pvMB 2/19/2019: 50 MW in Maine, robotic panel cleaning and more!

Its a sunny Tuesday morning and the days are getting longer! Maui Electric is trying to charge ratepayers for curtailed solar electricity, Nissan is using old batteries in campers and Aerospec sees how BIG a solar farm is.

February 19, 2019 Tim Sylvia

Carolina Solar Services

Maui Electric Company wants customers to pay for unused solar power – Maui Electric Company is asking Hawaiian regulators for approval to pass on to ratepayers the $155,000 cost of 1.4 GWh of solar power that was curtailed from two solar plants with which it holds contracts. This was around 11% of the output contracted from the two projects. Source: The Miami Herald

50 MW Maine solar project ready for construction – “With all the permitting and paperwork a thing of the past, NextEra Energy Resources is ready to begin construction on its 50 MW Sanford Solar Energy Project. While a general contractor has not been chosen yet, NextEra anticipates a groundbreaking in March and a completion of the project in early 2020.” Source: The Journal Tribune

Solar rooftop in the UAE fitted with 100% robotic maintenance now complete – “The first of its kind for the area, Enerwhere has installed a 1 MW solar rooftop plant for Masterbaker that features a state-of-the-art automated system of 34 robots which clean the project’s 3,300 panels.” Source: MESIA

Once dead, now delivering – “Nissan has begun re-purposing old, worn out electric car batteries for use in camping trailers made by Opus. The system is powered by a technology the company invented called Roam, which is packed with lithium-ion battery cells pulled from first-generation Nissan vehicles. The system can store up to 700Wh of electricity, giving back 1kW of electrical output.” Source: Engadget

Platte River signs 20 MW PPA – Platte River Power Authority’s (PRPA) Rawhide Energy Station is getting an upgrade to the tune of 20 MW, thanks to a power purchase agreement PRPA signed with GCL New Energy and DEPCOM Power. The facility will feature a 2 megawatt-hour battery storage system and will accompany the existing 30 MW Rawhide Flats Solar installation. Pending late spring permit approval, construction could begin this summer and end in early 2020. Source: Collegian.com

In January 2019, engineers from Aerospec got a taste of just how big a solar park is with over 2,000,000 solar modules. It took 30 minutes by car to drive one end to the other, in a straight line! Source – Aerospec

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.