Puerto Rico legislator calls on US Congress to prevent an “illegal tax” on Puerto Rico solar
Puerto Rico legislator Héctor Ferrer called on Congress to use its oversight authority over Puerto Rico’s fiscal oversight board to oppose a proposed fee on rooftop solar power.
Sunrise brief: Battery and automotive heavyweights team up with an eye toward the future
Also on the rise: The world’s largest energy storage facility to expand. Duke to add 70MW to its portfolio. Clean energy credit registry announced in Ontario. Salt caverns in Kansas studied for energy storage. California bus company will install EV chargers, solar panels, and a microgrid. And more.
Global Infrastructure Partners invest $500 million in renewable power producer BrightNight LLC
Solas Energy Consulting acted as key technical advisor to GIP. The investment includes preferred equity and a letter of credit facility.
Industry heavyweights look to solid-state battery cells, resources, and recycling
Mercedes-Benz has teamed up with ProLogium to integrate solid-state battery technology into a range of vehicles; Panasonic and Toyota launched an industrial-academic collaborative research program concerned with battery resources and recycling; and LG Energy Solution plans to spend $2.1 billion with GM to build another EV battery plant in the US.
California bus company installs solar microgrid to power EV fleet
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority will install 34 new bus chargers, solar panels and a microgrid at its Cerone Bus Yard to provide zero-emissions transporation.
Enphase and Semper Solaris team up for residential solar in California
Semper Solaris will install Enphase’s IQ microinverters and batteries. The microinverters have the ability to island the home off-grid in the case of a power outage.
Ontario government launches voluntary clean energy credit registry
Voluntary CECs are certificates that each represent 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of clean electricity that has been generated from a non-emitting source. Businesses will be able to to voluntarily purchase and retire these CECs to meet their corporate sustainability goals.
Storing excess energy in underground salt caverns in Kansas
The Kansas Geological Survey may help address the challenge of intermittent production from solar and other renewable sources.
Vistra to expand what was already the world’s largest energy storage facility
Vistra plans a third expansion the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California.
Tesla Energy results up, but mixed, for 2021; solar makes nary a sound on quarterly call
On the company’s Q4 earnings call, the world-leading EV manufacturer again prioritized delivering cars over growing low-margin energy storage products, while solar products were barely noted. Both verticals grew though, solar by 68% and storage by 32%.
