Solar Program EM&V and Analysis

Utilities across the U.S. are increasing their uptake of solar at the home, local business, community, and grid scale. Frontier Energy partnered with utilities and government organizations to design rebate and incentive programs; measure the performance of those programs; and analyze the costs, benefits, and performance of solar DER.

Frontier Energy is:

• The independent evaluator for solar photovoltaic programs. Our team performs EM&V for solar development programs for residential, commercial, and low-income customers and acutely understand the program’s objectives, constraints, opportunities, and challenges.
• The implementor of market transformation initiatives that offer residential and commercial customers financial incentives to install solar systems on the customer’s side of the meter, increasing the number of qualified installers and decreasing average installed cost in a largely rural service area.
• The creator of Solar Cost-Benefit Analysis & Tools, a resource used to assess the benefits and costs of various solar applications. The report models direct benefits and costs and proposes consistent metrics for evaluating indirect benefits: jobs, economic development, environmental benefits, value added to public amenities, resiliency, and local public awareness.
• The lead author of the Texas Technical Reference Manual (TRM) and Solar Deemed Savings in 2000 and authored all subsequent updates. All Texas utilities that have solar PV development programs, as well as program implementers and evaluators, use TRM methodologies to report solar program savings and cost effectiveness.
• Monitoring and conducting real-time data analysis for solar projects that range from 61kw to 15 MW of generation capacity.