California

Also on the rise: Products of interest at RE+ Northeast Solar & Storage. BayWa r.e. completes sale of solar plus storage project to Eni New Energy US. Alabama gets another 130MW of solar. CellCube secures long-term supply of vanadium redox flow battery electrolyte. Recent acquisitions bring Standard Solar’s owned assets above 20MW in Massachusetts and above 50MW in Maine.

The developer is active in community solar, multifamily, commercial, industrial, and rooftop markets.

The 2022 Community Power Scorecard developed by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance grades the states on which give communities the most power to advance clean energy and which present barriers to local economic development through renewable power. Only four received top grades, indicating that most states have a lot of work to do.

Heliogen announced plans to open a southern California fabrication to build solar directors called heliostats and other components in its CSP system.

The geothermal field beneath California’s Salton Sea contains brine that may hold from one to six million metric tons of lithium, an essential element for producing batteries. A Berkeley Lab study aims to evaluate the resource.

After multiple rounds of slashing the total cost of the Build Back Better bill, US senators remain locked in negotiations. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (West Virginia) voted against an earlier proposal, shocking many, and has now said he will reopen negotiations “starting from scratch.”

SPI Solar plans to begin manufacturing solar panels in California using the existing production lines at the former Sunergy PV solar plant, boosting capacity to 1.1GW in Q3.

Also on the rise: Soltage invests in new community solar projects. Appalachian Power seeks 150MW of solar in West Virginia. Breaking research reveals solar cells can be used as lens-free, high-speed optical detectors in underwater environments. Duke looking for 1.1GW of renewables in Indiana. Community solar project in Virginia launches 25% renewable energy option for a small premium. Convergent’s battery storage facility is up and running in the LA Basin.

Two energy storage systems financed and developed by Convergent Energy + Power are operational and expected to increase grid reliability for Southern California Edison customers.

Southern California Gas Company is submitting an application to build a 10 to 20GW electrolyzer and 25 to 35GW of new and curtailed wind and solar, along with 2GW of energy storage, to deliver green hydrogen to the Los Angeles Basin.