced two opportunities for researchers in universities, which initiative, a program to promote the aims Department SunShot drastically to reduce the total cost of the American solar energy on 20 January. DOE is up to $10 million to support the development of the liquids make available heat transfer the efficient, making the cost of energy from solar power (CSP) systems focus. The Department opened the second round of the SunShot initiative postdoctoral research awards for applied research in universities, laboratories and other research institutions.

See the call for heat-transfer fluids DOE supports University-based CSP research projects for the development and demonstration of liquids, which are more stable than current technologies at temperatures greater than 800 ° c. CSP plants mirror focus sunlight to a working medium generates heat, steam which spins a turbine or powers creates a heat engine, the electricity. Higher temperature working fluids could thus to combine systems with heat engines CSP, to convert the working fluid in power more than 50% of the heat.

This funding will be awarded within the framework of multidisciplinary University research initiative, a program of research, technology transfer in the market to speed up and preparing a new generation of scientists and engineers. DOE expected one or two projects within five years by this opportunity to finance. For more information, see the funding opportunity announcement on DOE funding opportunity Exchange Web site.

In addition, DOE opened the next round of SunShot postdoctoral research initiative awards, which provides students with the chance of advanced clean energy technologies. Receiver performs applied research at universities, laboratories and other research institutions. This program includes an opportunity for recipients in a research exchange programme with Australia under the United States and Australia solar energy cooperation take part. See the DOE progress alert, SunShot postdoctoral of researcher Web page and the SunShot initiative website.

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