The names of the InterSolar Award 2019 finalists have been released ahead of the Smarter E Europe show, to be held May 15-17 in Munich, when the winners will be identified. The competitors for the award are honored for pioneering technologies and services for the solar industry. The submissions for the award span a wide range of technologies, from solar modules to inverters to substructures, the organizers say.
Community solar projects are sweeping the nation, enabling individuals to benefit from solar energy even if they don’t have panels on their house or apartment building. The financial design of a community solar project may vary widely, however, which can make or break any savings that a system could yield for the consumer.
Oakland’s People Power Solar Cooperative has completed its first solar project in Oakland, piloting a new model for community-owned energy in California. The residential-sized 7 kilowatt project is financed entirely by investments up to $1,000 each from more than 50 local community members and leaders among the cooperative’s members, the group says.
Planners in Fremont, CA, appear to be the first to complete a solar microgrid system with battery backup for a fire station in the United States, seeking to be more hardened against wildfire, utility blackouts, hurricanes, or other threatening events.
Some state solar markets are created with a single legal keystone, creating market exuberance where there once was dust. New statistics that now show Nevada leads the nation in clean job growth did not arise from a roll of the dice in Las Vegas.
The escalating war over the potential break-up of PG&E has rallied California’s 19 Community Choice Aggregators, which are seeking to assume a greater role as owners and/or managers of solar and other other renewable energy resources in the state.
The snail-slow solar shingle race is moving once again, as Real Goods Solar accepts the first of its $127 million worth of Powerhouse preorders on December 27. The company also announced plans to ramp up production every quarter during 2019 toward a 5 megawatt annual capacity guarantee from its manufacturing partners. The announcement coincides with Tesla plans to ramp up its solar shingle production next year as well. May the best shingle prevail.
The multi-billion dollar global demand for solar trackers is red hot, and expected to continue to glow red for at least the next five years, according to the latest market forecast. The global single-axis solar photovoltaic tracker market is expected to show a cumulative average growth rate of close to 28% during the period 2019-2023.
Hackers targeting the electrical grid, your local utility, or the solar microgrid your home is linked into will have a harder time disrupting your electrons in the near future. Manufacturers of electronic equipment used in smart homes, in microgrids, and in utilities are beginning to adopt a set of cybersecurity standards set out by the Underwriters Laboratory. At the same time, manufacturer-sponsored test hacking is helping to drive more frequent —and more secure — firmware and software upgrades.
Ormat Technologies, the world leader in geothermal energy, is once again going hybrid, adding solar energy to a geothermal plants to raise efficiency and to boost income from the energy off-taker, Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA). The 18 megawatt photovoltaic solar installation will cover the geothermal plant’s parasitic, or operational energy consumption, freeing up power that SCPPA agreed last year to purchase at a hefty rate of $75.50/MW-hour.
