SRP joins the big boys of battery storage
Salt River Project has announced a 250 MW, 1,000 MWh battery project, located in Little Rainbow Valley. The project will be the largest in Arizona and among the largest in the country.
Hanwha Q Cells loses first round of patent infringement suit
U.S. trade authorities plan to issue an initial determination finding non-infringement on the company’s patents by JinkoSolar, LONGi and REC Group, which could prevent Hanwha from shutting their PERC-based products out of the U.S. market. Hanwha intends to appeal.
California home solar mandate tightened, community solar definition needed
The California Energy Commission has delayed a decision on a utility proposal to use large-scale solar to meet pending solar home mandate requirements, with commissioner comments suggesting a refinement of the community solar aspect of the mandate is coming.
More customers, at a higher price
Sunrun’s Q3 results see the company continuing on its path of growth and higher sales and marketing costs, which hit 81c per watt. How long can this go on for?
MISO-West is running out of room for renewables
The grid operator has culled 3.5 GW of renewable projects in the Western portion of its queue, which it blames on the need for expensive and lengthy transmission system upgrades.
Bifacial exemptions are back (briefly)
Invenergy has been awarded a temporary restraining order on the basis that the removal of the bifacial exemption was done without allowance for notice or comment prior to pulling the exclusion. With the decision going before the courts and the Section 201 mid-term review underway, tensions are at an all-time high.
California sees solar+storage domination by 2030 with 11 GW / 44 GWh of batteries
The state’s 2019 IRP sees just over 11 GW solar power, and at least 11 GW – with up to 19 GW – of energy storage necessary to meet resource adequacy as part of the state’s legally required 60% renewable portfolio standard by 2030 as prices have fallen 50% since 2017.
DTE establishes renewables arm
The energy giant has split, creating a company with the sole purpose of managing its clean power business. That clean power, at least for the foreseeable future, will include negligible amounts of solar.
SunPower splits in two
The company’s transformation from a manufacturer to the 2nd-largest residential solar company in the United States is complete with it spinning off of its high-efficiency cell and module production into a new company, in partnership with Chinese wafer maker TZS.
Shell buys big solar, California is hungry for more: pbMB 11/11/19
Welcome to a Veterans Day edition of the pvMB where we’ll be looking at Sungrow becoming the largest string and central inverter supplier in the United States, the choice of 8minute Solar Energy to construct Eland, and a big sPower project in Arizona.
