Pirates of the PV industry
Product piracy is a well-known threat in many industries, and in solar the risk posed by poor quality products from disreputable manufacturers making their way onto rooftops and other PV installations should not be underestimated. With manufacturers investing in solutions to protect against inferior products bearing their logo, pv magazine looks at the size of the problem.
PetersenDean, a regional solar installer and roofer, seeks chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
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.
450 environmental, energy justice groups urge FERC to reject threat to net metering
Letter demands that net metering remain in state jurisdiction to ensure clean, resilient energy future.
Catching up on the Elon Musk-Tesla-SolarCity acquisition case
Whether it be for a groundbreaking SpaceX launch or a contentious tweet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk finds himself in the news quite often. Yet, one story that has flown under the radar by the brash businessman’s standards has been going on for four years.
JinkoSolar receives favorable judgment of non-infringement in Hanwha Q CELLS patent claim
The U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that JinkoSolar’s products do not infringe any patent claimed by Hanwha Q-Cells. At the patent’s core is a passivation technology that significantly increases the efficiency of modules.
Renewable energy and the free market economy
How the heavy-handed federal government is straying from its free market ideals and slowing down the renewable energy industry. Take FERC’s recent mandated Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) in the PJM market, for example.
Morning Brief: Spruce Finance acquires Clearway Energy’s residential solar portfolio, GM to go 100% renewable at Spring Hill
Also in the brief: Ginlong Technologies plans to raise over $100 million, the US–China trade war and COVID-19 have massively impacted coal financing, SunPower’s planned split and establishment of Maxeon Solar Technologies has received approval in China and more.
Renewable advocates suspicious of FERC’s relationship with anti-net metering group
In response to a petition filed by the New England Ratepayers Association calling on FERC to federally control net metering, The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to examine FERC’s relationship with the group and one of its attorneys.
Morning Brief: Solar and wind are the cheapest new sources of electricity, Appalachian Power halts distributed projects
Also in the brief: Ohio regulators have approved an 80 MW array, Sierra Club responds to Duke’s climate report, Rhode Island funds brownfield projects and more.
Solar inverters vs. cyberattacks
A U.S. research group is developing inverters and cybersecurity standards to protect solar installations from cyberattacks. The researchers said that inverters can shut down if they are hacked, or contribute to grid instability and result in the overcharging of batteries, while potentially creating problems that we still don’t know how to address.
