Hardware Brief: Solar services, really fast module install, install of the week, module pricing flat, more!

It might not be considered, “hardware”, but those who know how to dance the spreadsheet dance and read the legal documents, are an invaluable service to our industry. “Boston law firm Sherin and Lodgen LLP announces that its Renewable Energy Practice Group represented Cambridge Savings Bank in a portfolio construction bridge and term loan to Kearsarge Energy, a leading renewable energy project developer, for the construction of three ground-mounted solar facilities in Massachusetts totaling 8.8 MW. The transaction included syndicate partners Eastern Bank and Middlesex Savings Bank, and includes both Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program projects and net-metered projects with public off-takers. The portfolio features a solar facility in Amesbury that has been combined with a 1.6 MW battery energy storage system to provide leading-edge renewable power storage and distribution. The installation is one of the first solar-plus-storage systems deployed under the SMART program.” Source – Sherin & Lodgen

Solar modules getting installed faster because of hardware innovation (in this case it’s Gamechange Solar’s “SpeedClamp”) attacks labors costs. In the USA, human being needs a lot of money to eat and sleep, thus machines making smarter metal in the factory means humans make smarter movements in the field. “The team consisted of five workers with one worker staging all modules and removing all trash as the team moved along. The other four workers installed modules at 28 seconds per each two-worker team. The four workers installed modules at a rate of 2,056 per day, or 514 per worker per day.” Source – Gamechange.

That featured image on this article is of an installation in Jacksonville. “For the project, it integrated Sungrow’s all-inclusive solar energy solution consisting of 1500Vdc PV turnkey station SG2500U and all-in-one DC-DC Energy Storage System (ESS) solution ST1918KWH-D750HV. The containerized 1500Vdc 2.5MW solution features high efficiency and high DC/AC ratio of 1.5, ensuring an optimized LCOE. The ESS solution, which integrates PCS and Li-ion battery, local controller, saving thousands of dollars compared to existing “ala carte” solutions that require the purchase of separate component parts in order to achieve comparable functionality.” Source – Sungrow … but just because I was curious and wanted some more info – I found the developer’s press release, and more hardware: “The single-axis tracker project will enable the solar panels to follow the sun from east to west every day, improving the overall energy output from the system. Numerous partners helped make this project possible, including Sungrow, NexTracker, Performance Contracting Inc. (PCI), Prosser and Westwood Engineering. The solar power plant includes 27,260 Q.POWER L-G5.2 320/325 and Q.PLUS L-G4.2 345 solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, provided by Q CELLS.” Source – 174 Power Global.

If you go to their support home page, the company lists inverter error codes. “Solar Support, an engineering services company officially launches its integrated equipment and plant restoration and recovery solution. The company delivers remote and on-site diagnostics and issue resolution to help asset owners and operators keep plants running at their peak.” Source – Solar Support.

First time I’ve noticed this account reference any pricing outside of solar cells. Most of the time I don’t even look all the way at the bottom of the tweet to check the price. Wonder if there is much fluctuation in the aluminum frames or silver pastes, both commodity items, with a decent amount of processing. Polysilicon price was flat, but wafer price down, cell price down, maybe we’ll see 20¢/W solar panels one of these days.

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