Finance

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 white paper from Energy Innovation found that 179 GW of U.S. coal plants were more expensive to run than solar, but only 10 GW per year were being retired. Swaps could accelerate the process.

Executive, career and boardroom moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy VC.

Also in the brief: Duke Energy first solar project on a retired landfill, Solarize Chicagoland group-buy program bears fruit even in rough times

Also in the brief: Joe Biden’s $2 trillion plan, APS details cause of battery fire and explosion

pv magazine’s Amjad Khashman has spoken to Chinese solar developer Jinko Power about negotiating the world record low price tariff agreed for electricity generated at the Al Dhafra solar project in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s critical for us to recognize that we are being looked to by everyone from prominent political campaigns to elected officials in your town to provide the necessary economic development to get us out of Covid,” he said.

Also in the brief: Even the world’s top coal exporter is struggling to make money from burning the fuel, RFA for D.C. solar program

It was a series of firsts, including a profitable full year and Megapack turning a profit that factored into CEO Elon Musk explaining that he has “never been more optimistic or excited about the future of Tesla.” Austin is confirmed as the site of the next Gigafactory.

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.