Microsoft buys more solar from ENGIE, Lightsource raises $140 million in U.S. solar funding: pvMB 9/26/19

Microsoft to purchase 85 MW of solar from ENGIE – “Microsoft and ENGIE today announced both a long-term solar and wind energy power purchase agreement (PPA) that provides 24/7 supply in the United States and implementation of Darwin, energy software developed by ENGIE using the intelligent cloud services of Microsoft Azure to optimize performance of ENGIE’s wind, solar, and hybrid (wind + solar) renewable assets worldwide. The renewable deal will see Microsoft purchase a total of 230 MW from two ENGIE projects in Texas, bringing Microsoft’s renewable energy portfolio to more than 1,900 MW. Microsoft will purchase the majority of the output from the new 200 MW Las Lomas wind project, which will be located in Starr & Zapata Counties in south Texas. Microsoft will also purchase 85 MW from the 200 MW Anson Solar Center project, which will be built in Jones County in central Texas. Both projects will be operated by ENGIE and are expected to come on-line in January 2021.” Source: ENGIE

Lightsource BP completes $140 million in U.S. solar funding – Lightsource BP will officially be financing 125 MW of projects across the U.S. thanks to a $140 million funding campaign, including the tax equity investment and long-term debt financing. Lightsource BP secured tax equity financing for the 125 MW portfolio from Rockwood Group, through its partnership with Fortune 250 Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. The projects range across seven U.S. states. Souce: Lightsource BP

Amp achieves a GWh in in large-scale solar+storage projects – “Ampt LLC reported the rapid adoption of their String Optimizer products in large-scale PV solar+storage projects totaling one gigawatt-hour (GWh). Ampt String Optimizers are DC/DC converters that uniquely deliver higher performing solar+storage systems that cost less than solutions without Ampt. Ampt attributes this recent series of projects to the adaptive technology in its String Optimizers which delivers value in a wide range of system sizes and storage applications. These projects combine solar PV with DC-coupled energy storage. The mix of projects include several PV systems ranging from 50 to 100 megawatts (MW), multiple projects between 10 and 30MW, and numerous 10MW and under projects. The PV-to-battery-to-inverter ratio on these systems range up to 2:1:1 with two- to five-hour charge durations being most common. Project locations in the U.S. include California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. Today’s announced project momentum follows another milestone reported earlier this year. In January, Ampt String Optimizers were deployed on a record-breaking PV peaker power plant that has 28MW of solar PV and 100 megawatt-hours (MWh) of DC-coupled energy storage.” Source: Ampt

SmartFlower debuts SmartFlower + – The list of products debuted at Solar Power international just keeps growing! SmartFlower Solar has debuted the company’s new integrated battery storage system, the Smartflower +Plus. SmartFlower Solar has partnered with NEC Energy Solutions, who will be supplying the batteries for the Smartflower +Plus.The Smartflower +Plus is a self-contained solar energy system with 5.5 kWh of battery storage and is fully integrated. The inverter for the Smartflower +Plus can work in both on- and off-the-grid situations, has an external generator input, and has a built-in internal transfer switch that will provide safe integration for grid-connected applications. Source: SmartFlower

ABB debuts Universal 10/4 Residential Storage System – ABB today introduces its collaboration on the new Universal 10/4 Residential Storage System powered by Humless’ groundbreaking 48V Universal Energy Management (UEM) and ABB’s UNO-DM-TL-PLUS line of residential inverters. This is the solar power industry’s first all-in-one ESS that intelligently manages the flow of electricity from any source for any use. It integrates with any existing residential grid-tied solar system and works with any manufacturer’s panels. Humless Universal is the first to enable simultaneous AC/DC Coupling and is very expandable. Source: ABB