Virginia’s legacy coal country looks to solar for economic growth
Pro-solar groups have developed a guide for how municipalities and counties can encourage solar projects in Southwest Virginia, and The Nature Conservancy is eyeing the value that solar can bring to one of its big landholdings.
Philip Shen of Roth Capital: pandemic relief package could extend ITC and include ‘refundability’
Also in the brief: Chart-of-the-day, plus Harley-Davidson goes big on solar. Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners established a joint venture with Birch Infrastructure to develop and construct renewables-powered hyperscale data center campuses in the US.
Illinois’ small-scale solar incentives are tapped out, leaving developers in the dark
The final incentives from the state’s 2017 Future Energy Jobs Act have been awarded. With no emergency funds or new legislation pending, thousands of jobs could be at stake.
Aggressive new fees for South Carolina solar customers draw fire
The proposed fees could end up costing the solar average homeowner more than $700 annually. Critics call the fees an attempt to take away consumer control over their power bills.
Program aims to add solar on new low-income housing in Minnesota
With enough property owners signing on to the program, developers should be able to install PV panels at group prices. At least some of the solar-equipped housing units must be rented to low-income people.
With new safety measures in place, APS looks to reengage with BESS
Arizona Public Service wants more battery energy storage capacity and has new safety standards in place, prompted by a 2019 thermal runaway event in a utility-scale BESS near Phoenix.
VC funding in solar 2020: perovskites, silicon and utility-scale foundations, plus lots of software
Here’s a list of solar firms that VCs funded during this pandemic year.
A wish list for Biden’s energy policy agenda during his first year in office
What Tam Hunt would like for the holidays: a Renewable Electricity Standard, a federal feed-in tariff and a federal efficiency standard.
Biden makes his picks: Granholm is Energy Secretary and McCarthy is Climate Czar
Also in the morning brief: Ormat expands energy storage presence, acquires a shovel-ready project in Upton County, Texas. RatedPower’s software for utility-scale solar. CS Energy hits 1 GW.
Swift Solar secures financing to expand its perovskite R&D
The financing round was led by GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij and cryptocurrency expert James Fickel. Proceeds will be used to expand R&D, develop prototypes and add staff.
