Dominion throws the challenge flag on the Energy Freedom Act
The utility is attempting to set the avoided energy cost rate for solar projects under PURPA at just $16.76/MWh for new generation and $23.46/MWh for queued generation. These are some of the lowest avoided cost rates seen to date.
The effects of levying tariffs on bifacial modules remains unclear
In this op-ed for pv magazine, Tony Clifford, Chief Development Officer at Standard Solar breaks down the rammifications of the recent revoking of exemptions on bifacial solar modules from the Section 201 tariffs.
Employment abounds: new board additions at PG&E and a new executive at Western Resource Advocates: pvMB 10/16/19
Hello happy people and welcome to this Wednesday’s pvMB. Today we’ve got community solar in Massachusetts and Maryland, Florida Man trying to evict the sun and more!
Texas city suing Clearway to escape solar contract
The city of Georgetown, Texas is suing a subsidiary of Clearway, over allegations that the company withheld critical project performance details during contract renegotiations for the Buckthorn solar plant in late 2016.
Solar stocks soar in 2019
The Invesco Solar ETF is up 50% year to date, driven by the successes of Solaredge, Enphase, Sunrun, First Solar and SunPower. These strong performances may look to increase the financial confidence of the industry as a whole.
Roth: Trump admin could end bifacial tariff exemption
The U.S. Trade Representative has not responded to the claim that it will end the exemption from Section 201 duties. If accurate this could be a loss for Asian PV makers and a minor loss for the larger U.S. market, but a positive for First Solar.
Logic supports renewables, not nuclear
The latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report reiterates that clean power is taking the lead in the world’s energy system and nuclear is not only too costly a remedy for carbon emissions but too slow to deploy.
The Open PV Project goes offline
The U.S. Department of Energy has shut down the site for its Open PV Project, which supplied cost and installation data. Is this the winding down of a project whose time had come, or part of a more disturbing trend?
Residential solar is getting cheaper – except for third-party
EnergySage has found that the average price for PV systems quoted through its site has fallen under $3 per watt, echoing findings by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. However, prices are increasing for the big third-party solar companies.
Tesla is selling commercial solar as cheap as $1.01/W
The new tool launched for C&I solar customers is yet another example of Tesla being able to drive down system prices by ditching traditional sales models and customer acquisition costs.
