Overview

During the late 1990's the California Energy Commission recognized that California's renewables industry was facing a host of issues in trying to compete in a deregulated marketplace. The Energy Commission created the PIER Energy Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Program in response. The overall mission of the PIER Program was identified as:

"The mission of the Public Interest Energy Research Program is to conduct public interest energy research that seeks to improve the quality of life for California citizens by providing environmentally sound, safe, reliable and affordable energy services and products. Public Interest Energy Research includes the full range of research, development, and demonstration activities that will advance science or technology not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets."

In an effort to encourage renewable energy research that is market oriented and has a high likelihood of being used in California's electricity market the Energy Commission issued an RD&D funding solicitation. The Commonwealth Biogas/PV Mini-Grid Renewable Resource RD&D Program was developed in response to this solicitation.

The specific technology areas to be addressed by the Commonwealth Program are:

• Resource Assessment (Project 1.1)
• Landfill Bioreactor (Project 2.1)
• Sewage Wastewater Digestion (Project 2.2)
• Animal Manure Digestion (Project 3.1)
• Building Integrated PV (Project 3.2 and 3.3).

This website is intended to make reports and presentations developed during the Commonwealth Program available to the public as well as facilitate the exchange of project specific information between the Program Team, its advisors, and the Energy Commission program manager.

If you wish to learn more about the background of the Commonwealth Program please click HERE.

If you wish to learn more about the seven different elements of the Commonwealth Program, descriptions of each element can be accessed through the menu bar on the left hand side of this page.