Jigar Shah: Policy action and tech deployments needed for power sector innovation
“We’ve averaged 2.4 cents a kilowatt hour for the last six months for PPAs. That’s actually too low. I think we would be fine at 3.4 cents… I don’t think that solar and wind industries would skip a beat [without their tax incentives], and they have other policy mechanisms.”
Morning Brief: Texas bill would tax wind and solar but not natural gas, Covid speeds up peak oil
Also in the brief: 100-MW Mustang Two Whirlaway Solar Farm comes online in California, Arizona utility APS offering $144M to tribes in coal-country, Q CELLS to build a 41-MW floating PV power plant.
Clean energy funding roundup: batteries under solar panels, carbon capture acquisition, ultracaps
Yotta Energy just won seed funding to install batteries under solar modules — in an architecture analogous to microinverters and optimizers.
Morning Brief: Biden’s energy transition team, BlackRock CEO backs mandatory climate reporting
Also in the brief: The Solar Foundation and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council are merging, Trump administration removes scientist in charge of assessing climate change, Cypress Creek closed a seven-year, $200 million debt financing, and solar-powered butter.
Vanderbilt University, Nashville sign power contracts for 125 MW solar project
The new installation is being developed by Silicon Ranch in Tullahoma and will help Vanderbilt become 100% renewably powered, while bringing the City one-third closer to its RPS goals.
The US installed 4.5 GW of utility-scale solar in 2019
For the third year in a row, more utility-scale solar was installed in the Southeast than any other region in the country, while trackers dominate the mounting market.
What’s the value of your solar resource data?
While the median approach has emerged as a potential remedy to optimistic irradiance assumptions, it is a flawed system, one which can lead to significant cash shortcomings. So how does one get valuable, accurate data?
Morning Brief: Six Midwest utilities to spend $15B to deploy 4 GW of solar, 3.6 GW of wind and 1 GW of battery storage
Also in the brief: A rural Virginia county grapples with the pros and cons of a proposed $200 million, 149 MW solar farm, Utah’s solar advocates plan to fight decision by state regulators.
A look back at last year’s Solar Games — and what to expect in 2021
In a webinar reflecting on the 2020 competition, installers, organizers and judges shared their experiences about what made the event such a hit. There was mention of a ground-mount competition in the future.
50-kW solar facade financed by PPA
A 50 kW PV system is being built on the facade of a radiology center near Marburg’s main train station. The Marburg municipal utilities and the Sonneninitiative association have concluded a PPA that ensures the long-term financing of the project.
