Recent models of panel manufacturing trends show that module prices cannot “sustainably” fall significantly in 2024 without producers selling below cost. With materials and consumables comprising approximately 80% of PV module production cost, there is very little room for further cost reduction in the short term. Prices must stabilize if manufacturers are to avoid selling at a loss.

WovenEarth Ventures has closed its first fund at $152 million. As a fund-of-funds, the company provides a way for investors to access multiple early-stage climate tech venture capitalists. The Fund has invested in 13 U.S.-based early-stage climate tech venture fund managers that are generalists and focus on decarbonization.

Wood Mack is predicting that US community solar installs will more than double by 2028 to 14 GW. SEIA reported that over 5.8 GW of community solar has been installed in 41 states with at least one community solar project installed and operational and at least 19 states recognizing the benefits of shared renewables via policy.

To help protect the state from further devastating NEM decisions like NEM 3.0, the CA Assembly has a new bill that would push the CPUC to fully weigh their decisions about net energy metering by accounting for the total impact of resi and commercial rooftop solar. These include benefits like better local air and water quality, avoidance of land use impacts, and more.

For installers running into issues at the home service panel around breaker space or amperage constraints, ConnectDER has a cheaper, simpler alternative to tech like smart circuit breakers, smart panels, and smart appliances. They are offering a universal adapter for the meter socket – no complex custom wiring or software.

This article digs into best practices for effective O&M. Staffing: consider outsourcing the work to a qualified partner; equipment: carefully factor O&M equipment and standardize requirements for new projects; EPC: pick this carefully to ensure that construction strategy is not happening quickly and cheaply but at low quality; and tech: look to automate monitoring & data analytics.

Greentech Renewables hosted a live webinar discussing the LG Home 8 Resi Energy Storage System. They look at an overview of the sector, use cases, specs for the system, scalability, support provided, best practices/challenges around design and install, and more.