World’s largest rooftop solar system – first image from Tesla
Tesla has released an image of its solar powered rooftop, which is currently under construction. It is now clear that the system will be the world’s largest at 70 MW.
Sol Systems put a ring on it
A joint venture of Sol Systems and Nationwide Insurance has purchased 135 MW-DC of solar projects from Cypress Creek Renewables in North Carolina.
Sungrow supplies inverters for Wyoming’s first large solar plant
The Chinese inverter maker says its products can handle the extreme temperature fluctuations at the site in the Southwestern Wyoming.
Clean energy versus gas
Solar and energy storage, either on their own or as part of clean energy portfolios, are showing that they can compete with natural gas in the United States. But will regulators wake up to this reality before half a trillion dollars worth of future stranded assets are built?
The South takes the lead in utility-scale solar as interconnection queues swell to 188 GW (w/charts)
As a further sign that solar is going mainstream across the United States, a new report by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs finds that southeastern states hosted 40% of the utility-scale solar installed nationally in 2017. Interconnection queues have swelled to 188.5 GW of utility solar capacity, eight times more than installed capacity.
SMA prepping for ‘exponential growth’, shipping solar inverters ready for AC-coupled energy storage
The SMA Sunny Boy-Storage is now shipping to the United States. The inverter offers 3.7/5.0/6.0 sizes and can accept up to three AC-coupled battery connections. SMA believes the solar + storage market will offer exponential growth.
Joint U.S. House-Senate committee quietly maintains funding for renewable energy, ARPA-E in FY2019
After an attempt to cut EERE and ARPA-E funding by the House, the conference committee has retained funding for both programs at roughly 2018 levels.
U.S. solar market slumps during second quarter
The impact of Section 201 tariffs is cited in a 9% year-over-year fall in installation volume during Q2. However, Wood Mackenzie and SEIA also show massive utility-scale procurement, which is expected to lead to a boom in the second half of the year.
Alaska to get its largest solar arrays: 100 kW and 563 kW
Renewables IPP is preparing to build a 100 kW project in Willow, Alaska. This will be the state’s largest until a 563 kW plant comes online this fall.
Arizona regulators provide mixed ruling for solar in TEP, UNSE service areas
In the same meeting that they rejected a discriminatory grid access charge, Arizona regulators have moved PV system owners in TEP and UNS’ service areas to a value of solar methodology which creates long-term uncertainty for the market.
