Massive solar project(s) in Florida, Enphase to supply Sunrun with inverters: pvMB 11/19/19

One times three makes one in Florida – Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA), in conjunction with 12 Florida municipal electric utilities and Florida Renewable Partners broke ground on three separate solar installations, all touted as one mega project. The project, named on the Florida Municipal Solar Project comes in at 223.5 MWac, meaning that it is made up of three equivalent 74.5 MWac installations. 900,000 solar panels will be installed at two sites in Osceola County and at one site in Orange County. The 12 local utilities that will purchase power from the project include: Alachua, Bartow, Beaches Energy Services (Jacksonville Beach), Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, Homestead, Keys Energy Services (Key West), Kissimmee Utility Authority, Lake Worth Beach, Ocala, Orlando Utilities Commission, Wauchula and Winter Park. Source: Florida Municipal Power Agency

Enphase signs agreement to provide microinverters to Sunrun – “Enphase Energy has signed a strategic supply agreement with Sunrun to provide its seventh-generation Enphase IQ microinverters to Sunrun for use in its residential solar business. Sunrun’s customers will benefit from Enphase’s IQ 7 and IQ 7+ microinverters, which leverage Enphase’s unique software-defined architecture and semiconductor integration for excellent reliability and economies of scale. Enphase microinverters are subjected to a rigorous reliability and quality testing regimen with more than one million hours of power-on testing to ensure exceptional performance under heat, high humidity, salty air, extreme cold, and harsh climate conditions. The company’s microinverters are designed to be long-lived energy assets and are backed by a 25-year warranty.” Source: Enphase Energy

Ranger Power Michigan project approved – River Fork Solar, a 149 MW project set to be developed by Ranger Power, has taken a big step towards construction, as the project received a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) by both the Sheridan Township Planning Commission and the Sheridan Township Board. River Fork Solar is anticipated to take a year to construct, going on-line in either late 2020 or early 2021 and creating an anticipated 269 jobs along the way. Source: Ranger Power

UMass Lowell hosts battery storage discussion – “Leaders from business, education, government and research will gather next week to discuss the state of energy storage in Massachusetts. “The Role of Energy Storage in Our Carbon-Free Future” will be presented by UMass Lowell and the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Foundation on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, 50 Warren St., Lowell. The event, which is open to the public, will feature discussions on the emerging field with experts, researchers and other stakeholders. The program, which is $30 per person, also includes breakfast. Registration information is available at http://bit.ly/2CGvMMs. The program will also look at the new AIM Foundation study on energy storage, which looks at the needs created by the thousands of megawatts of new, renewable energy sources expected in the Commonwealth in the next decade.” Source: UMass Lowell

Buckthorn files counterclaim – Remember the saga of the lawsuit between Georgetown, TX and Clearway Energy over the Buckthorn Westex solar project? Buckthorn Westex has filed a counterclaim against the city. In a quote, the company says: “Buckthorn has and will continue to honor all terms of its contractual agreement with the City, and claims to the contrary are wholly inaccurate. The City’s budgetary woes are not attributable to Buckthorn. The City has breached its contracts with Buckthorn by failing to pay amounts due, and rather than working in good faith, has elected to pursue litigation in a clear attempt to terminate its contractual obligations.” Source: Clearway Energy