Solar power situational awareness, future research get $166 million
The Department of Energy announced a new tranche of $130 million to fund research in up to 80 new solar power-related research and development projects. As well, ten projects were announced as winners of $36 million in awards to increase solar situational awareness during power grid disruptions.
A blockchain trading solar power system in the real world
PowerLedger’s xGrid is a blockchain-based electricity trading platform that’s now being used in a Pennsylvania business park, in addition to Chicago, California, a large housing unit in Australia, plus a few more locations.
Supersized solar plus storage coming to California
In October, California regulators proposed allowing DC-coupled solar plus storage systems to be compensated via net metering for electricity stored in their batteries. This came after NEXTracker’s NX Flow system was verified by UL as charging only from solar power.
OK Google, what is SolarEdge’s energy vision?
SolarEdge has recently purchased an Italian EV system manufacturer, a South Korean battery maker, an Israeli UPS producer, internally developed a virtual power plant grid service, and now they’re working with Google to integrate energy management tools into Google Assistant.
Solar module lifetime predictions are getting better
NREL has proposed a new methodology for determining solar module degradation rates, taking into account measurement challenges such as sensor drift, inverter nuances, soiling and others – keeping the focus on the solar modules themselves.
DOE seeks solar power situational awareness
The DOE has launched a program to find unique and innovative solutions that increase grid operators’ situational awareness of solar PV systems deployed throughout the grid at strategic locations – and that are seek to go beyond pure R&D, seeking field validation.
The consolidation continues: AlsoEnergy merges with Locus Energy
AlsoEnergy has acquired/merged with its third energy monitoring and asset management company this summer. This most recent move brings 25 GW and 190,000 projects under AlsoEnergy’s responsibility.
Employee owned engineering firm installing advanced electric vehicle charging on campus
Burns & McDonnell, a 6,000-strong engineering firm, is installing a Greenlots EV charging network and integrating it into the company’s campus network. The engineers hope to offer EV related services to their many electric utility customers.
SolarEdge and Panasonic sitting in a tree…
The HIT S-Series smart module is being launched via a collaboration between Panasonic and SolarEdge. The pair is aiming to boost the installation speed and total electricity output of solar modules. The initial unit noted is a 330W solar module.
Drones are accelerating solar energy’s cost advantage
In this op-ed for pv magazine, Mike Winn, CEO and co-founder of DroneDeploy explains the value of drone deployment in solar project development and maintenance.
