Community

Also in the brief: Outback Power releases AC coupling feature for Skybox hybrid inverter, BP Solar customers can be compensated for faulty panels, Martha’s Vineyard considers 100% renewable by 2040, and more.

Lawyers for Good Government: “To meet their renewable energy goals, municipalities need to know state energy, municipal and land use laws as well as existing local policies.”

Also in the brief: A great month for solar in Oahu, Connecticut’s two biggest electric utilities are “dragging their feet” on shared solar, and Ørsted in Rhode Island.

Does the update to California’s solar mandate undermine residential solar and storage, as advocates claim? Or does the new definition of “community solar” provide more choice to builders and low-income homeowners? The answer might be “yes” to both questions.

At Solar and Storage Northeast in Boston, panelists comprised of solar experts, policy directors and national community solar leaders sat down to discuss what can be done for the symbiotic relationship between community solar projects and agricultural landowners.

Also in the brief: an 18 MW community solar portfolio proposed in Oregon, Sunnova partners with Generac and more.

In part 2 of our interview, the SunPower brain trust talks about scaling-up its high-efficiency PV technology in a way that it has not been able to do in the past — now that it has cash and a definitive focus.

Today in the brief: True Green Capital Management closes financing for 70 MW New York community solar portfolio, Connecticut regulators decide to be honest, Brightcore Energy names chief strategy officer and more.

The community-scale market segment has been plagued by ongoing policy neglect, and otherwise poor policy choices. Will policymakers heed the track record of demonstrated failure and finally create new programs that address previous problems?

“It’s what we’ve talked about for many years — it makes sense to produce energy where you use it. And it makes sense that it would be intelligent and easily optimized. The new SunPower will focus exclusively on accomplishing that.”