Apple picks single axis trackers and bifacial solar panels (w/pictures!)
Swinerton Renewable Energy is moving to interconnection this week of the 200 MWac / 251 MWdc Techren II facility in Boulder, Nevada. The plant uses NEXTracker single-axis trackers and bifacial solar modules from Canadian Solar and LONGi.
Hardware brief: $1 million=Dynapower, Morningstar still Morningstar, SMA+BYD=<3 & more!
Its Friday, so build something and be cool! Rainwise has launched a compact professional grade weather station, Sungrow has put out a whitepaper with design tips, and more!
Wood Mackenzie expects more consolidation in the inverter business
The research firm says the value of the global inverter market will continue to decline until 2024, even though shipments will likely increase. China’s recent policy changes have increased pressure on prices, which will contribute to greater consolidation in the sector.
SolarEdge built it, the buyers followed
During the second quarter SolarEdge increased manufacturing capacity by 25% and shipped over 3.7 million optimizers, which totaled over 1.3 GWac. This upped revenue 43% year on year, and company officials say they are highly confident in their even larger projected ~70% Q3 revenue growth.
Enphase wants to be your home energy butler
During the second quarter Enphase shipped over 1.2 million microinverters totaling 416 MW, which upped revenue 77% year on year, and swung net income from a loss of almost $3.7 million to a profit of $11 million.
Hardware brief: ProteaBracket 34% lighter, silicon carbide subcomponents, wtf!! California, and more!
Its the weekend and time to play with your hardware! Q-Cells is launching a 25 year *hardware* warranty for modules manufactured in Georgia, NREL researchers are designing tools to test individual battery cells, plus the EIA solar module report!
A way oversized DC:AC ratio seen in the wild!
Swinerton Renewables & SolarFlex have announced a 26.4 MWac solar project, which public documents show is bigger than 48.6 MWdc – meaning a greater than 1.8:1 DC to AC ratio.
ABB exits solar inverter business
This Swiss giant is following a trend as large multinational high-tech companies see their role as redesigning infrastructure rather than supplying inverters at ever lower margins. Schneider Electric has pulled out of large scale solar, Siemens’ Kaco acquisition and Junelight launch show increasing interest in the C&I and residential markets, and GE is likely to divest its power conversion business due to low profit margins in that sector.
Roth: Huawei exits U.S. solar inverter market
Roth Capital Partners reports that the inverter maker ceased U.S. sales last Friday, laying off all of its U.S. citizen staff, amid rising tensions between the Trump Administration and China.
Ten American-Made Solar Prize ideas get $100,000, go to next round
NREL has announced finalists in its first round of seeking new solar technologies that have significant market potential.
