Energy Jobs: New CEO at sonnen, plus 8minute Solar, SolarEdge, Scale Microgrid, Safari Energy, Panasonic and Mercatus
Executive, career and boardroom moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy VC.
Analyzing the 2% DC voltage drop rule
The good people at Mayfield Renewables take us deep into the technical weeds as they question a rule-of-thumb: Is the 2% DC voltage drop rule accurate for real-world conductor sizing or has technological progress in solar made the rule irrelevant?
What is distributed generation’s real worth for the grid?
A thought experiment by Severin Borenstein suggests how much rooftop solar could reduce transmission and distribution costs.
Utah utility Rocky Mountain Power and solar advocates aren’t even close on the value of rooftop PV sent to the grid
Solar from customer roofs in Utah is worth somewhere between 1.5 cents/kWh and 22.6 cents/kWh, depending on your calculations and who you ask — a ridiculously wide range.
Solar installation spotlight: balancing modernity and heritage at the Boulder Jewish Community Center
Sustainability, lower operating costs and return on investment all became paramount issues for the development of this system that will serve the Colorado nonprofit and surrounding Jewish community.
Morning Brief: Trump admin disappears NREL ‘seams’ study and a 250-ton Chinese transformer
Also in the brief: China claims world’s largest solar ‘rooftop’ at 200 MW. And Midwest energy companies pledge to build nation’s largest interstate electric vehicle charging network.
US solar racking industry is innovating and consolidating
With installers and developers needing to squeeze every kilowatt-hour out of every roof and project, racking and trackers are the unsung heroes that secure and tilt panels while maximizing output and protecting wiring and other gear.
More than 7,000 US schools are solar powered
A new report by Generation180, the Solar Foundation and SEIA shows that the amount of schools turning to solar energy is surging, as over 5% of the country’s K-12 schools now have some sort of PV installation.
SPI roundup: Grid modernization will ‘define the replacement of net metering’
Can the solar industry’s biggest conference make the transition from mulitday marathon to six weeks of virtual “microconferences”? Opening sessions started strong, pragmatic and urgent — with a focus on collaboration and the opportunities ahead.
Morning Brief: Net metering still under attack by utilities and institutional corruption
Also in the brief: Solar in schools
