VC funding in solar 2020: perovskites, silicon and utility-scale foundations, plus lots of software
Here’s a list of solar firms that VCs funded during this pandemic year.
A wish list for Biden’s energy policy agenda during his first year in office
What Tam Hunt would like for the holidays: a Renewable Electricity Standard, a federal feed-in tariff and a federal efficiency standard.
Biden makes his picks: Granholm is Energy Secretary and McCarthy is Climate Czar
Also in the morning brief: Ormat expands energy storage presence, acquires a shovel-ready project in Upton County, Texas. RatedPower’s software for utility-scale solar. CS Energy hits 1 GW.
Swift Solar secures financing to expand its perovskite R&D
The financing round was led by GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij and cryptocurrency expert James Fickel. Proceeds will be used to expand R&D, develop prototypes and add staff.
Silicon Ranch raises $225 million to fund 1 GW of solar by 2022
The company’s largest-ever funding round will help it bring more than 1 GW of solar on line and position Nashville-based Silicon Ranch to enter new markets.
Is FERC Order 2222 enough to push virtual power plants into the energy mainstream?
Aggregating DERs via virtual power plants has customers, utilities and financiers all ready to buy in. With FERC Order 2222, the question for two California aggregators is whether their models will play in less DER-friendly markets.
Morning Brief: Bipartisan energy deal rumored to be imminent in lame-duck session
Although the situation in DC remains “fluid.” Also in the brief: LG Energy’s new residential battery systems, and solar on Arkansas jails with Entegrity.
Recovery takes hold as Q3 solar installations rose, SEIA says
U.S. solar companies installed 3.8 GW of new solar PV capacity in Q3 as the industry worked to recover from some of the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Extreme weather is causing solar insurance premiums to explode
Catastrophic weather events in Texas and California have led to steep insurance premium cost increases, according to a new analysis by Norton Rose Fulbright.
Large-scale PV wafers are poised to dominate the industry
Making wafers larger as a cost optimization strategy is not an entirely new idea. But it has quickly gained ground this year among all of the leading manufacturers, turning the market on its head.pv magazine takes a look at how we got to this point.
