Agencies release final report into California’s heat-related blackouts
The report confirms CAISO’s initial findings that a trio of factors were responsible for the blackouts: extreme weather conditions, resource adequacy and planning processes, and market practices. It also outlines steps that already have been taken to better ensure supply adequacy and reliability.
Average PPA prices rose in 2020, analysis says
For the first time since LevelTen Energy began tracking the market, solar PPA offer prices rose in 2020, with Q4 2020 prices 11.5% higher than a year earlier.
5 takeaways from a new NREL report on electrification’s future
The report looks at the potential impacts of widespread electrification on the U.S. electricity system—specifically, generation and transmission infrastructure investments, fuel use, system costs, and emissions.
Amazon to share 120 MW of solar with D.C. suburb
The company and the county agreed through a virtual power purchase agreement to offtake generation from Dominion Energy’s upcoming 120 MW solar facility in Virginia.
Total corporate funding into the solar sector rose 24% in 2020
Despite a slow start and a downturn in venture capital and private equity funding, total funding saw a significant rise, including the largest amount of projects acquired in a single year to date and the largest amount of securitization financing ever in a year.
Renewables to dominate new U.S. capacity in 2021, with solar leading the way
The U.S. Energy Information Administration also expects utility-scale battery storage capacity to more than quadruple.
Could HB 786 halt the growth of solar in Ohio?
The controversial legislation looks to ban the development and construction of new solar and wind farms greater than 50 MW in capacity in the Buckeye State for the next three years
Sunrise brief: SunPower is closing its module factory
Also on the rise: Developer plans a 100 MW solar plant in West Virginia, Plug Power secures $1.5 billion to fuel its Asian expansion, an agrivoltaic project secures a PPA, and the National Science Foundation backs a novel DER integration testbed.
Urban land and aerosols could accelerate hail storm formation
Research from the U.S. Department of Energy has found that urban landscapes and man-made aerosols have the potential to accelerate hail storm formation, make their winds harsher and direct these storms toward cities.
Could agrivoltaics feed our demand for clean energy?
Agrivoltaics could result in more food, more energy, lower water demand, lower carbon emissions, and more prosperous rural communities, says an Oregon State University researcher. He plans to build a farm to prove the point.
