Sunrise brief: NREL ups its cybersecurity research capabilities
Also on the rise: Tenaska could add 300 MW of solar to Indiana, advocates appeal an unfavorable ruling in Alabama, and a novel approach to combining solar and wind at one site.
Clear clogged interconnection queues with transmission planning: report
Interconnection queues, in which solar, wind and storage make up 90% of the projects, are “excessively slow, creating a backlog of unbuilt projects.” The culprit is inadequate transmission planning, says a new report.
CEC awards $5 million grant for hybrid energy storage demonstration
Using the California Energy Commission grant, Indian Energy will develop, integrate, and commission innovative Hybrid Modular Storage Systems as a long-duration energy storage technology demonstration project.
Urban land and aerosols could accelerate hail storm formation
Research from the U.S. Department of Energy has found that urban landscapes and man-made aerosols have the potential to accelerate hail storm formation, make their winds harsher and direct these storms toward cities.
Could agrivoltaics feed our demand for clean energy?
Agrivoltaics could result in more food, more energy, lower water demand, lower carbon emissions, and more prosperous rural communities, says an Oregon State University researcher. He plans to build a farm to prove the point.
Database lists 616,818 global sites for sustainable pumped hydro
Australian researchers said that oOff-river” pumped-hydro is not only able to overcome the typical topographical issues of conventional pumped-hydro but also is cheaper.
Finding the ideal size for a quantum dot
New research describes an algorithm that can calculate the ideal characteristics for a quantum dot to maximize cell efficiency.
VC funding in solar 2020: perovskites, silicon and utility-scale foundations, plus lots of software
Here’s a list of solar firms that VCs funded during this pandemic year.
Swift Solar secures financing to expand its perovskite R&D
The financing round was led by GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij and cryptocurrency expert James Fickel. Proceeds will be used to expand R&D, develop prototypes and add staff.
First Solar’s PV module technology completes 25 years of testing at NREL
“Determining how many years a solar panel will last can take, well, years.”
