North America

A team of three analysts from global energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie are in Puerto Rico this week helping install solar panels on homes as part of a new initiative with charity Let’s Share the Sun Foundation.

American Battery Factory said it is developing a US-based material processing and cell manufacturing network for LFP battery cells.

UL and NREL released a report on cybersecurity certification recommendations and are actively developing requirements to create cybersecurity certification standards.

A Vibrant Clean Energy study commissioned by Vote Solar found that GW-scale investments in distributed solar and storage would yield the lower cost between two approaches studied for Michigan to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050.

In one of the company’s largest transactions to date, Greenbacker has acquired a significant financial interest in the 150MW operating Aurora solar portfolio

LONGi Solar has released the data of an inhomogeneous snow-load test. Its results show that its 72-cell solar modules held 1,800 pascals more force than a competing large format product using 210 mm cells.

House Bill 741 was passed by the Florida Legislature. The rate paid by utilities to rooftop solar owners for excess electricity sent back to the grid is set to be phased down to a fraction of its original rate. It also opens the door for unlimited fixed fees to be levied on solar customers.

Also on the rise: Powin Energy signed a supply agreement with Borrego for 800MWh of Powin’s Stack750 storage solution. Rigid trackers may be best for large-format modules. Koch subsidiary DEPCOM expands portfolio to 650MWh. Over the next two years utility-scale solar and battery energy storage will combine for 60% of the capacity added to the grid. NASA’s 1.5 billion-mile Psyche asteroid mission will be solar-powered. IREC and partners announce on-line training courses for residential plan review and permitting.

NASA will explore a large, metal-rich asteroid with an remote-operated craft powered by two cross-shaped solar arrays.

Arctech Solar released a new white paper outlining the opportunities presented by stowing modules at a zero-degree angle in high-wind scenarios, a solution made possible by the advent of rigid trackers.