Opinion & analysis

Last month was the biggest sales month in our history. Here are three lessons I’ve learned.

With the average lifespan of a solar panel at roughly 20 years, installations from the early 2000s are set to reach end-of-life. Will they end up in landfill or be recycled? The cost of recycling is higher than landfill, and the value of recovered materials is smaller than the original, so there’s limited interest in recycling. But given the presence of heavy metals, if waste is managed poorly, we’re on track for another recycling crisis.

With the inclusion of battery energy storage into new building codes and safety standards, it’s obvious just how mainstream storage is today.

A new report from the California PUC documents the uneven workings of the state’s 100% renewable portfolio standard — and the need for better data on cost savings.

The pre-life of the Spotsylvania solar energy project has been riddled with financial and societal difficulties. As much as these issues have made a quagmire of development, it also provides a case study on the logistics of getting such a large project built.

A major advantage of this design is the ability to string cables over a longer distance without the support needed in traditional racking approaches.

Permitting and Google search data show substantially more resi solar installs in Q1 2020, compared with the same period in 2019. Data suggests that major national installers, leveraging online sales, are better positioned than most to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given Hawaii’s audacious renewable energy goals it seems logical that industries such as solar can help be a big part of that recovery.

Renewable energy development can be the catalyst for restoring our economic strength post-Covid-19. Founders of Navajo Power along with Kevin De Leon, Los Angeles City Council candidate, make their case.

Ohm Analytics has opened up its Weekly Solar Activity Tracker to the public. The tracker aggregates a sampling of solar building and electrical permits from major metro areas across the U.S. — and can be used to measure the impact of Covid-19 on the solar industry.