Technology and R&D

Seven early-stage solar manufacturing firms have won U.S. Department of Energy grants to develop prototypes, which they could use to help attract private investment. DOE’s 21 PV research and development grants may hold more interest for established manufacturers.

Scientists at Princeton have found solar and wind energy offer the added environmental benefit of reducing water usage, by comparison with hydroelectric dams. Their findings, say the researchers, could have a positive impact on groundwater sustainability in drought-prone regions such as California, where they conducted a case study.

We were gone till November, now we’re here. The US Air Force is researching space based solar power, SimpliPhi has discounts on energy storage products for Californians, and ESS Inc has raised $30 million to help roboticize a 1 GWh/year capacity factory to build flow batteries in Oregon!

NREL opened the doors as scientists spoke of advancing perovskites with fundamental research, fast drying solar inks, refining solar windows, and actively pushing into high speed, high volume manufacturing capacity on the multi-terawatt scale.

The Orlando Utility Commission will not only be adding 149 MW of solar projects to its generation portfolio, but is also developing a first-of-its-kind hydrogen storage project, with the hope it can be PV’s perfect partner in the future.

Hello and welcome to the Tuesday pvMB, where we’re bringing you SEPA’s 2019 Utility Demand Response Market Snapshot, solar applications surging in New York and more!

Inverter manufacturer Solaredge has filed three additional patent infringement lawsuits against its competitor, Huawei, in China. This comes after three similar legal actions against Huawei that had been undertaken by Solaredge in Germany last summer. While Huawei has decided not to comment on the matter, the Chinese manufacturer revealed that it had filed three patent litigation claims against Solaredge at a Chinese court this May.

Amidst operational problems and a terminated power contract, a lawsuit by developer SolarReserve warns that a DOE takeover of the project could push it into bankruptcy.

Welcome to your workweek and to this week’s Monday pvMN. Today we’re looking at 350 MW proposed for Buffalo, NY, Contra Costa County partnering with SunPower on solar carports, Alta Devices and Stanford’s solar car and more!

Nineteen thousand people walked the floor at the United States’ largest *energy conference* – not just solar power conference – and it is a bit sad to end, but the education, handshakes, and hardware were great.