Job moves at Tesla, ACORE, Safari Energy, GE Grid Solutions, 8minute, AMP, Enovix and PI Energy
Executive and boardroom moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and venture capital.
Morning Brief: GE completes first battery-assisted black start, Acciona to invest $4B in PV and wind
Also in the brief: A great month for solar in Oahu, Connecticut’s two biggest electric utilities are “dragging their feet” on shared solar, and Ørsted in Rhode Island.
US wind and solar generation up 10.5% in 2019, fossils down 2.7%
Electricity generation was down 1.2%, due mostly to warmer temperatures in 2019. When combined with gas generation’s 7% increase being outpaced by coal’s almost 16% decrease, the country reduced emissions about 2%.
Energy storage projects reach ‘investment-grade’ with esVolta’s $140 million debt facility
It’s not the next lithium-ion battery breakthrough that’s going to accelerate the energy storage industry. It’s not the next inflated promise from a flow battery startup, compressed-air scheme, solid-state battery research project or energy storage dream funded by Bill Gates.
Trina unveils two 500-watt bifacial solar modules
The panels are equipped with glass-glass or glass-backsheet frames. Both offer a reported 21% efficiency. Trina plans to have a combined 5 GW of annual production capacity for the products this year.
Hardware and Services Brief: 72-cell heterojunction, fuzz and buzz, Tesla making its own battery cells, more!
PV InfoLink sees some multi-silicon module pricing increases, Array Technologies’ new clip lets First Solar install a module every 11 seconds and DNV GL has launched a global solar production projection tool. Send your hardware and services to USA-Editors@pv-magazine.com
Chinese solar production juggernaut rumbles on
Three more PV manufacturers are announcing plans to invest in an expansion of production capacities — as the industry appears to make light of coronavirus fears.
Sunrun installs record capacity in Q4 while driving down customer acquisition costs
The nation’s largest residential solar company installed 117 MW in Q4, reaching a total customer base of 285,000, all while bringing creation costs lower than they have ever been.
How zinc-air battery capacity might reach a cost of $45/kWh
Zinc8 revealed some of the details of its long-term energy storage product, including its pricing structure and the science that makes its technology possible.
Panasonic: ‘Eventually solar-plus-storage will be like air conditioning or HVAC’ but for now it’s an ’emotional sale’
“Brand is powerful — after a house and a car, a PV/storage system worth tens of thousands of dollars is one of the larger purchases a family will make.”
