Solar

  • Summer 2020 Brought ERCOT Market Challenges, But Nothing Like 2019

    The Texas power market made headlines in August 2019 when wholesale prices for electricity repeatedly spiked close to and even hit the $9,000-per-megawatt-hour (MWh) cap. This August, average hourly prices peaked at “just” $1,700 per MWh, the afternoon of Aug. 15. There were many reasons for the reduced price volatility in Texas this year. First, […]

  • Extensible Energy Releases DemandEx for Microgrids

    Berkeley, Calif. September 14, 2020 – Extensible Energy has released DemandEx for Microgrids™, an AI load flexibility software that integrates with a microgrid controller to manage and optimize energy usage when off-grid or on-grid. With DemandEx for Microgrids, businesses can move beyond the traditional critical loads panel and utilize dynamic, intelligent software to power more […]

  • Nextracker Selected by Shanghai Electric to Elevate Energy Output for Middle East’s Largest Solar Park

    SHANGHAI, September 17, 2020 – Nextracker, a Flex company, announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Shanghai Electric to supply over one gigawatt of its world-leading solar tracker technology, NX Horizon™ to boost energy production for phase five of Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park – the largest in the Middle East. Located 50 kilometers south […]

  • Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Report Highlights Greening of the Grid

    The use of coal for North American power generation will continue to decline, natural gas will continue as the leading source of power, and the use of renewable resources to provide electricity will continue to grow, according to a report from Hitachi ABB Power Grids. The outlook, titled “North America Power Reference Case: Spring 2020” […]

  • California’s Cautionary Tale Against the Green New Deal

    California needs more reliable electricity. The ongoing rolling blackouts in the Golden State will likely become more frequent unless its elected leaders change their foolish energy policies. More importantly, California’s energy posture reveals some harsh lessons for the rest of America, as it provides a glimpse into the future of power generation should the Democrats […]

  • World’s Largest—For Now—Battery Storage Project Online in California

    A battery energy storage project in California is set to be the world’s largest in terms of generation capacity when the facility is fully energized later in September. McCarthy Building Companies’ Renewable Energy & Storage group, based in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sept. 1 said the company had recently completed construction of LS Power’s 250-MW Gateway […]

  • Nationwide and Sol Systems venture, Helios Infrastructure, purchases 47 MW Texas portfolio amid 2020 challenges

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 1, 2020) – Nationwide and Sol Systems today announced their joint venture, Helios Infrastructure (Helios), completed the purchase of four operating Texas solar projects totaling 47 megawatts (MW) from Cypress Creek Renewables. A few weeks ago, Nationwide, Sol Systems and Cypress Creek announced the final portfolio sale in a 148 MW master […]

  • Turning a Brownfield into a Brightfield

    A solar array in Indiana is a model project for renewable energy development, with the site providing clean energy at what was once a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. Areas of the U.S

  • Delingha: A Leap for Molten Salt Tower CSP Technology

    The 50-MW Delingha concentrated solar power tower plant located on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau in China was developed, built, and continues to be refined by a company dedicated to solar tower technology

  • Mitigating Emerging Utility-Scale Solar Project Risks

    America’s energy systems are being led by renewables development, both now and in the foreseeable future. There should be no real argument about what the future of our energy economy looks like. Not just because renewables bolster needed decarbonization efforts, but because renewables are a better economic solution and embody core principles of American entrepreneurism. […]

  • Big Oil Makes Concerted Push into Power

    BP made headlines in early August when it announced it wants to develop about 50 GW of net renewable generating capacity by 2030—a 20-fold increase from the 2.5 GW deployed in 2019—as part of a new

  • ABB and ORION unite to help Bangladesh deliver more power from renewable energy sources

    ABB has signed a contract with ORION to implement automation and control solutions at Bangladesh’s 100MW Moidhara solar power plant in Mongla, supporting the country’s growing energy requirements and helping the government to achieve its goals of delivering cleaner power generation projects by 2020.  Collaborating with Energon Renewables (BD) Ltd, a subsidiary of ORION, one […]

  • California Blackouts Bring Calls for Investigation

    California’s governor demanded an investigation into the cause of a series of power outages—the first since an energy crisis in 2001—that blacked out parts of the state in recent days.  California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has struggled to ensure reliability since Friday, Aug. 14, when, amid triple-digit temperatures, it declared a statewide Stage 2 Emergency, […]

  • Coal-Fired Generation Down 30% in U.S., 8% Worldwide

    Analysis from a global energy organization said power generation from coal-fired units fell 8.3% in the first half of 2020, with the world’s coal fleet running at less than half its capacity. The drop for U.S. coal generation was more steep, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting the output from the nation’s coal […]

  • Clean Energy Adds Jobs, but Pace Is Slow

    An analysis of federal labor data for the clean energy sector shows renewable energy and other industries are adding jobs after months of declines brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. But the gains in July were lower than those in June, signaling sectors such as solar, wind, energy storage, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles continue […]

  • Denver Selects Partners for Equity Driven Community Solar Garden Project

    DENVER (Aug. 5, 2020) – The City and County of Denver will host up to 15 MW of community solar gardens on municipal rooftops, over parking lots, and vacant land as part of a signed Master Services Agreement with McKinstry, GRID Alternatives, and Unico Solar Investors. The project is part of the Renewable Denver Initiative, which […]

  • Murata Electronics and Yotta Energy Announce Collaboration to Enable Innovative and Safe Energy Storage Solution

    Austin, Texas (August 6, 2020) – Murata Electronics today announced its collaboration with Yotta Energy to enable the development of a modular, solar energy storage solution that utilizes Murata’s FORTELION™ battery cells. The Murata Electronics and Yotta Energy collaboration brings Yotta’s panel-level energy storage one step closer to commercialization. Yotta’s PV-Coupled™ technology includes the SolarLEAF™, […]

  • Pandemic Brings Pause, but Future Looks Bright

    The solar power industry has been hammered by the global lockdowns due to the coronavirus, but technology advancements that continue to lower costs point to a rapid recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic has not been

  • The Growing Strain of Power Sector Supply Chain Disruptions

    Power sector supply chains, hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, are feeling the double whammy of uncertainty posed by a broad U.S. executive order. As was clear at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s

  • POWER Digest [August 2020]

    Utility Expects New Schedule for Olkiluoto 3 Reactor. Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) said it expects to soon receive the revised schedule from the Areva-Siemens consortium for the commissioning of the Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) EPR. Fuel loading of the reactor, which was planned for June, has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and other […]

  • Oil and Gas Field Operations Increasingly Reliant on Renewable Power

    More oil and gas companies are ditching diesel and natural gas generation for renewables to power field operations, a new study from IHS Markit suggests. The market research company says it has so far tallied

  • Keeping the Lights on in South Korea

    South Korea has flourished over the past six decades, transforming its place on the world stage. However, progress has come at a price—far higher than average pollution generated from its energy grid. On its path of progress, the country has capitalized on the promise of cheap coal power. Meeting its energy and emissions goals will […]

  • Obvius Partners with OpenEGrid to Provide California Rule 21 Compliant Solutions

    IDAS Turn-Key Panels Deliver Flexible Solutions to Meet Each Partner’s Unique Needs Tualatin, OR, July 21, 2020 – Obvius, a Leviton company and a leading provider of data acquisition solutions, announced today their partnership with OpenEGrid to provide a California Rule 21 compliant, site ready, integrated hardware solution. Solar Asset owners can now leverage the […]

  • Gas, Solar Will Power Pittsburgh Airport Microgrid

    A microgrid project pairing natural gas with solar power is taking shape at Pittsburgh International Airport, with the installation expected to be the primary source of electricity for the property by the summer of 2021. Construction of the microgrid (Figure 1) began a few weeks ago with site preparation work, which included rerouting an electrical […]

  • Recurrent Energy Reaches Key Milestone on Texas Solar Projects

    GUELPH, Ontario (July 21, 2020) – Canadian Solar Inc. (“Canadian Solar”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, LLC (“Recurrent Energy”) closed $282 million of debt financing to construct its Maplewood and Maplewood 2 solar projects, located in Pecos County in the Permian Basin of West Texas. The financing was provided by a […]

  • Camouflage for Solar Panels

    HENDERSON, Nev. (July 21, 2020) — GDI LLC’s patented Solar-Image™ process can transform unattractive panels into a solid color, a full-color pattern, or a panoramic photo, all while maintaining high output power. Panels on a terracotta tile roof, for example, could present a photo-like image of the tiles underneath, making them practically disappear. An acre […]

  • LG Chem Unveils New Full Home Backup Solution in Cooperation with SolarEdge

    SEOUL, South Korea (July 21, 2020) — LG Chem, South Korea’s leading manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries, has once again joined forces with SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (SolarEdge), a global leader in smart energy, to bring compatibility with the LG RESU10H (400V, 9.8kWh) home battery. By incorporating SolarEdge’s single phase Energy Hub Inverter and backup interface, […]

  • BayWa r.e. builds Poland’s biggest subsidy-free solar park

    BayWa r.e. has begun construction on the Witnica solar park, which will be by far the largest solar power plant in Poland. The 64.6 MWp project, which is due for completion by the end of 2020, is being built without the need for any government subsidies, and the electricity generated will be sold locally to […]

  • NIPSCO Announces Addition Of Two Indiana-Grown Solar Projects

    MERRILLVILLE, Ind., July 17, 2020 — NIPSCO, a subsidiary of NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI), today announced the next phase of its plans to transition to lower-cost, cleaner energy resources, with the addition of two new solar farms that will be based in central Indiana. The announcement is part of the energy provider’s “Your Energy, Your […]