Hundreds demand action on climate in Rhode Island
Sunrise Rhode Island, students and concerned citizens joined global protests under the Climate Strike movement.
Suncast episode 182, “Know before you go” featuring pv magazine’s Christian Roselund
Learn what to expect at Solar Power International 2019, including advice from industry vets to optimize your experience, and even how introverts can get the most out of the moments!
Small solar is getting bigger, cheaper and more efficient
LBNL’s annual Tracking the Sun report, comparing 2017 to 2018, saw module efficiency rise almost 10%, system prices decrease 5-7%, median system size increases, and significant variability in all of those data points across the 1.6 million systems surveyed.
First Solar exits the EPC business
Citing the wild success of its Series 6 module, First Solar has announced that it is closing its engineering, procurement and construction business in the United States in order to concentrate on scaling, developing, and selling modules.
FERC moves to gut PURPA
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a proposal to allow states to remove the long-term price certainty in PURPA, and shrink the size of facilities that automatically quality for contracts from 20 MW to 1 MW.
Hardware: Q Cell and Solaria all black, Sunfolding’s summer body, NY sheep services, more!
Hardware, get your fresh hardware! SunPower is releasing energy storage, solar module pricing looks flat, and make sure to shake pv magazine hands as we walk the floor at Solar Power International in Salt Lake City next week!
Amazon pledges zero emissions by 2040
Amazon unveiled a gauntlet of new climate initiatives today, including 80% renewables by 2024, zero emissions by 2040, a fleet of 100,000 electric vans and a $100 million investment in reforestation measures.
TVA deceives the public and the press with misleading claim of solar commitment
This op-ed from Southern Alliance for Clean Energy argues that the utility does not have any intention of installing 14 gigawatts (GW) of solar over the next 20 years, and notes that the power company has only budgeted for 5.5 GW of solar during that time period.
The blackest black for more efficient solar cells
MIT scientists claim to have created a material 10 times more black than anything witnessed to date. It is said to be able to absorb more than 99.96% of incoming light and reflect 10 times less light than other superblack materials. The invention may be interesting for the development of black silicon PV technology and carbon nanotube-based solar cells.
Solar power installation techniques – don’t do this! (w/pictures)
Solar installation inspection results of 100 sites in Rhode Island found 50% of large-scale projects had issues, while 83% of small projects had them – with 30% and 26% of those systems having “critical” issues, respectively.
