by Ben Higgins, AOL Energy | February 14, 2012

Ben Higgins, REC Solar's Director of Government Affairs, writes about how solar continues to emerge as an ideal solution for utilities looking to boost renewable generation using proven and cost-effective technologies.

"Over the course of the past year, a new trend has emerged towards 'wholesale' distributed generation. This refers to solar projects that are sited close to load and may be interconnected to the distribution network, but are pumping clean, powerful solar energy into the grid for use by all of the utility's customers in the area. These smaller-scale utility projects hit the sweet spot. They are faster to build, easier to interconnect, have fewer land-use and permitting pressures, while still benefiting hugely from economies of scale associated with larger projects, making them both competitive in the energy marketplace and more readily financed."