Federal grants aim to spark investment in U.S. solar manufacturing
Seven early-stage solar manufacturing firms have won U.S. Department of Energy grants to develop prototypes, which they could use to help attract private investment. DOE’s 21 PV research and development grants may hold more interest for established manufacturers.
Montana utility wants gas units; Sierra Club suspects biased modeling
In developing its resource plan, NorthWestern Energy apparently used modeling assumptions that favor gas-fired generation, says the Sierra Club. The group has filed a legal motion requesting access to the modeling inputs, and to the model itself.
First Solar advises contracting for solar capacity, not MWh, to enable flexible operation
Flexible solar plant operation can save a utility money. First Solar says it’s time for solar power purchase agreements to catch up to that fact.
Google’s reverse auctions net 1.2 GW of renewables in 60 minutes
Google pre-qualified bidders and used reverse auctions to obtain the lowest price for renewable energy. Reverse auctions for corporate purchases could potentially benefit solar developers, if their transparency and simplicity can influence more corporations to procure green power.
Sunrun proposes solar+storage virtual power plants across Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau has its hands full in ensuring the island’s utility gets the grid working well at a reasonable cost, while moving to 40% renewables by 2025. Sunrun and environmental groups point a way forward.
Solar left out of electric vehicle charging plans
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.
FERC looks at potential cyberattacks on dispersed grid assets
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.
Solar to lower power bills 4.6% at Arkansas co-op
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.
To make room for more distributed PV, harmonize smart inverter settings
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.
Current wireless technology may be adequate for communicating with distributed solar and storage
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.
