Morning Brief: Capital Dynamics and 8minute Solar Energy buy 387 MW in Nevada, DOE launches Energy Storage Grand Challenge

Capital Dynamics and 8minute Solar Energy buy 387 MW: The Eagle Shadow Mountain Solar Project, a strong early contender for pv magazine USA’s 2020 best named solar project award is under new ownership as it was purchased by Capital Dynamics and 8minute Solar Energy. 8minute is contracted to develop and deploy the 300MWac/387MWdc solar project which is set to be completed and operational by the end of 2021. Source: Capital Dynamics and 8minute Solar Energy

U.S. Department of Energy launches Energy Storage Grand Challenge: “U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced the launch of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, a comprehensive program to accelerate the development, commercialization, and utilization of next-generation energy storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in energy storage. The Grand Challenge builds on the $158 million Advanced Energy Storage Initiative announced in President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request… The Energy Storage Grand Challenge sets the following goals for the U.S. to reach by 2030:

1. Technology Development: Establish ambitious, achievable performance goals, and a comprehensive R&D portfolio to achieve them;
2. Technology Transfer: Accelerate the technology pipeline from research to system design to private sector adoption through rigorous system evaluation, performance validation, siting tools, and targeted collaborations;
3. Policy and Valuation: Develop best-in-class models, data, and analysis to inform the most effective value proposition and use cases for storage technologies;
4. Manufacturing and Supply Chain: Design new technologies to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and recyclability, and to reduce dependence on foreign sources of critical materials; and
5. Workforce: Train the next generation of American workers to meet the needs of the 21st century electric grid and energy storage value chain.”

Source: Dept. of Energy

Greenbacker buys 110 MW portfolio: Greenbacker Renewable Energy is now the owner of a whole heap of solar assets after purchasing the rights to an approximately 110 MW portfolio of solar projects located in Greene and Albany counties in N.Y. from Hecate Energy. The facilities are not yet operational but will be by 2021. Source: Solar Industry Mag

Dynamic Energy completes 1 MW rooftop installation in New Jersey: Okay, if we’re being precise, the installation is 965 kW, but yes Dynamic Energy has completed a rooftop solar array for Wacoal America at their headquarters and distribution center in Lyndhurst, NJ. Dynamic Energy designed and constructed a system that will power nearly all the distribution center’s energy needs and enables Wacoal to participate in New Jersey’s solar renewable energy credit program. The 965-kW system is expected to generate approximately 1.2 million kWhs of electricity annually, avoiding the emission of 935 tons of carbon dioxide per year, while contributing to New Jersey’s renewable energy targets.” Source: Dynamic Energy

Solar system believed to be the cause of California tiny home fire: “A fire that caused a tiny home to burn down in Penngrove on Monday may have been caused by a solar energy system. The Press Democrat reports that the charge controller that regulated the power generated by rooftop solar panels is believed to have started the fire that displaced two people. Nobody was home at the time of the fire but a Carbon Monoxide alarm alerted the homeowners of the property on Lichau Road south of Crane Creek Regional Park. They contacted family member who lived on another home on the property who saw the fire and called 911. Damage was estimated at around $120,000.” Source: KSRO