Technology

Also on the rise: Fire alarms shut down Moss Landing Energy Storage facility. SolarEdge reports record revenue. Mosaic custs costs of solar loans. Policies are working in Illinois, where solar is surging. Wave energy isn’t expected to rival solar or wind power, but NREL sees use cases for the technology. Canada-US-Mexico panel says Section 201 tariffs violate agreement.

While there are mechanical and cost issues that currently block widespread adoption of wave energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is exploring new ways to harness the power of the ocean’s waves.

Microinverter provider Enphase entered an agreement with Swell Energy to participate in distributed virtual power plants in California, New York, and Hawaii.

Winter storm Uri that brought a deep freeze to Texas is also bringing insight into grid vulnerabilities, the need for more renewables, and the potential of solar-plus-storage.

With 3G set to be shut down at the end of this month, some solar inverters will lose connectivity and stop reporting data. The free Sunvoy app developed by Ipsun Tech addresses this upcoming obstacle by mapping locations of affected inverters, so that installers may swap out equipment at those sites.

Researchers from the United States have investigated how fuel cells and electrolyzers may be able to operate under intermittent availability provided by both wind and solar and have found that an affordable hydrogen-based system for seasonal energy storage could be achieved at a hydrogen price lower than $3, produced from inexpensive renewable electricity at $0.02/kWh.

A look at three different hydrogen projects from around the world including one at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, which launched a new catalyst based on nitrogen and carbon to extract hydrogen from hydrogen storage materials at mild temperatures and under normal atmospheric conditions.

Also on the rise: CommonBond enters solar finance market, hoping to lower costs. SunPower sells C&I business. BloombergNEF’s Jenny Chase says solar offers reasons for hope. NREL develops next-generation CSP. Greenbacker adds to solar portfolio. EV charging networks gets a boost. Nautilus grows community solar portfolio. Nature Conservancy releases Site Renewables Right map.

In studies led by NREL researchers, the DOE pursues an energy cost goal of five cents per kilowatt-hour.

The Biden Administration announced the five-year plan to meet the broader agenda of electrification and decarbonization of transportation.