U.S. solar manufacturers ink spacecraft deals
An Arizona manufacturer struck an research agreement with NASA, while a company in Colorado will supply thin-film solar to an unnamed private spacecraft company.
Nextpower opens monitoring center and doubles steel output at Memphis plant
Nextpower, formerly Nextracker, announced it has opened a remote monitoring center for its solar tracker systems in Nashville, Tennessee and also expanded its Memphis steel manufacturing capacity.
DOE removes “renewable” from National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The US Department of Energy (DoE) has renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado as the National Laboratory of the Rockies, a change it says aligns the institute’s mandate with the Trump administration’s applied energy priorities.
Utilities can manage data center demand with focused tariffs and rate design
Enverus report says actions can weed out speculators and shorten interconnection queues.
Study finds Terrasmart solar trackers demonstrate labor efficiency
Third-party consulting company Eclipse-M found the company’s racking solutions require less labor hours than the average tracker solar racking solution.
Startup Raya Power poised to offer its plug-in solar and storage solution in Puerto Rico and California
The solar tech startup with a mission to “democratize solar energy,” is preparing to launch its all-in-one home solar and storage appliance in early 2026.
U.S. battery fleet grows 59% with nearly 14 GW added in 12 months, says EIA
Data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that battery energy storage and solar are dominating capacity additions, while fossil fuel capacity continues to net a decline. Another 22 GW of storage is projected for the coming year.
“Germany is simply far ahead,” says solar executive
Why do photovoltaic customers in the US have different needs than those in Germany? And what does that mean for planning software that has already been very successful in one market and now aims to succeed in the other? Chris Hopper, co-founder of Aurora Solar, discusses AI-supported house models, lidar data, the One Big Beautiful Bill, the necessity of circuit diagrams, and why the German market is more advanced than the US market in an interview with pv magazine.
California lawmakers urge CPUC to enforce utility interconnection timelines
A coalition of 18 California legislators has formally urged the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to enforce regulations under “Rule 21” regarding the interconnection of customer-sited solar and energy storage systems.
Sodium-ion battery cell cost could drop to $40/kWh, says IRENA
A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) notes that while it is still uncertain whether sodium-ion batteries will become a disruptive alternative to lithium-ion technology, they could offer significant cost-saving opportunities in applications such as electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage.
