Opportunities for solar-powered electric vehicle charging are out there for the solar industry to capture. In the meantime, electric utilities are snapping them up, to suit their own purposes.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has agreed to evaluate the potential risk of a coordinated cyberattack on geographically distributed targets on the electric grid, as recommended by the U.S. General Accounting Office. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation has pushed back.

After adding enough solar capacity to reduce its costly peak load by about 30%, an Arkansas utility plans to cut electric bills by 4.6%. Expansion of a solar-powered factory that will yield 400 jobs is already under way.

New opportunities for distributed PV could be accelerated by reaching early agreement on settings for smart inverters, which are expected to become widely available in the next two years. A consulting firm explains, and offers its recommendations.

A study advised by seven electric utilities found that current “long-term evolution” (LTE) wireless broadband technology may be adequate for sending signals to control, or guide, the operations of distributed solar and storage resources.

Adding at least 49 GW of solar through 2050 would save Virginia consumers money, according to an independent modeling run of the state’s grid. Thousands of jobs would be added, and public health would improve.

NREL has made its capacity planning model freely available for anyone to use. The model can optimize the amounts of solar, wind and storage to be added to the U.S. electric grid. Documentation is included, but a powerful computer and additional software are required.

SEIA worked with 100 leaders in the solar and storage industries to develop a 12-year strategic plan, which covers all the bases. Yet funding is inadequate to pursue all strategies immediately, so some strategies must wait.

Two potentially “self-fulfilling” energy transition narratives are in competition, says a World Economic Forum report. Only one, the “rapid narrative,” would help us limit global warming to the Paris Agreement goal of “well below two degrees Celsius.”

Memphis is studying the potential to save money by exiting its contract with TVA. At issue is how much solar and storage to include in any new generating portfolio.