Utility scale solar power as cheap as 70¢ per watt and still falling
Government researchers find that Florida has dethroned California as the largest market, trackers dominate, solar+storage compensation diversity, and a lot more in Berkeley Labs annual utility-scale solar power report.
5 stories that sparked conversation in 2019
Certain articles at pv magazine strike a chord with readers and spark greater discussion among the community. Here are the most discussed articles of 2019 at pv magazine USA.
5 most popular articles at pv magazine USA in 2019
Certain articles at pv magazine catch fire and capture the imagination of our solar colleagues as well as a wider, equally nerdy, audience. Here are the most widely read pieces of the year at pv magazine USA.
Kauai was 100% renewably powered for 32 hours over the last month
The Hawaiian island of 70,000 residents has achieved this feat on 11 different occasions since before Thanksgiving, anchored by a five-hour period on December 10. Plus, a world tour of high-penetration renewable hotspots.
Tesla to hide ‘solar test-house’ under tents at Fremont site
Lora Kolodny at CNBC uncovered a recently granted building permit that allows Tesla to put up “two canopy covers” over its new “solar test houses.” Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that 2019 was “the year of the solar roof.”
46% of U.S. homeowners want rooftop solar
A Pew Research Center survey shows that support for distributed generation and a desire for a residential installation of one’s own is up 6% nationally since 2016.
The quick gray fox jumped through the upside-down solar fence—a photo essay
Deer fence installed upside down lets foxes and other small wildlife through to forage and pursue prey. Solar developers in Tennessee and North Carolina have the photos to prove it.
MIT responds: batteries are critical to the future electric grid, but they have their limits
Recognizing their critical role in the future grid, MIT still sees limits to batteries in an intermittent renewable-dominated power sector. In this op-ed, John Reilly, co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, explains why.
SunCast episode 204 – Tim Effio of Fluence on how storage is disrupting Caribbean thermal generation models
In this episode of SunCast, Nico talks with Tim Effio, head of Latam & Caribbean markets for Fluence on the macro and micro implications of Solar + Storage and its integration into emerging markets.
US research lab rewires solar cell increasing efficiency to 27.3%, sees path to greater than 32%
NREL has published a paper showing an experimental solar cell, with a unique technique for wiring two separate solar cells into one, that increased the cell’s efficiency by 4%. As well the document offer a respectable review of other technologies being developed.
