Installations

A permit to expand Vistra’s natural gas-fired Moss Landing generation station in Monterey County, California to 1,500 MW/6,000 MWh has been approved, setting the stage for the world to see gigawatt-scale battery energy storage for the first time ever.

Also in the brief: Powerhome completes a solar installation at Indianapolis Colts HQ, Chevron is making a Series A investment in the three-year-old nuclear fusion startup Zap Energy, more than 200 workers are needed for a solar project being developed in Cherokee, Alabama and more.

In their first interview with the press, Ojjo CEO Helena Kimball and CTO Jack West talk about the “scaling moment” for utility-scale solar and the drive to innovate.

States like California whose laws say residential rooftop solar must be “intended primarily” for self-consumption could join Washington, D.C. in increasing their limit, says D.C. resident David Roodman. Generation in excess of consumption will be compensated at the wholesale rate in Washington.

This week’s big solar roundup has a distinct Texas flavor. The number of large solar projects is increasing in the U.S. — and pv magazine is keeping track.

Long story short, it’s possible for the U.S. to run 100% on renewable energy. How we get there is the long story.

Also in the brief: Did we mention carbon-neutral beer? Plus drone inspection of transmission towers.

Outside of a 12-month promotional period where customers don’t have to make payments on the system, Mosaic’s newest offering, PowerSwitch Zero, also includes a contactless sales tool and and installer partnership product.

“Order volumes have increased significantly” and Sunrun expects to grow megawatts deployed by over 20% sequentially in the third quarter.

As the company races to meet its goal of becoming 100% renewably powered by the end of 2020, Facebook has made another massive investment in clean energy — signing contracts for 806 MW of solar and wind power from projects across Utah, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee and Ireland.