Solar may cover the world’s electricity demand with 0.3% of its land area
An international research group claims that raw materials and land availability do not present a real barrier for a global energy system with solar at its center. They said that forecasts for PV growth should not have their axis on utility-scale power plants and instead consider vertical PV, agrivoltaics, and floating PV as the source of future big market volumes.
50 states of solar incentives: Indiana
The Hoosier State has a prohibitive residential PV market with net metering recently phased out, while its utility market enjoys 878.8 MW of new projects.
HVDC transmission line to connect three ISO regions
The 385-mile North Plains Connector project to be built by 2029 will ease power transmission congestion and allow clean energy onto the grid.
Sunrise brief: Post-IRA opportunities and risk in utility-scale solar
Also on the rise: Facebook (Meta) total solar procurement closes in on 4 GW. New solar projects are more economical than operating existing coal plants. And more.
Building new solar projects is less expensive than operating existing coal plants
Energy Innovation Policy & Technology released a report that finds the economics of replacing coal with renewables could fund a massive battery storage buildout, adding reliability to the benefit of reduced emissions.
RMI says utilities should model and plan for distributed solar adoption
Some utilities are using models to project the adoption of distributed solar and storage, and counting distributed resources in their planning process. Others should do the same, says the nonprofit RMI.
Sunrise brief: If approved, Ohio solar plant could be largest in nation
Also on the rise: Bipartisan group files to repeal solar tariff moratorium. Town recoups $2.3 million in back taxes with solar on a landfill. And more.
Thin, lightweight coating protects perovskite solar in space
An ultrathin coating protects a perovskite solar cell from the harmful effects of space and hardens it against environmental factors on Earth, according to a study by researchers at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Scientists assess lifetime for perovskite PV to become competitive on rooftops
Researchers say that lightweight, high-performance perovskite solar modules could soon become competitive with crystalline PV modules in the residential segment, as such products will likely have lower manufacturing and balance-of-system costs in the future.
Largest rooftop terminal solar array designed for JFK airport
The 7.66 MW of solar, 4 MWh batteries microgrid is the first fully resilient airport array that can function offgrid. The planned upgrade is part of a new JFK terminal said to be valued at $9.5 billion–what would be the largest global project financing transaction on record.
