US residential solar set for a record-breaking year — despite and because of 2020
Over the course of this strange year, American residential solar companies such as Sunrun, Vivint, SunPower and Tesla claimed they could weather the Covid storm with remote selling and new online strategies. It turns out they were right. BloombergNEF forecasts that Americans will install 3 gigawatts of solar on residential rooftops in 2020.
Regulators question Ameren’s math in net metering case
The utility is looking to move forward with a new rebate structure worth half the value of net metering, despite regulators’ orders to keep the rate in place until questions about the calculations Ameren is using to justify the new rate can be answered.
Morning Brief: Another day, another utility fighting net metering — Ameren in Illinois this time
Also in the brief: Aurora adds battery backup recommendations to its solar design software, Global energy storage capacity could grow at a CAGR of 31%.
Analyzing the 2% DC voltage drop rule
The good people at Mayfield Renewables take us deep into the technical weeds as they question a rule-of-thumb: Is the 2% DC voltage drop rule accurate for real-world conductor sizing or has technological progress in solar made the rule irrelevant?
Women entrepreneurs are essential to last-mile distribution of renewable energy technologies
A new fund has been launched to provide microgrants of $3,000 to $10,000 to the women entrepreneurs and community organizations working to provide clean, reliable and primarily off-grid power to remote communities.
Morning Brief: Revenue streams of CAISO batteries, Entergy still on the gas, New Hampshire NEM
Also in the brief: EPA raises legal questions about California’s plan to ban new gas-powered cars starting in 2035
What is distributed generation’s real worth for the grid?
A thought experiment by Severin Borenstein suggests how much rooftop solar could reduce transmission and distribution costs.
Utah utility Rocky Mountain Power and solar advocates aren’t even close on the value of rooftop PV sent to the grid
Solar from customer roofs in Utah is worth somewhere between 1.5 cents/kWh and 22.6 cents/kWh, depending on your calculations and who you ask — a ridiculously wide range.
EagleView promises to cut a week off of residential PV project time through aerial imagery
Aerial imagery company, EagleView, is looking to leverage years of experience working in the insurance industry and for municipal governments into becoming the ‘gold standard’ for solar aerial imaging.
Morning Brief: Wyoming coal, Texas sun, Dems’ clean energy package, EV batteries made from deep-sea rocks
Even four years of the most pro-coal president in recent memory has done little to change coal’s misfortunes.
