Idaho is stuck in residential solar limbo
In the wake of regulator’s rejection of Idaho Power’s proposal to decrease the net metering rate, customers looking to install PV in the near future are in limbo, with no indication of a new compensation rate in sight.
Hawaiian Electric plans for 70% renewables by late 2020s, exceeding targets
To integrate an increasing percentage of renewables, Hawaiian Electric has turned to a standard solar+storage framework, matching all new solar capacity with an equal capacity of storage with four-hour duration.
Photo gallery of Tesla solarglass roof tile installations: Will 2020 be the year of the solar roof?
Tesla shipped a record number of electric vehicles in the most recent quarter and started production at its new China factory. However, 2019 was not “the year of the solar roof,” despite Elon Musk’s aspirations. Your humble narrator tracked down some solar roof installations to witness Tesla’s solar glass in the wild. We’ve got pictures.
2,000 gigawatts of solar power needed for 100% renewables
Stanford researchers have a plan that would balance 2,000 GW of solar capacity and 2,300 GW of wind power with 3,300 GW of battery capacity and a large amount of flexible load. Consumers would save 64% on total energy bills, partly from electrification of transportation and heating.
Florida municipal utilities should look to Florida Power & Light for guidance
Daren Goldin, CEO of Goldin Solar, describes the flaws in reasoning behind fixed-rate increase proposals and suggests that utilities instead focus on creating value for customers and exploring business models to benefit customers and their bottom lines.
St. Louis passes solar-ready construction mandate
All new commercial and residential buildings in the city must have reserved rooftop sections so that solar could be easily installed upon them if need be, according to a new law passed on December 23.
Why don’t early-stage VCs invest in solar any more?
How will solar startups innovate in the 2020s? Where are the disruptive PV technologies?
The future of the solar-plus-storage industry will look like the air conditioning business
The solar industry will evolve from component brands to system brands and service, according to Barry Cinnamon in this industry perspective.
Transitioning Silicon Valley residential PV to solar-plus-storage: optimizers or microinverters?
Barry Cinnamon, a Silicon Valley solar installer, details the transition to energy storage, profiles early solar adopters and notes the challenges of getting to 200-amp residential service.
Installing residential solar and storage in Silicon Valley
“I kind of compliment PG&E because they’re our best marketing department when it comes to battery storage,” says Barry Cinnamon of Cinnamon Energy Systems in the first part of our interview.
