By the decade’s end, data centers in the United States are projected to account for as much as 35 GW of demand and about 9% of the country’s electricity consumption. Though these are merely forecasts, to power the 24/7, 365-day operations, utilities plan to finance dozens of GWs worth of new generation resources from clean energy to natural gas.

According to a Goldman Sachs study, natural gas could supply 60% of the expected data center demand. This significant increase in gas is reflected in many utility integrated resource plans, including Dominion Energy in Virginia, which wants to build more than 2.9 GW of new long-term gas capacity in the next 15 years as a short-term solution to load increase. Some utilities have also resorted to proposing new payment structures in addition to planned generation resources. AEP Ohio proposed a unique tariff structure that, if approved, would require new large-capacity data centers to pay for their own transmission needs, and Duke Energy is considering contract agreements for data centers that would require them to provide upfront financial contributions to construct new generation resources to help power them.

Besides natural gas, nuclear is also seen as an option to power data centers, with various developers and data companies already examining this alternative. For example, Oklo, a California-based advanced nuclear company, has committed itself to providing its clean energy solution in response to increasing demand for AI adoption and data centers. The company announced a non-binding partnership in late May with Wyoming Hyperscale, which wants to use Oklo’s microreactor design to power a state-of-the-art data center campus using 100 MW of nuclear energy. As for data-heavy companies, Amazon Web Services bought a 960 MW Cumulus data center campus in northeast Pennsylvania in early March that will be powered by the 2.5 GW Susquehanna nuclear power plant. Nevertheless, with the construction price for compatible small modular reactors (SMRs) rising and SMRs and microreactors still far from commercialization, this reality may not come to fruition anytime soon. Plus, if new large-scale reactors are considered, the estimated $7.6 billion cost to ratepayers of the now-operational Vogtle Units 3 and 4 – which increased residential rates by about $9 a month – might dampen the prospects of nuclear as an option as well.

Either way, new resource proposals will persist as artificial intelligence and other significant data sources enter the equation as a catalyst, partly because heavy-data users like Google are experimenting with technology like AI-infused internet browsing. For context, compared to a Google search that consumes approximately 0.3 Wh per request, a single AI-powered Google search request may even consume about 23x to 30x more than, according to worst-case scenarios and research estimates published in late 2023. It is important to note that these estimations are dependent on a number of factors staying the same, including the availability of AI-based chips and the 24/7 operations of data centers at max capacity. However, as data center efficiency grows and operation procedures change, these estimates will shift.

Moreover, while the national impact of data centers is expected to take up a significant chunk of the nation’s overall electricity consumption, the most significant ramifications will be seen on a state-to-local level, especially as growth continues to concentrate in specific pockets of the country. State by state, Virginia is far ahead in the number of current data centers. The northern part of the state is considered the nation’s most significant data center market, even the world, with 35% of the globe’s hyperscale data center share – a type of data center facility that typically supports the business activities of massive data-driven companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, just to name a few. The state legislature has responded by introducing bills this year to limit the provision of sales and use tax exemptions to only centers that demonstrate certain energy efficiency requirements, requiring localities to assess the grid impacts of proposed center sites, and disallowing utilities from recovering costs through their customers from electric grid infrastructure that mainly services the load coming from data centers.

Other state responses have been more mixed in their reaction, with Massachusetts – a state with about 50 data centers – introducing legislation courting new centers with a sales and use tax exemption, Michigan pushing forward with an extension of their existing data center tax exemption until mid-century, and New York – with almost 130 data centers – wanting to create an energy benchmarking program to account for high-energy infrastructure.

While the legislative and utility actions mentioned address the potential grid and energy impacts of data centers, they also touch on the future downstream cost issues associated with a utility’s response to the massive amount of incoming load growth and the capital recovery that customers, especially those that are low-income, will have to deal with.

Map of energy consumption from data centers in states with significant 2023 load. Data center consumption data depicts the highest-growth scenario states are projected to see in 2030 relative to total electricity consumption. Data Source: EPRI

Low-income load bearers

As utilities attack the projected data center load growth issue with additional investments and emerging technological applications, the customer is positioned to help subsidize the cost through rate increases as part of these utilities’ cost recovery processes. In the case of Duke Energy in North Carolina, the utility can recoup about 10% from new construction.

However, while wealthier households have the financial cushion to protect themselves from these rate increases, low-income customers do not, so the weight of frequent or significant bill increases bears greater financial struggle. The lack of financial security for low-income households is exemplified by one’s energy burden. In the United States, the national average energy burden, or the percentage of gross household income spent on energy bills, for low-income households is 6%, according to the Department of Energy’s Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) tool. This average is based on an estimated 51 million households that identify as low-income, which is about 42% of all households in the country.

Depending on a person’s locality and household income, the energy burden can even be higher than 30%, particularly if you live in the Southeast. Even the financial toll from trying to keep cool during the summer heat can spike a household’s energy burden, which the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) and the Center for Energy Poverty and Climate (CEPC) reported will increase by 7.9% this year. With the expected increase in utility bills in the coming years, such a high and localized energy burden rate may become more widespread and prevalent.

Low-income utility bill assistance

Since the reality of the energy burden in the country is not a new phenomenon, there are a number of financial assistance programs and approaches that the federal government, states, and investor-owned electric utilities have either implemented or are currently examining as options. For example, modeled after Maine’s “Project Fuel” program and created in response to the OPEC oil embargo in the early 1970s, the federal government established the Emergency Energy Conservation Program later in the decade to provide weatherization-focused assistance and eventually direct bill assistance for low-income households. It was one of the earliest programs of its kind. It would end up turning into what is now known as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), operating in every state, the District of Columbia, and most tribes and territories, to prevent energy-bill payment emergencies by providing payments to fuel suppliers/utilities and/or households.

Map depicting the national energy burden distribution for low-income households based on state median income; Source: U.S. Department of Energy Low-income Energy Affordability Data Tool

LIHEAP is commonly used to determine income eligibility for several other state and utility assistance programs. However, access to the federal program has been severely limited. Federal funding for fiscal year 2024 was cut by $2 billion compared to 2023, reducing the number of low-income households served by 1 million in addition to the program’s benefits. Because of the severe budget fluctuations that each state program faces due to federal decision-making, state and utility assistance programs are critical to help fill in the gap and then some.

Many additional state and utility programs exist and vary in terms of approach and scope and can take the form of an income-based discount, a percentage of income payment plan (PIPP), and an income-graduated fixed charge, among other types of payment assistance, like late payment fee and utility shut-off exemptions. Income-based discounts entail a utility or a state providing a continuous or one-time payment attributed to an income-eligible customer, either removing the mandatory fixed charge from a bill or providing a percentage reduction of the overall monthly bill according to a specific income range, among other offers.

Then, there are PIPPs, which refer to income-specific payment plans that allow certain customers to pay only a portion of their utility bill based on a percentage of their overall income. Existing PIPPs vary in terms of their price cap. Still, no program in the country inches above 10% of a household’s income, and some programs may also determine percentage payments based on the primary heat source, electric or otherwise. This payment plan is comparable to a student loan income-driven repayment plan. It can be a helpful tool to limit a low-income household’s monthly energy expenditures and allow households to dedicate a higher share of their disposable income to pay off other bills and to put food on the table, or perhaps allow a household to establish and/or grow their savings.

There is also the income-graduated fixed charge approach, which has only recently been implemented in California. This novel method of equitable ratemaking mirrors progressive taxation, in which the lower your income, the less you must pay, and is a significant departure for investor-owned utilities in the state impacted by this change, which did not impose fixed charges before this.

Part Two of this blog will look at the utility perspective on equitable ratemaking.

Justin Lindemann is a policy analyst at NC Clean Energy Technology Center.

This article originally published by NC Clean Energy Technology Center. Click here to learn about our DSIRE Insight subscriptions, custom research, and consulting offerings on various clean energy technologies for interested individuals or organizations. 

California has surpassed 150,000 public and shared private chargers installed statewide, including 137,648 Level 2 chargers and 14,708 fast chargers. In addition to the public network, the state estimates that more than 500,000 private home chargers are installed statewide.

Of the 48,000 chargers added to the data set since the end of last year, 24,202 new chargers were installed in the first half of 2024. The remaining 23,142 chargers were installed before 2024 and identified through new data sources, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC).

This announcement made by Governor Gavin Newsom comes weeks after California posted its second highest ever market share in zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales.

“When it comes to zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, California has no peers,” said Governor Newsom. “The state is all-in on clean transportation, dedicating unprecedented investments to supercharge our transition. We’re building a bigger, better charging network – faster.”

The CEC approved more than $1 billion in funding this year for EV charging and hydrogen refueling projects for cars, trucks, and buses, including $390 million for electric school bus charging. The state is also expected to receive more than $380 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for building out chargers.

As EV drivers are aware, reliability and uptime of chargers is extremely important, and the CEC reports that it will soon have state EV charging reliability regulations that will track the publicly funded chargers. It is also collaborating with the University of California, Davis, on a field testing program that will catalog the reliability of chargers.

California has a rule, set by Governor Newsom in 2020, requiring all new car sales to be zero-emission by 2035. As a result, more than one-quarter of all new cars sold in Q2 2024 are zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), with an average of 1,300 selling daily. CEC reports that 1,996,931 total ZEVs have been sold to date and the state now boasts that over one-third of all ZEVs sold in the U.S. are sold in California.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), which shows that the energy workforce overall added over 250,000 jobs in 2023; 56% of those were in clean energy.  The clean energy sector now accounts for more than half of new energy sector jobs and is growing twice as fast the rest of the energy sector and the U.S. economy overall.

The report finds that unions are playing a huge role in the clean energy sector, with unionization rates at 12.4%, compared to the average rate in the energy sector of 11%. Unionized job growth is driven by construction and utility industries. The energy construction sector, for example, was found to have added nearly 90,000 energy jobs, growing 4.5%, almost double the economy-wide construction employment growth of 2.3%. The utilities sector saw the fastest employment growth of 5.0% in 2023, adding nearly 30,000 jobs.

Geographically, clean energy jobs showed growth in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The fastest growth (7.7%) was seen in Idaho, followed by Texas (6.0%), and New Mexico (5.9%).

Jobs in the solar industry grew 5.3%, and the DOE expects this to double the share of electricity generation from clean energy sources by 2030, as the country moves closer to the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

As the move to onshore the domestic supply chain steps up, more manufacturing jobs are becoming available.  The report found that solar and battery and other clean energy manufacturing facilities have added another 28,000 jobs in 2023. Also included here are jobs in ports for offshore wind, and warehouses to store and transport clean energy products.

“Our policies are working. We are now starting to see the job impacts of investments made through the infrastructure and inflation reduction laws – first in construction and as America builds more of these factories, we’ll see hundreds of thousands more,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The data clearly show that clean energy means jobs – good jobs, union jobs, and jobs retained – in communities across the country as we race to dominate the global clean energy economy.”

This year’s report reflects a record number of survey responses from 42,000 business nationwide. To read the full 2024 USEER National report, go to U.S. Energy & Employment Jobs Report (USEER).

Clearway Energy Group closed $550 million in construction financing and started construction on its Rosamond South I solar and storage project in Kern County, California.

The project is expected to become operational in 2025, and with 140 MW solar and 472 MWh in energy storage capacity, will generate enough electricity to power over 63,000 homes every year.

“Kern County has long served as a critical provider of our country’s energy,” said Brooks Friedeman, vice president of Capital Markets at Clearway. “We are pleased to invest in and help continue Kern County’s energy leadership through our Rosamond South solar and storage project, which will provide reliable and low-cost power when needed most.”

Rosamond South 1, which is referred to as Golden Fields Solar IV LLC by its off takers, is under long-term contracts with several California load-serving entities, including 15-year agreements with MCE, The University of California, Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Utility, Eastside Power Authority, and City of Moreno Valley.

The project consists of JA Solar modules, Nextracker trackers and the BESS is provided by Wartsila.

To finance the $550 million construction loan for the solar and storage projects, Clearway assembled a bank consortium consisting of Societe Generale, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited Siemens Financial Services, Commerzbank, CoBank, DNB Bank ASA, and Nord/LB.

Clearway said more than 400 union labor jobs will be created during construction, which is being led by EPC contractor McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Labor partners included Laborers Union 220, Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, Operating Engineers Local 12, IBEW Local 428, Ironworkers Local 416 and Local 433.

The project will bring Clearway’s operating footprint in Kern County to over 1,500 MW of wind, solar, and energy storage, which together contribute over $20 million in property taxes to the county each year.

The Government of Canada intends to implement a 100% surtax on all Chinese-made EVs, effective October 1, 2024. This includes electric and certain hybrid passenger automobiles, trucks, buses, and delivery vans as well as fuel-cell vehicles. This follows similar announcements by the U.S. and EU.

This surtax will apply in addition to the Most-Favored Nation import tariff of 6.1% that currently applies to EVs produced in China and imported into Canada.

The Canadian Government also announced plans to impose a 25% duty on Chinese steel and aluminum to be implemented October 15.

According to the announcement by Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, the move aims to level the playing field for Canadian workers and allow Canada’s EV industry and steel and aluminum producers to compete in domestic, North American and global markets.

“We are transforming Canada’s automotive sector to be a global leader in building the vehicles of tomorrow, but actors like China have chosen to give themselves an unfair advantage in the global marketplace,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Since 2020, China has emerged as the largest manufacturer and exporter of EVs in the world, and its capacity continues to grow, as a result of policies such as extensive state subsidies and other non-market practices. In 2023, China’s annual EV exports totaled $47.2 billion, up from $0.2 billion in 2018.

According to a news release by Canada’s Department of Finance, the country’s auto manufacturing industry directly supports over 125,000 good-paying Canadian jobs, many of which are unionized. Similarly, Canada’s steel and aluminum sectors support over 130,000 jobs across the country.

“The auto supply chain in Canada supports nearly 550,000 direct and indirect jobs, and automotive is one of the country’s largest export industries,” said The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “That is why our government is committed to supporting a competitive and fair industry and to protecting Canadian jobs. This is about securing the fair, prosperous future Canadians deserve.”

In May, the U.S. said it would quadruple its tariffs on imports of Chinese EVs and certain hybrids to 100%. The EU followed with plans to impose duties of up to 36.3% on China-made EVs.

Community solar has recently taken off, surpassing 7 GW of installed capacity in the U.S. and analyst firm, Wood Mackenzie, expects community solar installed capacity to essentially double in five years.

Community solar typically involves a customer subscribing to a portion of an off-site solar project’s generating capacity, receiving credits on their utility bills for the electricity produced by the facility. The Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) noted that household names such as Microsoft, Google, Walmart, Starbucks, Rivian, Wendy’s, and T-Mobile are just a few of the Fortune 500 companies that have signed agreements with community solar developers.

Corporations are signing onto community solar for several reasons, the first of which is that they are looking to meet their clean energy and sustainability goals. Distributed energy projects, like community solar, are smaller projects that are located on the distribution side of the energy grid and are generally up and running much faster than utility-scale projects. Furthermore, many community solar projects have an environmental justice component, often bringing lower-cost energy to low-income residents and supporting this cause support corporations’ ESG goals.

While the companies can invest in many types of clean energy projects and receive renewable energy certificates (RECs) that help them meet sustainability goals, yet companies increasingly want to give back to their communities beyond just buying clean energy.

For example, Microsoft and Pivot Energy announced a five-year partnership to develop up to 500 MW of community-scale solar projects, which will produce more than 1 billion kWh of electricity annually, starting in 2025. The agreement is Pivot’s largest REC agreement to date. It also marks Microsoft’s first major distributed generation portfolio investment. Microsoft will purchase RECs generated by the projects for a 20-year term.

Microsoft, which has over 200 data centers worldwide, reports that it has a goal of covering 100% of those energy needs with renewable energy production by 2025, plans to be carbon negative by 2030 and says that by 2050 it will “remove our historical emissions since our founding in 1975.” In its 2022 Solar Means Business report, the Solar Energy Industries Association ranked Microsoft fifth on the list of corporate buyers of solar energy, joining Meta, Apple, Amazon and Walmart as leaders.

“An economy fueled by clean, distributed energy can do more than provide power at low cost; it drives growth and success in communities across the nation. This [collaboration] helps to build more inclusive, local economic growth across 100 communities while addressing the sustainability needs and opportunities within those communities,” said Adrian Anderson, GM, Renewables, Carbon Free Energy, CDR, Microsoft in its announcement with Pivot Energy.

Walmart also recently announced a partnership with Pivot Energy to invest in 19 solar projects in development across the U.S., including 15 community solar projects. The tax equity investment will support the construction, operation, and maintenance of solar projects in Illinois, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware, and California.

The investment from Walmart will facilitate 72 MW of community solar projects, 41 MW of which are located in Colorado and designed to serve low- and moderate-income homes. The community solar projects are expected to be completed in 2024 and 2025, serving an estimated 7,000 households and creating an estimated $6 million in annual savings for subscribers to the projects.

In March Walmart also extended and expanded upon its 2021 agreement with Nexamp, to create 26 community solar projects across six states that will produce enough electricity to support community solar subscriptions for  about 13,000 residential households in the U.S. annually and enable approximately $8 million in annual bill savings.

In June, Ampion announced that Wendy’s will source between 30% and 100% of its energy from solar without the need to install solar panels onsite. Wendy’s plans to increase the number of restaurants enrolled in Ampion’s community solar program as additional solar generation capacity comes online and more franchise restaurants enroll in the program.

Last year, Wendy’s set near-term science-based targets to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 47%, and Scope 3 emissions from franchisees by 47% per restaurant by 2030, from a 2019 baseline.Through Ampion, Wendy’s locations have enrolled approximately 27.5 million kWh in community solar or the equivalent electricity needed for 2,200 homes for one year. Each kilowatt hour will be accounted for, tracked, and assigned ownership to a specific restaurant location via RECs through the Ampion+ product.

“We are excited about the opportunity this partnership provides our Company and franchise restaurant operators by making it easier and more accessible to source clean energy while ultimately realizing cost savings,” said Steven Derwoed, vice president, global design & construction at Wendy’s. “We are advancing progress toward our emissions reduction goals through community solar participation and RECs. It’s a win-win for the Company and our franchisees.”

In July, Starbucks and Nexamp agreed to 40 MW of community solar projects in Illinois in which Starbucks will receive a portion of the renewable energy credits, with the remaining capacity of each project being allocated to over 1,100 residents and small businesses throughout the area. Rivian and Pivot also recently agreed to partner on community solar projects in Illinois, in which each MWac purchased also includes a $5,000 donation to locally sited community development organizations.

“Community solar gives companies, both large and small, the versatility to structure their participation in innovative ways to meet their business needs,” said Jeff Cramer, CEO of the CCSA. “While mom and pop stores are an important contingent of community solar subscribers, we’re now seeing some of the world’s largest corporations invest in community solar and other distributed generation projects — driving local clean energy and enabling much needed bill savings to communities most in need. The buy-in to community solar is now vast and varied, coming from the Department of Energy, Fortune 500 companies, and state legislatures across the country.”

Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia have policies in place that permit third-party, competitive community solar development, while multiple states are advancing legislation to enable new programs.

Nevados announced that its all-terrain solar solar trackers will qualify for domestic content with delivery by Q2 2025.

Nevados is known for its All Terrain Tracker, a single-axis tracker that is designed to fit undulating terrain by integrating the driveline and articulating capability into the same components. Last November the company announced a manufacturing partnership with Priefert Manufacturing, an East Texas family-owned business that has long supplied the ranch and rodeo markets.

Priefert has begun manufacturing torque tubes, structural fasteners, controllers, and rails from American-made steel at its 23-acre factory and expects to expand as a result.

“Nevados was already working on a domestic supply chain before the inflation Reduction Act. We had set the groundwork before the IRA was released,” said Scott Troy, vice president of operations & global supply chain at Nevados. “Our partnership with Priefert has allowed more reliable production, shorter shipping times, and a lower overall carbon footprint for our customers.”

Domestic content enables developers to qualify for the 10% additional tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act. According to guidance released in May by the U.S. Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, to receive the bonus, all manufacturing processes for steel and iron components and 40% of manufactured products must take place in the United States..

Nevados reports that its domestic content trackers will fully comply with both Treasury’s new elective safe harbor and pre-existing direct cost requirements, helping developers qualify for a 10% domestic content tax credit, which is in addition to the 30% base investment tax credit.

“We’ve found partners who believe in the same things that we do. We have helped our customers get the details they need to file,” said Yezin Taha, CEO and founder of Nevados. “As a result we’re proud to be able to launch an American-made solar tracker so early, and we have an industry-leading product.”

By the close of 2024, Nevados reports that it will have shipped enough trackers to supply more than a gigawatt of solar generating capacity in the U.S., of 1.3 GW total contracted with client partners such as Ampliform, Cupertino Electric Inc., BlueWave, Cogent Renewables, CS Energy, Cupertino Electric, Inc., D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI), Energix Renewables, Nexamp, Primoris Services Corporation, and SOLV Energy.

The company plans to begin taking orders for domestic content trackers in Q4 2024 and to ship them by Q2 2025. For developers not seeking domestic content incentives, Nevados will continue to offer non-domestic supplies.

Terrasmart announced the release of a new hail stow feature for its single-axis tracker,TerraTrak.

The risk of damage to solar plants from hail storms has increased with the frequency of extreme weather evens. Over the past five years, hail damage has caused more than 50% of total insured project losses, said hail risk expert VDE. Though infrequent, these events can produce record losses. In 2022, hail losses exceeded $300 million in Texas alone. Forty-year financial exposure models from engineering firm VDE Americas suggest that hail events could result in up to $13 million in damage at 0° tilt, compared to only $620,000 at 60°.

Terrasmart’s new hail stow capability mitigates that risk with its PeakYield, cloud-based tracker control and monitoring software platform. Terrasmart reports that the hail mitigation system automatically triggers optimum stow position to protect solar assets without requiring operator intervention.

Available for both 1P and 2P trackers, the hail stow solution adds to Terrasmart’s racking portfolio. The portfolio offers both ground screw and driven piles, designed to perform in the most extreme terrain and weather conditions.

“Project de-risking has, and continues to be, our most significant contribution to the solar industry,” says Terrasmart president Ed McKiernan. “Our new hail stow feature adds to our existing array of foundation and racking products that bring unique reliability to unreliable sites.”

Terrasmart outlines the following advantages of its hail stow feature:

• Automatic stow feature puts trackers into safe position without requiring operator intervention, reducing potential lapses from human factors
• High-tilt stow angle accounts for both wind and hail conditions, eliminating contradicting positions and ensuring a safe tracker position (+/- 50° for 1P and +/- 60° for 2P)
• Real-time, cloud-based weather forecast triggers activate based on industry-leading data from Accuweather
• Auto-stow feature activates 60 minutes before a weather event but timing can be customized to meet owner requirements
• Stow function does not require installing additional hardware or calibration over time

“Our motto at Terrasmart is to stow early and stow often,” says Ashton Vandermark, Terrasmart’s software solutions lead. “We are adamant about automatically triggering hail protection to avoid instances where manual intervention has not occurred during storms. We are excited about this latest addition to PeakYield’s cloud-based functionality and machine-learning intelligence to protect assets.”

Terrasmart, owned by Gibraltar Industries, has more than 25 GWs of solar deployed across 6,000 PV systems.

Terrasmart’s software team will be at RE+ in Anaheim September 10 to 12 in booth #D30011 to give live demos of PeakYield as well as discuss hail stow and other TerraTrak features.

While the PUC will ultimately rule on net metering, a group of interested parties—including the state’s utilities and the Granite State Hydropower Association—agreed on a settlement that calls for the rate to stay the same for two years.

The settlement also calls for the electric utilities to file a NEM time-of-use rate two years from the approval of what they’re calling NEM 2.1. In response to claims that NEM shifts costs to non-solar ratepayers, the settlement calls for the utilities to impose application fees for net metered projects to reduce the administrative costs borne by non-net-metering customers. Fees suggested range from $200 to $1,000 per project.

The state’s leading clean energy advocacy group, Clean Energy NH, has sent a rallying cry in support of the settlement. Executive director, Sam Evans-Brown told pv magazine USA that he’s hopeful that the commissioners won’t cut the current compensation rate, but he said “we have seen with this commission that they are hostile to certain types of utility programs. This was most evident in their order in the Energy Efficiency docket from 2020, which was overturned unanimously on a bipartisan basis by New Hampshire lawmakers.”

Much evidence has been entered into the record for Docket 22-060, yet Evans-Brown said in the past, the order in the previous docket was not based on any evidence that was entered into the record, so Clean Energy NH is afraid that history may repeat itself.

The history of net metering in New Hampshire goes back to 1998 when NEM, a policy that provides credit to rate payers on utility bills for the amount of solar energy sent to the grid, was first enacted in New Hampshire. At the time it supported both solar generation as well as small-scale hydropower and it provided net credits at the retail rate which was 17 cents per kWh.

In 2017 NH’s NEM was cut to around 14.7 cents per kWh for small (<100 kW) systems and 10 cents per kWh for large projects compared to between 13 and 25 cents per kWh in Maine, and about 16 cents per kWh in Vermont.

Source: Clean Energy NH

While the net metering rate has been low in NH, the cost of electricity is high. New Hampshire currently has the 8^th highest electricity rate in the country, averaging 23.1 cents per kWh.

Furthermore, while solar would ease this cost burden for many ratepayers, the state is not known as a solar energy powerhouse. The state currently gets 1.94% of its electricity from solar, compared to neighboring Massachusetts that gets 23.75% of its electricity from the sun. NH and is ranked 41^st in the nation according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. That rank is expected to drop to 45^th over the next five years.

If the NH PUC chooses to reduce or eliminate net metering in New Hampshire, solar in the state may be affected. pv magazine USA spoke with Dan Weeks, vice president at ReVision Energy, New Hampshire’s largest solar installer. Weeks said that net metering has been “the critical foundation for thousands of families, plus housing authorities, nonprofits, businesses, and towns to go solar and get at least a portion of the value that they provide to the grid back in net metering credits.”

Weeks noted that right now net metering in NH is good through 2040, which is only 15 years away. With 20 years being the “minimum accepted duration for investing in projects,” he said ReVision is hoping the PUC leaves net metering in tact and extends the duration.

“We think that’s a very modest task,” said Weeks. “And the fact that all of the regulated utilities, as well as the consumer advocates, plus industry and environmentalists are in alignment should make it an easy decision for the PUC commissioners. But we’re also reading the signals showing that they could go in a very drastic direction, and that concerns us very much.”

California’s current solar conundrum is an example of what could happen to New Hampshire’s solar market. The updated net metering rule that was implemented in April 2023, called NEM 3.0, cut compensation for exported rooftop solar generation by roughly 80%. Since then interconnection queues show an 80% drop in installation applications. The California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) reported that nearly 17,000 rooftop solar jobs, about 22% of the workforce, were lost this year as a result. Solar Insure, which backs many installation companies in the state, told pv magazine USA that its data shows 75% of solar installers are now in the “high risk” category following CPUC’s decision to implement NEM 3.0, with SunPower being the most notable bankruptcy among many.

Comments on the potential rate change can be emailed to ClerksOffice@puc.nh.gov. Clean Energy NH advises that comments be sent by August 30, 2024.

Swift Current Energy reported that it has closed on a tax equity investment from Google for its 800 MWdc Double Black Diamond Solar project in southern Illinois. The amount of funding by Google was not disclosed, but previous reporting by pv magazine USA stated that over $779 million in project financing was closed for this project, making it among the largest solar project financings in U.S. history.

Located 30 miles west of Springfield, Illinois, the Project is currently under construction and is expected to reach commercial operations by early 2025. Once operational, according to Swift Current Energy, Double Black Diamond Solar is expected to be the largest solar project east of the Mississippi River.

The tax equity financing makes use of energy communities and domestic content adders, provided in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Energy communities are those that are expected to face challenges in the transition away from fossil fuels, such as certain metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) and non-metropolitan statistical areas based on unemployment rates. The domestic content adder is a 10% tax credit bonus for solar, wind, and battery energy storage developers that install projects using U.S.-made components, adding to the 30% base investment tax credit.

“As we work to responsibly grow our infrastructure, we need to partner with companies like Swift Current who understand the nuances of the energy markets where we operate and can help unlock new clean energy at a rate that matches the pace and scale of demand growth on electric grids today,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of data center energy at Google.

The project uses First Solar modules, a majority of which are being manufactured in the US, as well as solar trackers from U.S.-based Nextracker. At peak construction, the project employed approximately 500 construction workers. Swift Current is the project developer and will be the long-term owner and operator, and McCarthy Building Companies is the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) partner.

Swift Current Energy said that Double Black Diamond Solar will contribute to communities in Sangamon and Morgan counties. The Project, capable of powering 100,000 homes annually, is expected to reduce regional carbon dioxide emissions by approximately one million tons per year.

“We are proud to be home to one of the largest clean energy projects in the nation,” said Andy Van Meter, Sangamon County board chairman. “The Double Black Diamond Solar project brings significant economic benefits to our community, contributing $100 million in tax revenue and supporting hundreds of jobs. This project is a win for both our community and the environment.”

Energy producer Constellation NewEnergy reportedly will purchase a portion of the energy and renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by Double Black Diamond Solar to serve the seven customers that have been announced. The City of Chicago will source renewable energy produced by the Project to power several energy-intensive facilities, including Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport. Additionally, Cook County Illinois, CVS Health, Loyola University of Chicago, PPG, State Farm, and TransUnion have agreements to purchase power from the Project via Constellation.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Societe Generale, Truist and ING provided construction financing for the Project. Vinson & Elkins LLP and Husch Blackwell LLP represented Swift Current in the transaction. Milbank LLP and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP represented Google.

Two years ago, the Biden Administration and Congress worked together to begin the process of reshoring solar manufacturing.

For the last 20 years, China has been working hard to secure a monopoly over this critical technology. While China has mostly succeeded, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created a set of incentives to get us back in the game. But, one critical piece may undermine our progress – we are letting China-headquartered companies locate final manufacturing in the United States, taking advantage of those same incentives while preserving their supply chain monopoly over the fundamental components.

Fortunately, with the introduction of the American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act earlier this month, senators are trying to close this work-around and put American manufacturing back on a level playing field.

Solar energy was invented in the United States, but right now nearly all of it, and about 99% of the fundamental component (the wafer), is being manufactured elsewhere, specifically, by Chinese-controlled companies. As our government works to invest in clean energy, we’re incentivizing companies to build back their operations in the U.S. so Americans can benefit from good-paying jobs, foster innovation from our world-leading R&D abilities, and establish energy independence in the critical technologies for our future.

Congress created a remarkably far-sighted system to reshore solar, batteries and wind technology. Policymakers not only created supply-side incentives in the advanced manufacturing production incentive that encourage manufacturers to build big factories quickly, but they paired them with demand-side incentives to give developers who use the products a bonus if they buy the products of those factories as they build solar and wind farms.

Unfortunately, the guidance for that bonus issued by the Treasury Department so far has missed the mark and has now become one of the biggest obstacles to jumpstarting the onshoring of American solar manufacturing. As it stands, Chinese companies can continue to leverage their monopoly power over the fundamental components of solar, produced with weak environmental and labor protections as well as massive direct subsidies, and sell to projects claiming the “domestic content bonus.” The clock is ticking to get this right as billions of investment dollars and thousands of jobs in solar manufacturing hang in the balance. In a very real sense, the future of solar energy depends on it.

China has dominated the solar manufacturing sector for a decade, and they’ve done it using a familiar playbook to those of us who’ve watched what the OPEC cartel has done to oil markets. OPEC’s ability to control price was legendary and it wasn’t limited to keeping prices high. Much more importantly, they could crash prices when they wanted to in order to run out competition. From “heavy oil” in Venezuela, to oil sands in Canada, to fracking in the US, OPEC has demonstrated again and again that you can either join them like Venezuela or be run over, with the attendant economic crash that people in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas have seen many times over.

Now, China is doing the same thing in solar – as we are currently seeing the lowest prices in history, far below production cost – to stifle our manufacturing renaissance before it gets a chance to take off. Stymying competition and, thus, innovation is chapter one of the cartel playbook and China has perfected their execution.

Look no further than our friends across the pond: nearly all of the European solar manufacturers have closed operations due to insufficient protections from below market Chinese products. Many are even looking to the United States, but that will quickly change if our policies don’t keep pace.

To build a robust solar supply chain in the United States, our government must prove that we have the backs of our manufacturers. Companies will not invest here if they do not think they will be protected. How are U.S. manufacturers supposed to compete when China is setting prices far below the cost of production?

The fact is, international competition is not for the faint of heart. Our companies can hold their own, but only if the government has their backs and helps build the foundation for successful competition. This means leveraging our strengths; our unmatched innovation apparatus, strong investor base, and our brutally efficient market that forces constant improvement. But this only works if we don’t ignore the fact that China simply doesn’t have a free market economy.

Unlike the U.S., where most of our economy is us selling products and services to each other, their entire economic system requires exports, because their consumer class doesn’t have the ability to support their economy. This means, the U.S. government must work to produce a level playing field for U.S. manufacturers through the three legged stool of production support, demand incentives, and tariffs and other trade remedies. For the first time in several generations, we’re on the path to building the supports our economy needs to thrive in these all-important industries – as long as we don’t lose our will to succeed,

No one action can unwind the years of investment that Chinese-headquartered solar firms have made to control the solar industry, but we must act now with every tool at our disposal. By updating the domestic content bonus, enforcing smart trade policy, and standing up to the Chinese-controlled monopoly trying to protect their dominance by doing the minimum possible in the U.S. we can reshore the domestic solar supply chain, ensure the United States is clean energy independent, and secure a future for solar manufacturing in America that will benefit workers, businesses and the environment.

 Mike Carr is the executive director of the SEMA Coalition. Prior to joining SEMA, Carr served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the senior advisor to the director of energy policy and systems analysis at the U.S. Department of Energy from 2012 to 2015.  Prior to serving the President at DOE, Mike served as Senior Counsel to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 2004 to June 2012. He holds a law degree, with a Certificate of Specialization in Environmental and Natural Resources Law, from Lewis and Clark College and a Bachelor’s from the University of Colorado – Boulder.

From pv magazine Global

In the Chinese market, the majority of module sellers OPIS surveyed said the TOPCon FOB China market was quiet and prices were stable although there were some buyers out in the market talking down prices. Market talks of TOPCon prices below $0.09/W FOB China were circulating in the market, with one buyer pointing out that there were offers of Grade A TOPCon cargoes with a power output of 580-585 W of cargo sizes above 10 MW being offered at $0.081-0.086/W. However, sellers OPIS surveyed said there were no transactions at this level.

Most market discussions continued to be heard at $0.095-0.10/W FOB China. The Chinese Module Marker (CMM), the OPIS benchmark assessment for TOPCon modules from China was assessed at $0.096/W unchanged from the previous week while Mono PERC module prices were assessed stable week-to-week at $0.090/W.

Bearish sentiment prevailed in the Chinese domestic market as recent large-scale public tenders such as China Coal Group’s 4 GW procurement tender had attracted low offers of CNY0.7134 ($0.100)/W for N-type modules and CNY 0.7104/W for P-type modules with many market participants expecting module prices to fall to CNY0.70/W levels in the coming weeks, an industry source said. Mono PERC module prices were assessed at CNY0.777/W, stable from the previous week while TOPCon module prices were assessed unchanged at CNY0.801/W week-to-week.

In the European market, OPIS assessed the TOPCon modules delivered into Europe lower on the week at €0.109 ($0.12)/W, with indications ranging from €0.100/W to €0.120/W While delivered prices have eased in recent weeks due to a seasonal lull, a market source noted that August freight rates are still hovering at high levels compared to the previous few months.

According to OPIS records, August freight rates from China to Rotterdam are around $7000 to $8000 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU), approximately $0.0189/W to $0.0192/W, which is 30% higher compared to June. According to a European trade source, TOPCon modules up to Q2 2025 delivery were heard to be around €0.100/W to €0.110/W depending on the project size.

In the U.S. market, spot prices for U.S. delivered duty-paid (DDP) TOPCon modules fell this week to $0.291/W, with indications from $0.260/W to $0.320/W, while prices for Q1 2025 delivery averaged $0.311/W, ranging between $0.280/W and $0.350/W. OPIS assessed the U.S. mono PERC Q4 delivery module prices at $0.249/W, with indications between $0.200/W to $0.295/W, while 2025 delivery cargoes were around $0.27-0.34/W.

A major U.S. buyer said that prices of TOPCon modules from India and Southeast Asia scheduled for shipment this year have dropped recently. Another North American source noted growing concern among developers as autumn nears, particularly regarding the heightened tariff risk from Southeast Asia. Trade officials significantly broadened the scope of AD/CVD investigations this spring, increasing the likelihood of finding anti-market behavior in the four targeted countries. The White House has yet to clarify whether there will be tech exemptions or grace periods.

Tracker monitoring software technology is an often overlooked but crucial element of solar development. New project discussions tend to focus on hardware components such as foundations and mechanical properties, but software capabilities are equally important. Inadequate technology can leave a site vulnerable to risks like weather damage and revenue loss.

Since tracker software is the underlying intelligence that optimizes all facets of a tracker’s performance and maximizes the likelihood of a site reaching its energy goals, it’s the “brains” behind the operation. Integrating the right monitoring software in the beginning can provide important benefits over the entire lifecycle of a project.

The ABCs of tracker technology

A tracker technology system consists of on-site hardware connected to compatible software. If tracker technology is lacking in the basics (i.e., the ABCs,)  it can lead to lower site production and make O&M responsibilities more difficult.

On-site, a coordinated and well-engineered system will include:

• A network controller: The network controller, also called the tracker control unit, is a central hub that connects to row boxes and weather stations for the purpose of collecting data on site and sending that data to the cloud. Network controllers should connect to Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems (SCADA).
• Row boxes: Row boxes securely communicate tracking angle status and other variables continuously to the on-site network controller. When assessing a system, ask for what type of data output is received from the row boxes to determine how much a system communicates, and how easy it will be to remotely monitor and diagnose.
• Weather stations: Weather stations equipped with an anemometer, an ambient temperature sensor, and a snow sensor can gather details about on-site weather conditions such as wind speed and snowfall in real time. The stations feed the data to the network controller which in turn sends it to the cloud. A technology partner should be able to recommend a customized number of weather stations based on a site’s size and unique topography.

From there, tracker monitoring software should integrate seamlessly with the tracker hardware, and include an intuitive, easy-to-use dashboard.

The three Ps of tracker software technology

Tracker software benefits fall into three categories – protect, predict, and produce.

1- Protect from weather damage

Tracking technology can enhance a site owner’s ability to prevent weather damage and anticipate changes in weather conditions.

• Prevention: Wind damage is one of the most prevalent challenges that trackers face, and hail is becoming an increasingly significant concern in the solar community. Weather risks are compounded in areas prone to snow and flooding. It is essential that a tracker monitoring system includes the appropriate onsite sensors to safeguard solar assets. Sensors measure ambient temperature, wind activity, and depth of snow or flooding. This information enables timely responses to minimize production loss or damage.
• Forecasting: Forecasting is another critical feature of tracker monitoring. While weather patterns can change rapidly and hail is notoriously hard to predict, features like API integration with AccuWeather help site managers anticipate and proactively respond to changes, such as safely stowing trackers before a storm hits.Storing this weather data in the cloud provides ongoing, valuable insights for future planning.

2- Predict and ease O&M

Tracker monitoring software allows O&M to stay one step ahead of any situation and respond accordingly. Imagine being able to instantly detect when a row is not tracking on its normal path versus days or weeks of production losses due to maintenance issues. Look for predictive features such as:

• Real-time alerts via email or text that notify you of issues or changes
• An in-depth and user friendly dashboard that allows you to see inside the site, view real-time data, and access historical data
• Automatic stow position adjustment when sensors recognize certain thresholds, circumventing potential damage from wind, hail, or snow
• Machine learning capabilities that identify issues such as rows not tracking properly so they can be fixed before they impact performance
• Remote access that allows troubleshooting without going on site
• Zone controls that make it easy to perform routine maintenance like mowing while the rest of the site continues tracking

3- Produce more energy

Tracker software can maximize energy production by improving power output and minimizing downtime and/or damage. A sophisticated system will allow adjustments based on time of day, topography, and angle:

• Backtracking algorithms that minimize row-to-row shading by adjusting to the time of day (.i.e., morning or evening when the sun is low in the sky) prevent shadows from reducing output.
• With perfectly flat sites and level terrain being a thing of the past, tracker software needs to be able to adapt to topography nuances that cause trackers to be higher or lower than its neighbors. Systems that recognize the impact of shading based on topography, and can respond with solutions, add significant value and production gains.

Five questions to ask 

Before making a final commitment, ask these five questions to get the clearest picture of a technology partner’s capabilities regarding its tracker monitoring software:

1. Who owns the technology for the trackers? Is it proprietary, or outsourced? Do you create both the software and hardware, or just one or the other?
2. Can the software be updated to include new features and improved functionality?
3. How accessible is the data? Is it stored in the cloud and easily available to the team?
4. Are there automatic features and integrated APIs that protect against weather damage – such as auto-stow based on sensor data? (Note that manual stow is a big red flag).
5. Does the software offer remote access for easy trouble-shooting, and an easy-to-use interface?

As sites age, the infrastructure ages as well, but software can be regularly updated, enhancing stakeholders’ abilities to protect against weather damage and optimize power production. With tracker monitoring software, owners and site managers are empowered to make decisions based on real-time data and historical details, and can rely on automatic adjustments designed to safeguard solar assets. Choosing tracker monitoring software technology wisely can yield immediate benefits, as well as benefits for years to come.

Ashton Vandemark is the founder and CEO of Sunfig, a part of Terrasmart since January of 2021, and maker of the Solar Instant Feasibility Tool (SIFT) design, performance and financial modeling platform.

A recent headline in this publication stated that “community solar increases energy equity.” It is true that incentives and legislation ensure that community solar projects are built to include low- to middle-income (LMI) communities in a meaningful way.  And undoubtedly, the “middle income” part of “LMI” are benefitting from access to clean, low-cost solar power.

I do believe that the growth statistic referenced in the article – from two to 10% participation by LMI subscribers – is the result of a carrot and stick approach that has made it either a requirement or a bonus for community solar project developers to actively include traditionally underserved communities.

While this growth metric is significant, it may not be indicative of the reality for low–income households. When looking at the data, the question remains – how many of these LMI subscribers are actually middle income, rather than low income – the truly underserved?

Today, a host of frictions exist that make it really challenging to include low income households in a meaningful way. In fact, because of these frictions, it was surprising to read another statistic in the article; that the cost of acquiring LMI customers for community solar projects had declined by 30% between 2022 and 2023.

Our experience shows that engaging LMI households often requires significantly more handholding, which can translate to higher costs. This need for a higher touch isn’t surprising as these communities have historically been taken advantage of, so they approach a new service with great skepticism. Then, they often encounter a host of requirements that solidify this point of view, and make enrolling and keeping them as subscribers difficult.

Billing challenges

In many states, low-income households who enroll in community solar programs receive two bills: one from their community solar provider to pay for the community solar credits applied to their utility account; and one from their utility reflecting any remaining usage/bill spend not offset by the community solar credits. We’ve already introduced complexity – and from their perspective, the possibility of paying more – simply by introducing a second bill.

However, the issues do not stop there. Community solar credits applied to a bill in June might not be invoiced until August when the utility actually shares required data. Subscribers, understandably, can be confused since credits don’t reconcile with their most recent bill.

Some states, like New York, have instituted net crediting, a streamlined method for implementing community solar credits where savings are applied directly to the subscribers’ bill.  In this scenario, a subscriber who receives a $100 community solar credit would realize the $20 (or 20%) savings on their primary utility bill. The $20 would simply be applied to the subscriber’s bill as savings and the $80 would be paid by the utility to the project owner. From the subscriber’s perspective, nothing changes and the savings are easy to see.

Unfortunately, net crediting is still the exception, not the norm. In New York, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) have worked with community solar project managers like PowerMarket to advocate for approaches, like net crediting, that make the process easier for the LMI households who would most benefit from credits and discounts.  States including Maryland, New Jersey, and Illinois are in the process of implementing net crediting. I am hopeful that more states follow suit.

Misguided consumer protections

In many cases, a number of states have had to react to bad actors in the retail supply and rooftop solar industries. These states have developed community solar programs with well-intended but inherently flawed consumer protection rules that have also created unnecessary roadblocks for subscribers. In llinois, for example, regulations require interested consumers to navigate a disjointed, digital-only enrollment process. For seniors who may not have an email address, or LMI households without reliable access to internet service, this creates friction from the start.

Illinois requires interested subscribers to first execute a unique, online-only Disclosure Form (DF). This DF creation process presents material barriers to households without computer access or technical savvy. In fact, if you are a subscriber who doesn’t have an email address, like many seniors, you need to sign an additional form representing as much.

In other states, including Massachusetts and Maine, the utilities, citing consumer protection and privacy, do not share critical subscriber usage and bill spend data with community solar managers, resulting in allocations that do not accurately match subscriber’s usage. In some cases, this translates into subscribers paying for credits that then expire. Or in other cases, consumers miss out on additional savings they could be enjoying if only their allocation could be increased. Without the data, however, community solar managers are simply relying on historical usage, and have no ability to adjust allocations as usage naturally fluctuates.

Reducing friction and increasing profitability

Community solar availability is absolutely increasing – not just for LMI households but for many other residential and corporate users. Tax incentives, regulatory requirements, and adders are certainly increasing access and usage.

However, real momentum will come when two things are addressed: reducing challenges for low income subscribers; and increasing profitability for developers.

The industry should unite in a call to action to regulators and legislators: reduce frictions that are hampering growth in equitable community solar access. A host of positive developments in different markets can serve as lessons-learned for the industry as a whole. There are states where regulators have instituted net crediting, enhanced data sharing between utilities and subscriber management organizations, and carved multiple avenues for humanely proving eligibility for LMI discounts. In these states, underserved households and individuals are finding it easier and more attractive to access the benefits of community solar.

Real change ultimately will be driven by looking at and learning from how community solar programs are administered in a creative and effective way. As these smart approaches to our industry proliferate nationally, we should begin to see real, explosive growth around community solar. Let’s work together to ensure that developers and underserved communities both benefit.

Jason Kaplan is president and general counsel at PowerMarket, a provider of acquisition, management, billing and support services to the solar energy industry. In his role, Kaplan works with a broad range of developers, municipalities, businesses and other stakeholders to make clean energy accessible to all.

NorSun, a solar wafer manufacturer signed a multi-year contract with Heliene, a solar module maker. The exact amount of wafers was not specified, but Heliene reported that the supply will meet its annual requirement of silicon wafers starting in 2026.

Heliene has been manufacturing solar modules in Ontario, Canada since 2010 and in Mountain Iron, Minnesota since 2018. Last year the company announced an investment of an additional $10 million to expand its manufacturing and assembly line at its Minnesota facility.

Minnesota Line One was first installed in 2018 at 150 MW and has now doubled in capacity to 300 MW with the recent investment. Line One is situated contiguously to a second 500MW line installed in 2022. The company reports that the upgrades will improve the efficiency of the line.

The NorSun wafers will be supplied from the company’s planned 5 GW wafer factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In June NorSun announced plans to invest $620 million the new silicon ingot and solar wafer manufacturing facility on a 60-acre greenfield site in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Production at the new NorSun plant is expected to begin in 2026, bringing much-needed U.S.-made silicon ingots and wafers to the supply chain, as well as 320 jobs to the Tulsa area. NorSun reports that production can be expanded up to 10 GW.

Heliene, will take delivery of the wafer at its cell factory to be built in the Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota metro area.

“NorSun and Heliene are both dedicated to developing low carbon, domestically produced solutions based on sustainable value chains free of forced labor,” said Erik Løkke-Øwre, CEO of NorSun. “In the months leading up to final decisions at the end of 2024 it is now important that further policy measures are taken to regulate the US market to make sure the IRA program can take full effect”

Norsun, founded in Norway in 2007, specializes in the production of monocrystalline ingots and wafers for ultra-high efficiency solar cells. Its U.S. expansion was facilitated by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust.

In the late 1970s Jimmy Carter, a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, became the first American president to champion solar energy as a key to energy independence. His bold initiatives set the stage for the future of renewable energy in the United States.

At the age of 92, President Carter’s dedication to solar energy came full circle when his family decided to convert 10 acres of their peanut farm into a 1.3 MW solar farm. Florida-based J&B Solar was chosen to build this impressive array.

The story of this collaboration began on February 8th, 2017, when President Carter and his family attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new solar project. Developed under a lease agreement with Atlanta-based SolAmerica, the project covered 10 acres and promised to produce over 55 million kWh of energy over the next 25 years. J&B Solar installed 200 concrete foundations, assembling aluminum racking, and positioning 3,852 polycrystalline solar panels. This setup was designed to generate more than half of the power needs for the residents of Plains, a small town with a population of 683.

Reflecting on this milestone, Carter, the soft-spoken 39th president, expressed his hope: “I hope that we’ll see a realization that one of the best ways to provide new jobs — good-paying and productive and innovative jobs — is through the search for renewable sources of energy.”

Carter’s presidency laid the groundwork for the solar industry. A former nuclear submarine officer with a background in science, he understood the potential of advanced technology. In 1977, amidst an energy crisis, he established the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) in Golden, Colorado, and set an ambitious goal to install solar energy in over two and a half million homes by 1985. He even installed solar panels on the White House, a symbolic act of “walking the talk.”

Today, the photovoltaic industry thrives on a global scale, driven by more than just government incentives. The collaboration on the Carter family farm is a testament to the enduring impact of these trailblazers, showing how far we’ve come and how much potential lies ahead.

Josh Bessette is president and CEO of J&B Solar.

It has been two years since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), and like any complicated and multi-faceted policy, the IRA is a mixed bag of successes and failures. Let’s start with the successes.

The IRA created a tax credit transfer market, and it is thriving.  Our firm has closed almost $5 billion in tax credits transfers across over 40 deals. For our deals, the high price is 97 cents on the dollar and the low is 83 cents on the dollar. Much of the difference in price depends on the quality of the indemnity that backstops the buyer’s purchase of the tax credits. The high end of the range has investment grade indemnitors/guarantors or a tax credit insurance policy, while the low end of the range has an unrated indemnitor that is not backstopped by tax credit insurance.

The Treasury issued final regulations about tax credit transfers, but “the credit” really goes to Senator Joe Manchin (I-WVa) who decided that such things were better handled by the private sector than the IRS. In contrast, the activity around “direct pay” (i.e., a refund from the IRS) for tax-exempt project owners, clean energy component manufacturers, carbon capture and hydrogen projects is anemic. The eligible participants are, generally, avoiding direct pay due to concerns about the time it will take the IRS to process the direct pay requests and potential haircuts.

Tax credit transfers have been a success despite Treasury’s regulations consistently favoring tax policy over stimulating clean energy. Examples of that include the approach to the passive activity loss rules that limit the ability of individuals to buy tax credits that is even stricter than the passive activity loss regulations themselves: the transfer regulations preclude an election to “group” hours for an individual to reach the active threshold, while the passive activity loss regulations actually allow such an election for activities the combination thereof is an “appropriate economic unit.”

Further, Treasury’s regulations prohibit combining a lease pass-through (also known as an inverted lease) investment tax credit election with transferability (or direct pay), even though that election is provided for in the tax code.

The other gaps in the Treasury regulations are (i) that we don’t know whether the IRS is going to audit tax credit buyers or sellers (sellers make more sense, but buyers have the money) and (ii) we don’t know whether transaction costs for tax credit transfers are deductible.

Further, Treasury’s online registration portal is backed up, and Treasury is telling registrants that it can’t process registrations for 2024 until October because it has 2023 registrations it needs to process before the extension the buyers and sellers of tax credits that accrued in 2023 have to file their 2023 tax returns are up in September for partnerships and October for corporations.  The resourceful tax credit transfer industry is finding ways to work around these issues.

A related goal of the IRA was to democratize tax equity. The IRA has made progress in that direction but has not fully succeeded.  Thinly capitalized solar developers may be able to access the tax credit transfer market after paying a tax credit insurer, a tax credit transfer broker, a law firm and for investment credit deals, an appraiser.  While well-capitalized solar developers can probably pull it off with a law firm and for investment credit deals an appraiser.  Thus, the well-capitalized developers likely raise five cents or more on the dollar versus their thinly capitalized competitors.  It may sound small, but over time it compounds and leaves the well-capitalized miles ahead.

The 10% tax credit adder for projects built in “energy communities” appears to have been mostly successful. For the most part, developers are able to determine whether their projects qualify for that adder and are able to monetize the adder in the tax credit transfer market. This is due to Treasury publishing guidance that is relatively clear and based on objective standards. Further, we are seeing projects developed on closed coal sites and in communities with a history of significant fossil fuel employment.

At the moment, the 10% domestic content tax credit adder is a split decision.  The domestic content adder appears to have spurred the construction of a flurry of factories making solar modules and batteries, but most of those factories are not online yet.

Treasury’s original guidance on the domestic content adder was unworkable. To address that safe harbors were promulgated for solar, onshore wind and batteries. The safe harbors for solar and onshore wind seems to be viable. There is some cautious optimism about the safe harbor for storage. Technologies like geothermal heat pumps, fuel cells, renewable natural gas and offshore wind do not currently have a safe harbor and find themselves unsure about how to determine eligibility for the domestic content tax credit adder.

IRA failures

Grab a stiff drink and let’s turn to the IRA’s failures.  First, based on anecdotal evidence, the prevailing wage and apprentice rules are not creating much value for the nation.  Most folks building solar projects are already being paid wages not much different than the Department of Labor’s prevailing wage due to a tight market for skilled labor.  Therefore, the prevailing wage rules are burdening the solar industry with concerns about a foot fault in their record-keeping resulting in large penalties or worse yet a reduction in the tax credits a project is eligible for by 80%, while not stimulating higher wages for skilled tradesman needed to build solar and other clean energy projects.  It has created a cottage industry for consulting and accounting firms to verify the appropriate wages are being paid, but the nation was already facing a shortage of accountants.  Let’s not even discuss the shortage of tax lawyers.

In terms of apprentices, it appears most projects are qualifying for an exemption from the apprentice requirements because apprentices are not available. Therefore, the well-intentioned rules do not appear to be spurring America’s young people to forego video games for learning a trade. Thus, the apprentice rules create a concern for project developers and their contractors about a costly tax credit foot fault while not spurring a renaissance in the trades.  If solar and the other clean energy technologies are needed to save the planet from climate change, should we be burdening projects deploying these technologies with cumbersome requirements that are not resulting in more skilled tradesmen?

Finally, there are the proposed investment tax credit regulations.  Those regulations fail to clearly answer some basic questions the industry has been asking for years like how much of a solar parking canopy qualifies for the investment credit.  Further, Treasury has gone out on a limb requiring all equipment integral to a project to have a common owner and only allowing tax credits for repairs and upgrades if less than 20% of the improved project has its origins in the original equipment.

However, the investment credit regulations appear to have what is something of an unexpected gift. The Department of Energy (DOE) seems to have prevailed upon the Treasury to broadly interpret the rule about the investment credit for interconnection costs.  The apparent motivation for this is to spur improvements to the nation’s anachronistic grid.

The statutory allowance for the investment credit on interconnection costs has a 5 MW capacity threshold. However, the proposed regulations appear to say that threshold is applied at the inverter level for solar and the turbine level for wind. For instance, it appears that a solar project that most industry participants would say has 200 MWs of capacity (i.e., it exceeds the 5 MW threshold) would qualify, so long as no inverter is serving 5 MW or more (e.g., there are 50 inverters each serving 4 MW).  This interpretation appears to have been confirmed by the proposed section 48E regulations (i.e., the tech neutral investment credit).  However, many law firms’ tax opinion committees are by nature conservative and are waiting to bless “will” level opinions under the traditional section 48 until Treasury confirms the favorable interpretation in the final section 48 regulations.

The implementation of the IRA has resulted in a range of policies outcomes. However, as is usually the case, the nimble and creative have faired well, while concerns about whether the nation is doing enough to address existential threat of climate change remain unabated.

David Burton is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright. He advises clients on a wide range of U.S. tax matters, with an emphasis on project finance and energy transactions. He has extensive experience structuring tax-efficient transactions for wind and other renewables with particular expertise with respect to flip partnerships and sale-leasebacks. Earlier in his career, David was the managing director and senior tax counsel at GE Energy Financial Services (GE EFS) where he oversaw all of the tax aspects for more than US$21 billion in global energy projects. 

EagleView, a provider of aerial imagery and analytics, and Aurora Solar, a platform for solar sales and design, announced the launch of EagleView Powered models through the Aurora Solar Platform.

This new modeling capability is the result of the partnership between the two companies when, in March of this year, it was announced that Aurora would make use of EagleView’s high-resolution imagery taken from its aircraft fleet.

Aurora Solar, established in 2013, offers a cloud-based platform that uses lidar-based vision and machine learning algorithms to streamline the process of selling solar.

By adding EagleView’s 3D home modelling technology into Aurora’s platform, Aurora reports it can provide roof models that predict final details of the project installation and solar electricity production output for homeowners.

“We understand that improvements in cost and trust are essential to the growth and healthy functioning of the solar industry,” shared Piers Dormeyer, CEO of EagleView. “We know we can help solve this challenge because we’re in our third decade doing the exact same thing in roofing and insurance.” 

EagleView can leverage oblique and orthogonal imagery. The company said it has used its patented technologies to develop over three billion images. It provides “truth in accurate property measurement and analytics solutions” not only in the solar industry with Aurora but also in roofing, insurance and other industries.

EagleView reports that its geospatial data and imagery library encompasses 94% of the U.S. population and that its technology portfolio comprises more than 300 patents.

U.S. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation to holds tariff on crystalline silicon PV cells that at 14.25% while allowing up to 12.5 GW to be imported, up from 5 GW. These include cells whether or not partially or fully assembled into other products, and is effective as of August 1, 2024.

The solar tariffs date back to 2018 when signed into law by former President Donald Trump. The purpose of section 201 of the 1974 trade act was to limit imports while giving the U.S. time to ramp up a domestic solar supply chain. It wasn’t until four years later after the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 that a domestic solar supply chain began its upward trajectory.

In April the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee coalition, made up of a group of manufacturers led by Qcells, signed a petition that alleged that four Southeast Asian nations are exporting dumped goods from China, making it difficult for domestic manufacturers to compete on cost. The companies said the current “manufacturing renaissance” in the United States is under threat from heavily subsidized Chinese cells and modules that are alleged to be in infraction with antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) law.

The IRA’s tax credits and incentives have encouraged clean energy manufacturing in the United States with many companies announcing solar module manufacturing facilities. Earlier stages in the supply chain, however, like raw polysilicon, ingots, wafers, and solar cell manufacturing  have lagged, creating gaps in the domestic supply chain. The new proclamation is intended to “further facilitate positive adjustment to competition from imports of certain crystalline silicon PV cells,” while U.S.-made solar cell capacity ramps up.

CleanCapital has acquired an operating solar portfolio made up of two brownfield assets in New York. The projects, Steel Sun II and Homeridae, total 13 MW and supply clean energy to a local university, healthcare provider and a municipality in upstate New York.

The two projects were developed in 2019 by BQ Energy Development (BQ), a specialist in brownfield and landfill renewable energy development acquired by CleanCapital in 2022.

CleanCapital’s in-house development team, led by former BQ CEO Paul Curran, now oversees a project pipeline of nearly 2 GW of solar and more than 8 GWh of energy storage.

“The work we did at BQ Energy, including developing and operating these two exceptional projects, is a source of great pride for me,” said Paul Curran, chief development officer at CleanCapital and former BQ CEO. “Fully integrating the former BQ team into CleanCapital has produced a development team with the expertise, track record, and financial runway to develop, build, and operate hundreds of megawatts in the next few years. Our focus now is to execute on the more than 100 projects in our pipeline and deliver more clean megawatts to our customers as expeditiously as we can.”

The Steel Sun II project is located on the former Bethlehem Steel site on Buffalo’s waterfront and is part of a larger revitalization that includes an array of solar and wind projects. The energy generated by this project is contracted to local mainstays Kaleida Health and Canisius University, the latter of which is meeting its sustainability goals with this project.

“Canisius University benefits from this solar project by seeing lower energy costs, helps us meet the goals set out in our sustainability plan, as well as enhance our commitment to Laudato Si,” stated Joseph Snodgress, director of facilities management at Canisius University.

The Homeridae project is one of two solar arrays in Olean sited on a former oil refinery and tank farm, respectively. The City of Olean is the energy offtake for these projects, which reportedly have demonstrated cost savings to taxpayers in the five years the projects have been operating. Both sites benefited from the Department of Environmental Conservation Region 9 brownfield cleanup program.

“The net metering credits generated by the Homeridae solar project have been a significant benefit to our city budget, allowing us to reallocate savings toward other essential services for our community,” stated William Aiello, Mayor of Olean. “We are excited to see the ongoing positive impact of this oil refinery turned solar project that provides reliable and clean energy to the City of Olean.”

This acquisition brings CleanCapital’s portfolio of operating and under-construction assets to 242 projects totaling 341 MW across 23 states and U.S. territories.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are providing resources to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive consumer acts and practices in the residential solar power sector.

The residential solar industry is booming in the U.S., with the Solar Energy Industries Association forecasting that 15% of U.S. homes will have solar by 2030. But just as there’s been strong growth in solar installations in recent years, there’s also been an increase in consumer complaints about unscrupulous practices by some solar companies.  These include pressuring consumers into predatory contracts or purchases, unfair financing, failing to install or activate residential solar systems as promised, and more.

Treasury, CFPB and FTC released consumer advisories warning the public on how to spot potential unfair and deceptive practices and encouraging consumers to file complaints of suspicious behavior to FTC, CFPB, and state consumer protection offices. The advisories are intended as educational resources to help consumers understand the solar-shopping process in order to make informed decisions. They describe different types of solar power options, warn about common unfair or deceptive practices, provide key questions to ask before making purchases or signing agreements, and provide instructions on how consumers can file complaints.

Treasury, CFPB, and FTC, along with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), also announced an interagency partnership with the goal of coordinating efforts to prevent predatory practices. The new partnership will foster greater communication and collaboration between the agencies and better protect consumers from bad actors.

“While skyrocketing growth of the residential solar industry is lowering costs for consumers nationwide, a small number of bad actors are taking advantage of opportunities to scam customers,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “By providing new information to consumers interested in solar energy for their homes and coordinating across federal agencies to prevent scams, the Biden-Harris Administration is helping to ensure consumers who want to lower their utility bills are able to successfully do so.”

See the Treasury Consumer Advisories and Educational Resources here:

• Consumer Solar Awareness Website
• Solar Consumer Advisory
• Before You Buy Solar Panels
• Before You Sign a Solar Lease
• Before You Sign a Power Purchase Agreement
• Before You Sign a Solar Subscription

See the FTC resources here:

• Consumer: How To Avoid Getting Burned
• Business: Don’t Waste Your Energy On a Solar Scam

See the CFPB resources here:

• Issue Spotlight
• Consumer Advisory

The government partnership follows development of two industry standards by SEIA, designed to help protect solar energy customers from deceptive and unethical practices and is seeking public comment on the standards. The two standards, 401 and 201 ensure transparency for customers while also enhancing the safety and quality of installations. Read more about these standards here.

Also read With great (solar) power comes great responsibility

Array Technologies, a specialist in utility-scale solar tracking solutions, launched SkyLink, a solar-powered wireless tracker system.

SkyLink includes an eight linked-row architecture with passive wind mitigation, PV string powered brushless DC motor, wireless communication called “Zigbee”, and a suite of Array SmarTrack features.

Zigbee wireless communication follows a defense-in-depth approach recommended by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The company said it adds multiple layers of protection against security breaches through wireless communication.

“Array strives to continuously enhance our products to support customers by reducing costs and installation times, and meet the growing challenges of extreme weather conditions,” said Kevin G. Hostetler, chief executive officer at Array Technologies. “As destructive storms become more frequent, our new SkyLink tracker system, with its reliable wireless communication, ensures that solar production remains uninterrupted during power grid disruptions and adverse weather.”

SkyLink’s eight row architecture allows for greater flexibility within a site layout, increasing PV capacity and cost savings for fragmented sites with irregular boundaries. With eight rows per motor, the tracker brings flexibility to site design.

Array said a battery-less control system enables the tracker to operate in extremely cold climates. The company said the tracker can operate in temperatures from -40 F to 140 F ambient.

The PV String powered brushless DC motor has an IP67 rating, indicating that it meets floodplain requirements.  

The tracker supports most commercially available modules, according to Array, including framed or frameless crystalline, thin film, bifacial and back rails. Modules are attached using single fastener, high-speed mounting clamps with integrated grounding. Traditional rails are used for crystalline in landscape, custom racking for thin film and frameless crystalline and bifacial according to manufacturer specs.

The PV-powered control system enables the tracker to move whether the grid is operational or not. The tracker will automatically stow when hail or snow is detected by its automated response system. It also makes use of Array’s patented passive wind-stow technology.

The SkyLink tracker comes with a 10-year structural warranty 10 years structural; 5 years drive and controls components.

Array told pv magazine USA that final assembly for SkyLink is completed in its manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The company said its supply chain for SkyLink is “robust” and includes many items that qualify as domestic content with a path for full domestic content soon. SkyLink builds on the Array’s DuraTrack and Array OmniTrack solar trackers, which have paths to 100% domestic content by first half 2025, the company said.

According to to Wood Mackenzie’s Global solar PV tracker market share’ report 2024, Array Technologies is one of the top tracker vendors, holding second place for the ninth consecutive year after Nextracker.

Click here to download the data sheet.

Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, as her running mate in the 2024 presidential election–a choice that’s considered by experts as the winning ticket on climate.

Under Waltz’ leadership, Minnesota jumped ahead of the clean energy curve when he signed into law a climate bill that aims for 100% clean energy by 2040.

The Minnesota climate bill establishes a standard for utilities to supply Minnesota customers with electricity generated or procured from clean energy resources. He has also supported many other clean energy initiatives, signing over 40 into law in 2023 alone, including expanding Minnesota’s electric vehicle infrastructure, providing a tax credit for electric vehicle purchases and supporting clean energy job growth. 

Environmental groups including NRDC Action Fund and Sierra Club have spoken up in support of Walz’ nomination. Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the NRDC Action Fund, a national environmental advocacy and political organization, voiced his support:

“Tim Walz has made Minnesota a national climate leader. Under his leadership, the North Star State committed to 100 percent clean energy by 2040 and became the first Midwestern state to adopt California’s tailpipe emissions standards,” said Bapna. “He brings sound judgment and a solid commitment to protecting the environment and public health in a way that advances equity.”

Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous welcomed Governor Waltz to the ticket:

“Like Vice President Harris, Governor Walz knows that climate change is the existential threat of our time,” said Jealous. “The Harris-Walz ticket is one that understands the fight before us, isn’t afraid to tackle climate change head-on, and will continue to build upon the legacy of the Biden-Harris administration moving forward.”

Walz has served as Governor of Minnesota since 2019 and is a former seven-term Congressman. He is also a retired command sergeant major in the Army National Guard and former public high school teacher who taught for a year in China. 

Generac Power Systems, known for its generators, battery backup and other power products, has acquired Ageto, a provider of microgrid controllers.

Ageto, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, developed the ARC microgrid controller, designed to integrate, optimize and manage distributed conventional resources, renewable energy resources and electric vehicle (EV) chargers in the commercial & industrial (C&I) market. Its controller provides a single interface for monitoring all components of a microgrid, the company reports.

“This acquisition enhances our ability to offer a complete energy technology ecosystem to domestic commercial & industrial customers with multi-asset sites,” said Erik Wilde, EVP and president, Domestic C&I at Generac. “By integrating Ageto’s industry-leading microgrid controller and advanced software into our systems, we’re simplifying asset integration, control and optimization for our customers and creating a competitive advantage for Generac.”

Generac has worked with Ageto since 2021, incorporating its microgrid controllers into Generac’s battery energy storage systems (BESS) solutions and generator sets. The transaction closed on August 1, 2024. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Generac was recently named a leader by Wood Mackenzie in the residential solar-plus-storage market. Not so long ago, Generac specialized in fossil-fuel based generators but it has fast become a leader in residential clean energy. PWRcell is its residential storage product, and coupled with the Concerto platform that is part of Generac Grid Services, it provides a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) that is designed to detect spikes in demand, signaling to the the batteries to automatically dispatch clean energy based on real-time grid conditions. 

Generac signed on with Southern California Edison (SCE) as a virtual power plant participant, using this solution to scale the utility’s Power Flex program.

Generac first stepped into the commercial and industrial (C&I) market when it acquired PowerPlay Battery Energy Storage Systems, an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firm. PowerPlay specializes in turnkey battery energy storage systems for commercial and industrial customers, with systems sized up to 7 MWh. Generac said the acquisition will help the company offer a more complete ecosystem of products and solutions to C&I customers.

From pv magazine Global

Throughout July, smoke from wildfires in Canada and the US West Coast significantly impacted irradiance across North America, while Hurricane Beryl and upper atmospheric conditions delivered unstable cloud cover across the central and eastern United States.

Analysis using the Solcast API shows that the combined effects of reduced clearsky irradiance from smoke-related aerosols and cloud cover led to irradiance levels as low as 80% of long-term July averages along the Gulf Coast, East Coast, and the Midwest. In contrast, stable atmospheric conditions on the West Coast resulted in increased irradiance, extending across the Rockies as far as West Texas.

Whilst the fires raged, atmospheric aerosols have blown east and south, across the continent. Aerosols impact irradiance by scattering and absorbing radiation in the atmosphere, and reduce solar generation even on a day with no clouds. Peak ‘aerosol optical depth’, a measure of the impact of aerosols on irradiance, shows where the aerosol impact was strongest, and that smoke impacted all of the continent.

The below analysis of clearsky irradiance (a measure of irradiance before cloud or other weather phenomena) down up to 20% in some regions of Canada close to the fires, shows the large areas impacted as the smoke spreads through the atmosphere. Whilst in a normal month the impact of clouds and weather is much higher than that of aerosols, the intensity of this impact across July is reflected in the clearsky irradiance and the overall GHI.

In addition to the fires, a strong upper-atmosphere dipole created clear and stable conditions on the West Coast and unstable, cloudy conditions on the East Coast. This led to irradiance levels 10-20% above long-term averages in parts of British Columbia, Washington State, California, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Western Texas. While these clear conditions exacerbated the wildfires, prevailing westerly winds prevented the smoke from significantly impacting these states. Conversely, the same atmospheric conditions led to instability on the East Coast, reducing irradiance in the Carolinas, Virginia, and parts of New England. Hurricane Beryl further affected irradiance, casting a large shadow over the Gulf Coast and South-East early in the month.

Solcast produces these figures by tracking clouds and aerosols at 1-2km resolution globally, using satellite data and proprietary AI/ML algorithms. This data is used to drive irradiance models, enabling Solcast to calculate irradiance at high resolution, with typical bias of less than 2%, and also cloud-tracking forecasts. This data is used by more than 300 companies managing over 150GW of solar assets globally.

With the entrants of diverse distributed energy resources (DERs) and new utility requirements, optimizing and monetizing solar energy systems have become increasingly complex. However, monitoring and control technology are struggling to keep pace and meet these more sophisticated demands.

If the industry does not want to be hampered by its reliance on outdated monitoring and control technology, it needs to quickly leverage this window of opportunity to upgrade the capabilities of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) by leveraging more advanced grid-edge, cloud computing, IoT-based technology that can support the integration of AI and help create a smarter grid.

SCADA is a technology that dates back to the 1970s and the solar energy industry originally made it a standard by adopting it from fossil fuel power stations. Over the past decade and a half, when solar was in its infancy and a small share of the grid, SCADA’s limited protocols met the grid’s requirements. But as the industry has evolved, SCADA is being stretched beyond its original design and is struggling to keep pace. Its drawbacks are beginning to hold back our industry’s advancement. For instance, as solar is increasingly coupled with batteries, EV chargers, and other types of DERs, SCADA’s lack of interconnectivity and interoperability with diverse hardware has increasing impact on compatibility and scalability.

Another example is that SCADA is more effectively used for daily operations versus storing big data that AI can leverage to improve long-term operations. Plus, the programmable logic controller (PLC)-based architectures do not support the more sophisticated controls increasingly being required by utilities. Overall, solar has outgrown the limits of SCADA and has quickly become too dynamic for a SCADA-only approach.

By using a software-first approach and connecting directly to onsite hardware, including inverters, batteries, RGMs, and other DERs, or through the manufacturers’ servers, new cloud computing technology can leverage industrial IoT protocols and extend the capabilities of SCADA. By overcoming the limitations of SCADA, a number of crucial benefits are unlocked for grid operators, O&M providers, IPPs, and asset owners, while also ushering in the age of a smarter grid.

The initial advantage of transitioning from a PLC-based hardware approach to a smart agent backed by cloud computing is that it drastically expands the types of controls that are available to clean energy assets. Unlike PLCs, that are simple logic-based programs pre-installed on a power plant controller (PPC) that has limited storage and memory, when controls are managed in the cloud there is no limit to how many controls or insights can be provided. In fact, it completely eliminates the concept of a control library because controls can continuously be added and optimized.

Instead of a static library, it becomes a growing and evolving tool that improves over time. This means that controls like arbitrage, peak shaving, frequency regulation, voltage support, peaker replacement, and energy shifting, can advance with the changing needs.

Another benefit of supplementing SCADA with cloud computing is being able to combine and analyze energy production data with thermal analysis to not only provide automatic alerts with minimal false positives, but also root cause analysis and precise recommendations for resolutions. This type of computing power is not available on site and is not possible with a SCADA-only approach.

That leads to a key secondary benefit of extending SCADA’s capabilities by augmenting it with cloud computing. SCADA is designed for managing power plants as siloed energy assets, but our grid is becoming more interconnected, and these distributed assets need to start working together in a more coordinated manner – both for grid stability and asset optimization. By managing controls in the cloud, distributed assets can be combined and managed as a whole. This completely surpasses the current single pane of glass concept for monitoring and controls that the industry has used as a gold standard up until now, and instead creates an advanced and cost-effective aggregator solution that is future ready.

While an aggregator offers many benefits on its own, it provides further benefit when artificial intelligence (AI) is added to the equation. By aggregating and analyzing data from multiple sites in the cloud, AI has access to more data points, enabling it to get smarter, faster; meaning better grid support and better monetization.

While SCADA has been hailed for its security, one of the reasons it is considered more secure is because of its limited functionality – limiting the opportunity for asset optimization and grid stability. Plus, its use of outdated and unencrypted protocols actually make it fairly simple to gain unauthorized access. But with industrial IoT, high-levels of encryption and verifications, significantly increase cybersecurity capabilities.

With the addition of next-generation IoT and cloud computing as part of the monitoring and controls toolbox, the solar industry can position itself to lead the entire energy industry into the era of a smart grid, where things like real-time energy trading will be ubiquitous. While a SCADA-only approach may have worked for simple unidirectional supply-side management with grid-following assets, it simply does not have the functionality to support grid-forming clean energy assets, which will herald in the age of an interconnected, dynamic, AI-powered grid.

Dekel Yaacov is the CTO and co-founder of enSights.ai, a SaaS platform. Dekel brings a wealth of experience in SaaS-based platforms and the cyber security field to drive the development of innovative solutions. 

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced the American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act, aiming to prevent Chinese solar module manufacturers from claiming subsidies for their American factories.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, offers manufacturing 45 X tax credits for solar components made in America. While the lucrative tax credits have been attracting clean energy manufacturers worldwide to build factories in the U.S., the fact that some of the new manufacturing facilities are from Chinese companies has created a controversy that this new bill aims to solve.

The bill was introduced by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (D-LA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Rick Scott (D-FL), seeks to protect U.S. solar manufacturing by removing the tax incentives for Chinese companies and from other “foreign entities of interest” would not be able to receive the 45X tax credits.

“By reshoring the solar supply chain, we can bolster solar manufacturing in the U.S. and ensure our country is not dependent on China for a technology that was invented here and accounted for half of our new grid energy additions last year, said Mike Carr, Executive Director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition.

The Defend Solar USA Alliance also supports the new legislation. The Alliance said in a release that while the 45X tax credit has contributed to the largest investments in factory production in nearly 100 years, it’s estimated that Chinese-controlled companies could collect more than $100 billion in federal tax credits. These credits, the Alliance contends, were “designed to support U.S. clean-energy manufacturers”.

“We shouldn’t be in the business of rewarding China at the expense of our domestic solar industry,” said U.S. Army General John Adams (ret.), and Board Member of the Defend Solar USA Alliance. “The bipartisan bill would ensure that Americans’ taxpayer dollars stay right here at home rather than help subsidize a foreign government’s efforts to put domestic manufacturers out of work. By building a successful domestic solar industry, the U.S. can break from its reliance on foreign energy sources, strengthen our supply chain and reduce our vulnerability to geopolitical conflicts.”

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to advance the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, a bipartisan piece of legislation aimed at improving permitting for energy infrastructure projects.

The solar permitting process has been named as one of the greatest bottlenecks to the deployment of solar projects in the U.S. The process can be challenging due to complex regulations and reliance on manual input methods.

The Permitting Reform Act, developed by Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY), chair and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is designed to shorten permitting timelines a 150-day statute of limitations from the date of the final agency action on a project; requiring courts to expedite review of legal challenges. It also sets a 180-day deadline for federal agencies to act on remanded authorizations.

Manchin called the legislation “a commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation that will speed up permitting and provide more certainty for all types of energy and mineral projects without bypassing important protections for our environment and impacted communities.”

The bill sets deadlines and doubles production targets for renewable energy permitting on federal lands, and it streamlines environmental reviews for low-disturbance renewable, electric grid, and storage projects. It also makes several changes to accelerate the permitting processes for fossil fuel projects.

Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association applauded Senate passage of the bill:

Today we are one step closer to overcoming systemic roadblocks to the solar and storage industry and unleashing America’s clean energy sector. Voices on all sides of this issue agree that we need to reform the permitting process so we can rapidly build out transmission capacity and deliver abundant, low-cost renewable energy to the homes and businesses that need it. There are many positive elements in this bill, including fair transmission cost allocation and provisions to simplify clean energy development on public lands.

Find details of the legislation here.

With the hike in energy costs, many homeowners are looking for ways to save money on utility bills. While there are some obvious changes you can make – like turning off lights in empty rooms – believe it or not, there are many lesser-known things you can do to make a greater impact on your energy consumption.

Looking to expedite savings? Here are a few ways to make efficiency-minded changes at home that reduce energy bills now – and in the future.

Lowering the temperature and heating smarter

One of the biggest energy guzzlers in the home is heating, accounting for 50-60% of a household’s total energy costs. So, it’s no surprise that this is one of the main areas people focus on when looking to reduce energy. But how do you do this without compromising on comfort?

Lots of us tend to leave the heating on in rooms we aren’t using, or due to the way in which the system is built, have to heat the whole house, which leads to higher energy bills. But we wouldn’t leave the lights on in every room when empty, or leave the taps running, so why do we not take this approach with our heating?

There are many types of heating controls that can be programmed and personalized to your needs. As noted in recent research from UK-based BEAMA, upgrading from basic heating controls to a multi-zone smart heating system, where you heat rooms individually, can offer savings of over 30% on the average heating and hot water bill.

Additionally, intelligent thermostats can now detect when a window is open and automatically pause the heating. Even better, the latest home technology learns your behaviors to ensure you maximize energy savings without compromising on comfort.

Slaying vampire devices

Most of us are guilty of leaving devices plugged in when we’ve finished using them, but did you know that even on standby mode they consume electricity?

Yes – 23% of a household’s electricity is wasted by ‘vampire’ devices, appliances that consume lots of energy even when on standby mode. This includes gaming consoles, televisions, and smart speakers, just to name a few. Ensuring that they’re switched off helps limit unnecessary costs, but instead of manually having to go around your home to turn appliances off, smart plugs can make saving easier.

A smart plug can be easily turned on and off from a smartphone app, and some even allow you to set schedules for your appliances too. That means that if your plans suddenly change and a vampire device is still plugged in, you can easily disable it remotely, so you won’t have an eye-watering energy bill to come home to.

Automate your energy use

Homes are becoming highly complex energy environments, with tens or even hundreds of electrical devices all running at once. But very few of us have the expertise, time or desire to constantly check that we’re following good energy habits.

That is where home energy management systems (HEMS) come in. With the ability to automate all aspects of your energy – from production through consumption – they can help to lower energy bills.

One of the larger electrical loads commonly found in homes, in fact, are EV chargers. With electric vehicle sales increasing 35% year-over-year in 2023, more of us are installing EV chargers in our homes for easy, convenient charging. However, these chargers are one of the largest electrical loads, which can bump up your energy bills.

With a HEMS, the timing of your charge can automatically be shifted to, for example, run during the night when the utility costs are lowest. Additionally, a HEMS is great for homes powered by renewables, such as solar panels. Solar panels have the capability to generate surplus energy, and a HEMS can help you manage this extra power in a simple, cost- effective way.

The first is storing the excess in a home battery which you will then be able to use for things like charging your EV instead of using electricity from the grid. Additionally, you could also use the stored energy in the event of a power outage.

Alternatively, the surplus may be sold back to the grid, to be used in exchange for payment or credits contributing to greater saving on your electricity bills. By making your home efficient and energy secure, all from the push of a button, smart energy apps and home energy management systems can help reduce consumption by 7%.

Michael Lotfy Gierges is executive vice president for the Home & Distribution division at Schneider Electric. ​In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of Schneider Electric’s residential & small buildings offerings and solution development. 

Paces, a GIS and data platform, recently completed its Series A funding round, raising $11 million.

The round was led by Navitas Capital, an early stage venture capital fund, with participation from Suffolk Technologies and MCJ Collective, and existing investors Resolute Ventures, Soma Capital, and Y Combinator.

Paces provides software solutions to renewable energy developers that is designed to reduce time and provide transparency to site origination and permitting processes.

‍“Meeting the challenge of the energy transition requires new solutions to enable development of the energy ecosystem,” said Louis Schotsky, managing partner, Navitas Capital. “We are incredibly excited to support Paces as they expand their transformative approach to pre-construction for grid-connected projects. Paces is tackling the critical challenges of electrifying our economy, accelerating the development of renewable energy and industrial load projects and streamlining the energy ecosystem.”

Paces reports that its software streamlines the traditionally manual process of site selection and project due diligence by consolidating and interpreting spatial, zoning, permitting, interconnection, and environmental data.

The software lets developers use their own custom parameters to locate the most viable sites for development. Then by using local, state and federal zoning, permitting and geospatial data, its core tool, Permitting Predictor, assesses risk and delivers concise summaries to empower developers to make informed decisions during due diligence.

‍“The Paces platform has significantly improved our site selection process and quality control, allowing us to increase the number of solar projects we deliver to communities across the country,” said Ned Horneffer, director of development, Third Pillar Solar. ‍

The company reports that it will put the $11 million in new funding to use in enhancing its software platform, expanding availability of Permitting Predictor across the U.S. and enhancing its data intelligence.

“Paces is committed to maximizing the climate benefits of every piece of land,” said James McWalter, co-founder and CEO, Paces.  “By expanding our capabilities to accelerate additional components of the due diligence process and serving new sectors like EV charging and data centers, we’re taking a significant step towards realizing this goal. This Series A funding will fuel our growth and impact, allowing us to enhance our platform and support the entire clean energy infrastructure ecosystem.”

Paces reports that its current client list includes EDF Renewables, AES, along with Third Pillar Solar.

In recent years, the commercial landscape for renewable energy assets has been significantly altered by extreme weather events. Solar PV systems have been the most heavily impacted, with an increasing frequency of major loss events and associated insurance claims.

Since 2018, severe weather events in areas with substantial solar deployment such as the northeastern U.S., California and Texas, have prompted insurers to tighten terms and conditions. The result has been a sizable increase in insurance premiums, sometimes by as much as 400%, accompanied by deductible requirements of up to $1 million or 15% of the physical damage limit. More critically, insurance coverages for hail damage have been capped between $15 million and $40 million regardless of project size. Consequently, for large renewable assets with capital expenditures exceeding $200 million, the insured value only represents a fraction of the potential loss.

In addition, natural catastrophe (NatCat) coverages now often include exclusions like microcracking in PV modules. These changes are forcing the solar industry to confront a new reality where obtaining adequate insurance coverage presents a significant obstacle to project viability, and developers may be required to put up additional capital, securities, and/or guarantees to bridge gaps in coverage.

Hail risk

Many locations worldwide experience frequent hail, but only certain areas have historically experienced hail large enough to damage PV modules. In the U.S., severe hail is largely confined to east of the Continental Divide, up to the Great Lakes. In these regions, hailstones can exceed 2 inches in diameter and pose substantial risks to PV projects.

DNV estimates that since 2018, hail-related losses on PV facilities in Texas alone have surpassed $600 million. For instance, in May 2019 the Midway solar project near Midland, Texas, experienced significant hail damage to over 58% of its 685,000 modules, resulting in an insurance claim of ~$70 million. At the Fighting Jays solar farm in Fort Bend County, Texas, a hail event in March 2024 is expected to result in remediation costs reaching hundreds of millions, potentially exceeding 50% of initial construction costs.

Unfortunately, even current best-in-class mitigation strategies like automated hail stow and 1-inch hail resistance tests won’t protect against hailstones larger than 2 inches. To ensure sustainability and financial viability, the solar industry needs a critical reevaluation and enhancement of both technical protective measures and financial risk management practices for solar installations in hail-prone regions.

Loss estimation tools and inaccuracy

Quantifying potential hail-related financial losses for solar assets is crucial for financial planning, financial model evaluation, and determining insurance coverage. Given the complexity, assessing and quantifying potential losses is highly challenging. Risk probabilities used in these assessments vary widely, from near certainty (100%, corresponding to a 1-year return period) to extremely rare events (0.001%, or a 100,000-year return period). Benchmarks are chosen based on the risk tolerance of project owners and investors. The 500-year return period is particularly critical for gauging the extent of potential extreme event losses.

Since 2018, efforts have intensified to quantify the financial impact of hail-related losses across these periods, largely through Probable Maximum Loss (PML) studies to stress-test financial models of assets and portfolios. However, DNV’s reviews suggest these studies may significantly underestimate potential damages, often by a factor of 2 but as large as a factor of 295. This discrepancy typically arises from underestimating hail size for the 500-year return period and by overestimating the effectiveness of mitigation strategies like tracker hail stow position or the resiliency of modules that have passed 1-inch hail tests.

It appears that hail damage at the previously mentioned solar projects exceeded PML estimates by a large margin; these cases underscore the need for a thorough re-evaluation of hail risk assessment. By enhancing the accuracy of PML studies and adjusting risk management strategies, the industry can better ensure the adequacy of insurance coverage and the financial sustainability of solar projects against the risks posed by hail.

Mitigation and financial impacts after loss events

When a solar farm sustains significant hail damage, the repercussions are substantial. The most obvious effects are financial stress from insurance policy deductibles, production losses, and mitigation costs outside of policy coverage, but financial consequences can extend to increased insurance premiums, liquidated damages during operational downtime, costs and fees related to offtake agreements, and legal expenses from litigation by downstream assets and insurers.

The repair process for damaged solar sites is costly and labor-intensive. Disassembling shattered modules and reassembling new ones can require up to three times the effort compared to the original installation. Even modules and equipment that appear undamaged require inspection, testing, and commissioning to confirm functionality.

The financial stability of the project will be jeopardized if project owners are unable to promptly repair damage and restart operations. Tax equity investors and tax credit purchasers who depend on consistent energy production will find their investments at risk. If the project relies on a federal Investment Tax Credit investment structure, tax credits are subject to recapture by the IRS within a 5-year period from the Placed in Service date for the portions of the facility that are not promptly repaired. While insurance firms have introduced products to help mitigate this risk, the impacts from inadequate coverage can be severe.

Risk transfer instruments

Effective commercial risk management and hedging solutions are essential for managing the risks associated with natural catastrophes. A key component is the use of transfer instruments that shift the risk from the project to another party. In addition to insurance policies, these instruments include parametric warranties, long-term service contracts, financial derivatives such as options and catastrophe swaps, event-linked bonds like catastrophe bonds and resilience bonds, captive and self-insurance strategies, insurance-linked loan packages, multi-year insurance policies or bond agreements, reserve funds, and other contingent products. As a testament to their effectiveness, these instruments are already comprehensively applied in mature energy industries such as oil & gas, nuclear, and hydropower.

Parametric warranties and insurance policies offer a way to transfer specific risks to equipment manufacturers or project contractors. For example, if a module manufacturer certifies that their modules can withstand hail up to 2 inches, any damage from hail of this size could be covered under the warranty. This can reduce overall project insurance premiums by transferring frequent, predictable risks to the manufacturer or installer, who are better positioned to manage these risks.

Long-term service contracts with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors are another risk management tool, typically used by the wind industry. These contract structures can also help solar projects transfer operational risks by ensuring that unexpected costs related to equipment failure or operational issues are borne by the service provider.

Catastrophe swaps and event-linked bonds provide financial protection against large-scale natural disasters. By allowing project owners to exchange their risk exposure with another party, potentially in a different geographic location or industry, catastrophe swaps diversify and reduce risk profiles. Event-linked bonds, such as catastrophe and resilience bonds, are designed to raise funds in the event of a disaster. These bonds may defer or forgive repayment obligations if a specific disaster occurs, thus providing immediate liquidity to manage the aftermath of the event. Together, these instruments form a comprehensive toolkit for solar projects to manage and finance the risks associated with natural disasters.

Mitigating operational risk

Despite an expected increase in extreme weather events, project owners can mitigate operational risk through technical hardening measures, and hedge financial risk with accurate loss estimations and innovative risk transfer instruments.

Project stakeholders can negotiate parametric warranties, insurance policies, and long-term service contracts with OEMs, EPCs, and insurers for both operational and pipeline projects. They can discuss financial derivatives, event-linked bonds, and contingent products with their financial teams, and have the option to explore contingent future insurance and credit facilities with insurance brokers and underwriters. At the corporate level, project developers and owners can consider diversifying risk management across various uncorrelated segments of the company, thereby enhancing overall company resilience.

Having a combination of mitigation measures in place—technical measures including hail smart stow strategies, and reinforced PV modules as well as insurance and financial hedges—will allow solar asset portfolios to remain financially bankable, sustainable, and profitable even in locations prone to hail events.

Hamid Gerami is a civil engineer with DNV. As a licensed professional engineer and a CFA candidate, Gerami brings more than eight years of specialized experience in solar project engineering, design, construction, and innovative financing.

Avantus, a U.S. developer of utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage projects, and KKR, a leading global investment firm, announced in March the acquisition of a majority equity interest by investment funds and accounts managed by KKR.

In the closing Avantus secured a $522 million development facility arranged by KKR Capital Markets and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). The facility provides Avantus the financial backing to continue to grow its project pipeline, which currently stands at 30 GW of solar and 94 GWh of battery storage, enough to provide 20 million people with clean energy. The company has also developed and sold 7.3 GW of solar and 17 GWh of storage.

“There is enormous opportunity ahead for Avantus, and we look forward to supporting the company in this next phase of growth. The need for clean energy in the United States is increasing substantially, driven by many factors including data center demand, the rise of artificial intelligence, and growth in electrification. Avantus is well positioned to capitalize on these tailwinds,” said Cecilio Velasco, managing director in KKR’s Infrastructure team.

Avantus was founded in 2009 as 8Minute Solar Energy by Tom Buttgenbach with the intention of fighting climate change by developing renewable energy at scale. The company expanded that vision in 2022 to include what it calls an “advanced ecosystem” of clean energy products and services. With the expanded vision came the new name, Avantus, and the plan to build a substantial clean energy development pipeline.

“This announcement is a ringing endorsement of our proven team at Avantus, providing us the capital to advance our portfolio and develop high-performing, high-value clean energy projects,” said Stephanie Perry, chief operating officer at Avantus. “We are excited to work with KKR and our existing investor EIG to achieve our growth plans and build on our track record of delivering record-breaking clean energy solutions that will decarbonize our planet at scale.”

With the close of the transaction, KKR and EIG, a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors, will be the sole equity investors in Avantus. Both equity sponsors secured commitments for a development financing facility alongside their equity commitments to the company, totaling upwards of $1 billion in the aggregate.

From pv magazine Global

Electricity demand around the world is expected to sky-rocket as we switch to electric-powered vehicles, heat pumps for our homes and pursue the vast digital transformation of society. Emerging nations are also expected to use an increasing amount of electricity as they industrialize and give their populations ever greater access to energy. While this massive switch over to electricity is expected to considerably reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and help in the fight against climate change, a mounting concern is that electricity grids won’t be able to cope with the increased demand.

Ringing the alarm bell

The International Energy Agency (IEA) started ringing the alarm bell with a report it claims is the first of its kind. Published in 2023, it states that the world must add or replace 80 million km of transmission lines by 2040, equal to all electricity networks installed globally today, to meet national climate targets and support energy security. The report identifies a large and growing queue of renewables projects waiting for the green light to be connected to the grid, pinpointing 1 500 gigawatts (GW) worth of these projects that are in advanced stages of development. This is five times the amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind capacity that was added worldwide in 2022.

“The recent clean energy progress we have seen in many countries is unprecedented and cause for optimism, but it could be put in jeopardy if governments and businesses do not come together to ensure the world’s electricity grids are ready for the new global energy economy that is rapidly emerging,” says IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “This report shows what’s at stake and needs to be done. We must invest in grids today or face gridlock tomorrow.”

The World Economic Forum (WEF) also urges world leaders to take note. A recently published article by Marcus Rebellius, a member of the WEF managing board and an expert working for one of Europe’s biggest manufacturers of electricity and electronic devices, indicates that “while the generation of clean energy is important, digitalizing and expanding our electricity grids is also vital for the green transition. Only with smarter, digitalized and expanded electricity grids will we create a decarbonized, resilient and secure electrical network for a net-zero future.”

He warns that increasing the amount of electricity generated to meet the increasing demand is not the issue, but that the key problem is that the grid must be prepared to handle larger amounts of electric power. “Weak grid infrastructure, legacy issues and an ageing system can all hamstring the green transition irrespective of the latest floating wind turbines or gigantic solar arrays,” he says.

Pointing towards the solutions

Grids have become the bottlenecks of the energy transition. Rebellius points to several technology solutions that could help resolve those bottlenecks, such as digital twins, or the use of low-voltage networks. (For more on digital twins and the electricity network: Digital twins and the smart grid. For more on low-voltage networks, read Affordable, sustainable electricity for all.

Other options include massively increasing energy storage capabilities and the widespread deployment of smart grid technologies around the world. The IEC Electropedia defines the smart grid as an electric power system that utilizes information exchange and control technologies, distributed computing and associated sensors and actuators, for purposes such as the integration of the behavior and actions of the network users and other stakeholders as well as efficiently deliver sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. Adopting smart grid technology is viewed by many experts in the field as a cheaper solution for utilities than expanding or rebuilding legacy electricity grids, which would require massive investments.

Increased energy storage is a key requirement

At times of high electricity demand, extra electric capacity must be immediately available or the grid risks shutting down. One way of ensuring continuous and sufficient access to electricity is to store energy when it is in surplus and feed it into the grid when there is an extra need for electricity. Utilities around the world have ramped up their storage capabilities using lithium-ion supersized batteries, huge packs that can store anywhere between 100 to 800 megawatts (MW) of energy. California-based Moss Landing’s energy storage facility is reportedly the world’s largest, with a total capacity of 750 MW. These huge battery storage facilities are expected to increase as the demand for electricity soars.

Other reliable energy storage solutions are pumped hydro which currently accounts for more than 90% of the globe‘s current high capacity energy storage. Electricity is used to pump water into reservoirs at a higher altitude during periods of low energy demand. When demand is at its strongest, the water is piped through turbines situated at lower altitudes and converted back into electricity. Pumped storage enables to control voltage levels and maintain power quality in the grid.

Another option that is much talked about is to use electric vehicles (EVs) as a source of energy to deliver power to the grid. According to Frances Cleveland, who is a lead for cyber security and resilience guidelines in the IEC Systems Committee on Smart Energy (IEC SyC Smart Energy), “There are many research and pilot projects around the world that are deploying some form of bidirectional flow of energy (charging and discharging), either as vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-home with EVs, able to sell power to the main grid and even support the energy management of microgrids. One of the driving ideas behind these projects is to provide a means of storing energy in the EV from variable renewable resources, like solar and wind, for use at other times. This implies that EVs can actually be viewed as a type of distributed energy resource (DER).”

EVs can charge when renewable energy generation from wind or the sun is high or when there is a lower demand for electricity, for instance when people are sleeping. But when demand is high, or less energy is generated by the wind or the sun, the electricity stored in EV batteries could be put to contribution.

State of play for smart grids

According to the IEA, in a report that tracks the advancement of smart grids around the world, significant levels of investment in smart grid tech have been made in many countries around the world – even if much more needs to be done. Several examples are given, including the EU action plan Digitalisation of the energy system. The European Commission expects about EUR 584 billion (USD 633 billion) of investments in the European electricity grid by 2030, of which EUR 170 billion (USD 184 billion) would be for digitalization (smart meters, automated grid management, digital technologies for metering and improvement on the field operations). Another important source of information on the roll-out of smart grid tech is the Smart Grid Index, provided by a leading utilities group in the Asia Pacific and which is used by many experts involved in the field. According to Peter Jensen, the Chair of IEC TC 13 which prepares standards for smart meters, “The index provides an excellent view of the maturity of grid system operators in different regions of the world. It uses a grid modernization measure based on seven pillars,” he describes. (For more on IEC TC 13, read Peter Jensen’s interview in e-tech.)

IEC Standards to the rescue

IEC Standards help energy storage systems to interoperate and interconnect with the grid. They also pave the way for smart grid technologies to be used safely and efficiently. IEC TC 4 prepares standards for hydraulic turbines and has published IEC 60193 which specifies the requirements for pumped storage.

IEC TC 120 was set up to publish standards in the field of grid-integrated electrical energy storage (EES) systems to support grid requirements. The TC is working on a new standard, IEC 62933‑5‑4, which will specify safety test methods and procedures for lithium-ion battery-based systems for energy storage. IEC TC 69 prepares standards on electrical power/energy transfer systems for electrically propelled road vehicles drawing current from a rechargeable energy storage system. IEC TC 57 is the IEC committee that prepares core standards for the smart grid, notably the IEC 61850 series. They deal with substation automation, two-way information exchange, global control functions, renewable energy integration and cyber security, to name but a few. IEC TC 13 prepares key standards in the field of electrical energy measurement and control, for smart metering equipment and systems forming part of smart grids.

A subcommittee of IEC TC 8 prepares standards dealing with the integration of renewable energy systems in the grid. One of the four IEC Conformity Assessment (CA) Systems, IECRE (IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable Energy Applications), is the internationally accepted CA system for all power plants producing, storing or converting energy from solar PV, wind and various forms of marine energy.

The IEC SyC Smart Energy helps to coordinate and guide the various efforts across these different IEC technical committees. It is for instance working on a document, IEC 63460, that will describe the architecture and use cases for EVs to provide grid support functions. Most of this standard will be concerned with identifying realistic EV charging and discharging configurations, and the communication and control between the various actors, grid system operators, aggregators, premises energy management and EV charging systems. The results from this document will hopefully help other IEC technical committees to take the grid-support capabilities of EVs into account as they develop their own standards.

The hope is that enough will be done in time to make sure the lights will be kept on as we move towards an all-electric and connected society. One certainty is that IEC Standards and conformity assessment will be called upon to play an ever-increasing role in ensuring we get there.

Author: Catherine Bischofberger

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a global, not-for-profit membership organization that brings together 174 countries and coordinates the work of 30.000 experts globally. IEC International Standards and conformity assessment underpin international trade in electrical and electronic goods. They facilitate electricity access and verify the safety, performance and interoperability of electric and electronic devices and systems, including for example, consumer devices such as mobile phones or refrigerators, office and medical equipment, information technology, electricity generation, and much more.

The AES Corporation, a global power company with generation and distribution businesses, introduced a robot powered by artificial intelligence. Dubbed “Maximo”, the robot works alongside solar installation teams, helping to install solar panels half the time and half the cost of manual labor installations, said the company.

“Maximo is the first proven solar installation robot on the market,” said Andrés Gluski, AES president and CEO. “We are facing unprecedented increases in demand, driven in large part by the rise of AI and data centers, and innovations like these will be fundamental for accelerating our ability to bring projects online faster and with greater efficiency.”

Maximo can do the heavy lifting and can automatically place and attach panels, increasing safety and accuracy of installations.

To date, AES has used the robot to install nearly 10 MW of solar and the company expects to use Maximo to help build up to 5 GW of its solar backlog and pipeline over the next three years.

One of the projects that Maximo will soon be assisting on is the 2 GW Bellefield project in Kern County, California, a solar-plus-storage project for which Amazon is the offtaker.

“As society’s energy needs grow, the demand for new solar and wind projects are also increasing, requiring us to innovate so we can scale more quickly,” said Chris Walker, director of AWS Sustainability. “We’re excited to collaborate with renewable energy developers like AES that are prioritizing the use of AI technologies that can help us move faster to a carbon-free energy future.” 

Maximo makes use of computer vision for precise placement of the panels. It also learns as it goes, which the company says improves performance and efficiency. The robot is said to perform in a range of climates and lighting conditions and has been validated in the field across a variety of U.S. project sites.

Automation of heavy lifting and precision tasks may become more commonplace in an industry already suffering from a shortage of workers. A report by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) noted that the solar industry expects total U.S. installations will grow from 141 GW in 2022 to over 700 GW in 2033. The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts the total number of solar jobs could reach 538,000 by 2032. The IREC report noted that in 2022, 44% of solar industry employers said it was “very difficult” to find qualified applicants—the highest such percentage ever recorded in the Solar Jobs Census, and likely to continue with the escalation of installations.

Maximo is not the first robot to assist in solar installations. Last year, for example, Terabase Energy completed its first installation using Terafab, an automated utility-scale solar installation platform. The Terafab system uses digital twins, logistics software, an on-site digital command center, a field-deployed automated assembly line, and installation rovers that can operate 24/7.  Terabase reported that in its first installation, labor productivity improved 25% when compared with manual installation.

It was not until 1982 that NERC (North American Reliability Corporation) started GADS (Generating Availability Data System), a database about the performance of electric generating equipment that supports equipment availability analysis. Through GADS, NERC maintains operating information on conventional generating units, wind plants and solar plants.

Today there is information on over 5,000 generators in the GADS database, and that number is soon to go up with the changes in regulations. Starting in January of this year, solar facilities over 100 MW of total install capacity were required to report to GADS and that threshold will be lowered to 20 MW in January of 2025.

GADS reporting is separate from the upcoming NERC applicable changes. The NERC rules ensure that elements of the Bulk Electric System operate in a way that is safe and reliable for all that use it. GADS is an arm of the NERC organization that began collecting design, performance, and event data into a singular location to analyze and identify if there is a holistic problem across different utilities, different generators, transmissions, etc. To see trends, you need as much data as possible, hence the inclusion of smaller facilities.

Loggan Purpura Senior Manager of Compliance with Radian Generation said “A few months back I determined that a specific solar panel had an issue with reduced capacity, but it was only because we had the exact same issue on two sites. GADS is collecting thousands of site data, so if they detect a material defect across multiple sites, they can quicky alert owners to the issue. This is extremely helpful to all parties and is helpful in building grid reliability.”

What kind of information is GADS looking for?

GADS will require quarterly reporting, with reports due 45 days after the end of a quarter. If you do not have a plan for these reports, it is time to put one together. The first challenge is data collection. How will you collect the data for the report? What stakeholders are included in the process? Who will collect the data?

GADS will require you to collect three types of data: design, performance, and event data. Design data is basic information about the site, such as plant information, inverter group, and energy storage, if applicable. Other information includes location, elevation, the nearest city, the ownership structure of the site, equipment identification manufacturers, and model numbers. If you have PV trackers, reporting includes the angle, the stove speed, the minimum irradiance you expect to see performance from. All this detail from the design side, gives a baseline or context for performance data, that will be beneficial to all owners and operators.

GADS also collects a wide range of data from the performance of the site such as gross power generation, maximum capacity, active solar inverter hours, forced outages, and more. When there is a reduction in plant output below a certain level or an outage, GADS will ask generators to report on those specific events. They will want a significant amount of data on events, whether they are outages or derates to better understand and improve the industry.

While regular reports are something your facility can anticipate, an event report, can catch you off-guard if you do not have a process in place. Outages or decrease in plant output of more than 20 MW, will require event reporting, and include information on equipment failures, or grid event circumstances or whether it was planned maintenance or a forced outage.

Be sure to validate your data

It is important to plan for data validation. Is someone going through the data to check for accuracy before it is reported? Be sure to have various checks in place to make sure you are reporting quality data. There will be eyes on what you report and regulatory scrutiny to ensure you are reporting the correct data, so validating your data must be an integral part of the process. There is data management software, including Radian Digital that is designed specifically for renewables and can help identify anomalies, in addition to streamline data acquisition from multiple sources, visually enhance analytics, and facilitate timely accurate reporting.

Data validation provides cleanness, accuracy, and completeness to a dataset by eliminating errors and ensuring the information is not corrupted. Without it, a service like GADS might rely on insufficient data to make conclusions about the grid. For example, data outside certain ranges should produce red flags, and some data can be checked against historical records for validation.

Consider voluntary reporting to work out the kinks

While GADS reporting for 20MW facilities will only be required in January 2025, voluntary reporting for Q3 and Q4 will allow organizations to identify and address any issues before they become serious compliance concerns. The initial setup takes more time, and by doing a voluntary submission organizations will be able to work out the kinks and streamline the process internally or determine if they need outside help.

One challenge for many facilities is that the reporting can be incredibly dynamic, meaning there is data that businesses are not accustomed to pulling. For example, there may be aspects of your operation that are not easily available, and you will have to find a way to isolate that data and put it into the correct format for the GADS system. For example, inverter maintenance hours vs. planned inverter maintenance hours.

For organizations that choose to outsource GADS and NERC reporting, be sure to get a customized strategy that includes internal controls, reporting, documentation of all data for validation, and overall risk reduction. This will help with efficient data collection and reporting, regulation interpretation, error avoidance, proactive problem-solving, and resource optimization.

Purpura said “Most industries report on similar types of information, but it is usually a handful of volunteer companies reporting, or the top ten, or a dozen diverse companies sharing their observations, which is not a comprehensive approach. What NERC is striving for through GADS is the single best way for the entire industry to understand the real impacts of renewable energy. And for owners this should result in valuable data to help improve performance and inventory management, predictive maintenance, and of course the transition to clean energy.”

NERCs mission is to have a reliable grid, and GADS is recognized as a valuable source of information about reliability, availability, and maintainability – a key component to achieving this mission. By quickly identifying industry wide trends NERC can help owners and operators optimize performance and develop better facilities.

Building a culture of compliance and starting voluntary reporting today is a smart move, so that when 2025 is upon us, those facilities will already be accustomed to the requirements, and GADS is just another quarterly report.

Kellie Macpherson is executive vice president compliance & risk management  with Radian Generation. She oversees NERC compliance and managed security services. For over 15 years, she has been a noteworthy leader in the renewable asset space and has implemented 200+ compliance programs and completed 40+ NERC audits in all six NERC regions.

The Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) will power its operations and electrify its fleet of vehicles with a three-acre solar farm, solar canopies and 56 charging stations. Fresno EOC will also use the vehicle-to-grid technology as it transitions its gas vehicles into a 50-shuttle electric fleet.

The EOC is a non-profit Community Action Agency that oversees more than 35 human services programs that help underserved populations in California’s Fresno County become more self-sufficient. It uses its bus fleet to transport community members to and from work, school and medical appointments, deliver meals, and fill other transportation needs to support its mission. To fund the solar project, EOC secured grant funding through the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program, and it will also receive rebates from local utility PG&E.

The project will take 24 months to complete from start to finish and will draw about 80% of the local workforce to help build the solar project. In addition, people enrolled in Fresno EOC’s own workforce and training program will receive education on energy and solar projects and may, in the future, provide hands on training and experience to the community.

The 1.5 MW ground-mount solar farm will be installed on a fixed-tilt racking system. Excess energy will be stored in a Nuvve-branded pre-validated battery energy storage system (BESS) integrated with Nuvve’s vehicle-to-grid platform.

The 56 charging stations are a mix of Nuvve PowerPort Neo level 2 EVSEs and V2G EVSEs. All chargers are Build America, Buy America (BABA) compliant

“Fresno as a community has historically endured poor air quality due to tailpipe emissions from the Los Angeles basin and gas-fired peaker power plants,” said Nuvve co-founder and CEO Gregory Poilasne. “With the adoption of our cutting-edge electric vehicle software and infrastructure, this project can serve as a model approach for modern, efficient, and eco-friendly public transportation.”

The U.S. is facing record electricity demand, mostly driven by AI processing, hyperscale data centers, electric vehicles and hotter weather.

But our nation’s electric grid, built over 70 years ago, struggles to keep pace with this record demand. Utility companies are stuck in the middle and often limited by aging grid technology. While the grid has been improved with automation and emerging technologies, U.S. aging infrastructure struggles to meet modern electricity needs, including the incorporation of renewable energy resources and handling growing building and transportation electrification.

To address these limitations, the Department of Energy (DOE) recently released its “Liftoff” plan. This ambitious plan will deploy advanced grid technologies to increase transmission capacity and reduce carbon emissions.

Outlined here are three key actions utility companies can take to realize this plan and the critical role of renewables, primarily solar energy, in making it come to life.

1. Identify Interconnection Requirements and Standards

First, it’s important for utility companies to understand any existing interconnection rules and standards. These can vary by state or region, although the U.S. federal government sets the minimum requirements. Utilities who do not produce their own power should work closely with independent power producers (IPPs) to ensure all relevant parties are meeting these rules and standards.

Utilities and grid operators can develop their own interconnection standards, particularly concerning solar energy. For any utilities or operators who use solar energy, safety and reliability need to be at the center of plans. Protection and control systems need to be in place to prevent inverters from catching fire due to possible overheating. Utilities should also consider battery storage systems for their solar energy systems, which can supply power to customers on cloudy days or at night.

There are a few different interconnection scenarios that could result from the DOE’s liftoff plan, which utility companies will need to prepare for:

Replace: Plans to replace towers and power lines is the most expensive and time-consuming element of the plan. For utility companies, this can help with future electricity demands. In the near-term, this could result in being unable to deliver the power required by customers with fast-growing electricity demands such as data centers or electric fleets.

Reconductor: Updating power lines with advanced conductors can cost less than half the price of replacement for similar capacity upgrades. This is a viable middle-of-the-road option that can support increased electricity demand over a short period of time without significant upfront investment.

Re-dispatch (“Connect and Manage”): This option allows customers to connect to the grid with the understanding that their energy supply might be curtailed based on grid supply and demand. This is the least expensive and fastest option but could also lead to insufficient power availability and reputational damage.

It’s worth paying attention to organizations like IEEE, NREL, EPA, and Interstate Renewable Energy Council because they provide industry perspectives in the drafting of these rules and standards.

2. Determine Roles and Responsibilities

An updated grid will need clearly defined roles and responsibilities across the energy ecosystem, including responsibility for repairs and servicing. To help avoid a “who’s on first” situation in delivering these essential services, utilities and IPPs can work together to clarify ownership and responsibility of certain tasks. The point of interconnection and the demarcation line often determine these responsibilities, impacting maintenance, repair, monitoring and incident management.

Electric utilities are generally responsible for:

• Regular upkeep of infrastructure such as powerlines, transformers and substations to ensure reliable service;
• Feasibility and impact studies to help ensure new interconnections do not compromise the grid;
• Reliability studies to ensure minimal outages and to shore up demand needs.

IPPs are typically responsible for:

• Power-producing components and interconnections;
• Maintenance and repair costs (though these are defined by contracts between IPPs and third parties, with responsibility contingent upon the location of faults and component ownership);
• Developing new power generation projects, which include site selection, securing permits, financing, construction and commissioning of some power plants.

It is critical that utility companies and IPPs have a collaborative relationship, sharing data to better understand and predict demand patterns and servicing needs. Technologies like Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) enable real-time monitoring and management of grid conditions. Other technologies, such as predictive analytics and machine learning, can forecast solar generation patterns and adjust grid operations automatically – ultimately helping utilities and IPPs get power to the right place at the right time.

3. Work With Sustainable Technology Partners

The grid has grown more complex with the integration of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. Software will play an important role in ensuring the grid can use these sources efficiently.

The DOE regularly announces solar funding opportunities, such as the Solar Technologies’ Rapid Integration and Validation for Energy Systems (STRIVES) program, that utility companies can tap into to integrate solar energy and other renewables into the power supply. Working with the right technology partner is critical to helping secure funding, as well as navigate this transition.

Partners who can support quick and easy installations, particularly for undergrounding and microgrid initiatives, can support utility companies in securing appropriate funding to drive investment in new and existing technologies. Products like switchgear connectors that are easy to install and have a lower total cost of ownership can help the utility company show that it can both operate efficiently and be financially prudent. In developing short- and long-range plans, factor in solutions and materials that can improve reliability and longevity such as fasteners and cable ties that can stand up to demanding conditions and exposure and simplify and reduce maintenance.

Ultimately, partners who can bridge hardware, software and data can help utility companies balance power supply and demand, while reducing the overall carbon footprint of their operations.

Solar Energy: The Not-Too-Distant Future

Foundational to the DOE’s Liftoff Plan is the interconnectivity and collaboration across the energy ecosystem, with the ultimate objective of improving both grid resilience and incorporating cleaner energy sources. While it may take more time for solar energy to become an integral part of power generation across the U.S., utility companies can prepare now to capitalize on the opportunities ahead as the DOE initiative moves to transform the grid for generations to come.

Alan Tse is senior director, utility solutions segment, ABB Installation Products Division, which is part of ABB’s Electrification business. He works with utility companies to power a safer generation through end-to-end solutions with trusted brands that connect, protect and control power continuity. ABB Electrification is a technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. Building on over 140 years of excellence, ABB’s more than 105,000 employees are committed to driving innovations that accelerate industrial transformation.

Tesla lands 15.3 GWh Megapack supply contract Tesla has received a giant order from U.S. developer Intersect Power, equating to around 165% of the total battery energy storage systems it deployed in Q2 2024, which saw the highest quarterly deployment in the company’s history to date.

690 MW solar-plus-storage project in U.S. now operational in Nevada Gemini is located thirty minutes outside of Las Vegas and with its 1.8 million solar panels, will power about 10% of Nevada’s peak power demand.

Weak demand continues to exert downward pressure on solar module prices In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

First Solar probes potential infringement of TOPCon patents First Solar says it is evaluating potential infringement of its patents for its tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) tech, secured through the acquisition of TetraSun in 2013. The US thin-film solar module manufacturer has not named the companies involved or given a timeline for the investigation.

More than half of California solar customers to include battery storage Falling battery costs, shifting regulations and interest in energy independence are driving increased battery attachment rates on residential solar projects in California.

In case you missed it: Five big solar stories in the news this week  Agrivoltaics in Ohio. Elastocalorics may replace heat pumps. U.S. residential solar is down. And more.

Primergy and Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners announced that the Gemini solar-plus-storage project outside of Las Vegas, Nevada is now operational.

The 1.8 million solar panels are expected to generate up to 690 MW and they’re co-located with 380 MW of 4-hour battery energy storage (1,400 MWh). Using a DC-coupled storage configuration enables the batteries to be charged directly by solar, thus increasing efficiency.

In April 2022 the two companies announced that they had closed on a landmark deal of $1.9 billion in debt and tax equity financing project. The debt financing consists of $1.3 billion in credit facilities and $532 million in tax equity commitments, with the tax equity commitments provided by Truist Bank and Bank of America.

In constructing the project, which is on federal land, Primergy reports that it “created and implemented an unprecedented framework for ecosystem management” by leaving vegetation in place and using a tracker system that follows the natural undulations of the ground. The company estimates that it was able to reduce the project’s land footprint by over 20%.

During construction the project reportedly created approximately 1,300 union and prevailing wage jobs and contributed approximately $463 million to Nevada’s economy.

“Gemini creates a blueprint for holistic and innovative clean energy development at mega scale, and we are proud to have brought this milestone project to life and to have delivered so many positive impacts across job creation, environmental stewardship, and local community engagement,” said David Scaysbrook, co-founder and managing partner of Quinbrook.

The project uses Maxeon Solar Technologies’ solar modules that use bifacial mono-PERC solar cells made on large format 8-inch G12 wafers. Maxeon reports that these modules offer efficiency of over 21%, enhanced shade tolerance, and power ratings of up to 625 watts. The modules are mounted on trackers from Array and Ojjo, which are specifically designed to withstand harsh desert environments and high wind speeds with a patented wind-mitigation system.

Primergy selected Kiewit Power Constructors Co. as Gemini’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner and IHI Terrasun Solutions as the integrator for the project’s 380 MW/1,520 MWh lithium-ion battery.

NV Energy signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the energy produced by the Gemini plant. It is  expected to meet 10% of Nevada’s peak energy needs.

Primergy Solar is a developer, owner and operator specializing in utility-scale solar PV and battery storage projects across the U.S. Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners is an investment manager focused on the infrastructure needed to drive the energy transition in the UK, U.S., and Australia.

Intersect Power announced the closing of two separate transactions representing an aggregate of $837 million of financing commitments for the construction and operation of three standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Texas.

The transactions cover portfolio-level construction debt, tax equity  and term debt financing for three large-scale projects, Lumina I, Lumina II, and Radian, all of which are expected to be operational in 2024.

Each project comprises 86 Tesla Megapacks. Lumina II and Radian will be operated by Autobidder, Tesla’s real-time trading platform. The three sites will each provide a capacity of 320 MWh of battery storage with a two-hour duration.

“Batteries will be a vital part of the energy transition and are the perfect complement to the billions of dollars of solar generation that we are building in California and Texas,” said Sheldon Kimber, CEO and founder of Intersect Power. “These assets should allow us to provide more consistent financial performance from a diversified fleet of renewable generation and storage, benefiting from increasing market volatility and periods of high prices while protecting us from periods of low market prices. This stability will be critical as we expect to triple the size of our portfolio over the next three years.”

Morgan Stanley will provide tax equity, and funds and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners will be making construction debt and term debt investments. Deutsche Bank is partnering in the construction debt facility and providing the operational letters of credit to the projects.

“These standalone batteries are much-needed infrastructure that will increase grid reliability and improve energy security as the U.S. transitions to a low-carbon economy,” said Jorge Iragorri, Managing Director and Head of Renewable Energy Investments at Morgan Stanley.

Intersect reports that the projects qualify for investment tax credits (ITC) under the Inflation Reduction Act. The ITC allows a federal tax credit of 30% of installed system costs for clean energy technologies like solar, wind and energy storage. The credit is offered as a base 6%, and the 30% credit is only offered to projects that satisfy prevailing wage requirements.

Intersect has a base portfolio of 2.2 GW of operating solar PV and 2.4 GWh of storage in operation or construction. The company states that its business plan includes growth in grid-tied renewables, as well as large-scale clean energy assets, including battery storage, data centers, and green hydrogen.

First Solar, Inc. commissioned its new research and development (R&D) innovation center in Lake Township, Ohio, which the company says is the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation is dedicated to the late James “Jim” F. Nolan, a former member of First Solar’s Board of Directors and the architect of the company’s cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor platform.

According to a study by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), in 2023 CdTe represented  about 16% of the U.S. solar market. First Solar is a leader in CdTe technology and differentiates itself not only by the use of the thin film technology, but also by its vertically integrated manufacturing process, domestic production and commitment to responsible solar. At the company’s California Technology Center (CTC) in Santa Clara, First Solar recently achieved a 23.1% efficient CdTe cell, a new world record certified by NREL.

“Thin films are the next technological battleground for the solar industry because they are key to commercializing tandem devices, which are anticipated to be the next disruption in photovoltaics,” said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar. “While the United States leads the world in thin film PV, China is racing to close the innovation gap. We expect that this crucial investment in R&D infrastructure will help maintain our nation’s strategic advantage in thin film, accelerating the cycles of innovation needed to ensure that the next disruptive, transformative solar technology will be American-made.”

The new research facility covers 1.3 million square feet and includes a high-tech pilot manufacturing line allowing for the production of full-sized prototypes of thin film and tandem PV modules. Prior to the commissioning of the Jim Nolan Center, First Solar was using a manufacturing line at its Perrysburg, Ohio facility for product development efforts. With a dedicated R&D center, First Solar expect to “accelerate innovation cycles.”

The company reports that it will have approximately a half-billion dollars invested in R&D and that building out R&D infrastructure will create approximately 300 new jobs by 2025, the majority of which will be located at the Jim Nolan Center.

First Solar is also involved in perovskite solar development after announcing last year the acquisition of Evolar, the Swedish perovskite specialist. First Solar said in a statement that the acquisition will accelerate the development of next generation PV technology, including high efficiency tandem devices. It aims to integrate Evolar’s know-how with its existing research and development streams, intellectual property portfolio, and expertise in developing and commercially scaling thin-film PV.

In addition to R&D planned at the Jim Nolan Center, the company expects to also commission a perovskite development line at its Perrysburg, Ohio, campus in the second half of 2024.

First Solar reports it has invested almost $2 billion in R&D, operates laboratories in Santa Clara, California, and Perrysburg, Ohio, in the US, and Uppsala in Sweden.

At the end of 2023 First Solar had 16.6 GW of annual global nameplate manufacturing capacity and is expected to achieve over 25 GW of capacity by 2026. First Solar expects to commission new manufacturing facilities in Alabama in the second half of 2024 and Louisiana in the second half of 2025, bringing its total U.S. nameplate capacity to 14 GW by 2026.

The N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) released its 50 States of Solar: Q2 2024 report that looks at state regulatory and legislative discussions that affect the distributed solar market in various states.

The report finds that many states are taking a close look at solar policies due to the influx of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) going to state agencies and clean energy projects. Q2 2024 saw 44 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico take a total of 182 distributed solar policy actions.

In addition to states are examining the interplay of IRA funding and solar programs, other trends are seeing states initiate formal studies to inform net metering successor efforts, and states are modifying existing community solar programs.

The greatest number of actions address net metering policies (64), and residential fixed charge or minimum bill increases (48), and community solar policies (42). Most of these actions were taken in California, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Virginia.

Top five distributed generation solar policy actions

In Q2 2024, six states issued decisions, passed legislation, enhance programs or initiated studies that pertain to solar policy:

California—Regulators at the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued two major decisions on community solar and income-based fixed charges. The CPUC approved income-tiered residential fixed charges for the state’s investor-owned utilities, which range from $6.00 to $24.15. The CPUC also approved a new Community Renewable Energy Program and modifications to existing Green Tariff programs. The new community energy program will use existing procurement mechanisms like the Renewable Energy Market Adjustment Tariff and PURPA Standard Offer Contract as the foundation of the program.

Alaska— Alaska lawmakers passed legislation requiring the Commission-regulated utilities to offer community energy programs. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is to develop several program specifications, including bill credit rates that consider the full economic value provided by community energy facilities. The Commission is also authorized to adopt a separate rate for capacity provided by energy storage as part of a community energy facility.

Colorado—Legislators in Colorado approved changes to the states’ community solar garden program. The revised program will begin in 2026 and focus on inclusive community solar development. It requires that at least 51% of a facility’s subscriptions be reserved for income-qualified customers and allows for the donation of excess credits to income-qualified customers. For income-qualified customers, the subscription charge is limited to 75% of the value of the bill credits, while this decreases to 70% if the project is receiving IRA funding for energy communities and 50% if IRA funding is being used to provide bill savings.

Connecticut and Washington—Lawmakers in these states initiated net metering studies. Connecticut’s study will consider whether the Renewable Energy Solutions Program should be extended and possible successors. Washington’s study will examine the value of distributed solar and storage and options that may be used after the net metering cap is reached.

Kansas—The Kansas legislature enacted legislation in April that increases the aggregate cap for net metering, as well as the individual system size limit. The aggregate cap will increase by 1% (of the utility’s highest annual peak demand since 2014) per year until reaching 5% in July 2027. The bill increases the system size limit to 150 kW for all customers and also provides guidance for net metering crediting under time-of-use rates.

“States are beginning — or rather, re-beginning — to study net metering programs, outside of the valuation of distributed solar,” said Rebekah de la Mora, senior policy analyst at NCCETC. “These investigations focus on program redesigns and successors, looking at the policies, economics, results, and future projections of net metering programs. Some of these investigations are already baked into law, like in Puerto Rico, while others were proposed by newly-passed bills, such as those in Delaware and Washington.”

One other state that made a big move as a result of federal funding is Mississippi, where the Public Service Commission has suspended multiple solar and storage incentives/programs in the state due to Solar for All funding.

Aurora Solar, a platform for solar sales and design, has acquired Lyra, a specialist in permit packaging software that enables solar professionals to automatically create permit-ready design plans.

The solar permitting process can be challenging due to complex regulations and reliance on manual input methods. Aurora, which specializes in streamlining the sales and design process for installers, sees its acquisition of Lyra as adding another tool to help speed up the permitting process.

“Lyra’s advanced automation software for plan sets is the solution the solar industry needs to alleviate a key homeowner pain point — the often agonizing local permitting process – and cut down on wasted time and energy for solar professionals,” said Chris Hopper, CEO at Aurora Solar. ” Our intention is to be the market leader in U.S. residential plan set services and automation; the acquisition of Lyra significantly accelerates our ability to achieve this goal.”

Aurora’s cloud-based platform uses data, automation and artificial intelligence to streamline the process of selling, designing—and now permitting—solar. The company reports that over 20 million solar projects have been designed with the platform globally. The acquisition of Lyra is only one of the many recent moves that Aurora has made to add tools to its toolbox for installers. In March, for example, Aurora Solar announced it was partnering with EagleView, a software platform provider for rooftop solar project designs and sales proposals, announced it has partnered with EagleView, an aerial imagery and geospatial software specialist. Under the partnership, Aurora will make use of EagleView’s high-resolution imagery taken from its aircraft fleet.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is releasing two new industry standards to help protect solar energy customers from deceptive and unethical practices and is seeking public comment on the standards.

The two standards, 401 and 201 ensure transparency for customers while also enhancing the safety and quality of installations.

• Standard 401 will outline training requirements for solar salespeople, helping to establish ethical sales practices and ensure all solar customers have a thorough understanding of their investment before committing. Companies and salespeople trained under this standard will provide customers with comprehensive and clear disclosure of costs, key contract terms and technology information. Once the standard is published, a certified third-party will evaluate whether a company or individual has met the requirements.
• Standard 201, creates a baseline for how residential and small commercial solar and storage systems are installed with the aim of enhancing the safety and quality of residential solar and storage installations, helping to minimize risks to homes and businesses and enhance grid reliability. Companies will receive a third-party audit of their written practices and field installations, helping to ensure safe installations and create a better experience for solar customers throughout the life of their system.

“These groundbreaking standards reflect the solar and storage industry’s commitment to ensuring every customer has a great experience going solar,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “We’ve heard customers loud and clear about what they want to see from the solar industry. Going solar with a SEIA-certified installer will give customers the confidence they need to make the best decision for their family.”

Over five million American homes have a solar system installed, and at least five million more households will choose solar by 2030, according to SEIA. While the majority of homeowners are happy with their solar installations, bad experiences do happen and these standards aim to eliminate them.

SEIA is an American National Standards Institute-accredited standards developer, and is currently developing 11 industry-wide standards, including standards on supply chain traceability and decommissioning. Learn more about the standards and SEIA’s consumer protection work.

SEIA standard 401 and 201 are now open for a 45-day public comment. Written comments received during the open public comment period will only be accepted through the Standards Public Review Comment Form.

Also read With great (solar) power comes great responsibility.

Savion, a Shell Group portfolio company, announced that the Madison Fields Solar Project (MFSP) has achieved commercial operation.

The 180 MW solar power plant is located in Madison County, Ohio and is one of the first operating utility-scale solar sites to intentionally integrate soybeans, alfalfa and forage crop production within the array.

Savion developed and built the project and will share ownership equally with InfraRed Capital Partners. Shell is the asset manager of the project.

A local public hearing was conducted online in December 2020, where 13 of the 14 registered witnesses elected to provide testimony. Ten individuals testified in support of the proposed facility, while two people expressed opposition, and one individual requested that the applicant consider specific environmental management practices at the facility.

Savion entered into a long-term power purchase agreement with Amazon as the sole offtaker for electricity generated by MFSP. Over the next 35 to 40 years, the solar plant is expected to produce enough energy to power approximately 38,000 Ohio homes annually. The project will connect to the regional power grid controlled by PJM and is expected to contribute $1.62 million annually to local taxing entities throughout the life of the project, according to Savion.

“Today, we are not only celebrating the commencement of Savion’s first constructed and owned project but also how it contributes to our diverse renewable energy development work across the United States,” said Nick Lincon, president of Savion.

The installation is made up of 420,000 solar modules on single-axis trackers. The agrivoltaic aspect of MFSP was designed by Savion’s wholly owned subsidiary, Between the Rows, a company that Savion said is dedicated to “think like farmers” across all phases of utility-scale projects, including development, construction, operation, and decommissioning.

Between the Rows partnered with The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences in actively testing and growing forage crops, including hay and alfalfa, along with soil health and precision agriculture. Once the crops and grasses come in, the plan is to graze livestock on the site. 

The construction area is 1,696 acres with about 1,280 acres inside the fence, 125 of which are planted with corn and soybeans. The 415 acres outside the fence will be vegetated or returned to farming, Savion reports. During construction trees were cleared from a 4.3-acre area of the site, which represented less than 1% of the total project footprint.

Savion reports that with the operation of Madison Fields it now has 1.8 GW in operation, under contract or under construction.

Enphase Energy announced the launch of an electric vehicle charger designed for commercial fleets.

The CS-100 provides up to 19.2 kW (80 amps) of continuous power output and enables the fleet operator to set up charging schedules using the Enphase proprietary COSMOS interface. The interface provides access to capabilities such as digital load management, load sharing, and access control by seamlessly integrating with fleet management software.

Certified by UL, cULus, CSA C22.1, and Energy Start, the charger features a NEMA 3R-rated enclosure. Enphase reports that it can be installed inside or out and can operate in temperatures from –22 F to 122 F (–30 C to 50 C). It includes a 25-foot charging cable and an impact-resistant J1772 connector. It supports all J1772-compatible EVs and comes with a three-year limited warranty. Enphase reports that in the event of a minor power fault, an automatic circuit reclosure timer will re-check conditions to begin charging again as soon as possible, if needed.

The CS-100 weighs 45 pounds and requires a 208/240 Vac, 50/60 Hz, 100 amp dedicated supply circuit. The retail price on the CS-100 is $2,250.

Doral Renewables announced that the first segment of its Mammoth Solar project is about to achieve operations. The plant will be the largest operating solar installation in Indiana and is expected to provide enough electricity to power 75,000 homes a year.

In a ceremony that focused on the project’s social and economic impacts on the local community, RJ Howard, chef and owner of the local Maggie Lu’s Market said, “Mammoth Solar’s presence is felt everywhere throughout the county. Almost every industry and business will reap the benefits of this project”.

Mammoth North is an agrivoltaics installation with more than 1,500 sheep already grazing the land. The sheep are managed by local farmer Billy Bope who called the dual-use project a win-win. “We’re able to diversify our farming practices with livestock, which allows us to maintain the vegetation to the level Mammoth North needs,” said Billy. “Specifically for my family, Mammoth Solar also allows the next generations of Bopes to stay on our family’s farm.”

Mammoth North is built on 4,500 acres in Starke County, about 20% of which were used for solar with the other 80% remaining green and/or used for growing crops.

According to Doral, the project started as a grassroots effort in 2019 culminating in having 65 families leasing their land to Doral for the project. In 2021, the company executed a long-term power purchase agreement with AEP Energy, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, who will be the sole offtaker.

“Indiana continues to chart the path forward toward the future economy, ranking among the top states for new clean energy under development thanks to the commitment and partnership of companies like Doral Renewables,” said Governor Eric J. Holcomb. “This mammoth-sized project is not only creating new jobs and new opportunities across northwest Indiana, but it is elevating our state and showcasing Hoosier innovation on the world’s stage.”

The project focused on using local labor and American materials including tracker systems from U.S.-based Nextracker that provided trackers specially designed for agrivoltaic installations. The nearly 76,000 solar panels used in the installation are not U.S. made.

Mammoth North is part of the Mammoth Solar project that, when complete, will have a capacity of 1.3 GW. Sitting on 13,000 acres of farm fields, Mammoth will produce enough electricity to power 247,000 homes.

Doral Renewables is a Philadelphia-based renewable energy developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy assets, with a solar and storage development portfolio of over 13 GW, including 1.3 GW under construction.

Nature’s Generator added a 50-amp 120/240V 12-circuit transfer switch its lineup of power transfer switches.

Designed to connect a home power supply to a solar-powered home’s power supply to a battery backup system, this 50-amp switch provides homeowners with the option to power more circuits than lower amp models. The company reports that the 50-amp model can handle up to 12,000 watts of power for 12 circuits (6 of 240V circuits or 12 of 120V circuits).

These switches, when connected to a home’s power supply and solar-powered battery-backup generator system, enable homeowners to manually choose when to power the selected circuits from their solar generator system.

The switches work by isolating the backup power from utility power. Nature’s Generator reports that its switches are code compliant and certified according to ISO/IEC Guide 17067, Conformity Assessment-Fundamentals of Product Certification, System 3, and in accordance with UL 1008 and CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 178.1. Although the transfer switch is prewired and designed for ease of installation, a licensed electrician is recommended

In September 2023 Nature’s Generator introduced a 30-Amp 12-circuit 120/240-Volt transfer switch.

“Our transfer switches integrate easily with home load centers,” explains Lawrence Zhou, CEO of Nature’s Generator. “During  outages, the manual switch can power a home’s selected circuits keeping families safe by providing power for lighting and important electrical appliances. Additionally, with utilities’ higher peak-use rates, transfer switches empower homeowners to avoid those costs — saving money while saving the planet.”

The company says its switches can be used with other battery-backup solar generators as well as fossil fuel-powered generators. The caveat is that gas or propane generators require the inlet box (included with the 50-Amp model) be installed outdoors for safety from noxious fossil fuel fumes.

The retail price on the 50-amp Transfer Switch is currently $499.95. Click here for more details.

Enphase Energy announced it is shipping U.S.-made IQ8P-3P microinverters designed for small-scale commercial installations. 

The Inflation Reduction Act incentivized many manufacturers, including Enphase Energy, to manufacture in the United States. In April the company reported it had shipped about 506,000 microinverters from its contract manufacturing facilities in the United States, making them eligible for the 45X production tax credit. 

“We are pleased to begin shipments of our IQ8 Commercial Microinverters from our contract manufacturing facility in Texas,” said Ron Swenson, senior vice president of operations at Enphase Energy. “Expanding our list of U.S.-supplied products has been a key objective, helping to ensure superior service with quicker delivery times for local customers in our top market.”

Each IQ8P-3P commercial microinverter supports up to 480 W of peak output power for three-phase commercial installations. The new microinverters are compatible with a wide range of solar panels including 54, 60, 66, 72, and 144-cell panels with full or split cells, supporting panels ranging 320 W to 640 W. Full specifications sheet and accessories can be found here.

The commercial Enphase Energy System includes the new IQ Gateway Commercial 2, which when connected to the internet enables over-the-air updates and to the Enphase App monitoring platform. The IQ Gateway and IQ Microinverters provide Fleet View for portfolio monitoring and management and Enphase Kiosk software that publicly displays system performance in real-time. The microinverters also feature Enphase Burst Mode technology that Enphase reports enables systems to start producing earlier and stop producing later in the day compared to other systems.

The microinverters are backed by an industry leading 25-year warranty for projects in the U.S. and Canada and 12-year warranties for projects in Mexico. 

To celebrate the launch, Enphase is hosting an event at its Arlington, Texas manufacturing facility on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Enphase encourages any installers and distributors interested in learning more about its commercial solution to reserve a spot on the event here.

Truro Vineyards, a family-owned winery on Cape Cod, partnered with Sunbug Solar, which is now a part of ReVision Energy, to install more than 160 Q.PEAK solar panels from Qcells on the rooftop of the 4,000 square foot warehouse.

The 55kW system includes Aire System racking from IronRidge and a SolarEdge 50kW inverter. It is expected to produce .06 MWh a year and will help keep the vineyard’s distillery storage warehouse at the optimal temperature of 50 to 60 F throughout the year.

The warehouse is a brand new building so, while there isn’t load data yet, it is anticipated that the system will offset more than the full load of the warehouse, with excess production credited to other buildings on-site including the production floor, offices and retail shop. This new solar installation is the second solar project at the facility, so combined, they will exceed the vineyard’s needs by at least 50%, according to ReVision.

“Investing in solar energy reflects our commitment to responsible land stewardship and our hope for the future—to continue making wines and spirits for as long as possible,” said Truro Vineyards owner, David Roberts, Jr.

The solar project could not be completed until the warehouse construction was finished, so while the project was in the works for a year, the actual installation took place in May and June of this year. When asked if there were any permitting issues, a ReVision spokesperson told pv magazine USA that “There are always challenges in permitting in Massachusetts, including a long interconnection queue.”

The new solar array will offset more than 59,841 pounds of carbon emissions each year or the equivalent to the energy generated by burning more than 28,000 pounds of coal.

“Truro Vineyards embodies the best that the Cape has to offer – great wines, a history that dates back to the early 1800s, live music and weekly events that gather the community, and family owners that understand the value of preserving the environment for future generations,” said Janice DiPietro, Chief Customer Officer of ReVision Energy.

ReVision Energy is a 100% employee-owned solar company based in New England that now has over 400 employee co-owners, 15,000 installations, and 20 years of experience.