Colleges reassessing energy needs, sustainability goals in the face of Covid-related shutdowns
In an effort to accelerate their renewable goals, a number of U.S. colleges and universities have been using Covid-related shutdowns to assess their energy needs, how those needs are filled and what more they can do.
PV module prices are falling faster than all predictions
New research from Wood Mackenzie shows that overall system costs for installations using mono PERC modules are set to fall by as much as 20% by 2025.
American module shipments spiked in quantity and plummeted in price at the onset of Covid
2.05 GW of PV modules were shipped in March before plummeting to 1.24 GW in April. Yet, while shipments slowed, the cost per peak watt reached and sustained record lows.
Fluence’s sixth generation of storage technology has over 2 GWh of commitments at launch
Featuring a monitoring system that tracks system performance, a comprehensive operating platform and stackable system design, Fluence claims its new solution is capable of reaching gigawatt-sized deployments while driving project costs down as much as 25%.
90% clean power by 2035 is ‘challenging but feasible’
“90% by 2035 is the sweet spot” for a pathway that uses existing technology, allows “judicious use” of existing generation assets, and “achieves near-complete decarbonization in a realistic timeframe,” said study co-author Nikit Abhyankar of UC Berkeley. The resulting lower wholesale cost of electricity by 2035 “was a surprise for us.”
Solar costs have fallen 82% since 2010
The levelized cost of energy generated by large scale solar plants is around $0.068/kWh, compared to $0.378 ten years ago and the price fell 13.1% between 2018 and last year alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Morning Brief: Kentucky’s biggest PV project has a contract, Covid’s effect on the New York solar industry
Also in the brief: Terra Pave Albedo is an America Made Solar Prize competition finalist, a list of environment and climate organizations that have made statements on racism. Plus — “Coal consumption will be crushed in 2020.”
The solar industry and consumers both lose with federal ‘MOPR’ rule
Electricity consumers would pay at least $1.1 billion more per year in the 13-state PJM grid region, says a new report, while 8.5 GW of capacity sales from new solar developments would be excluded from the capacity market, and corporate solar purchase agreements could cost 50% more — if courts uphold a federal regulation known as “MOPR.”
It’s getting harder to develop solar on US federal lands
Now that the two-year tax holiday enjoyed by solar and wind projects operating on federally-owned lands is over, project owners and developers are facing back rent with more expensive leasing costs looming in 2021. With federal land being critical to a renewable future, what can be done?
Morning Brief: the North Carolina solar industry has weathered Covid well, Vistra announces battery expansion
Also in the brief: Consumers Energy is providing 100,000 Google Nest thermostats to Michigan households, Tesla has quietly made Model 3 ready for bidirectional charging, SolSmart adds new partners.
