Nevada

Here’s this week’s gigawatt of big solar project news.

Contending with congress, video zombie noises and chemistry with Ranking Member Paul Gosar, Nextracker CEO Dan Shugar testified, “The rules are broken — it takes far too long to get solar projects approved — over three years.”

The number of large solar projects is surging in the U.S. — and pv magazine is keeping track. We’ve gathered up the recent news in big solar — with Indiana set to double its solar capacity, and Texas galloping along. Plus, the never-ending Spotsylvania saga.

As Covid-19 cases surge across the country, SPI moves its October trade show from Las Vegas to virtual. 

This bankruptcy comes with a political edge — because the startup received $737 million in a U.S. federal loan guarantee as part of the 2009 stimulus package — during the Obama administration.

The two firms have a 22-year power purchase agreement for the electricity generated by the upcoming Chuckwalla solar farm, which will have a rated capacity of 200 MW solar and 180 MW/720 MWh storage.

Also in the brief: Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary NV Energy goes full-on solar-plus-storage, and single-axis tracker analysis.

“The most efficient time to install solar panels is when the builders are on the roof in the first place,” said Bronte Payne with Environment America.

The Bureau of Land Management “has ignored most possibilities” for utility-scale solar “on its vast land holdings across the solar-rich Southwest,” says a paper. Renewable energy development accounts for less than 1% of economic activity on BLM lands, while oil and gas account for 70%, according to BLM data.

PetersenDean came to solar from the roofing world and has long been a top-ten U.S. solar installer with a multi-state regional practice.