In case you missed it: Six big solar stories in the news this week
pv magazine USA spotlights news of the past week including market trends, project updates, policy changes and more.
Siting solar on federal land under NEPA’s double-edged sword
Solar and wind projects and that court challenges with NEPA face an average 15 months of an extended timeline until they reach operation, a report from the Resources for the Future found.
People on the move: Georgia Power, RFF, Arclight Capital Partners
Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance. And the job of the week.
Portland utility activates 1.9 GWh of battery energy storage
Portland General Electric announced the completion of three new battery projects adding 475 MW / 1.9 GWh of dispatchable capacity to the grid.
Growing electricity demand collides with uncertainty in renewables policies
A Reuters white paper outlines disruptive shifts in the U.S. power market.
California activates $2 billion solar and energy storage facility
The Eland project will deliver about 7% of Los Angeles’s electricity.
Researchers highlight importance of site-specific agrivoltaics design
A research team from Temple University in Philadelphia analyzed the synergies and trade-offs of land conversion to agrivoltaics and other multi-use solar energy landscapes globally. They found that co-located solar systems should be specifically tailored in order to offer optimal performance and minimize negative impacts.
Tropical storms, record heat shape North America’s July solar production
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that while southwestern United States enjoyed increased solar irradiance in July, extreme weather events further north complicated solar operations during the holiday season.
U.S. may deploy 53 GW of solar in 2025, 61 GW in 2026 – but FEOC looms
BloombergNEF projects continued solar deployment growth in 2025 and 2026, though looming Foreign Entity of Concern restrictions may shave tens of gigawatts off capacity additions later in the decade.
PV-integrated noise barriers for transportation corridors
U.S. startup Ko-Solar and Germany’s R. Kohlhauer, announced plans to offer turnkey PV-integrated noise barrier systems for transportation corridors, such as alongside highways, railways, and airport runways.
