American-Made Challenge gets five generals
NREL has chosen five companies to help administer the America-Made Solar Prize, a program whose stated goal is to develop U.S.-based solar manufacturing. These five companies receive contracts of $100,000 each for their services.
Hanwha Q Cells to make half-cut mono modules at U.S. factory
The Korean-European PV maker has revealed that its new U.S. factory will make modules based on half-cut monocrystalline cells using passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) technology.
Joint U.S. House-Senate committee quietly maintains funding for renewable energy, ARPA-E in FY2019
After an attempt to cut EERE and ARPA-E funding by the House, the conference committee has retained funding for both programs at roughly 2018 levels.
Employee owned engineering firm installing advanced electric vehicle charging on campus
Burns & McDonnell, a 6,000-strong engineering firm, is installing a Greenlots EV charging network and integrating it into the company’s campus network. The engineers hope to offer EV related services to their many electric utility customers.
Scientists claim 10% saving for black silicon cell production with dry etching
Researchers from Michigan Technological University and Finland’s Aalto University say they have demonstrated that the cost per unit of power of black silicon PERC cells could fall 10.8%, despite an increase in cell processing cost.
Enphase going Einstein with IQ8 solar power inverters
The IQ8 will allow off grid solar power without the need for energy storage by instantly recognizing local load demands and meeting them with available solar-generated electricity.
32% tandem cell solar still competitive at triple the price
ASU researchers have determined that a 32% efficient perovskite-silicon tandem cell could produce electricity at the same price as cutting-edge 22% efficient panels in the most cost-competitive of situations.
Enel and Raptor Maps to develop AI drone software for operations and maintenance applications
Enel Green Power North America and Raptor Maps will develop AI-based drones to reduce O&M costs. Kicking off this month, the project will see its first batch of 30 field workers trained by the end of the year. Both companies already have the relevant technology in their portfolios.
SolarEdge ships nearly 1 GW of inverters during Q2
The inverter and power optimizer maker showed 67% year-over-year revenue growth and shipped 985 MW of inverters but missed earnings projections by 2%.
40 million EV charging points for 11% of all cars by 2030
GTM Research has published an analysis of the global electric vehicle infrastructure of 2030. The group sees ten times more public charges than home chargers, and in North America alone sees $13 billion in electricity related revenue due to EVs in 2030.
