Genius hackers attempt to blackmail defunct thin-film solar company
MiaSolé has been the victim of a ransomware attack by a group that has previously targeted Michigan State University, Columbia College of Chicago, Toll Group and Bolloré. What do hackers hope to gain from a defunct company with financially-troubled ownership?
Morning Brief: Renewables continue to break records despite Covid-19, beyond net metering
Also in the brief: net metering under attack, Clir Renewables’ new asset optimization platform, Roll-A-Rack is seeking beta testers and more.
Keeping solar project development on-track amid Covid-19
At the onset of Covid-19, the executive leadership team at Rosendin developed a plan of action to tackle the changing business atmosphere. By committing to that plan, the company has been able to adapt to the ‘new norm’ and keep projects on track.
Panasonic and Span team up for home battery backup and energy management
Span’s ambition is to “transform the electrical panel into an intelligent gateway” and help expand the adoption of solar, EVs and storage like Panasonic’s residential battery.
SMART program could make 90% of Massachusetts off-limits to large-scale solar, force more job loss
While the program’s expansion is intended to bring more than 3 GW of solar to the state, new land-use restrictions have made the majority of the state off-limits to large-scale development.
First Tesla solar tile roof V3 installed in Massachusetts
It’s the first Tesla V3 solar tile roof in the state and the second on the East Coast. The 7.5 kW system includes two Powerwall batteries — although there is no time-of-use pricing and there hasn’t been a local power failure in a few years.
First Solar backs carbon pricing for wholesale electricity
First Solar has backed carbon pricing in comments submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The firm also co-founded a global policy institute that supports carbon pricing as a “cost-effective, equitable and politically viable climate solution.”
Morning Brief: California sets example for community solar, transparent graphene electrodes for PV cells
Also in the brief: The never ending saga of Arkansas utilities battling their 2,320 net metering customers, Atom Power raises $17.8 million for a solid-state circuit breaker for commercial and industrial buildings.
Single-axis bifacial PV offers lowest LCOE in vast majority of world’s land area
Researchers from the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore have concluded that utility-scale PV projects relying on bifacial panels and single-axis trackers deliver the lowest levelized cost of energy in most of the world. They found that the combination of bifacial products with dual-axis trackers is still too expensive, despite the higher yield. The second-lowest LCOE is offered by monofacial single-axis tracker plants.
Nikola bets on electric and hydrogen trucks for long-haul economic recovery, goes public via SPAC
Bucking a volatile market, the company’s NASDAQ debut signals growing auto industry confidence in clean transport as engine for post-Covid economic recovery
