The Clean Energy Development Project Independent Industry Research
Research Initiative  /  Established 2026

How are America's clean-energy developers building the next generation of energy infrastructure?

The Clean Energy Development Project is an independent research initiative studying how solar, energy-storage and renewable-infrastructure organizations move projects from opportunity to operation.

Through executive interviews and project-level market research, we explore development strategy, interconnection, commercialization, stakeholder coordination, technology and the emerging role of artificial intelligence.

Researching U.S. solar, storage and clean-energy development
Research Scope

Solar, solar + storage, battery-energy-storage and selected renewable-infrastructure developers operating in U.S. markets.

Method

Project-level queue records resolved to operating developers through entity resolution, paired with primary executive interviews.

Coverage

6,735 active solar and battery-storage project records across U.S. ISO/RTO regions. See the research universe — resolution in progress.

Independence

No sponsored placement. Participation does not guarantee inclusion in published research.

01 — Research Universe

Building the developer intelligence layer.

Public queue records are filed project by project. They may identify an operating developer, a subsidiary, a single-project entity, a utility or another applicant — and they identify them differently from one another.

We therefore keep the source project record exactly as published, and separately resolve the organization responsible for development. Six linked layers, built in that order.

01 Project

The source record, preserved as filed: technology, capacity, market, status.

02 Developer

The developer name as the source gives it — normalized, not interpreted.

03 Organization

The operating company behind the record, and the parent it belongs to.

04 Executive

The people accountable for development, commercial and interconnection work.

05 Market

Where that organization develops: states, utilities, ISO/RTO regions.

06 Development Process

How the work actually runs — the layer only executives can describe.

6,735

active solar and/or battery-storage project records in our research universe

2,362

of those records identify a developer in the underlying dataset

1,618

source-derived developer identities undergoing entity resolution

4,373

active records carry no developer name in the source and require further entity research

Filter applied
q_status = active
technology contains Solar and/or Battery
Stated precisely

1,618 is a count of source-derived developer identities, not a count of verified companies. Parent-company and entity resolution is still in progress.

Source

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Queued Up 2026; CEDP analysis of active solar and battery-storage projects. Data through year-end 2025.

Working definition

Clean Energy Development Operations is the set of people, processes, information systems, workflows and stakeholder interactions required to move a clean-energy project from opportunity through development and toward commercial operation.

It is the layer this project researches, and the layer least visible in conventional capacity statistics.

02 — The Development Challenge

From opportunity to operation is not a straight line.

Every stage introduces information, decisions, dependencies and stakeholders. Our research examines where those systems work — and where friction accumulates.

01 Origination Opportunity identified and prioritized
02 Qualification Go / no-go under incomplete information
03 Site / Land Control, diligence, landowner relationships
04 Interconnection Queue position, studies, upgrade exposure
05 Permitting Agencies, communities, conditions of approval
06 Commercial / Offtake RFPs, proposals, PPAs, negotiations
07 Financing Lenders, investors, tax equity, diligence
08 Procurement / EPC Equipment, contracting, schedule risk
09 Construction Field execution and coordination
10 Commercial Operation Energized, delivering, contracted
03 — Research Pillars

Six lines of inquiry into the operating systems behind development.

01

Origination

How do developers identify, evaluate and prioritize opportunities?

  • Where do opportunities originate?
  • What makes a project attractive?
  • How quickly can teams make go/no-go decisions?
  • What information is required?
  • Where does qualification break down?
02

Development Operations

How do teams manage the journey from project concept through development?

  • Land and engineering
  • Permitting and interconnection
  • Project milestones and dependencies
  • Internal handoffs
03

Commercialization

How are developers managing the commercial layer of a project?

  • RFPs and proposals
  • PPAs and customer requirements
  • Procurement and negotiations
  • Commercial documentation
04

Stakeholder Coordination

How does information move among the parties a project depends on?

  • Utilities, regulators, landowners
  • Customers and offtakers
  • EPCs, suppliers, engineers
  • Capital providers and communities
05

Technology & Data

What systems are development organizations actually using?

  • CRM, project management, GIS
  • Interconnection and document systems
  • Proposal tools and data rooms
  • Internal knowledge, automation, AI
06

The Future of Development

What would executives change if they could?

  • What processes could be automated?
  • Where should humans remain in control?
  • What could materially reduce cycle time?
04 — Interview Program

The Clean Energy Executive Interview Series

We're interviewing founders, CEOs, development executives and clean-energy leaders about how projects actually get built. These are substantive conversations — not promotional segments.

Participation is reviewed against the current research focus. We are not able to interview every organization that applies.

Conversation topics
Development strategy
Project execution
Market conditions
Operational bottlenecks
Technology
Organizational design
Lessons learned
The future of development
Roles we're speaking with
Founders & CEOs Presidents Chief Development Officers EVP / SVP Development VP Development Chief Commercial Officers Origination Leaders Interconnection Leaders Clean-Energy Operators
05 — Developer Intelligence

Research grounded in actual development activity.

Rather than beginning with generic company directories, the Clean Energy Development Project studies project-level development activity and connects it to the organizations responsible for bringing projects forward.

This creates context for our executive interviews and helps us understand how development activity differs across organizations and markets.

Research architecture — relationships examined
Developers
Projects
Technologies
Markets
Utilities
Interconnection
Development Stages
People
Sources, entity resolution and evidence classification are published in full. Read the methodology.
06 — Featured Interviews

The first interviews are being scheduled.

View the research library
Executive Interview

Origination and early-stage qualification

Interview coming soon — participant and publication date to be confirmed.

Executive Interview

Managing interconnection uncertainty

Interview coming soon — participant and publication date to be confirmed.

Developer Profile

How a storage developer structures its team

Research in progress — profile in preparation.

07 — Data  /  In Development

The U.S. Clean Energy Development Map

An interactive view of U.S. solar, storage and hybrid development activity is in preparation. It will be published only once the underlying project data has been verified.

Planned dimensions
TechnologySolar · Storage · Hybrid
GeographyState
MarketISO / RTO
OrganizationDeveloper
ScaleProject MW
ProgressDevelopment stage
TimingProposed COD

No project-level data is displayed until sourcing and verification are complete.

08 — Forthcoming Report

State of Clean Energy Development Operations 2026

How America's solar and storage developers move projects from opportunity to operation.

Ten research sections, built from project-level analysis and structured executive interviews. All sections are currently research in progress.

On artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is beginning to enter development workflows, but the relevant question isn't where AI can be inserted. It's where it can measurably improve information flow, decision support and administrative execution without increasing project risk.
Where is AI currently being used?
Which workflows consume substantial employee time?
Which decisions require human judgment?
What would executives never automate?
09 — Participation

How participation works.

01

Introduction

Tell us about your organization and your role.

02

15-Minute Research Pre-Call

We learn about your development activity and areas of expertise, and determine whether there is a fit for the current research.

03

Executive Interview

A deeper conversation about your organization, development approach, market experience and perspective.

04

Research Analysis

Insights from interviews are combined with broader market and project research.

05

Publication

Selected insights may become part of the project's research library, with participant awareness and permission.

Participate in the Research Company categories: Solar · Solar + Storage · Battery Storage · Renewable Infrastructure
10 — About the Project

Studying the operating layer of the energy buildout.

America's clean-energy buildout is creating an extraordinary development challenge. Projects require coordination across technology, capital, infrastructure, regulation, land, customers and communities.

Yet much of what happens inside development organizations remains invisible from traditional market statistics. The Clean Energy Development Project was created to study that operating layer.

Public project dataMarket researchExecutive interviewsCompany researchStructured analysis
Read about the project Founder: Eric Christenson Research methodology Editorial policy

Research notes, sent when there is something worth reading.

Interview releases, findings and report availability. No promotional email.