An Overview of Behind-the-Meter Solar-Plus-Storage Program Design: With Considerations for India
This report has been prepared by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for discussion purposes with a broad range of stakeholders to find ways to regulate and facilitate DPV-plus-storage systems in India.
This report offers an overarching framework for Indian policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholders to consider as they begin to contemplate the desired role of DPV-plus-storage in the Indian power system, as well as the potential suite of policies, programs, and regulations that might enable its deployment. The approaching program design for DPV-plus-storage systems include:
- Develop and Prioritize Regulatory Objectives
- Design Compensation Mechanism
- Design Metering and Technical Configuration Requirements
- Design Interconnection Process
- Consider Local Permitting Issues
In addition, key considerations for Indian stakeholder include:
High-level Considerations
- Well-timed regulatory decisions can enable India DISCOMS to seize the opportunities presented by customer deployment of advanced battery technologies.
- Determine the desired role of DPV-plus-storage is an important first step.
- Customizing rules and requirements based on the characteristics of the DPV-plus-storage system is a key strategy for SERCs to promote fairness.
DPV-plus-Storage Compensation Considerations
- Current state net energy metering (NEM) policies do not incentivize storage deployment.
- Tariff design is an important tool to align the interests of DPV-plus-storage customers with the broader power system in India.
- Indian regulators can enable business model innovation for DPV-plus-storage systems.
Technical Regulation and Safety Considerations
- Metering and technical configuration requirements for DPV may need to be revisited to incorporate more grid-interactive applications of DPV-plus-storage.
- Existing DPV regulations in India can be used as a foundation for designing DPV-plus-storage interconnection rules.
- Both central and state governments in India can play an essential role in developing and facilitating familiarity with new safety codes and inspection procedures for behind-the-meter storage.
Read the report, here!
