5 most popular articles at pv magazine USA in 2019
Certain articles at pv magazine catch fire and capture the imagination of our solar colleagues as well as a wider, equally nerdy, audience. Here are the most widely read pieces of the year at pv magazine USA.
Kauai was 100% renewably powered for 32 hours over the last month
The Hawaiian island of 70,000 residents has achieved this feat on 11 different occasions since before Thanksgiving, anchored by a five-hour period on December 10. Plus, a world tour of high-penetration renewable hotspots.
Morning Brief: Barry Sanders partners with Powerhome and the Alaskan Bull Battery
It’s the last Thursday before Christmas and you’re reading the pv magazine Morning Brief. in this brief, we’ll be checking out Solar Frontier Americas financing a 200 MW project, a microgrid initiative for the Santa Barbara Unified School District, Nearmap acquiring Pushpin, and more.
Tesla to hide ‘solar test-house’ under tents at Fremont site
Lora Kolodny at CNBC uncovered a recently granted building permit that allows Tesla to put up “two canopy covers” over its new “solar test houses.” Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that 2019 was “the year of the solar roof.”
1366 Technologies adds $18M in pursuit of cheaper silicon solar cells
The company’s technology falls in the ‘kerfless’ wafer category: Instead of sawing silicon ingots into wafers, a time-consuming and wasteful process, 1366’s technology forms wafers directly using molten silicon.
Dominion chooses 50 electric Thomas Built Buses powered by Proterra
The new electric school buses are part of a pilot program with a goal to integrate 13,000 Virginia buses into the state’s power grid as an energy storage resource.
Hardware brief: California battery discounts, Dr. Nick!, commercial rooftop bifacial data, more!
It’s beginning to look a like fourth quarter solar rush headache time…so relax, check out some solar gear and services! Silicon and module pricing is down a touch, SMA energy storage systems approved in California, and there’s also a Fronius & BYD hook up!
California seeks $600 million+ for battery backups in “high fire threat districts”
Regulators are focusing 63% of the $1.2 billion SGIP energy storage incentive fund on those most affected by the power grid shutdowns, specifically risk electricity users with medical conditions, critical locations within communities, or those who have had multiple power shutdowns already.
MIT responds: batteries are critical to the future electric grid, but they have their limits
Recognizing their critical role in the future grid, MIT still sees limits to batteries in an intermittent renewable-dominated power sector. In this op-ed, John Reilly, co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, explains why.
US research lab rewires solar cell increasing efficiency to 27.3%, sees path to greater than 32%
NREL has published a paper showing an experimental solar cell, with a unique technique for wiring two separate solar cells into one, that increased the cell’s efficiency by 4%. As well the document offer a respectable review of other technologies being developed.
