Sunshine state makes solar powered moves
Florida regulators have given approval to Tampa Electric for 260 MW-AC of solar power across five single axis tracker facilities, as the company aims to deliver 600 MW-AC by the beginning of 2020.
Operating solar with reserve capacity enables more solar on the grid
A solar plant can increase its output by starting from a curtailment status and then reducing curtailment. If grid operators schedule in advance both solar curtailment and increased solar output, the cost-saving level of solar increases substantially.
Democrats sweep AEE clean energy scorecards
Trade group Advanced Energy Economy has published a scorecard which ranks candidates in nine gubernatorial races on clean energy issues, and one of the two major parties is largely missing in action.
Locals suing for net metering, utility wants scale and energy storage
Jacksonville, Florida’s municipal utility has gotten rid of net metering and lowered the rate paid for excess solar produced electricity. Concurrently, the utility is pushing larger scale solar and energy storage programs.
Clean energy versus gas
Solar and energy storage, either on their own or as part of clean energy portfolios, are showing that they can compete with natural gas in the United States. But will regulators wake up to this reality before half a trillion dollars worth of future stranded assets are built?
Florida regulators clear the way for Vivint’s solar lease
Vivint Solar has joined other national residential solar companies in the Florida market as state regulators confirm that their solar lease contract does not violate state law by constituting the sale of electricity.
Construction starts on 450 MW-DC of Florida solar
Black and Veatch has started work on four massive solar plants for Florida Power and Light, which will bring the utility to over 1.2 GW-AC of installed solar some time next year.
NextEra expects storage to add half a cent to solar in mid-2020’s
The power giant has made a number of bold statements about the future of solar, wind and batteries, as the company’s development arm reaches a record backlog of renewable energy.
Florida’s distributed solar market doubled in 2017
State regulators have released a report showing that 6,283 new distributed generation systems connected to the power grid in 2017, nearly double the volume deployed in 2016.
Made in the USA
In the wake of the Section 201 tariffs, the United States is seeing a minor renaissance in solar module manufacturing. However, in terms of why this is happening, the tariffs are only one part of a more complicated story.
