Technology

The four-year global competition invites innovators and teams to demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans.

The New York City-based institute will link architectural design and engineering to create infrastructure that is both net-zero in energy use and climate resilient.

The deal with Hong Kong’s Towngas will pilot the company’s nickel-hydrogen battery technology and serve as an audition for future deals to come.

High-resolution data let the study group drill down to individual parcels in order to figure out how much land is available for solar in both optimal and preferred sites.

Also on the rise: PG&E launches its solar-based microgrid program, a report from Berkeley Lab says the power sector is halfway to becoming carbon free, and battery recycler Li-Cycle will build a facility near Phoenix.

Power quality issues emerge in terms of voltage swags, swells, flickers, and harmonic distortions, among other things. Many utilities said they are not happy with their ability to gather useful data to address the problems.

The $2 trillion package includes a proposed 10-year extension of the ITC and PTC and calls for further incentives to add transmission capacity. Most solar advocates liked it, but one nonprofit panned it as being too industry-friendly.

Also on the rise: Concentric Power builds a microgrid, research pegs smoke’s impact on 2020 solar output, SolRiver buys a Carolinas development portfolio, jobs growth could signal good times for solar installations, and Plug Power plans another green hydrogen plant.

Also on the rise: DOE’s Solar Decathlon is getting under way as a virtual event, Massachusetts has a climate law (finally), and Nextracker wins a supply deal with Solaria.

March is turning into one of the busiest months ever for solar in Pennsylvania, at least legislation-wise. The latest bill would lift the state’s renewable energy goal from 8% by 2026 to 18%, with a 5.5% solar carveout.