12/6/17, 6(39 AMA State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter Plans | Greentech MediaPage 1 of 7greentechmedia/articles/read/a-state-by-state-snapshot-of-utility-smart-solar-inverter-plans#gs.dwyjHm0A State-by-State Snapshot of Utility SmartSolar Inverter PlansGRID OPTIMIZATION (/ARTICLES/CATEGORY/GRID-OPTIMIZATION)A State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter PlansHawaiis out in front, California has the master plan, andArizona has utilities ready to roll out pilots.JEFF ST. JOHN NOVEMBER 06, 2015Smart inverters are going to play an important role in the future of rooftop solar. Theyalready are in Germany, and in the United States, a handful of bellwether utilities arealready starting to deploy them. Now the question is whether state-by-state regulationsand industry standards can evolve quickly enough to let more utilities and invertermakers join in.Those are some of the top-line findings from a report released Thursday by the SolarElectric Power Association (SEPA) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).Taking a look at four key U.S. utilities, the report highlights the significant differences12/6/17, 6(39 AMA State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter Plans | Greentech MediaPage 2 of 7greentechmedia/articles/read/a-state-by-state-snapshot-of-utility-smart-solar-inverter-plans#gs.dwyjHm0between todays limited smart inverter rollouts, and the full spectrum of capabilitiesenvisioned (greentechmedia/articles/read/california-closes-in-on-smart-solar-inverter-rules) for the technology down the road.The report, Rolling Out Smart Inverters (solarelectricpower/discover-resources/publications-and-media.aspx), finds evidence that autonomous inverter gridsupport functions can be readily deployed at low cost today, and that retrofittinginverters for advanced capabilities can be effectively managed by utilities.These enhanced capabilities, which include reactive power compensation, voltage andfrequency ride-through, and real-time data connectivity, “could potentially offer utilitiesa least-cost tool for mitigating many grid management challenges" and “help defer oravoid certain distribution, transmission, and electric supply upgrades.” At the same time, “unresolved issues related to the devices implementation and usehave limited deployment. Ongoing revision of voluntary standards (e.g., IEEE 1547), gridcodes (e.g., Californias Rule 21), interconnection procedures, and communicationsprotocols are affecting utility rollout approaches.”The four utilities - Arizonas Salt River Project (SRP) and Arizona Public Service (APS),The Hawaiian Electric Companies, and Californias Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) - arein very different stages of deployment, with very different goals. At the same time, eachutilitys work is in some ways interdependent on the others. Californias work onrevising grid codes and industry standards to allow smart inverters to come to marketwill have an important influence on how quickly Arizonas project can get started, forinstance. On the other hand, Hawaiis smart inverter deployments have in some casesgone ahead of the groundwork being done in California and helped to inform it.12/6/17, 6(39 AMA State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter Plans | Greentech MediaPage 3 of 7greentechmedia/articles/read/a-state-by-state-snapshot-of-utility-smart-solar-inverter-plans#gs.dwyjHm0HawaiiHawaii went first, because it had to. As ofthis year, the island of Oahu is getting acollective 500 megawatts, or 15 percent ofinstalled generation capacity, from solar PV,and 97 percent of that is residential. Andunlike mainland grids, the “small, isolatednature of the islands grids” makes inverterresponse to voltage and frequency events12/6/17, 6(39 AMA State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter Plans | Greentech MediaPage 4 of 7greentechmedia/articles/read/a-state-by-state-snapshot-of-utility-smart-solar-inverter-plans#gs.dwyjHm0much more important, “because each grid network must be self-sufficient; it cannotrely on neighboring electricity systems for support.”By 2011, Hawaiian Electric was working with inverter installers to widen the frequencytrip limits on their PV-connected systems, to avoid the threat of lots of rooftop solartripping offline during a frequency excursion and making the problem worse. It alsoasked that inverters be able to switch to “must ride through” settings if utility gridoperators determined they needed the solar to get through the problem.In 2014, Hawaii demanded more of their inverters, making ride-through capabilitiesmandatory for systems installed after February 2015. It has since played host to anumber of smart inverter pilots, featuring industry players such as SolarCity(greentechmedia/articles/read/HECO-and-SolarCity-to-Put-Smart-Solar-Inverters-Through-Real-World-Testing) and Enphase(greentechmedia/articles/read/how-heco-is-using-enphase-data-to-open-its-grid-to-more-solar), that have shown how residential solar inverters can beupgraded remotely to meet these requirements.CaliforniaPG&E also has a lot of rooftop solar to contend with. Total distributed generationpenetration on the distribution system is about 10 percent of peak load, and 80 percentof that is PV, the report found. But individual feeders range from nothing to beyond 200percent of the feeders peak load, and many circuits are expected to reach 100 percentof peak load in the coming years.But where Hawaii has pushed ahead of industry standards to some degree, “PG&Esstrategy is essentially rooted in compliance with new state-level requirements,” thereport noted. That includes revisions to the California Public Utilities CommissionsRule 21, led by the Smart Inverter Working Group, formed by the CPUC and theCalifornia Energy Commission in 2013 to determine how key advanced invertercapabilities (greentechmedia/articles/read/california-closes-in-on-smart-solar-inverter-rules) could be aligned with state grid codes, interconnectionprocedures, and industry technology standards and safety certifications.12/6/17, 6(39 AMA State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter Plans | Greentech MediaPage 5 of 7greentechmedia/articles/read/a-state-by-state-snapshot-of-utility-smart-solar-inverter-plans#gs.dwyjHm0Ozark LED & Solar - Call Today - No Money Down Solar InstallsThe area's leader in Solar and LED solutions. Free estimates, call us todayozarkledBy next year, new solar systems areexpected to come with so-called “Phase 1"autonomous capabilities, includingexpanded ride-through settings such asthose being used in Hawaii, as well asadjustable volt/VAR settings that could beactivated by the utility. Phase 2, which willdeal with communications capabilities beingdefined in standards such as IEC 61850 andSEP 2.0, and Phase 3, which will implementmore dynamic controls and dispatchability,are further out.While smart inverter pilots are underway in California(greentechmedia/articles/read/california-launches-its-first-real-world-smart-inverter-test), PG&E hasnt yet taken its own pilots out of its test facilitiesat present. “Utilities in California have the flexibility to implement Rule 21 before theeffective deadline, and PG&E may do so on a case-by-case basis as feeder conditionswarrant. The utility has not yet implemented any inverters in compliance with Phase 1.Despite the vast deployment of PV in PG&Es service territory to date, the utility has noplans to retrofit inverters on previously installed systems.”Arizona12/6/17, 6(39 AMA State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter Plans | Greentech MediaPage 6 of 7greentechmedia/articles/read/a-state-by-state-snapshot-of-utility-smart-solar-inverter-plans#gs.dwyjHm0Ozark LED & Solar - Call Today - No Money Down Solar InstallsThe area's leader in Solar and LED solutions. Free estimates, call us todayozarkledThe two Arizona utilities rounding out the report havent yet deployed smart inverters,but both are in the midst of designing utility pilots to test them out. These plans includeautomated features like ride-through settings, but they also include a communicationsand control component.As part of its Solar Partner Program(aps/en/ourcompany/aboutus/investmentinrenewableenergy/Pages/solar-partner.aspx?src=solarpartner), APS is seeking permission to install smart invertersfor about 1,500 home solar systems, totaling up to 10 megawatts, in the Phoenix metroarea. Each customer will receive a $30 per month bill credit for turning over theirinverters to utility data collection, and potentially to real-time controls.APS control system is meant to “update settings, command inverter responses duringcontingencies, and leverage the inverters sensor data for feedback on operations andoverall power quality,” the report notes. “To better align solar output with peak systemdemand, APS is targeting participants with west- or southwest-facing rooftops.Additionally, grid-tied battery(greentechmedia/articles/read/APS-Proposes-21-Monthly-Fee-for-Residential-PV-Launches-Home-Energy-Stora) will be installed on two feeders,” addingenergy storage to the list of capabiltiies being tested.SRPs Advanced Inverter Project(srpnet/newsroom/releases/021715.aspx) is also designed as autility-controlled pilot, with a target of linking about 1,000 residential solar systems.Like Hawaii and California, its planning to test a certain number of inverters using onlyautonomous functions.storage12/6/17, 6(39 AMA State-by-State Snapshot of Utility Smart Solar Inverter Plans | Greentech MediaPage 7 of 7greentechmedia/articles/read/a-state-by-state-snapshot-of-utility-smart-solar-inverter-plans#gs.dwyjHm0A second category of inverters will come with limited communications capabilities,mainly aimed at making seasonal adjustments to operations - for example, matchingsummertime peak air conditioning loads to peak solar PV output. A third category ofinverters, capable of dynamic communications capabilities linked with a pilotdistribution management system, will be limited to a single circuit.