Tesla EVs show profit while solar business hits new lows in revenue and deployment
It was a series of firsts, including a profitable full year and Megapack turning a profit that factored into CEO Elon Musk explaining that he has “never been more optimistic or excited about the future of Tesla.” Austin is confirmed as the site of the next Gigafactory.
Morning Brief: Planners reject $40M, 140-MW battery storage project for fire risk, New York adopts net metering alternative
Also in the brief: Minnesota solar installers say they’re waiting too long for Xcel Energy grid connections, lower solar costs lead to new installations in metro Atlanta and financing for two large projects in Texas.
Chips, commercial CSP and a solar river: What the DOE is doing with its solar innovation dollars
President Trump’s unflagging support for fossil fuels has not stopped the DOE from putting millions of dollars into innovative technologies that could open new paths for market growth in the U.S. solar industry.
Job Moves: Lior Handelsman leaves SolarEdge, plus Form Energy, Generate, Omnidian, FirstLight, MP2, Jurchen
Executive, career and boardroom moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy VC.
Breaking: FERC dismisses petition by shadowy group to end net metering
More than 450 organizations, 57,000 individuals and 37 states submitted comments opposing the NERA petition that could have ended the net metering program that has helped the residential and commercial solar industry to grow over the last decade.
Traditional O&M teams are not equipped to recover distressed PV assets after severe weather events
In the U.S., this year alone, there have been ten weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Freedom Solar posts most profitable quarter ever
A record-setting 2019 has led into an even stronger 2020, with the company hoping to ramp up success in the typically-busy second half of the year.
Discriminatory rooftop solar charges may violate antitrust law
The U.S. Department of Justice has argued that in Arizona, a utility’s discriminatory charges for rooftop solar owners can be “unlawful.” The Center for Biological Diversity also supported the four rooftop solar owners whose lawsuit has progressed, arguing the legal significance of Arizona’s renewables goals.
From Rwanda to Riverside: How the solar industry provided new opportunities for an immigrant entrepreneur
When Covid-19 hit his small solar engineering business, CEO Methode Maniraguha said, no furloughs or layoffs — we’ll pivot.
Biden-Sanders task force calls for installing 500 million solar modules in next five years
The wide-ranging joint report includes a section: “Undoing the Harms of the Trump Administration and Righting the Wrongs.”
