Morning Brief: Sol Systems to build 500 MW for Microsoft, Arizona regulators look to go 100% renewable
Also in the brief: Duke Energy Renewables has officially completed the 200 MW Rambler Solar project, Nikola Corporation has broken ground on its soon-to-be 1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility, Nelnet Renewable Energy will be managing services for 20 MW of community solar in New York.
New York launches largest renewable solicitation in US history
4 GW of offshore wind and land-based renewables are set to come to the Empire State, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo looks to achieve the state’s renewable energy mandates while also kickstarting a post-Covid economy.
Morning Brief: Distributed Solar Development has acquired a community solar portfolio, community outreach in Hawaii
Also in the brief: solar pros running for elected office, Longroad Energy has announced a partnership with Maine’s Unity College, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation has chosen a management platform for its distributed generation program and more.
Bill Gates leads $10M investment in Quidnet’s long-duration geomechanical pumped storage
The year of living durationally — the holy grail of energy storage has always been low-cost and long-duration. Venture investors have started putting their money into novel, extended-duration storage technologies.
Morning Brief: turn Rikers Island into a solar farm, Solar Frontier Americas changes name
Also in the brief: Morgan Solar has announced the sale of 13.6 MW of enhanced bifacial modules, FERC will hold two technical conferences in 2020, clean energy in a House infrastructure package and more.
New York regulators, NYSERDA, release white paper on how to better achieve 70% renewables by 2030
In pursuit of the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the two entities have outlined a plan to rewrite current procurement procedures, expand the role of offshore wind and establish a new tier of eligible generation resources.
First Solar backs carbon pricing for wholesale electricity
First Solar has backed carbon pricing in comments submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The firm also co-founded a global policy institute that supports carbon pricing as a “cost-effective, equitable and politically viable climate solution.”
Calm before the Q2 storm: US energy storage market posts decent Q1
WoodMac looks back at the storage industry in simpler, long-ago times — eight weeks ago.
PVEL solar module scorecard: In a rush to innovate, some manufacturers ‘overlooked basic quality control’
PV Evolution Labs (PVEL), a test lab for the downstream solar market, just published its PV Module Reliability Scorecard. The lab notes the high level of innovation in the solar module industry and namechecks the market’s reliability leaders — but also observed a resurgence of known failure mechanisms — such as PID.
Replacing peakers with storage to achieve the greatest health benefit
Regulators and community groups can use a new interactive resource to see the emissions impacts of existing and proposed peaker units. Storage developers may also find the tool helpful, to identify peakers likely to be replaced.
