Utility Scale PV

In today’s pv magazine morning brief, John Hancock and APEX Clean Energy buy into 412 and 443 MW solar portfolios, Solarpowerrocks.com updates their residential return on investment charts, Swift Solar raises $4.6 million for perovskite research, Wood Mackenzie requests residential acquisition costs survey, more!

The various utility subsidiaries of Hawaiian Electric Industries have submitted bids to state regulators for seven solar plus storage projects totaling 262 MWac of solar and 1,024 MWh of energy storage, with power purchase agreement prices ranging from 8-12¢/kWh.

In today’s pvMB, we look at Michigan’s outgoing governor vetoing solar property tax exceptions, Jay Inslee’s plan to run for president on a climate action platform, Boston’s new hybrid bus fleet, and more.

In the first edition of pv magazine USA’s morning brief, we bring you announcements of new faces on the boards of Tesla and NextEra Energy Partners, an analysis of the technical potential of floating solar, new price information and more.

NREL has released an inaugural report highlighting utility scale energy storage costs with various methods of tying it to solar power: co-located or not, and DC- vs AC-coupled.

Developers have applied to build 139 GWac of large-scale solar projects in the territory of six grid operators – around five times what is currently online across the country – and that figure doesn’t even cover the entire United States. By any metric, we are looking at an unprecedented boom in solar development over the next five years.

Connecticut has announced contracts covering 45% of its electrical load, including nine solar projects (some with storage) averaging 4.9¢/kWh.

While a national lab report on floating PV did not estimate its economic potential, the report suggests the most promising markets could be reservoirs in areas with high land costs for ground-mounted solar, and reservoirs with grid-connected hydropower or high evaporation rates.

El Paso Electric has awarded contracts for 200 MW of solar and 100 MW of battery storage through its latest solicitation, and may procure 50-150 MW more wind and solar. But the RFP also shows that the utility is firmly wedded to gas.

Nevada regulators have approved six contracts for 1 GWac of solar power coupled with 100 MW / 400 MWh of energy storage. The purchase allows for the retirement of one of the state’s two running coal units.