Ryan Kennedy
U.S. House unanimously passes forced labor bill for Xinjiang region
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would ban all imports from the Chinese region, unless the U.S. government determines the products were not made with forced labor. The region supplies 50% of the world’s polysilicon, an essential material in solar PV.
SolarPro posts $10 million for Texas grid upgrades
The upgrade will connect to projects with a combined capacity of approximately 1 GW.
U.S. residential solar trends, 2021
In 2021, residential solar reached several milestones and extreme weather raised customer interest in home energy storage systems.
Silfab and Titan Solar extend partnership
The Canadian solar module manufacturer Silfab and the Arizona-based national installer Titan solar have already installed modules across 18 states in partnership.
USDA grant program provides funds for rural agricultural solar projects
Two potato farmers in Maine are set to receive grant funding as part of more than $24 million designated for decarbonized energy infrastructure projects in rural communities in the state. The program is available in eligible rural communities countrywide.
Domestic manufacture of solar modules, trackers, inverters incentivized in Build Back Better
In a draft of the Build Back Better infrastructure plan released by the Senate Finance Committee, domestic manufacturing of solar PV and balance-of-system components would qualify for incentives.
MIT and Google develop solar cell simulator
The differential physics-based software simulates how the change in a given input can change the cell’s power output, potentially paving the way for faster improvements in PV efficiency.
In underserved communities, solar referrals work best
Research from national labs shows word-of-mouth referrals led to among the highest adoption rates in low-income communities.
Alabama students study outdoors in off-grid solar pods
In a partnership with startup SolarFi, the University of Alabama has deployed outdoor solar-powered study “pods”.
Autonomous robot for concentrated solar power installation and maintenance
Heliogen announced the roll-out of its robots to install and clean its CSP plants.
