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This 2021 industry brief by GreenCape examines the regulatory requirements for Small Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) in South Africa, specifically the distinction between registration with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) and applications for connection with electricity distributors.

This briefing transcript from June 2020 features a discussion on enhancing housing and community resilience in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following natural disasters like Hurricane Maria. Panelists Laurie Schoeman and Arturo Massol-Deyá discuss the critical role of affordable housing, distributed solar energy, and community-led initiatives in mitigating climate risks and reducing dependency on failing centralized power grids.

This fact sheet details a BRL40m (USD11m) green bond issued by Athon Energia S.A. on July 19, 2019, to finance six solar PV distributed generation projects in Brazil.

This case study by GreenCape examines how the City of Cape Town and other South African municipalities have integrated small-scale embedded generation (SSEG), primarily rooftop solar PV, into their systems to build resilience against energy insecurity, load shedding, and rising electricity costs.

This fact sheet provides details on a private placement green bond issued by Faro Energy on July 10, 2018, to finance distributed solar power projects in Brazil.

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) analyzes the drivers of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) generation in Brazil. Based on a study of 5,563 municipalities, the report finds that demand-side factors—such as income (GDP), population size, and electricity tariffs—are more significant drivers of solar adoption than the availability of solar radiation. The authors argue that policies to mitigate climate risk must address these demand-side barriers to encourage adoption in high-potential regions, particularly the poorest areas of the country.

This executive summary by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and the Núcleo de Avaliação de Políticas Climáticas da PUC-Rio (NAPC) examines the drivers of distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation in Brazil. Analyzing 5,563 municipalities, the study finds that demand-side factors—such as GDP, population size, and electricity tariffs—are more significant drivers of PV adoption than solar radiation levels. Consequently, regions with lower solar potential, specifically the South and Southeast, currently have higher concentrations of distributed PV units than the Northeast and Midwest.

This research paper analyzes the determinants of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) generation penetration across 5,563 municipalities in Brazil. The study finds that demand-side factors—specifically population, GDP, and electricity tariffs—are more significant predictors of PV adoption than the availability of solar resources. The authors argue that current tariff subsidies in high-potential regions like the Northeast may be hindering PV growth and suggest that climate mitigation policies must address demand-side frictions to be effective.

This RMI report outlines the investment potential and financing frameworks for community-scale solar (CSS) in the United States, estimating a market opportunity of up to $16.3 billion by 2020. It details the benefits of CSS—such as lower costs and flexible customer arrangements—while analyzing various finance structures, including tax equity, debt, and innovative tools like New Markets Tax Credits. The document provides a risk management framework to address customer acquisition, subscription volatility, and regulatory uncertainty, aiming to help developers and investors standardize models to accelerate market growth.

This guide by GreenCape provides municipal officials in the Western Cape with a framework for implementing and regulating Small Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG), primarily focusing on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems under 1MW. It details the technical components of PV systems, cost trends, tariff design principles, the application process for grid-tied and off-grid systems, and the necessary legal and regulatory standards to ensure grid stability and safety.

This case study by Amory B. Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute examines Cuba's transition from a fragile, centralized electricity system to a more resilient model based on energy efficiency and distributed micropower. Following severe blackouts in 2004 and 2005, the Cuban government launched 'La Revolución Energética' in 2006, which combined mass deployment of efficient appliances, inverted electricity tariffs, and the installation of thousands of microgenerators to eliminate blackouts by 2007 and improve grid resilience against natural disasters.

This report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) provides an overview of model standards and policy design criteria for permitting, inspection, interconnection, and net metering of distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems. It aims to help local governments and utilities reduce non-hardware balance of system costs—which can account for up to 40% of installed system costs—by adopting streamlined, standardized processes. The document highlights specific model frameworks such as the Solar ABCs Expedited Permit Process and IREC Model Interconnection Procedures, while detailing the existing solar-friendly policy landscape in Colorado.

The 2008 Micropower Database provides an independent assessment of global capacity and electrical output for micropower—defined as all renewables excluding large hydro and cogeneration—covering historical data from 1990 to 2005 or 2006 and forecasts through 2010.

In his 2007 Blue Planet Prize acceptance remarks, Amory B. Lovins argues that Japan is uniquely positioned to lead a global transition to benign and affordable energy, provided it overcomes complacency in energy efficiency, leverages its renewable energy potential, adopts distributed generation, and reforms bureaucratic energy policies.

This 2005 report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) argues that fuel cells can be cost-effective distributed energy resources (DER) by capturing economic benefits beyond simple energy generation, such as deferring utility distribution investments and providing premium reliability for the digital economy.

This report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) presents a scenario analysis to guide the City of San Francisco's energy resource investment strategy through 2012. It evaluates three distinct paths—Central Generation, More Imports, and Distributed Resources—to replace the aging Hunter's Point Power Station while meeting growing electricity demand and reliability requirements.

The New Business Climate is a 2002 guide by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) designed to help corporations and institutions reduce carbon emissions while improving business performance. It argues that climate change presents both risks to asset values and opportunities for innovation, advocating for a transition from incremental thinking to radical resource efficiency and the use of emerging carbon markets to manage costs.

This preface to the 2001 re-release of 'Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security' argues that U.S. energy security is compromised by a reliance on centralized, vulnerable infrastructure. The authors contend that domestic energy sources are not inherently secure and that true resilience requires a shift toward diverse, dispersed, and renewable energy systems.

This report by Amory B. Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute argues that nuclear power has suffered a historic economic collapse and is obsolete compared to end-use efficiency, distributed generation, and new energy technologies. Lovins asserts that nuclear power is more expensive than its competitors and that transitioning away from it would improve global security by making nuclear materials harder to acquire.

RMI provides comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding its March 1995 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) on open-access transmission. The document argues for symmetrical economic rewards for demand-side resources and warns that rapid technological advances in distributed generation could render central thermal power plants and the traditional utility model obsolete.