Tesla to hide ‘solar test-house’ under tents at Fremont site
Lora Kolodny at CNBC uncovered a recently granted building permit that allows Tesla to put up “two canopy covers” over its new “solar test houses.” Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that 2019 was “the year of the solar roof.”
Highview and Encore to develop the first long duration, liquid air energy storage system in the US
Northern Vermont facility will help put more renewable energy on the region’s electric grid
1366 Technologies adds $18M in pursuit of cheaper silicon solar cells
The company’s technology falls in the ‘kerfless’ wafer category: Instead of sawing silicon ingots into wafers, a time-consuming and wasteful process, 1366’s technology forms wafers directly using molten silicon.
Hanergy: from thin-film solar savior to mass layoffs at MiaSolé, Alta, Solibro and Global Solar
Unannounced layoffs with no pay or benefits have left more than 600 American workers in the U.S., 180 employees in Germany, and thousands in China unemployed and in the dark. A number of employees reached out to tell their story.
Residential solar rebounds and sets new US record in Q3 with 712 MW installed
The US residential solar market and 15 state markets are at record highs, according to WoodMac’s ‘don’t call it a comeback’ Q3 report — driven by some new market forces. The research firm holds its 2019 total US solar forecast at 13 gigawatts.
Alta Devices hopes outside investors will revive the Hanergy-owned thin-film GaAs solar firm
Alta’s COO: “An agreement has been reached between Alta Devices and Hanergy to allow Alta to bring in outside investors to breathe new life into the company, and to get the thin film GaAs technology leader back on track.”
BlackRock aims a $2.5 billion fund at commercial and industrial solar, wind, and battery storage
The good news is that the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, just closed $1 billion of a record $2.5 billion fund dedicated to solar, wind, and energy storage projects. The bad news is that the $2.5 billion fund is a tiny fraction of BlackRock’s $6.96 trillion balance sheet and small change compared to BlackRock’s $17.5 billion investment in coal.
Elon Musk calls for an ‘immediate’ and ‘significant increase’ in Tesla’s solar installs
Tesla was once the unquestioned leader in the residential rooftop market with a market share of around 33 percent, but today, the company is No. 3, and its market share during the first quarter was a little more than 6 percent.
Module tariffs will cost the U.S. solar industry $19 billion, 62,000 jobs, and 10.5 GW
The trade organization has an unambiguous take on solar commerce: “The U.S. solar market would be much better off without the tariffs.”
Hanergy-owned Alta Devices laid off 250 employees without notice
Alta Devices built and sold record-setting gallium-arsenide solar cells but its acquirer Hanergy ran out of patience and cash.
