The world added .115 terawatts of solar power in 2019 for a cumulative .629 terawatts
IEA PVPS report: Global solar demand increased by 12% in 2019 compared to 2018 — but that was BC. According to the report, photovoltaics provided just under 3% of global electricity needs in 2019.
Philadelphia-area transit agency expects six-figure annual savings from 44 MW solar project
The transit agency expects to save “several hundred thousand dollars a year, on average” through its fixed-price contract for solar power. The agency’s sustainability program “is a platform not just for environmental improvements, but for financial improvements,” said an executive.
Morning Brief: Enormous PV projects in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin
Also in the brief: Wärtsilä delivering a 70 MW energy storage project in CAISO and the DOE Solar Desalination Prize.
Huawei, Sungrow and SMA dominate global inverter market
Analysis from Wood Mackenzie shows global inverter demand grew 18% last year. The ten largest inverter suppliers accounted for 76% of the global trade.
Despite solar woes, Tesla turned its first-ever profitable Q1
Tesla finished Q1 2020 with a positive GAAP net income, driven by the profitability of the Model Y. However, the story was not so bright for solar, storage or corporate governance.
Soros Fund Management, Siemens make a big bet on EV charging
The two companies have invested $13.2 million into Amply Power, a service that combines EV charging hardware distribution and fleet management software into one customer-focused package.
Abu Dhabi’s 1.5 GW tender draws world record low solar bid of $0.0135/kWh
The tariff is around $0.0021 lower than the $0.0156/kWh French oil giant Total and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp offered in Qatar’s 800 MW tender in late January. French energy company EDF and Chinese solar company JinkoPower reportedly submitted the record bid in the UAE exercise.
Utility-scale roundup: The days of big solar projects in the US are back
The number of large solar projects (say, 100 MW and bigger) is rapidly increasing in the U.S. — and pv magazine is keeping track. We’ve rounded up this week’s big news in big solar.
Morning Brief: Solar and wind are the cheapest new sources of electricity, Appalachian Power halts distributed projects
Also in the brief: Ohio regulators have approved an 80 MW array, Sierra Club responds to Duke’s climate report, Rhode Island funds brownfield projects and more.
Solar beats gas when utilities use all-source procurements
With an all-source procurement, a utility solicits bids to identify the costs of solar, wind and storage, which can be “significantly less expensive than new gas,” as an Indiana utility found. A clean energy group calls for state regulators to require all-source procurements, for the vertically integrated utilities that serve half the country.
