Full-year revenues nudged up despite tough comparisons with the end of 2019 for the final quarter of last year. The inverter maker expects to log revenues of $385-405 million in the current three-month window.

Also on the rise: TVA allows local power companies to charge new fees to solar customers, Southwest Power Pool launches an imbalance market, and J.D. Power rates EV charging satisfaction.

The utility has launched a new program, Quick Connect, aimed at accelerating the process for turning on new residential solar systems.

Also on the rise: A coalition of 600 groups urges President-elect Biden to halt utility service shutoffs due to the pandemic, Harrison Street expands its solar owneship portfolio, and a Florida real estate developer eases its way into the solar sector.

For the first time since LevelTen Energy began tracking the market, solar PPA offer prices rose in 2020, with Q4 2020 prices 11.5% higher than a year earlier.

Vote Solar’s Access & Equity Advisory Committee has released a policy brief outlining key initiatives for more successful solar expansion programs.

Miscommunication at Central Maine Power led to some solar developers receiving letters saying that interconnection fees would jump by as much as 5x. The utility blamed growing pains.

In a U.S. study of the added renewables capacity made possible by grid-enhancing technologies, Brattle Group found that both solar and wind power would benefit in Kansas and Oklahoma through 2025.

Also on the rise: Duke Energy starts work on a 50 MW solar array near Charlotte, a solar+storage project nears completion in Massachusetts, and AC Power targets brownfield sites for New Jersey community solar.

NASCAR raceways have become one of the sporting world’s most fervent adopters of solar energy, with one project under development that’s set to become the largest solar installation at any sporting venue across the globe.

A coalition of clean energy CEOs dubbed the October 2020 proclamation “ill conceived” and called for a repeal in order to restore certainty to the U.S. solar market.

Also on the rise: Partners target battery weight in commercial EVs, Complete Solar becomes more complete, drivers can get a Slurpee and a jolt at a PG&E-backed charging location, and JinkoSolar inks a silicon supply deal.

Imports from South Korea and the U.S. dwindled, year-on-year, ensuring Germany’s Wacker and the Malysian unit of Korean company OCI will supply the bulk of the world’s non-Chinese solar polysilicon this year.

SolarEdge’s e-Mobility division will supply Fiat with full electrical powertrain units and batteries for the automaker’s E-Ducato light commercial vehicle. 

Also on the rise: Enevate and Highview Power fuel growth plans with additional investors, and a new venture targets Li-ion battery recycling for fleet vehicles.

Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities, and energy transition finance.

Going it alone with the ERCOT market as currently structured and regulated has been tested and found inadequate, writes a former state utility regulator. “Texas should not waste this crisis.”

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority has been ordered to procure a total of 3.75 GW or renewables and 1.5 GW of energy storage.

The program, which allows large-scale customers to offset power purchases by securing renewable energy directly from project owners and energy suppliers, has been successful so far in North Carolina.

A new report from the U.S.-based analyst predicts that new PV additions for 2021 may range from 163 to 221 GW next year and from 179 to 240 GW in 2023. According to BloombergNEF, the current supply bottlenecks for glass and polysilicon will unlikely halt the global PV market.

Grid planning fails to consider extreme climate scenarios that a resilient grid needs to handle, said EPRI’s president and CEO. “Traditional planning processes do not represent how resources actually perform under extreme conditions.”

Data firm Lium concluded that ERCOT “probably needed at least another 17 GW of generation” to meet demand as cold winter weather settled in over the state.

Also on the rise: ERCOT orders rolling blackouts as 30 GW of resources are forced out, PNM shareholders OK merger with Avangrid, location is key when talking about DERs, and Dominion claws back from a big ice storm.

The Biden administration and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are moving quickly to advance energy and climate initiatives. To sweeten the pot, ARPA-E is offering $100 million in funding.

Also on the rise: ARPA-E offers $100 million in R&D funding, California hunts for generation resources for this summer, and CIT Group helps arrange financing for a handful of BESS capacity.