Ambri Sheds Jobs, Solar Tops Nuclear In Cali… (Solar, Wind, & Storage News Highlights)

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Here’s a huge reading list for hump day. Hopefully it will help get you through to the weekend. 😀 (Click the subheadings to read the full stories)

Solar Lamp Design Winner Will Be Distributed Throughout Africa To Dispel Darkness

The winning design for a solar lamp, shown above, will be distributed to off-grid communities in Africa to help people living there dispel the darkness without the use of carbon-emitting kerosene lanterns.  About 14,500 lamps, powered by the sun, will be distributed throughout Zimbabwe, Senegal, and Zambia.

Solar Bigger Than Nuclear For The First Time In California

Bernard Chabot is back today with an overview of California power data up to the end of August. By a slim margin, solar (photovoltaics and CSP) made up a larger share of power supply than nuclear power did – an historic first. (See slide 18.) This article is available as a PDF.

Sustainable Home Designs Now Free Online

The Australian government has begun making free sustainable home designs for single family homes available online. The plans showcase modern, sustainable designs featuring a large main bedroom with a generous walk-in closet and ensuite bathroom. There is also an open plan living and kitchen area with cathedral ceilings, bathroom and laundry. The flexible, functional floor plans are available in two size options: 3 bedroom plus study and 2 bedroom plus study. Both include a single car garage.

New York City Team DURA Designs Stackable Post-Disaster Home for Solar Decathlon 2015

One of the teams in this year’s Solar Decathlon, is from New York City’s College of Technology.  This team focused on the issue of providing disaster housing that can be easily transported and stacked, if needed, to provide a high density of housing in a small footprint.

First Yale Team Ever Provides Efficient Design for Solar Decathlon 2015

For the first time, Yale is participating in this year’s Solar Decathlon.  The design focuses on the use of modules, with all of the unit’s plumbing, ventilation, and electrical components being housed in just one section of the house.

Team Orange County Focuses On SoCal Issues In Solar Decathlon 2015

Team Orange County’s entry into this year’s Solar Decathlon addresses some of the issues found in the Southern California home market, including the use of solar energy and landscaping without water.

Solar Power Takes The Form Of A Sunflower

smartflower POP+ enables anyone to start their own personal energy revolution. The integrated power storage unit makes this all-in-one solar power system – the only one of its kind in the world – up to 100% independent of the grid day and night.

 

Brazil Releases Full List Of Public Solar Auction Winners

The results of Brazil’s huge Leilão de Reserva solar auction held at the end of August have been trickling in slowly, and now the full list of winners has been revealed.

US Solar Trade Association Announces New Finance Initiative

The US Solar Energy Industries Association announced last week the launch of the SEIA Finance Initiative, intended to open investment and finance innovation.

Hanwha Q Cells Offloads 33 MW Solar Power Portfolio In Panama

Hanwha Q Cells has offloaded the largest solar power portfolio in Panama two years after it first started development of the projects.

SunEdison Selects Chinese EPC Contractor For 59 MW Phillippines Solar Project

SunEdison and partner Aboitiz Power have taken a major step towards fulfilling their target to add 300 MW of solar power capacity in the Philippines.

San Antonio Utility Promotes New Rooftop Solar Model

Rooftop solar is great, in theory. Instead of letting sunlight that is hitting our roofs do nothing more than heat up our shingles, a rooftop solar system can take that same solar energy and use it to generate electricity. 20 years ago, solar panels were prohibitively expensive, but new technology and manufacturing techniques soon slashed the cost.

Canadian Solar Subsidiary Secures Financing For 100 MW Mustang Solar Project

Canadian Solar announced earlier this month the news that its subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, had secured financing for the 100 MW Mustang solar power project.

Canadian Solar Enters Into Long-Term Supply Contract With Vivint Solar

Canadian solar PV manufacturer Canadian Solar has entered into a long-term product supply agreement with American solar energy company Vivint Solar.

Enphase Energy Releases Next Generation Envoy-S Energy Management System

Global energy technology company Enphase Energy has released the latest-generation Enphase Energy Management System, the Envoy-S.

Can SolarEdge Make a Power Electronics Breakthrough in Solar Inverters?

SolarEdge designs and builds module-level power electronics, the fastest-growing segment of the PV inverter market.

Vaisalla Commits To 100% Renewable Energy

Finnish environmental and industrial measurement company Vaisala has committed to becoming a 100% renewable energy company by 2020.

Fraunhofer ISE Develops New Solar Reference Cell

The world’s largest solar research institute, Fraunhofer ISE, has designed a new solar reference cell built to improve the quality of cell measurements

How Cheap Can Solar Get? Very Cheap Indeed

If current rates of improvement hold, solar power will be incredibly cheap in just a few years’ time, writes famous author and thinker Ramez Naam. According to Naam, electricity cost is from now on coupled to the ever-decreasing price of technology. That is profoundly deflationary and disruptive.

Two National Solar Trade Groups Clash Over How to Lobby for a Key Federal Tax Credit

The solar industry’s two national trade groups are at odds over a lobbying campaign to extend the federal Investment Tax Credit.

America Will Add 1 Gigawatt of Solar Every Month Between Now and the End of 2016

The solar rush in America is on. With every company moving as quickly as possible to finish projects before federal tax credits get slashed at the end of 2016, U.S. installation figures aren’t going anywhere but up — at least for the next year and a half.

Sunny, Windy German Summer

The hot days are definitely over, with temperatures falling into single digits at night. But we now know more exactly how unusual the weather was.

Ambri to Cut Staff, Postpone Commercial Shipments to Hone Battery Design

Getting an entirely new and novel battery chemistry to commercial scale is Sisyphean work. And Ambri, with its liquid metal battery technology, has just hit a large speed bump on its uphill climb to grid-scale energy storage domination.

Lithium-Ion Is the New Silicon

Energy storage as an industry is no longer a curiosity or mere academic pursuit. With its ability to support the weaknesses of intermittent resources such as wind and solar, low-cost storage is the catalyst to a carbon-free world. But there are doubters who claim costs can’t drop without deep science and huge breakthroughs. For those doubters, let’s take a trip down the memory lane of a similar disruption we just witnessed in the solar industry.

US EIA Stuck In The Past On Today’s PV Module Production

The US Energy Information Administration’s ‘Today in Energy’ brief is more a recent history lesson in the PV industry’s troubles with overcapacity, plummeting ASPs and low utilisation rates as it only covers the period 2011 to 2013 and amazingly highlights a ‘slowdown in the growth rate of global solar panel production’.

Interview: Exploring the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive Program

The Made in Minnesota (MiM) Solar Program is a lottery-based incentive available to Minnesotans who install solar equipment that is made in Minnesota. Metro CERT Director Diana McKeown sat down with Kim Havey, Made in Minnesota Solar Program Coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Commerce, to learn more about the program and how it’s working in the state.

Enphase Chooses Australia For Launch Of Plug’n’Play Battery Unit

First battery offering from Enphase has launched in Australia – a market the US tech company says could be first to achieve battery ‘parity.’

Solar Power Windows Ready For Production

Imagine if every building in the world had solar power windows that could generate a small amount of electricity from the sun. The technology exists. It has been tested and it is ready for production. In Manhattan alone, there are 47,000 buildings with over 10,700,000 windows, according to a 2013 estimate from The New York Times.

How Technology Is Fueling The Push Toward Solar

Solar energy in the United States has seen immense momentum throughout the years. When the Solar Energy Industries Association released its annual report in 2008, it concluded that U.S. solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached a total of 1.183 gigawatts — a stellar achievement at the time.

We’re Doing Residential Energy Efficiency All Wrong

Utilities are now spending nearly $7 billion a year on energy-efficiency programs. It seems we have little to show for it aside from expensive consultants who will model any results you would like.

Western Australia Government Feels The Heat Over “Ban” On Storage & EVs

Synergy and WA government rethinking “ban” on storage and EVs, blaming it on poor communications. But that’s not the whole story.

VIDEO: Watch Greenpeace Prank Finland’s Prime Minister

See what happened when a Greenpeace activist turned himself into a representative of Russian nuclear company Rosatom and participated in a gala dinner with the Finnish prime minister.

ARENA Seeking Large-Scale Solar Projects Under $135/MWh

ARENA seeking large scale solar projects that can produce energy at a cost of $135/MWh as it calls for tenders for its first $100n funding round.

Solar Is Very Cheap, But The Model Is Broken, Says Origin Energy

Origin Energy says solar is the cheapest form of energy for households, but warns that sub-standard systems — particularly inverters — are causing problems for consumers. It even suggested a “pink batts” moment could trigger the removal of remaining subsidies. But the company has also been at fault.

What Is The Right Solar FiT For A Smarter Grid?

Speaking from the Queensland perspective, and from the perspective of one of the only combined electricity retailer and distributors left in Australia, Ergon Energy chief Ian McLeod is quick to admit that he has a lot of problems to deal with

Australian Rooftop Solar Installs Down 10% In 2015, Despite Fall In Prices

Rooftop solar installs are down sharply in 2015, despite a fall in system prices. Are incumbents winning by slashing solar tariffs?