Clean Growth Incubator Webinar Series
A Training Series for Cities and Counties
The Center for Strategic Policy Innovation has developed a targeted Webinar Training Series as part of the Clean Growth Incubator Platform. Launched in October 2020, the Center is hosting numerous, ongoing, topic-specific webinar training sessions to help drill down on some of the more complex issues of how to evaluate, plan for and build out renewable energy infrastructure. This training program is designed to help city and county engineering/public works and planning departments, and local NGOs, to develop in-house feasibility and modeling capabilities to begin the visioning process for renewable energy and energy resiliency projects within their communities.
Clean Growth Incubator Rollout Event
Co-sponsored by Arizona State University’s Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS), the Center for Strategic Policy Innovation held its Rollout Event to launch the Clean Growth Incubator. This event introduced attendees to the Clean Growth Incubator Template - a multi-disciplinary, step-by-step guidebook that serves as a roadmap for local governments to create clean energy-driven local economies. The program included a detailed overview of the Clean Growth Incubator’s approach to the buildout of a local clean energy economy, and described how local government stakeholders can become eligible to participate in the Incubator's training and buildout Platform.
The Rollout event also featured a Speakers Session, including experts from LEAPS, Nutter Consulting, Land Art Generator, Curtis Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, Schneider Electric, and Pearlman & Miranda.
Getting City Clean Energy Projects "Shovel Ready" In Time For Federal Stimulus Monies
On March 11, 2021, Kevin Daehnke and Charlie Howland, both members of the Center’s Board of Directors, provided a webinar for the Municipal Sustainable Energy Forum entitled “Getting City Clean Energy Projects “Shovel Ready” in Time for Federal Stimulus Monies.” In this webinar, Mr. Daehnke provided insights on what it means to be “shovel ready” in order to access grant monies for local renewable energy projects and how to best position projects for future federal and state grant funding. The presentation ranged from identifying “low hanging fruit” projects, to obtaining regulatory approvals, to securing private sector financing strategies.
Leveraging NREL’s SAM & REopt Tools for Local Clean Energy and Microgrids
Hosted on March 25, the first webinar featured a panel of experts from NREL, including Nate Blair, Kate Anderson, and Xiang Li. These speakers provided an overview of both SAM and REopt, as well as Open DSS, for those who are new to these publicly available (and free) tools, as well as an in-depth review of how these tools can be applied to site identification, feasibility assessments, financial modeling, and system design. To access a summary, full recording, and presentation slides, please visit the link below:
Using XENDEE Tool for Modeling Local Clean Energy and Microgrid Projects
On May 12, 2022, the Center for Strategic Policy Innovation hosted the second webinar in this three-part pilot program/training series featuring presentations from the Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS) team at Arizona State University, partners with the Center on the Clean Growth Incubator training Platform, that focused on private-sector fee (or subscription)-based renewable energy/resiliency modeling tools, with a special emphasis on the XENDEE program (and Homer). This second webinar session included a brief comparison of such private sector modeling tools with NREL’s publicly available (and free) SAM and REopt tools. To access a summary, full recording, and presentation slides, please visit the link below:
NREL Modeling Tools Case Study - Solar PV/Microgrid Pilot Site
On February 16, 2023, the Center of Strategic Policy hosted the “NREL Modeling Tools Case Study - Solar PV/Microgrid Pilot Site” webinar, the final webinar in a three-part series. The webinar focused on a pilot project in Lansing, MI, that is deploying the solar energy/resiliency modeling capabilities of NREL’s publicly available Renewable Energy Optimization Tool (REopt) and System Advisor Model (SAM). Spearheaded by the Center, the Lansing Pilot is being conducted with the support, cooperation, and assistance of DOEs National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), past and present Michigan State University faculty members, Arizona State University’s Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS) – who performed the solar/battery storage/microgrid modeling at the site using the NREL modeling tools – and city officials from the City of Lansing, Michigan. Experts involved in the pilot project shared best practices and lessons learned from this modeling effort. To access a summary, full recording, and presentation slides, please visit the link below: