Virginia Solar Summit 2024
Green Hill Solar recently attended the Virginia Solar Summit in Richmond, VA. There were people from all over the commonwealth representing all corners of the solar and renewables industry, including from local and state government, from utility companies, environmental consultants, agrivoltaic partners, technology partners, attorneys, and more.
One overarching issue presented throughout the summit was:
The Virginia Dept. of Energy is predicting 5.6% year-on-year growth in energy usage for the commonwealth
Virginia already currently purchases 5MW of energy each day to meet demands (that exceed our current ability to produce)
The Dept. of Energy's goal is to completely de-carbonize the grid by 2035, but projected photovoltaic (solar) deployment is currently too slow to meet that deadline
So, there was a rallying call to all in the industry to charge forward to meet the goal for clean energy in Virginia.
Thankfully, there were also many reports given on efforts to do just that, and the entire renewable industry (not just solar) is actively engaging to help Virginia meet its goals.
DID YOU KNOW? A Google search consumes the same amount of energy as running a 60W lightbulb for 17 seconds.
Expand this concept to include the increasing digitization of everything in our lives, as well as the rise of AI, and hence, the need for massive data centers that run AI engines - and this is a large part of what accounts for our ever-increasing energy needs.
Renewable energy solutions can help Virginia (as a state), and Virginians individually, become more energy independent and resilient, even as energy demands increase.
Several people from the Harrisonburg area were featured speakers!
Remy Pangle spoke about CASE (the Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy) at JMU, as well as the work she is doing with Repowering Schools.
Abe Kaufman spoke about energy conservation and sustainability efforts happening on JMU's campus, primarily related to a solar system that was installed along with a pollinator field.
There was a lot of discussion about agrivoltaics, which is the combination of solar energy production with agricultural and vegetation management practices. Argonne National Laboratory published a recent study showing that there are positive benefits between solar and the land that it's on. Various people presented on pollinator programs, sheep leasing, and grass seed mixtures, among other things, and how they can help agricultural land thrive while also being used to produce solar energy.
One final important topic that was covered is the new funding of the Solar For All program, to the tune of $156 million that was recently awarded to Virginia. The Virginia Energy Dept. is estimating that through these funds over 16,000 households will be able to get solar that were previously unable to; 1,200 new jobs will be created; there will be 100MW of rooftop and shared solar installed; and over $400 million in lifetime economic benefits for those involved. The state has applied for over $1 billion in funding, and this is the first portion to come Virginia's way, specifically targeted towards geographic and income-challenged areas, but there are likely more funds to come.
This was a great conference where a passion for innovation and dedication to renewable energy in Virginia was on full display!