Ten sunniest US states added 1.8 GW of small-scale solar in 2019, as solar advocates press for more
Solar contractors added another 1.8 gigawatts of small-scale solar in the ten sunniest states last year. In Hawaii and California, solar groups described their ambitious policy goals to keep the momentum going.
Job moves: Engie fires CEO, plus Enphase, Sunrun, Sol Systems, Nautilus, Sage Energy
Executive and boardroom moves in solar, storage, project development, cleantech, utilities and venture capital.
Oil and gas giants Shell and Total get serious about solar
Total acquired 50% of India’s Adani Group’s solar portfolio for $510m and Shell is building its first large-scale solar farm, a 120-MW effort in Australia.
Morning Brief: 200 MW proposed in Utah and ‘God likes solar’
Also in the brief: 150 MW coming to Pennsylvania, Sunnova to bundle roof replacements with solar+storage under one loan, a solar-powered big rig in Arkansas and more!
Italian PV panels destined for recycling were instead smuggled to Syria and Africa
Illegally re-badged panels were sold to Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Turkey and Syria. Italian authorities found 60 tons of panels.
MIT researchers say PV innovations should be deployed in niche markets first
Solar module manufacturers should begin testing new technologies in higher-value niche markets, say scientists at the U.S. institution. For example, bringing perovskite technology directly to the mainstream market remains prohibitive in terms of initial investment but segments such as building-integrated PV or microelectronics may offer better routes to commercial maturity.
Solar racking innovations on the show floor at Intersolar San Diego
Modules and batteries get all the headlines, but solar racking represents the shoulders upon which everything is built — and advances in this field are happening fast. Vertical racking for bifacial modules, new floating racking, a replacement for aluminum flashing, corrugated metal connections, and more!
Midwest and Northern Tier states added 400 MW of small-scale solar in 2019
Solar contractors added far more small-scale solar in the 19-state area than in 2018, when they added 250 MW. Solar policy groups aim to improve opportunities for distributed solar in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and Montana.
Solar and the snow
Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are working to quantify the effects of abundant snowfall on a PV system and identify cost-effective strategies to mitigate energy losses and reliability issues caused by the presence of snow and ice.
New SunPower: Focusing on building the world’s highest efficiency PV modules at Maxeon Solar
In part 2 of our interview, the SunPower brain trust talks about scaling-up its high-efficiency PV technology in a way that it has not been able to do in the past — now that it has cash and a definitive focus.
