Installations

Also in the brief: DOE kicks off $230 million advanced reactor demonstration program, and the global coal industry will never recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Gemini project will be the largest solar plant in the U.S. and among the top-ten worldwide when completed on BLM land near Las Vegas. We spoke with the project developer to get some details on “one of the purest forms of time shifting you’ll ever see.”

SunPower has had to make fundamental changes to continue to be relevant in a solar industry very different from that of its roots. The company aims to become an energy service provider and is leaving low-cost manufacturing to its Chinese partner.

Scottish start-up Gravitricity is planning a project to store surplus power from renewables at Port of Leith. A 250 kW, grid-connected prototype facility will have its ability to stabilize the network tested. The system involves a 50-foot rig over a 500 to 5,000 foot shaft.

“We’ve taken how the industry would have evolved – probably in two years – and we’ve done it in a month.” — Lynn Jurich, CEO of Sunrun

Also in the brief: remembering the life of S. David Freeman, farmers in Rhode Island receiving solar grants, JA Solar’s upcoming webinar on the future of PV and more.

Alencon Systems teamed up with Duke Energy to look at some of the challenges faced by a utility when adding a battery storage system to an existing solar installation. DC-coupled or AC-coupled? Grounding scheme?

Industry leaders call on Congress for immediate, targeted support for sector

Also in the brief: a look at how pv systems relate to bird mortality, Sunverge has been chosen to manage a Maryland virtual power plant, a solar powered water filtration system and more.

Executive and boardroom moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy VC.