Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that as net metering expands, financially challenged electric customers will begin to pay a higher share of the electric companies guaranteed revenue streams – and while this would be true in a static world – the broader picture of the value of individual energy empowerment makes this an acceptable systemic risk.

Los Angeles’ municipal utility has voted 5-0 to approve a 25-year contract with a 400 MWac solar plus 300 MW / 1.2 GWh energy storage facility, with the aggregate price of the electricity from the project at 3.962¢/kWh.

The European rooftop solar racking manufacturer launched in the United States last year and has now bought three US residential racking companies that represent 60% of the market, with greater than $250 million in combined revenue.

Researchers have found that over three years of testing lithium ion NMC532 graphite battery cells have the potential to stay structurally sound long enough for cars to reach greater than 1 million miles, and grid connected energy storage to last more than 20 years under daily use.

Enel’s vision of future inverters include individual sub component health monitoring, while Southern Power spoke of paying closer attention to onsite transformers while presenting at O&M conference PV Operations Dallas 2019.

Hey, when you see me at SPI in Salt Lake City – make sure to show me things to take a picture of so I can get it into the brief! Otherwise, enjoy your weekend and some gear: small scale solar from Morningstar’s SureSine, module pricing trending downward, more!

The Brattle Group has developed a Total Value Test to help determine a more accurate economic valuation of energy efficiency programs historically, including case studies of city bus electrification, indoor agriculture and water heating.

Sunrun’s solar+storage Brightbox systems – 1,000 of them totalling 4.3 MW of capacity – are included in a contract for grid services submitted to Hawaii regulators.

Power utilities are continuing a nationwide push for vehicle electrification to grow flat since ~2007 electricity demand, with Dominion Energy now aiming for a 100% electric school bus replacement program, starting with 50 by the end of 2020 in Virginia, along with Mid American pushing for 15 high speed car charging locations across the Iowa utility’s service area.

A Department of Energy report on wind energy showed nuggets of research on solar power – including a 280 GW interconnection queue and continued declines in pricing, as well solar’s encroachment on wind’s Midwest territory.