This is your SolarWakeup for April 16th, 2024
Solar For All Angles. Back in my IPP days it was always tricky to find the right piece of flat, square land for the solar farms. It was even worse when the development required more capex in civil work and compliance with various draining and environmental remediation for the property. If you’ve been on a piece of land that had civil works done to it, you know you hope that it didn’t rain on ribbon cutting day or you better have some tall mud boots. I’m proud to see Nevados innovation get some public recognition as the tracker company that has seen this problem for nearly a decade, with the award coming from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Obviously, I’m a biased board observer and investor of Nevados but this award comes from a third party so I get to throw some confetti for them here as well.
News
1 Bloomberg:
Coal Keeps Powering India as Booming Economy Crushes Green Hopes
2 Solar Power World:
Virginia solar project using Nevados trackers receives state environmental award
3 New York Times:
To Fight Climate Change, We Need New ‘Political Technologies’
4 Axios:
The IEA is sticking to its guns on peak oil demand
5 Reuters:
Hawaiian Electric may initiate rolling outages
6 PV-Tech:
National, nodal or zonal - potential of different pricing structures in the world’s energy markets
7 Renewable Energy World:
DOE seeks feedback from distribution utilities on $6.5M interconnection program
8 Canary media:
California derailed its booming rooftop solar buildout. Can it be fixed?
9 PV-Magazine:
U.S. median residential solar price is $2.80 per watt, payback period 8 years
Opinions:
10 Utility Dive:
Power grids are facing more demand than ever. Policy needs to catch up.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 15th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Wall Street Journal:
The Home-Solar Boom Gets a ‘Gut Punch’
2 Utility Dive:
China, Russia ramping up cyber activities against energy, water and other critical sectors - FBI director
4 Solar Power World:
Bureau of Land Management releases final rules for renewable energy projects on public lands
5 PV-Magazine:
Solar cell prices fall for 3rd consecutive week
6 PV-Tech:
Dominion Energy Virginia launches RFP for solar and BESS projects
7 Bloomberg:
The Century-Old Transmission Line Is Getting a 21st Century Upgrade
8 Energy Storage News:
EU Battery Passport ‘will help reduce procurement and recycling costs’
9 Canary Media:
Chart - Which US states generate the most solar and wind energy?
Opinions:
10 Reuters:
Visiting Chinese trade official warns EU on greentech probe
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 12th, 2024
Happy Friday. Apologies for the lack of columns this week, unfortunately travel and daytime responsibilities have taken up all of the time. In the meantime, consider whether you have a paragraph to contribute. Email me your thoughts on a topic, in the format of SolarWakeup, and you could get published with your name and company in the byline. Have a great weekend!
News
1 PV-Magazine:
California Supreme Court to review rooftop solar net metering
2 Reuters:
Texas kicks on with solar, storage as developers eye profits
3 Financial Times:
Wall Street turns to ‘solar grazing’ sheep in its push to go green
4 Bloomberg:
Equinor’s Energy Trader Eyes New Zealand Amid Expansion in Asia
5 Axios:
National Grid's VC arm makes three Q1 investments
6 Renewable Energy World:
California’s virtual power plant potential is high, new report says
7 Energy Storage News:
IPP Lydian launches with 1.7GW US solar and BESS portfolio, backed by infrastructure fund Excelsior
8 Canary Media:
More demand, more gas - Inside the Southeast’s dirty power push
9 Utility Dive:
Regulators - Don’t panic and rush to gas amid cries we’re out of power
Opinions:
10 Heatmap News:
Is Renewable Energy Too Cheap to Be Profitable?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 11th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
How to Cut Industrial Emissions and Dodge the Valley of Death
2 Axios:
European court ruling on climate may affect pending cases, including in U.S.
3 Renewable Energy World:
Nexamp raises $520M for community solar portfolio
4 Utility Dive:
FERC approves PJM’s $5.1B cost-share plan for transmission to be built by Dominion, others
5 Solar Power World:
Maryland General Assembly passes bill to incentivize local solar development, streamline permitting
6 Canary Media:
Texas got more electricity from solar than coal last month
7 Politico:
Great unknown
8 PV-Magazine:
Triple-junction solar cells have technical potential to reach 44.3% efficiency
Opinions:
9 Reuters:
France on track to smash clean electricity export record in 2024
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 10th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
The U.S. Urgently Needs a Bigger Grid. Here’s a Fast Solution.
2 PV-Magazine:
Five energy equity policy wins in 2024
3 Utility Dive:
Pennsylvania issues guidelines on using energy storage to boost distribution grid reliability
4 Reuters:
US power system set to cut coal use to record lows
5 PV-Tech:
Industry lobby group ERT says EU requires €800 billion in grid investment by 2030
6 Energy Storage News:
Maryland is first US state to pass vehicle-to-grid legislation, alongside virtual power plant tariff rules
7 Canary Media:
Solar and wind power have surged wildly in the US over the last decade
Opinions:
8 Bloomberg:
Power Bills Will Keep Rising Even After the Fed Tames Inflation
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 9th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
Eclipse Will Darken Solar Panels and Cut Off Power Supplies to the Grid
2 Utility Dive:
What federal officials want to see in critical infrastructure cyber incident reports
3 Reuters:
Taking stock of clean electricity progress in key markets
4 PV-Tech:
EU rooftop solar requires clear roadmap to sustain growth – report
5 Solar Power World:
Monthly solar generation tops coal for first time in Texas
6 Energy Storage News:
BESS noise has ‘exploded as a concern’ recently
7 Canary Media:
Selling used EVs is tricky business. These companies are making it work
8 PV-Magazine:
Livestream shows how eclipse impacts solar power production across the U.S.
Opinions:
9 GreenBiz:
How Google closes clean energy deals in as little as 2 months
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 8th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
Brent boosted by geopolitics, jumps over $90
2 Utility Dive:
Don’t count on FERC as the ‘big sugar daddy’ for new transmission, generation - Commissioner Christie
3 Bloomberg:
New Solar Panel Trade Fight Looms, Industry Groups Warn
4 Reuters:
'Data driven' players help prolong record profits in commodity trading, says McKinsey
5 PV-Tech:
Solaredge acquires EV charging software startup Wevo Energy
6 Renewable Energy World:
Maryland passes bi-directional EV charging law
7 Energy Storage News:
Alberta awards funding to supercap, energy storage-as-transmission projects in Canadian province
8 PV-Magazine:
California elected officials call for repeal of “utility tax”
Opinions:
9 Solar Power World:
More solar companies apply to work in Foreign Trade Zones
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 5th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
Monday’s eclipse could cut US solar output by 40 GWh. Here’s how 5 grid operators are preparing.
2 Bloomberg:
Ukraine Says Russia Targeting Power After Deadly Kharkiv Attack
3 Axios:
Ukraine Says Russia Targeting Power After Deadly Kharkiv Attack
4 Reuters:
Renewables growth still lags climate targets, think tank says
5 PV-Tech:
Sunnova to expand virtual power plants to manage solar and storage grid connections in the US
6 Energy Storage News:
LG Energy Solution starts construction on Arizona ESS gigafactory
7 Heatmap News:
The Biden Administration Is Unleashing $20 Billion for Green Banks
Opinions:
8 PV-Magazine:
New solar antidumping tariffs are on the way, said Roth
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 4th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Yellen won't rule out more protections for US clean energy sector amid Chinese excess capacity
2 Axios:
America's solar and wind energy hotspots, mapped
3 Grist:
US experienced staggering growth in solar and wind power over the last decade
4 Politico:
Electric grid woes foretell risk of blackouts
5 Utility Dive:
Goldman renewables spinoff MN8 Energy secures $325M investment
6 Bloomberg:
India Coal Miner Plans $720 Million Sale of Renewables Unit
7 Solar Builder:
Federal funding for clean energy projects to strengthen U.S. farms
8 PV-Tech:
Malaysia launches 2GW large-scale solar tender
9 Energy Storage News:
California regulator approves export regime for PV, energy storage to avoid costly grid upgrades
10 Canary Media:
US Steel plant in Indiana to host a $150M carbon capture experiment
11 PV-Magazine:
Microsoft signs two large solar power purchase agreements
Opinions:
12 New York Times:
What Tesla’s Troubles Signal for the E.V. Revolution
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 3rd, 2024
What If. What if we permitted solar plus storage with the caveat that it only charged and discharged to the grid at the times that make the most sense as opposed to the worst-case scenario? How much of the interconnection queue could go through right away? Think of it like a flight plan that an airline would file to get in and out of an airport in orderly fashion. Then asset managers would get charge and discharge clearances with the words “operator, hold for a phone number for an asset deviation” whenever something happens outside of the plan.
News
1 Utility Dive:
DOE to invest $22M to improve planning, permitting of renewable energy, storage projects
2 Bloomberg:
Swing States Net Half of $114 Billion in Inflation Reduction Act Factory Investment
3 Axios:
Why Biden's climate law needs a permitting boost
4 Reuters:
US climate law has boosted solar, batteries; hydrogen, other initiatives lag
5 PV-Tech:
China calls for WTO to investigate IRA, alleging ‘discrimination against goods of Chinese origin’
6 Solar Power World:
First round of 48C Advanced Energy ITC dollars distributed by DOE
7 Renewable Energy World:
Interior approves two wind farms offshore Massachusetts
8 Canary Media:
California’s new rules allow solar and batteries to help out the grid
Opinions:
9 PV-magazine:
Portuguese utility says renewables covered 91% of demand in March
Have a great day!
Yann
