SPW picked its top 2020 products: Yaskawa Solectria’s XGI 1500 inverters for max output, Nextracker’s NX Navigator for prime single-axis trackers, QuickBOLT’s QB2’s for simple shingle mounting, and Lumin’s home backup with smart circuits. See the full listing here.
The first phase of Li-Cycle’s lithium-ion battery recycling hub is done. Located in Rochester, NY, it will be the company’s second facility for processing spent lithium-ion batteries to produce ‘black mass.’ Second phase facility for refining the materials to be completed in 2022.
Aurora Solar raised $50 million in its latest Series B funding round via Iconiq Capital, Energize VC, Pear Ventures and Fifth Wall. The company has seen more biz during COVID (1 million projects using their remote modeling tech from Apr-Oct) due to a rise in remote processes.
There’s a new Phoenix Contact converter, the TRIO DC/DC, that can connect directly to solar arrays. It’s able to convert high-voltage DC from PV strings to 24 V DC. This simplifies install and cuts cost because it removes the need for trenching to supply AC power for monitoring.
Good news from a 2020 Q3 energy storage report: 476?MW/764 MWh of storage were?deployed, up 240% from Q2! This means that the residential storage market and especially the front-of-the-meter storage will keep booming, particularly in California.
Lack of panel recycling is still problematic – there was 26,000 tons of PV panel waste in 2020. There’s no legal accountability on the federal level for US manufacturers re recycling. Only First Solar?has in-house recycling, though Recycle PV Solar is trying to address the issue.
Biden appointed former Obama aide Brian Deese as National Economic Council director, top econ adviser. Deese helped secure the Paris climate accords but also worked for BlackRock as global head of sustainable investing, something some progressive groups dislike.
Some of LG Chem’s Resu 10H residential battery products are being recalled due to five “thermal events” that caused some property damage but no injuries. The Resu, used by Sunrun, has a strong market share and just had its sixth consecutive quarterly install record.
To make solar-plus-storage more cost-effective, seasonal energy storage needs to be more competitively priced. If resolved, storage’s financial effectiveness may soon surpass that of the renewable/natural gas generation combo that is currently most attractive.
NY is amping its commitment to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the first mandatory market-based program in the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By adding smaller peaking units to the program its parameters surpass the other 9 partner states.