Ryan Kennedy
U.S. adds 21 GW of solar in first three quarters of 2025
Solar represented 21 GW of the 28 GW of power capacity added to the grid through September in 2025 according to FERC.
Atmospheric river cuts irradiance across Western North America
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that solar irradiance levels were well below average in western and northern United States in November, while southern parts of the country and Mexico enjoyed strong positive anomalies.
Demand diligence from U.S. battery integration
Tariffs continue to reshape the U.S. storage market. Rising costs for overseas systems have created new incentives to integrate equipment domestically, and many developers are turning to US firms to assemble battery systems. Integration capacity can scale faster than battery cell manufacturing, but not without risk. Unlike cell plants, where automated processes keep variations in check, battery assembly and integration depends on people, as Jeff Zwijack from Intertek CEA explains.
Congress urged to reform “nearly complete moratorium” on U.S. solar projects
A coalition of 143 solar companies signed a letter requesting reforms to solar project permitting, as Trump administration executive orders have led to an effective shutdown of all projects under Department of Interior purview.
U.S. solar manufacturers ink spacecraft deals
An Arizona manufacturer struck an research agreement with NASA, while a company in Colorado will supply thin-film solar to an unnamed private spacecraft company.
Nextpower opens monitoring center and doubles steel output at Memphis plant
Nextpower, formerly Nextracker, announced it has opened a remote monitoring center for its solar tracker systems in Nashville, Tennessee and also expanded its Memphis steel manufacturing capacity.
Study finds Terrasmart solar trackers demonstrate labor efficiency
Third-party consulting company Eclipse-M found the company’s racking solutions require less labor hours than the average tracker solar racking solution.
MIT spin-out 247Solar aims to decarbonize baseload power and industrial heat
The company opened a $25 million Series B funding round to support its concentrated solar power solution that stores and dispatches heat and electricity.
California lawmakers urge CPUC to enforce utility interconnection timelines
A coalition of 18 California legislators has formally urged the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to enforce regulations under “Rule 21” regarding the interconnection of customer-sited solar and energy storage systems.
Perovskite tandem solar panels selected for utility-scale installation pilot
Solar developer Plenitude will validate Swift Solar’s 28% efficiency perovskite-silicon tandem technology in a utility-scale project.
