With the difficulties of launching a company exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, EnerVenue has been able to not only survive the challenges, but use them to the company’s advantage. pv magazine sat down with CEO Jorg Heinmann to discuss how the company leveraged risk into opportunity.

A new fund has been launched to provide microgrants of $3,000 to $10,000 to the women entrepreneurs and community organizations working to provide clean, reliable and primarily off-grid power to remote communities.

In Vermont and Utah, net metering is under attack — in danger of being significantly devalued or eliminated. In Arizona, the state’s rooftop solar export rates have been saved for at least another year. Outside of policy, Maine has announced the winners of the state’s largest-ever renewable solicitation.

Wood Mackenzie has responded to a criticized report, clarifying that Covid-19 impacts on residential solar finance are much less significant than initially expected — and that faster-than-expected recovery for investments in the industry have kept investor confidence high.

Why is an essentially bankrupt Chinese solar company that had already furloughed most of its staff receiving $5 to $10 million from the U.S. treasury?

Bloomberg NEF’s head solar analyst, Jenny Chase is decidedly unimpressed with perovskite, floating solar (solar onna boat) or — as of her latest #unpopularopinions on solar thread on Twitter — agrivoltaics (solar onna field).

Henk Rogers, of Tetris Fame, talks shop about saving the planet, the future of energy storage in Hawaii and how a life-changing experience dictates how he tackles each day. Tam Hunt interviews the entrepreneur.

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

New analysis released by Lazard compares the levelized cost of energy for various generation technologies on a $/MWh basis and shows that renewables, specifically utility-scale solar and wind, are the economic frontrunners.

Also in the brief: juwi Shizen Energy constructs 54-MW-solarpark, Boston Solar teams with Generac, Capital Power, Palladium Energy & Renewable Energy Services sign 160MW of PPAs with Duke Energy.

The IPO priced at $22, above the top of the anticipated range of $19 to $21 — valuing the solar firm at about $2.8 billion. 

The reception in the financial community on the eve of the Array Technologies IPO must have been enthusiastic.

An independent power producer, AEP OnSite Partners, will be the first to deploy Wärtsilä’s new storage product. The 9 MW/15.6 MWh battery system will respond to PJM market signals and reduce the city’s peak demand by about 9 MW, while saving $1 million per year in transmission and capacity costs

Proclamation issued Oct. 10 cites impact of imported bifacial panels on U.S. solar manufacturing, while also raising the scheduled fourth-year tariff rate from 15% to 18%. 

Dean Solon of Shoals Technologies Group: “The short version is that it’s been a damned good year.” An interview with Shoals covers the growth of large solar projects in the U.S., high AC/DC ratios and the real costs of using cheap components.

Ho Chi Minh City-based construction company Trungnam Group said its army of laborers took just 45 days to perform site clearance for a project which took shape within 102 days.

A solar installer in Kansas does a great job of documenting and displaying the installation process of an attractive integrated Tesla solar roof.

Also in the brief: Scatec Solar to buy state-owned hydropower firm SN Power in a $1.17 billion deal, Panasonic Solar and Service Finance Company rolled out a new home energy storage financing program.

What is it about California’s SGIP subsidy that brings out the worst in people and corporations? Usually it’s companies gaming the ratepayer-funded incentive, this time it’s installers helping individuals with second homes siphon off funds intended for the disadvantaged.

A weekly round up of investments and exits in solar and energy transition technologies.

Born from an Oxford research group, the startup is looking to make its name by developing all-perovskite tandems, something no other company has done.

Also in the brief: Macquarie Group and Siemens AG are forming Calibrant Energy, a venture that will invest in the energy-as-a-service sector in the U.S.

The startup claims to be “the world’s top supplier of graphene” and plans to release a non-flammable, environmentally friendly lithium battery that can charge “18 times faster than anything that is currently available on the market” — within the next year.

The good people at Mayfield Renewables take us deep into the technical weeds as they question a rule-of-thumb: Is the 2% DC voltage drop rule accurate for real-world conductor sizing or has technological progress in solar made the rule irrelevant?

The EIA’s most recent Electric Power Monthly report shows that solar has accounted for nearly 3.4% of the country’s generation so far in 2020, with wind being responsible for another 8.5%. Meanwhile, coal has plummeted to just 17.8% of the nation’s total, down nearly 30% from just last year.