Solar cell production is returning to the US. Violet Power is setting up a 600,000-sq.-ft facility in Washington, planning to reach 500 MW of crystalline silicon solar cell manufacturing capacity by Q2 2021 and another 500 MW of full panel production by the end of 2021.
Many middle-America states have no regulatory or political incentive to change the electricity mix at scale, which means corporations don’t act in those areas. There needs to be an adoption of the tools and an increased commitment to carbon footprint reduction.
VT utility Green Mountain Power’s pilot program of 2,567 utility-controlled Powerwall batteries in homes is being ratified as a permanent residential storage tariff for the state. Adding up to around 13 megawatts, this ratification means battery installs and utility savings will keep rising.
A Schneider Electric and SolarEdge partnership joins Schneider’s energy distribution and automation tech with SolarEdge’s clout in res solar and smart energy management. Starting in CA, they’re offering the Square D Energy Center, a modular, compact energy manager.
Q3 2020 North American PPA prices have risen to $29.30 per megawatt hour, after dropping for 6 quarters in a row. This is due to the ITC step down and rising prices where supply isn’t keeping up with rising demand. Despite all this, renewables will remain competitive.
A new NREL PV module stress test can successfully simulate field conditions by exposing them to multiple stresses at the same time. So far they’ve shone a light on backsheet and cell cracking, light induced degradation, soldering failures, corrosion and other issues.
Despite Trump’s stance on environmental policies, long-run energy and climate trends have generally remained the same over the past four years. Why? Most energy policy decisions happen at the state level and market forces like PV solar, wind turbines, and LED pricing.
The ultimate solar panel rapid shutdown solution is now available: the NEC2017 and NEC2020 compliant module level rapid shutdown IMO FireRaptor. It’s been tested for AFCI interference under UL’s PVRSS certification with the Fronius PRIMO inverter range.
Tesla had record Q3 solar+storage numbers: 759 MWh of battery storage and doubled solar installs. Reasons are Tesla’s lower install cost and online order form. They plan to retool battery tech from the ground up to cut the cost by half and tap the power of their Solar Roof.
Mosaic has launched two new residential solar loans: a 0.99% APR 20-year loan and a 1.99% APR 25-year loan. They’re meant to counterbalance the ITC step-down and support cost-conscious homeowners newly interested in solar due to changes brought by COVID-19.