Technology

A FERC commissioner said that automation software took just ten days to reproduce an interconnection cluster study for renewables projects that had taken two years of human labor to complete. He said he hopes to meet soon with grid operators to discuss interconnection automation.

Researchers in Canada compared strawberry growth under uniform illumination from semi-transparent thin-film cadmium telluride panels and non-uniform illumination from semi-transparent crystalline silicon modules.

Utilities that own fossil generation can benefit from congested transmission that blocks renewables, an economics professor found. In related work, a law professor proposed a federal grid planning authority to cure transmission delays, as well as near-term measures in that direction.

A research group including scientists from U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Underwriter’s Laboratories Inc., and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has outlined a new protocol for assessing PV module backsheet degradation in the field. Through the proposed framework, the researchers analyzed PV backsheet degradation across 41 sites, with exposure times ranging from 1 to 38 years.

Itron and NVIDIA partner on a platform intended to bring utilities grid resilience, disaster management and prevention, consumer engagement, and operational efficiency.

BloombergNEF reports that the world installed nearly 600 gigawatts of solar power in 2024, closely aligning with projections that annual global solar installations will surpass 1 terawatt within the next few years. Although projections for 2025 currently fall short of that pace, early forecasts often underestimate actual deployment.

New research from Stanford University has investigated the performance limits of transition metal dichalcogenide solar cells for indoor energy harvesting intended for powering internet of things (IoT) devices and sensors. The analysis showed these cells may reach a power conversion efficiency of up to 36.5%.

“A wide array of resources is needed” to meet growing electricity demand, including hundreds of gigawatts of solar and wind capacity that can be deployed quickly but would be reduced by half without tax credits, says a report prepared for ConservAmerica.

The 350Squared plug-and-play power bank requires no trenching and includes AI-powered forecasting with a bi-directional electricity meter, and two ultra-fast charging ports.

Distributed solar fell 11% in 2024, dragged down by the residential segment, according to Ohm Analytics’s Q4-2024 report. However, signs of recovery emerged with a strong fourth quarter and increasing installation volumes throughout the year.