SPW looks at the development that companies are working with contract manufacturers — specialized third-party fabricators that produce components to the specifications of the originating company – to make products without expanding operational bandwidth. These can be short-term arrangements or ones that involve starting entire factories or new manufacturing lines for producing individual pieces or full products.

The 2024 Solar PV Inverter Buyer’s Guide is out detailing info re microinverters and all the way to hybrid solar + storage inverters and large-scale PV string inverters. Additionally, 15 manufacturers list how the latest solar inverter advancements impact other areas of solar PV design, procurement, and long-term performance.

Around 200 solar and storage companies formally requested reforms from Congress to siting, permitting, and transmission to relieve the growing transmission bottleneck. Requests included modernized permitting, project site partnerships with all govt levels, building out transmission capacity, enabling admin to reach public land goals, and the nurturing of interagency collaboration.

Agrivoltaics is becoming more ubiquitous, and this article digs into its role in boosting pollinator proliferation. It describes cost, initial investment needs, plants, seeds, and public perception. The article also touches on the impact of pollinator ecosystem loss.

SPW explores best practices for stormwater control for larger ground-mount projects. They touch on issues such as preventative measures like establishing vegetation on land pre-construction/grading at the site, use of sediment basins, swales, silt fences and more.

This Suncast episode discusses AC vs. DC-coupled systems, homeowner misconceptions, and a new tech that will help homeowners maximize their solar plus storage investment. They talk about why some homeowners still buying energy storage systems sans solar, how to educate them re power outage prep, how LG engineered their Home 8 to work with any inverter on the market, and more. The video is below.

Greentech and Fortress Power discuss how the company’s battery system/smart whole home solution, Avalon, can help companies “get off the solar coaster.” They walk through the specs on the battery and inverter and dig into a mini-training and then wrap up with an extensive Q&A about the market and their offerings. The video is below.