Biden makes his picks: Granholm is Energy Secretary and McCarthy is Climate Czar
Also in the morning brief: Ormat expands energy storage presence, acquires a shovel-ready project in Upton County, Texas. RatedPower’s software for utility-scale solar. CS Energy hits 1 GW.
Is FERC Order 2222 enough to push virtual power plants into the energy mainstream?
Aggregating DERs via virtual power plants has customers, utilities and financiers all ready to buy in. With FERC Order 2222, the question for two California aggregators is whether their models will play in less DER-friendly markets.
Recovery takes hold as Q3 solar installations rose, SEIA says
U.S. solar companies installed 3.8 GW of new solar PV capacity in Q3 as the industry worked to recover from some of the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
First Solar’s PV module technology completes 25 years of testing at NREL
“Determining how many years a solar panel will last can take, well, years.”
Finance platform targets underserved small-scale solar projects
A spin-off of the Connecticut Green Bank, IPC is a not-for-profit investment fund that scales clean energy financing and channels investment capital to communities that need it most.
Honolulu legislates faster, easier permitting for rooftop solar
Hawaii’s continued move to online permitting reduces red tape — and has the potential to grow Hawaiian solar when the state needs the revenue. The broader industry is aiming for a “fundamental reshaping of solar permitting at the federal, state, and local levels.”
California plans for summer 2021 with 2,000 MW of new storage
CAISO’s new CEO says that rolling blackouts last August were a pivotal moment for the state. For 2021, he is focused on ensuring the grid has ample resources — including DERs — and well-functioning markets.
Solar 2020 year in review: Thriving markets despite a pandemic, import tariffs and expensive PV
We cover residential resilience, tariff trouble, big Texas solar, storage everywhere, IPOs, interconnection queues and more in a review of this difficult, ridiculous, successful year. Next year will be better.
Morning Brief: Swell raises $450M for VPPs, Terra-Gen and Mortenson start on world’s largest standalone solar and storage project
Also in the brief: CPS Energy opened bidding last week on a contract that will double its solar capacity and add 500 MW of backup power to the grid.
Another week, another wave of solar PPAs
Unsubsidized solar keeps moving forward in Germany, the US, Egypt, the Philippines, and South Africa.
