A new report states that U.S. energy storage set a first-quarter record for capacity installed this year, with 1,265 MW deployed across all segments. This is the highest storage capacity ever installed in a first quarter in the United States and is an 84% increase from Q1 2023. Grid-scale segment installed 993 MW, producing the highest Q1 on record for the segment.

Nextracker will build its second steel torque tube factory with Unimacts – this will bring the tracker specialist’s annual domestic solar tracker capacity to 30+ GW. The 160,000-square-foot facility will be located in Nevada near Vegas. With this, Nextracker will have opened or expanded over 20 U.S. manufacturing facilities since 2021.

FERC brought up concerns about ISO-NE, MISO, PJM and SPP rules that allow transmission owners to pay for and profit from network interconnection upgrades. They state that the rules for “initial funding” may actually increase interconnection costs without corresponding improvements.

The CEO and Pres of Create Energy and Shoals Technologies Group and the CEO of RECOM Technologies are launching ReCreate, a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Tennessee with planned production of up to 5 GW of modules and 5 GW of cells for the North American and European markets.

In this Solar Conversation, Kerim Baran of SolarAcademy hosts Elliott Chorn of Amperon where the duo talk about the challenges that come with forecasting energy at all levels of the grid. Locally, regionally, at the meter level as well as at various nodes of the grid. Elliott shares details on Amperon’s comprehensive methodology to forecasting. The topics discussed in this conversation include the following:

• Elliott Chron’s background in energy trading and forecasting
• Amperson’s AI/ML models and how they work
• Long-term vs short-term forecasts
• Grid-level vs meter-level forecasts
• Amperon’s unique approach to energy forecasting: Data, weather & data science
• The video is below

It is one thing to accurately design and build a robust solar and storage system, it is another to make sure it is performing as expected. In this Solar Conversation, Kerim Baran from SolarAcademy delves into the world of solar monitoring and optimization with Matt Moyer, Product Manager of Energy Toolbase Monitor.

Energy Toolbase is at the forefront of empowering solar developers and installers with cutting-edge monitoring solutions, and Matt shares multiple insights about ETB Monitor: a robust monitoring software providing real-time insights into the operational performance and savings of solar + storage systems.

In this Solar Conversation, Kerim and Matt talked about:

• Matt’s background from English language professor to product manager at Energy Toolbase, highlighting the development and functionality of ETB Monitor—a powerful software tool providing real-time insights into the operational performance and savings of solar and storage systems.
• The intricacies of utility rate scheduling, energy usage discrepancies, and the transformative impact of Energy Toolbase Monitor on solar project efficiency and cost savings.
• The concept of demand charges in energy consumption, explaining how they are calculated based on the maximum power load usage.
• The complexities of utility rate schedules for businesses, especially those using renewable energy
• The video is below.

In this Solar Conversation, Kerim Baran of SolarAcademy talks with Blair Reynolds, Director of Renewables & e-Mobility at Dynapower, a leader in energy storage and power conversion systems. Kerim and Blair talk about the challenges that come with the transition to renewables and the ways to strengthen the grid along with the following topics:

• Blair’s extensive 16+ year background in Solar PV and advanced energy technologies and his career spanning leading companies like Sharp, Enphase, SMA and Dynapower.
• Dynapower’s business overview. Dynapower’s key product offerings.
• The topics of inertia, frequency regulation, and rotating mass as it applies to the grid.
• How Dynapower brings resiliency to the grid while addressing the frequency problem on the grid with their grid-forming software control solution coupled with solar and batteries.
• The video is below.