New IR N-3: Energy Code Requirements for Photovoltaic Battery Systems

DSA IR N-3 requires solar additions for new school and campus expansion projects. For example, the addition of classrooms and other buildings triggers the need to add a minimum amount of solar to meet code.

IR N-3 clarifies Photovoltaic (PV) and Battery/Energy Storage System (BESS) requirements of project submittals to promote uniform statewide criteria for Title 24 Part 6, Energy Code compliance for K–12 and Community College projects under DSA jurisdiction.

In many cases, schools have the opportunity to install an optimized size of solar (and battery) to maximize electricity bill savings, especially if the school does not already have solar.

There is a critical consideration to make, if the school already has solar in place. The addition of solar can void the existing Net Energy Metering (NEM) tariff and cost the school up to 75% of their future electric bill savings. More on that later in this post.

TerraVerde completed a study for a school district to compare the DSA required solar vs. an optimized solar. The results are worth a look! You can get a copy of the study by signing up in the link at the bottom of this post.

The study is for an elementary school that is currently going through design with the district selected architect. TerraVerde is collaborating with the architect of record to size, spec, and configure the solar into the plan sets before submittal to DSA.

The study shows that there is an opportunity to optimally size solar which will save the district more than $1.8m over twenty years.

The analysis was completed using the Net Billing Tariff (NBT) which is the new tariff to interconnect rooftop and behind-the-meter solar in California for schools and other utility customers.

Lastly, the addition of DSA required solar requires specific utility approved electrical configuration, if the school already has solar installed under NEM. These approved configurations are necessary to ensure the school district maintain their NEM tariff benefits for their existing solar. Read this post to make sure your new solar addition do not cancel your existing solar project benefits.

Receive A Copy of the Study

Email us at hello@terraverde.energy and request a copy of the DSA vs. Optimized Solar Study for Schools.