Abstract
Through July 2017, corporate customers contracted for more than 2,300 MW of utility-scale solar. This paper examines the benefits, challenges, and outlooks for large-scale off-site solar purchasing through four pathways: PPAs, retail choice, utility partnerships (green tariffs and bilateral contracts with utilities), and by becoming a licensed wholesale seller of electricity. Each pathway differs based on where in the United States it is available, the value provided to a corporate off-taker, and the ease of implementation. The paper concludes with a discussion of future pathway comparison, noting that to deploy more corporate off-site solar, new procurement pathways are needed.
Original language | American English |
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Number of pages | 34 |
State | Published - 2017 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/PR-6A20-70003
Keywords
- corporate purchasing
- green tariff
- Power Purchase Agreement
- retail choice
- soft costs
- solar
- utility-scale
- voluntary market
- wholesale supplier