American-Made Challenge gets five generals
NREL has chosen five companies to help administer the America-Made Solar Prize, a program whose stated goal is to develop U.S.-based solar manufacturing. These five companies receive contracts of $100,000 each for their services.
Hanwha Q Cells to make half-cut mono modules at U.S. factory
The Korean-European PV maker has revealed that its new U.S. factory will make modules based on half-cut monocrystalline cells using passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) technology.
Floating solar power gets 10 year fixed lease for California municipality
Ciel & Terre has completed its fourth and largest system in the United States for a California municipal waterworks. The project is also one of four floating solar projects, totaling 5.3 MW, to be completed in the nation this summer.
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.
