GP Joule expands to America with New York office – Suffolk, New York is now home to the American headquarters of GP Joule, as the Canadian tracker maker expands into 15 U.S. state markets. The company has also reportedly tripled its manufacturing capacity in response to a 2019 demand of 300 MW. Source: JP Joule
Tesla approved to sell panels and leases in Florida – The regulators have spoken and Tesla has been approved to sell both solar panels and solar roofing leases in Florida, on the grounds that the two do not constitute the sale of electricity. Source: Click Orlando
SepiSolar starts solar salesforce consulting service – SepiSolar has launched a new Salesforce consulting division with the goal of using the company’s customer relationship management system to help solar businesses streamline and integrate sales, operations, and accounting. The service aggregates all of a solar company’s sales, marketing, accounting, inventory, legal, data management, onto one platform. Source: SepiSolar
EVgo charging stations powered over 75 million electric miles in 2018 – EVgo experienced substantial growth in 2018, with the company’s charging stations powering more than 75 million miles in EV travel, up 88% compared to 2017 figures. The company has installed over 1,100 chargers in 36 states across the country. Source: EVgo
Torqeedo completes the world’s first solar-electric sewage pump-out boat – “Torqeedo has supplied an integrated electric propulsion system for the world’s first full-size solar-electric sewage pump-out boat, which was recently delivered to the township of Branford, Connecticut… The propulsion system for the boat consists of two Torqeedo Cruise 4.0 outboard motors, four Torqeedo Power 48 lithium-ion batteries and four chargers, as well as a cockpit control panel that gives the operator an at-a-glance view of system status, including range at current speed. The motors are driven by electricity from the batteries, which are recharged by eight 100-watt solar panels, providing 400 watts to each battery bank. The batteries also drive the boat’s 48V 2hp pump and provide enough reserve capacity for a full day’s work.” Source: Torqeedo
Two Nevada solar companies go bankrupt – Benicia-based DC Solar Solutions and DC Solar Distribution have both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Nevada. This comes just one month after the companies were raided by the FBI, which the Department of Justice has said was related to an investigation of investment fraud. Source: Martinez News-Gazette
Are utilities regularly violating PURPA? – John Farrell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance questions the legality of the line toed by utilities when they fail to report avoided costs, claiming these are “trade secrets.” He argues that the shield of secrecy requires potential developers to pursue legal representation in order to get a fairly-priced contract. In the article, Minnesota utilities are used as a case study to expose what he calls utility “gamesmanship.” Source: Institute for Local Self-Reliance blog
Penn State to develop 70 MW solar project – “Penn State and Lightsource BP announced Tuesday, Feb. 5, the development of 70 megawatts of large-scale offsite solar to support the University’s Strategic Plan, which cites stewardship of the planet’s resources as a key priority. The project to install large-scale solar arrays will provide 25 percent of Penn State’s state-wide electricity requirements over a 25-year term, while driving economic development and educational opportunities for the host community.” Penn State becomes the latest in the now long, long list of universities who are developing large-scale solar. Universities adding solar projects has become essentially weekly news. Source: Lightsource BP
It’s a shutdown bonanza! SMA inverters gain Tigo’s rapid shutdown – “Tigo Energy, Inc today announced the new Underwriter Laboratories certification of its TS4 Platform Rapid Shutdown Systems with SMA, a global provider of residential & commercial inverters.”
Model numbers achieving TS4-F (fire safety) certification:
- SMA’s STP33 US-41
- STP50 US-41
- STP62 US-41
Model numbers achieving TS4-S (safety) certification:
- SMA SB6.0-1SP-US-40
- SMA SB5.0-1SP-US-40
- SMA STP 12000-30000TL-US-10
- SMA STP 50-US-40
- SMA SB3.0-7.7-1SP-US-40
All of the listed inverters also achieved TS4-O (Optimization) & TS4-L (Long Strings) certification.
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