The U.S. Army commits to using 100% clean electricity by 2030
“The Army will lead by example” says the United States Army Climate Strategy, and by 2040 aims to add enough renewables and storage to self-sustain critical missions.
Sunrise brief: Thanks to the proposal to reduce compensation for excess solar generation, most Florida solar shoppers lose interest
Also on the rise: Convalt Energy steers arounds obstacles on its way to solar manufacturing in New York. NABCEP and EnergySage release survey for solar installers. Recycled silicon used in PERC solar cells. Michigan DTE seeks 500MW of renewables. Grazing sheep under solar increases carbon sequestration. Robot dog monitors PV plant. Greenback acquires several installations in Massachusetts.
Robot dog for PV plant monitoring
A robot dog developed by Boston Dynamics monitors a solar park by walking between the panel rows following a programmed route. It uses its built-in thermal vision system to generate thermographic reports on the status of the different PV plant components.
Building solar as long-term resilient infrastructure could save billions
Reliability engineers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory call for improved quality, standards, and testing.
Honeywell, Duke Energy partner on flow battery test project
The battery, which uses an electrolyte to convert chemical energy into electricity for storage and deployment, will begin testing in 2022 at Duke Energy’s Emerging Technology and Innovation Center in Mount Holly, North Carolina.
Solar PPA prices may continue to increase until new supply chains emerge
PPA prices have been rising steadily since the end of last year and, according to solar developers, interconnection delays, permitting challenges, and supply chain constraints are likely to keep them high.
Computer model uses AI to detect faults in residential solar
SunDown detects and classifies per-panel faults without the need for additional sensors and was developed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts.
Renewable generation hit an all-time high in the first half of 2021
Solar is growing at an unrivaled rate, and wind is now the nation’s largest single renewable energy source.
Urban Electric Power batteries achieve key fire safety certification
After heating a zinc manganese-dioxide cell from Urban Electric Power to over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, testing agents concluded that “thermal runaway was not achieved.”
How safe are smart EV chargers?
Research has uncovered critical security threats associated with some common smart EV chargers, however it’s not too late or too logistically difficult to remedy these issues.
