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Berkeley Lab’s annual Tracking the Sun report describes trends among grid-connected, distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) and paired PV+storage systems in the United States. For the purpose of this report, distributed solar includes residential systems, roof-mounted non-residential systems, and ground-mounted systems up to 5 MW-AC. Ground-mounted systems larger than 5 MW-AC are covered in Berkeley Lab’s companion annual report, Utility-Scale Solar.The latest edition of the report is based on 3.7 million systems installed through year-end 2023, representing close to 80% of systems installed to date. The report describes and discusses key trends related to:-Project characteristics, including system size, module efficiencies, roof-coverage ratios, prevalence of paired PV with storage, use of module-level power electronics, third-party ownership, mounting configurations, panel orientation, and customer segmentation-Median installed-price trends, both nationally and by state-Variability in pricing according to system size, state, installer, equipment type, and other factors, relying on both descriptive analysis and a multi-variate regression to estimate the effects of key pricing drivers for residential systems installed in 2023.

The Inflation Reduction Act has created substantial new programs that support adoption of solar power by low-income households, including the $7 billion Solar For All program and the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program, which increases the investment tax credit for certain types of deployment. In addition, a growing number of states are using solar programs to reduce energy burdens and create energy justice opportunities for low-income households and disadvantaged communities.Verifying the income of participating customers is an important component of these programs. Program managers are seeking strategies to verify a large number of subscribing customers in an accurate, timely, and cost-efficient manner.To help inform program managers, Berkeley Lab investigated how a number of energy and non-energy programs manage income verification. The most common approach is to require proof through tax documents, pay stubs, or other formal income documentation, which can pose an impediment to enrolling eligible customers and create a paperwork burden for administrators. In order to reduce the burden for both the applicant and the program manager, some programs use alternative methods. We identify three common alternative verification methods:-Categorical eligibility: Customers enrolled in other, similar income-verified assistance programs are automatically eligible for enrollment in other income-qualified programs.-Geographic eligibility: Eligibility is based on the customer’s location within a specified area, typically a low-income or disadvantaged community or census tract, and;-“Self-attestation”: The participant claims eligibility with or without further documentation.We describe these options, their pros and cons, give examples of how they are used, and explore how some low-income programs address administrative issues, audits, or other quality control measures. Finally, we explore the risk of mistaken verifications (finding a participant eligible when they are not) in the different strategies.While this memo was initiated by a request relating to income-based community solar programs, the methods are applicable to any program with income eligibility requirements in the energy or non-energy sector.Funding was provided for this research by the Solar Energy Technologies Office of the US Department of Energy, through the National Community Solar Partnership.

Introduction: Diagnosing deep venous thromboses and venous thromboemboli (DVT/VTE) in pregnant patients presents a unique challenge for emergency physicians. The risk of DVT/VTE increases during pregnancy, and the potential consequences of misdiagnoses are severe. Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is frequently a first-line diagnostic imaging modality. However, recent studies have shown a high incidence of thromboses proximal to the common femoral vein during pregnancy, and these would not be visualized using compressive ultrasonography, which traditionally can only visualize thromboses distal to the femoral vein.Case Report: A 38-year-old female, 25-weeks primiparous, presented to the emergency department with a three-day history of left lower extremity swelling. Point-of-care three-point compression testing was used to evaluate for a DVT; however, no thrombus was visualized. Given high clinical suspicion, color and spectral Doppler testing were performed and demonstrated turbulent flow and reduced respiratory variation in the common femoral vein. This prompted further additional testing for a proximal DVT using magnetic resonance venography, which revealed an occlusive left external iliac thrombus. The patient was subsequently started on daily subcutaneous enoxaparin and discharged home with close follow-up.Conclusion: Emergency physicians play a critical role in evaluations for the presence of DVT/VTE, particularly in pregnant patients. We endorse the use of POCUS with three-point compression testing, as well as color and spectral Doppler imaging, to help identify proximal DVTs in this patient population. This case report can aid physicians in the diagnosis of this pathological condition that if left untreated can have severe consequences.

OBJECTIVES: Given the increasing prevalence of obesity and need for effective interventions, there is a growing interest in understanding how an individuals body image can inform obesity prevention and management. This studys objective was to examine the use of silhouette showcards to measure body size perception compared with measured body mass index, and assess body size dissatisfaction, in three different African-origin populations spanning the epidemiological transition. An ancillary objective was to investigate associations between body size perception and dissatisfaction with diabetes and hypertension. SETTING: Research visits were completed in local research clinics in respective countries. PARTICIPANTS: Seven hundred and fifty-one African-origin participants from the USA and the Republic of Seychelles (both high-income countries), and Ghana (low/middle-income country). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Silhouette showcards were used to measure perceived body size and body size dissatisfaction. Objectively measured body size was measured using a scale and stadiometer. Diabetes was defined as fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dL and hypertension was defined as ≥130 mm Hg/80 mm Hg. RESULTS: Most women and men from the USA and Seychelles had Perceived minus Actual weight status Discrepancy scores less than 0, meaning they underestimated their actual body size. Similarly, most overweight or obese men and women also underestimated their body size, while normal weight men and women were accurately able to estimate their body size. Finally, participants with diabetes were able to accurately estimate their body size and similarly desired a smaller body size. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that overweight and obese women and men from countries spanning the epidemiological transition were unable to accurately perceive their actual body size. Understanding peoples perception of their body size is critical to implementing successful obesity prevention programmes across the epidemiological transition.

Abstract: Climate change is altering interactions among plants and pollinators. In alpine ecosystems, where snowmelt timing is a key driver of phenology, earlier snowmelt may generate shifts in plant and pollinator phenology that vary across the landscape, potentially disrupting interactions. Here we ask how experimental advancement of snowmelt timing in a topographically heterogeneous alpine-subalpine landscape impacts flowering, insect pollinator visitation, and pathways connecting key predictors of plant-pollinator interaction. Snowmelt was advanced by an average of 13.5 days in three sites via the application of black sand over snow in manipulated plots, which were paired with control plots. For each forb species, we documented flowering onset and counted flowers throughout the season. We also performed pollinator observations to measure visitation rates. The majority (79.3%) of flower visits were made by dipteran insects. We found that plants flowered earlier in advanced snowmelt plots, with the largest advances in later-flowering species, but flowering duration and visitation rate did not differ between advanced snowmelt and control plots. Using piecewise structural equation models, we assessed the interactive effects of topography on snowmelt timing, flowering phenology, floral abundance, and pollinator visitation. We found that these factors interacted to predict visitation rate in control plots. However, in plots with experimentally advanced snowmelt, none of these predictors explained a significant amount of variation in visitation rate, indicating that different predictors are needed to understand the processes that directly influence pollinator visitation to flowers under future climate conditions. Our findings demonstrate that climate change-induced early snowmelt may fundamentally disrupt the predictive relationships among abiotic and biotic drivers of plant-pollinator interactions in subalpine-alpine environments.

Policymakers at the federal and state level have begun to incorporate energy burden into equity goals and program evaluations, aiming to reduce energy burden below a high level of 6% for lower income households in the United States. Pairing an empirical household-level dataset spanning United States geographies together with modeled hourly energy demand curves, we show that rooftop solar reduces energy burden across a majority of adopters during our study period from a median of 3.3% to 2.6%. For low- and moderate-income adopters (at or below 80% and 120% of area median income, respectively), solar reduces median 2021 energy burden from 7.7% to 6.2%, and 4.1% to 3.3%, respectively. Importantly, solar reduces the rate of high or severe energy burden from 67% of all low-income households before adoption to 52% of households following adoption, and correspondingly from 21% to 13% for moderate-income households. Here, we show rooftop solar can support policy goals to reduce energy burden along with strategies such as weatherization and bill assistance.

This article reports on research investigating the aspirations of pupils in primary schools located in low-socioeconomic areas in one English county. The research adopted a qualitative approach to explore aspirations, self-efficacy, opinions regarding the merits of investment in education, and notions of perceived future selves. The research also considered the expectations of parents and teachers providing insight into how they support children's aspirations and expose them to opportunities and ideas. The study utilised various trigger activities as a precursor to focus groups. The findings show a distinct gap between pupils' conception of their current selves and their future selves whereby there is uncertainty and insecurity about the appropriate steps needed to make informed choices and realise aspirations. Parents and extended family are the predominant idea source for aspirations and their assistance is recognised, above all, as important by pupils. Aspirations are also fashioned by pupils' gender-specific ideas about certain jobs and cultural exposure to the media. Pupils discern the importance of working hard and performing well at school. Most parents just want their child to be happy in the future and, as such, would support their child's career choices believing these could be achieved although believing qualifications are important, and the job market restricted. Teachers want their pupils to have options but identify barriers to achieving aspirations as worklessness in families, the locality of the school, low self-efficacy and unrealistic aspirations.

Transformational equity-centered science education requires the fields of science education and school leadership to critically consider the limited preparation elementary principals are offered to lead for science education. Thus far, little effort has been made to foster a transdisciplinary curricula beyond traditional organizational theories related to school culture and climate; learning sciences; and supervision. School leadership programs are currently inadequately preparing elementary leaders in rigorous pedagogies involving science education. Although the role of principals is often not discussed concerning science implementation in elementary education, principals play a critical role in science decision-making. In this study, the authors present a case study of one elementary principal who also served as an othermother. Othermothers have been described as those who share mothering responsibilities in Black communities. Through interview transcripts, field notes, and social network data, the authors examine how this othermother cared for her students and community by advocating for science instruction. By strategically navigating the socio-political and policy climate and drawing on her authentic relationships, this othermother was critical in implementing a science agenda for elementary science. Three themes that emerged from the data analysis are, (1) othermothers view science as a potential means to transform lives and fulfill the needs of the local community, (2) science policies (i.e., federal, state, and local) can limit the potential of the vision of science an othermother has for the community, (3) othermothers draw on their community to guide equitable science instruction. Overall, othermothers have visions for what science can do. However, they cannot counter the status quo individually. Collective action among educators in various roles is one means of moving an equity agenda concerning science education forward.

The report describes income, demographic, and other socio-economic trends among U.S. residential rooftop solar adopters. The report is based on address-level data for roughly 3.4 million residential rooftop solar systems installed through 2022, representing 86% of all U.S. systems. With its unique size, geographic scope, and level of detail, this report is intended to serve as a foundational reference document for policy-makers, industry stakeholders, and researchers. Key findings include the following:•Median solar adopter income was about $117k/year in 2022, compared to a U.S. median of about $69k/year for all households and $86k/year for all owner-occupied households•The degree of income skew varies significantly across all states, but all exhibit some positive income skew relative to all households in the state, with median solar-adopter incomes ranging from 108-180% of the respective state-median income for all households•Roughly 45% of solar adopters in 2022 had incomes below 120% of their area median income (AMI), a threshold sometimes used to define “low-and-moderate income” (or LMI), while 23% were below 80% of AMI, often used to define “low-income”•Solar adoption continues to shift toward less affluent households, with the median current income of solar adopters dropping from $140k for households that installed systems in 2010 to $117k in 2022•PV systems installed in 2022 by households earning less than $50k had a median size of 6.1 kW, 34% were third-party owned, and 5% included battery storage, compared to corresponding values of 7.6%, 17%, and 15% for households earning more than $200k•Compared to all households in their respective state, solar adopters tend to be negligibly more rural; have higher home values; and are more likely to be college educated, identify as non-Hispanic white, live outside a disadvantaged community (DAC), be middle-aged, work in a business or financial occupation, and own a single-family homeIn conjunction with the report, Berkeley Lab has published an updated accompanying set of online data visualizations that allow users to further explore the underlying data. Berkeley Lab is also offering related analytical support to states, local agencies, and other organizations on issues related to solar adoption among low-to-moderate income households.

A sharp increase in federal funding to support the deployment of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) is now available and subject to federal and local policies to promote the equitable distribution of program dollars and impacts. As a result, there is an immediate need to center equity as a core objective for electric vehicle infrastructure deployment programs. This report summarizes and discusses common themes and strategies across 64 national, regional, and state-level reports on equity-focused EVSE deployment programs. Overall, three Key Activities and nine Supporting Processes serve as pathways to enhancing equity in deploying EVSE programs. These activities and processes reveal two nationwide practices common to equity-focused EVSE deployment programs: 1) customizing design and implementation strategies through community partnerships, and 2) prioritizing the participation and needs of those impacted directly by an EVSE project. Both practices underscore the significant effect policymakers can have on equity-focused EVSE deployment outcomes by cultivating trust and openness, aligning program goals with community needs, and continuously improving program effectiveness.

Abstract Accelerating perovskite solid solution discovery and sustainable synthesis is crucial for addressing challenges in wireless communication and biosensors. However, the vast array of chemical compositions and their dependence on factors such as crystal structure, and sintering temperature require time-consuming manual processes. To overcome these constraints, we introduce an automated materials discovery approach encompassing machine learning (ML) assisted material screening, robotic synthesis, and high-throughput characterization. Our proposed platform for rapid sintering and dielectric analysis streamlines the characterization of perovskites and the discovery of disordered materials. The setup has been successfully validated, demonstrating processing materials within minutes, in stark contrast to conventional procedures that can take hours or days. Following setup validation with established samples, we showcase synthesizing single-phase solid solutions within the barium family, such as (BaxSr1-x)CeO3, identified through ML-guided chemistry.

Abstract Across vertebrates, adaptive behaviors, like feeding and avoiding predators, are linked to lateralized brain function. The presence of the behavioral manifestations of these biases are associated with increased task success. Additionally, when an individual’s direction of bias aligns with the majority of the population, it is linked to social advantages. However, it remains unclear if behavioral biases in humans correlate with the same advantages. This large-scale study (N = 313–1661, analyses dependent) examines whether the strength and alignment of behavioral biases associate with cognitive and social benefits respectively in humans. To remain aligned with the animal literature, we evaluate motor-sensory biases linked to motor-sequencing and emotion detection to assess lateralization. Results reveal that moderate hand lateralization is positively associated with task success and task success is, in turn, associated with language fluency, possibly representing a cascade effect. Additionally, like other vertebrates, the majority of our human sample possess a ‘standard’ laterality profile (right hand bias, left visual bias). A ‘reversed’ profile is rare by comparison, and associates higher self-reported social difficulties and increased rate of autism and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. We highlight the importance of employing a comparative theoretical framing to illuminate how and why different laterization profiles associate with diverging social and cognitive phenotypes.

The report highlights key considerations for retail regulators in the footprints of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) or Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) in states that previously opted out of allowing third-party aggregation participation under FERC Order 719 and that may want to explore reversing the decision due to a changing policy environment under new FERC orders (i.e., 2222) and/or tightening resource adequacy constraints.Through a document review and a series of 27 interviews with regulators, aggregators, and other industry professionals, this document provides a high-level policy overview of the retail regulator’s role in a selection of processes, rules, and regulations to better understand how states have treated and/or integrated aggregators into wholesale markets. The report summarizes findings in two sections: General Findings and Specific Policy Findings.The General Findings offer high level takeaways such as the fact that 17 of the 20 states in MISO and SPP footprints opted out of third party aggregations following Order 719. Additionally, there is only one state that is fully restructured in the MISO and SPP footprints whereas the rest are vertically integrated, and the majority of third-party aggregations in the U.S. take place in restructured states outside of these footprints. Even so, third-party aggregations do take place in MISO and SPP albeit in small numbers and in an ad hoc regulatory environment.The specific policy findings delve deeper into specific examples of state actions on the topics of jurisdiction, registration and licensing, data governance, dual participation, and dispute resolution. Tables in each category organize state actions into Tiers I-III, which roughly correspond to the possible level of involvement or possible change necessary by state regulators and/or legislators to implement these actions. The tier level does not indicate any value judgement, as each state has respective regulatory limitations and each decision comes with various tradeoffs. One main tradeoff is between simplicity and quick implementation versus comprehensive and prolonged implementation. In many cases, actions in Tier I could be implemented without significant changes by relying on the use of existing processes for an aggregator context. On the other hand, many actions in Tier III are more narrowly designed to address aggregators specifically, but often require more significant changes including the involvement of additional parties through stakeholder engagement or legislative action. In some cases, these tiers are discrete. However, state regulators may also choose to progress through these various tiers sequentially as they phase in aggregators while learning from their experience.With the ability to stack bulk system level services, distributed energy resource aggregations in MISO and SPP could provide various private benefits (e.g., increased value streams to the owner) as well as societally beneficial grid services (e.g., peaking capacity, ancillary services, and other services that increase the grid’s overall operational efficiency). In deciding how to best to enable these benefits, states and retail regulators must weigh various tradeoffs if considering reversing a previous opt out.

Berkeley Lab’s annual Tracking the Sun report describes trends among grid-connected, distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) and paired PV+storage systems in the United States. For the purpose of this report, distributed solar includes residential systems, roof-mounted non-residential systems, and ground-mounted systems up to 5 MW-AC. Ground-mounted systems larger than 5 MW-AC are covered in Berkeley Lab’s companion annual report, Utility-Scale Solar.The latest edition of the report is based on 3.2 million systems installed through year-end 2022, representing more than 80% of systems installed to date. The report describes and discusses key trends related to:-Project characteristics, including system size, module efficiencies, prevalence of paired PV with storage, use of module-level power electronics, third-party ownership, mounting configurations, panel orientation, and non-residential customer segmentation ownership-Median installed-price trends, both nationally and by state-Variability in pricing according to system size, state, installer, equipment type, and other factors, relying on both descriptive and econometric analysisThe report also includes a multi-variate regression analysis to estimate the effects of key pricing drivers for residential systems installed in 2022.

The relationship between microbiota, short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and obesity remains enigmatic. We employ amplicon sequencing and targeted metabolomics in a large (n = 1904) African origin cohort from Ghana, South Africa, Jamaica, Seychelles, and the US. Microbiota diversity and fecal SCFAs are greatest in Ghanaians, and lowest in Americans, representing each end of the urbanization spectrum. Obesity is significantly associated with a reduction in SCFA concentration, microbial diversity, and SCFA synthesizing bacteria, with country of origin being the strongest explanatory factor. Diabetes, glucose state, hypertension, obesity, and sex can be accurately predicted from the global microbiota, but when analyzed at the level of country, predictive accuracy is only universally maintained for sex. Diabetes, glucose, and hypertension are only predictive in certain low-income countries. Our findings suggest that adiposity-related microbiota differences differ between low-to-middle-income compared to high-income countries. Further investigation is needed to determine the factors driving this association.