We were gone till November, now we’re here. The US Air Force is researching space based solar power, SimpliPhi has discounts on energy storage products for Californians, and ESS Inc has raised $30 million to help roboticize a 1 GWh/year capacity factory to build flow batteries in Oregon!

SunPower met or exceeded 3rd quarter guidance, though it fell short of profitability by $15 million on $476 million in revenue. The company revealed that they have ~40,000 new home pre-orders for the California solar mandate market, and their Equinox home storage system launches in Q1.

Fluence has been awarded or built more than 1 GW of energy storage capacity in 95 unique projects across 20 countries. Now, the company – a joint venture between Siemens and AES –is modeling the future of the power grid to predict where its expertise will be utilized next.

Research by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that overall costs of transmission needed to integrate variable renewables is between 0.1-1¢/kWh, on top of the 2.9-4.6¢/kWh utility scale wind and solar power costs.

Lawrence Shaw says understanding solar module hotspots via infrared scans can help quell residential rooftop fire risks, while suggesting missing data represents missing work. Shaw also found the missing USA solar fire data.

Roth Capital Partners forecasts 25% year on year growth in both 2019 and 2020 for the U.S. residential solar power market. The firm notes that executive interviews are saying Roth’s projections are conservative, suggesting growth in the 30-50% range.

A proposed ruling has been submitted extending gas plant lifetimes by one to three years while 4 GW of new capacity, including demand response, is integrated into California’s power grid by August 1, 2023 to meet expected demand shortfalls during the annual September peak events.

Got new hardware tips? Send them to USA-Editors@pv-magazine.com. Mono-PERC module pricing is still nudging downward, Energy Toolbase has integrated Chint energy storage solutions into its software, and Jinko has a new module.

Single axis solar tracking manufacturer Sunfolding, led by the mind of CTO Leila Madrone, has raised $32 million to expand operations surrounding the deployment of its three-component T29 system.

NREL opened the doors as scientists spoke of advancing perovskites with fundamental research, fast drying solar inks, refining solar windows, and actively pushing into high speed, high volume manufacturing capacity on the multi-terawatt scale.