SunPower’s back-contact technology excluded from Section 201 tariffs
The role of SunPower’s planned purchase of SolarWorld Americas in getting a rare reprieve from the Trump Administration’s bellicose trade actions is unclear.
25% tariffs on Chinese inverters to start on January 1
The final order from the U.S. Trade Representative includes an interim tariff rate of 10% set to start on September 24.
SMA prepping for ‘exponential growth’, shipping solar inverters ready for AC-coupled energy storage
The SMA Sunny Boy-Storage is now shipping to the United States. The inverter offers 3.7/5.0/6.0 sizes and can accept up to three AC-coupled battery connections. SMA believes the solar + storage market will offer exponential growth.
Flex to manufacture Enphase products in Mexico
The microinverter maker is shifting production to Mexico to avoid the pending Section 301 tariffs on inverters and other products from China.
Kaiser signs power contracts for 131 MW of solar, 110 MW of batteries
NextEra will build a series of solar, wind and battery projects which will power 27 of the healthcare consortium’s 39 hospitals.
Employee owned engineering firm installing advanced electric vehicle charging on campus
Burns & McDonnell, a 6,000-strong engineering firm, is installing a Greenlots EV charging network and integrating it into the company’s campus network. The engineers hope to offer EV related services to their many electric utility customers.
SolarEdge and Panasonic sitting in a tree…
The HIT S-Series smart module is being launched via a collaboration between Panasonic and SolarEdge. The pair is aiming to boost the installation speed and total electricity output of solar modules. The initial unit noted is a 330W solar module.
Smarter homes with solar+storage by Sonnen
The Sonnen ecoLinx adds home automation skills, via powerful industry partner tools, complementing the company’s energy storage, grid management and microgrid expertise.
Scientists claim 10% saving for black silicon cell production with dry etching
Researchers from Michigan Technological University and Finland’s Aalto University say they have demonstrated that the cost per unit of power of black silicon PERC cells could fall 10.8%, despite an increase in cell processing cost.
US triples energy storage installations, residential grows 10X to become largest sector
Wood Mackenzie projects that the U.S. energy storage market will reach well over $500 million in sales this year, following on 61.8 MW / 156.5 MWh of installations during the second quarter. Residential storage has grown at 61% per quarter since Q1 2017.
