Renewables peak at 2/3 of California demand
As has happened many times in Germany, a week of high wind and solar demand coincided with a spring weekend day, and the result was record penetration of renewable energy.
Tesla, Green Mountain Power launch battery-aggregation program
The battery giant is partnering with one of New England’s most solar-friendly utilities to create an energy storage program that will provide a range of storage options for GMP customers.
Thin film solar hangs on as a niche
A new report by Lux Research finds that First Solar and Solar Frontier are holding onto a corner of the market, if not posing much of a threat to c-Si dominance.
Study: Solar micro-grids can help military fight cyber, physical threats
A team from Michigan Technological University is assessing the technical and economic viability of military microgrids run on solar power.
Solar, wind begin to help meet summer peak in Texas
The latest reports by ERCOT estimates that the state will add nearly 900 MW of utility-scale solar this year, as renewables continue to replace older fossil fuel plants.
California grid operator gets ready for August eclipse (with graph)
With California getting a higher portion of its electricity from solar than any non-island nation, the stakes are high with this summer’s eclipse. Fortunately, Europe has already been down this road.
Natcore achieves 20.7% efficiency on silver-free back contact cell
The latest efficiency milestone for Natcore’s Foil Cell is verified by the NanoPower Research Lab at Rochester Institute for Technology. The result was achieved on the Natcore Foil Cell, which utilizes a lasering process and novel metallization strategy, eliminating the need for costly silver.
Report: Near-total renewable energy systems cheaper than gas in 2030 (w/ chart)
A report released last week by Climate Policy Initiative stresses flexibility and shows how energy storage and limited gas generation can support a power system dominated by renewables at a lower cost than conventional generation.
Trump Admin fires first shots in its new War on Science
Reports say the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is under siege by the Department of Energy, with funds frozen and officials refusing to tell the researchers why. Should the scientists at NREL and Sunshot be nervous?
Batteries, solar and the grid: An interview with Jenny Chase of BNEF
In this interview from the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Future of Energy Summit in New York City, pv magazine talked with BNEF’s Head of Solar Analysis Jenny Chase about the issues that she sees on the horizon for solar, including the integration of increasingly high levels of renewable energy on the grid.
