Bankruptcy

While supply chain and manufacturing disruptions will lead to shipping decreases in Q3, the measures that SunPower took prior to Covid’s disruption allowed for a strong quarter, with the company experiencing increases in installations and demand.

This bankruptcy comes with a political edge — because the startup received $737 million in a U.S. federal loan guarantee as part of the 2009 stimulus package — during the Obama administration.

A new report shows that both venture capital and total corporate funding to the three sectors are down, driven by battery storage funding failing to compare to a record-setting 2019.

Also in the brief: Florida Power & Light quietly reduces solar commitment, and new MWT BIPV from Sunport Power.

PetersenDean came to solar from the roofing world and has long been a top-ten U.S. solar installer with a multi-state regional practice.

Also in the brief: Community solar for Covid recovery, flaring wasted $750 million of natural gas, and coal’s descent.

Also in the brief: product announcements from GAF Energy, REsurety and Point Load Power.

Glasspoint received more than $130M in VC from Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, along with the venture arm of Royal Dutch Shell. The plan was to use concentrated solar arrays housed in glass greenhouses to produce steam at gigawatt scale instead of natural gas for EOR.

Alencon Systems teamed up with Duke Energy to look at some of the challenges faced by a utility when adding a battery storage system to an existing solar installation. DC-coupled or AC-coupled? Grounding scheme?

Also in the brief: expanding a community solar pilot in San Antonio and how to guarantee a just energy transition for indigenous communities.