Houston-based Sage Geosystems has started construction on a 3 MW geo-pressurized geothermal energy storage system in Christine, Texas. The announcement follows a land-use agreement signed with the San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc. (SMECI) enabling the location of the facility near an existing coal-fueled power plant. Sage will serve as merchant, buying and selling electricity to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid.

The storage system, dubbed EarthStore, is based on Sage’s dry rock geothermal technology, which consists of a drilled well into which water is pumped and kept at ambient heat and pressure in subsurface rock formations. When electricity is needed, the naturally heated and pressurized water is released to run a Pelton-type hydroelectric turbine generator. The storage facility is expected to have six to 10 hours of capacity.

The SMECI project will be the company’s first commercial storage facility. Sage CEO Cindy Taff said the coal plant will not have any bearing on storage operations, except as a source of water, and that the idea is to buy electricity from ERCOT to run pumps when demand and prices are low. When ERCOT experiences high demand Sage will run its turbine and sell the power.

“We’ll be drilling the well in September and building the facility,” Taff told pv magazine USA. “We’ll have everything done by the end of December this year.”

Ideally, Taff says, the EarthStore system would serve as a long duration energy storage companion to solar and wind generation, where surplus energy is used to run the pumps. The amount of storage depends on the number of wells available: more may be drilled to increase capacity on site. The pumped water may be stored indefinitely and when released delivers a round-trip efficiency of 70-75% with a water loss of less than 2%, she said.

The EarthStore system is one of family of geothermal storage and baseload energy systems Sage is developing. A more ambitious geothermal generation technology drills a series of wells to depths of 9,000 to 20,000 feel, where ambient temperatures range from 218- to 485-degrees Fahrenheit. In such systems, pressurized steam is liberated to run Rankin-cycle turbines to generate electricity. A more advanced version will heat pressurized, supercritical CO2 to drive a specialized turbine with greater efficiency.

Sage has contracts with the Department of Defense to develop geothermal baseload generators and microgrids for its facilities. It is conducting feasibility studies at the Army’s Ft. Bliss and Air Force’s Ellington Field bases, both in Texas. A prototype geothermal plant is under construction at the latter site. In addition, Sage has a test site of its own in Starr County.

According to Taff, the primary advantage of Sage’s approach to geothermal storage and generation is that it uses existing drilling techniques from the oil and gas industry to produce renewable energy from rock formations that exist essentially everywhere. All of the 16 GW of existent geothermal energy is produced from hydrothermal locations linked to volcanic activity – relatively rare occurrences.

“If you look at the continental U.S., we can put storage even in the East, where the geothermal potential is a little bit more challenge,” Taff said. “We can do it in the West, where you have good geothermal potential. So, we can pair with wind or solar just about anywhere. We are actually looking at pairing with solar to provide off-grid, 24/7 power for data centers and other customers who need tons of power.”

From ESS News

n North America, the top three vendors – Tesla, Sungrow and Fluence – captured 72% of the region’s market share for BESS shipments in 2023, marking an increase for these companies of 20% YoY.

At the same time, Wood Mackenzie also reports that the US buildout of microgrids nearly doubled for commercial and industrial users in 2023, surpassing 900MW. According to the Financial Times, business owners are willing to pay high upfront costs to own private grids in order to avoid operational losses caused by power outages. Market concentration in the BESS integrator market in North America has increased significantly, mainly driven by Tesla with a 60% increase in market share YoY.

Despite the North American and European data showing Tesla delivering the most and second most BESS, respectively, the global shift comes from China as multiple China-based companies have entered the global market. Six of the “global top 10 vendors” are China-based. The Wood Mackenzie report partially attributes this to China’s BESS market being exclusively supplied by domestic companies. China also installed the most BESS globally in 2023.

The Wood Mackenzie report ‘Global battery energy storage system integrator ranking 2024’ states that the market share of the global “top five” BESS integrators shrank to 47%, down from 62% in 2022.

A battery energy storage system integrator is a company that specialises in procuring (and/or manufacturing) subsystem components, integrating hardware and software and supplying completed battery energy storage systems. Energy storage system integrators’ responsibilities vary in practice, depending on contract details, clients’ specific requirements and available resources in the market.

Kevin Shang, Wood Mackenzie’s principal research analyst for energy storage technology and supply chain, explained, “The global BESS integrator market is becoming increasingly competitive, especially in China, resulting in declining market concentration. As a sector with a relatively low entry barrier, the BESS integrator industry has attracted a significant number of new players.”

This dynamic saw the increased dominance of Chinese companies in the Asia Pacific region in 2023. CRRC jumped to the top among BESS integrators in APAC, which Wood Mackenzie attributed to cost competitiveness, followed by Hyperstrong. XYZ Storage and Envision tied in third place.

Shang noted here, “Importantly, established companies have also been bolstering their competitiveness in terms of price, performance of products and solutions across all regions.”

To continue reading, visit our ESS News website.

From ESS News

While most long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies are still early stage, flow batteries have already had significant commercial success due to their long cycle life, excellent recyclability, and low fire risk.

In one of the biggest developments in the field, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the sixth-largest community-owned electric service provider in the US, has partnered with iron flow battery specialist ESS Tech, Inc. to deliver up to 200 MW/ 2 GWh of iron flow long-duration energy storage systems.

With the partnership closed in 2022, the project reached a new milestone last week with the approval of a $10 million grant from the California Energy Commission. The funding will be used for developing a 3.6 MW, eight-hour iron flow battery project, which is expected to set the foundation for future large-scale battery deployments and manufacturing at energy centers in Sacramento.

The project aims to showcase the capability and reliability of iron flow battery technology in supporting grid distribution and transmission systems as SMUD transitions to a carbon-free power portfolio by 2030.

Founded in 2011, ESS manufactures iron flow batteries using widely available materials such as iron, salt, and water. Designed for applications that require up to twelve hours of flexible energy capacity, the batteries are used in utility-scale renewable energy installations, remote solar-plus-storage microgrids, solar load-shifting and peak shaving, as well as other ancillary grid services.

To continue reading, please visit our ESS News website.

MIT scientists optimize perovskite solar cell components Researchers at MIT have enhanced the stability of Spiro-MeOTAD in perovskite solar cells, achieving over 1,400 hours of high-temperature testing with minimal degradation in a lower efficiency cell.

WoodMac says global solar tracker shipments grew by 28% in 2023 Global tracker shipments reached 92 GWdc last year, according to WoodMackenzies’ latest report. The US accounted for the majority of the global market, with three US-based manufacturers, Nextracker, Array Technologies and GameChange Solar, ranking as the three largest shippers in the world.

Interview: My experience as a battery energy storage homeowner What is it like being a residential solar and energy storage prosumer living in California? Ahmad Faruqui, economist-at-large, shares his perspective with pv magazine USA .

Wafer prices near bottom, size evolution and capacity globalization continue 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.

Tesla continues scaling up energy storage business in China The announcement of Tesla’s battery factory in Shanghai marked the company’s entry into the Chinese market. Amy Zhang, analyst at InfoLink Consulting, looks at what this move could bring for the US battery storage maker and the broader Chinese market.

How long do residential solar batteries last? Multiple factors affect lifespan of a residential battery energy storage system. We examine the life of batteries in Part 3 of our series.

Energy storage opportunities in Mid-Atlantic region await clear state policies Panelists at RE+ in Philadelphia said storage deployment in the PJM region lags others, but doesn’t have to.

U.S. engineers develop ChatGPT algorithm to design solar cells OptoGPT is a new algorithm that harnesses the computer architecture underpinning ChatGPT. Its creators say that it will enable researchers and engineers to design optical multilayer film structures for a wide range of applications, including solar cells.

People on the move: Origis Energy, EVPassport, and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

California replacing nuclear with solar plus storage Clearway Energy has secured financing for the 200 MW Luna Valley Solar & Storage facility and the 113.5 MW Dagget energy storage project in California. These projects have signed PPAs that are part of a collection of projects being developed across the state intended to replace the potentially retiring Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

Heliene and Premier Energies announce U.S. solar cell factory Heliene is a solar module provider operating in North America, while Premier Energies is the second largest solar cell manufacturer in India.

Clearway Energy has secured financing for a 200 MW solar-plus-storage project and a 113.5 MW energy storage facility in California. The company will utilize $700 million in construction financing to deploy these projects, which have long-term agreements with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), South California Edison (SCE), and the Power & Water Resources Pooling Authority (PWRPA).

The Luna Valley facility features 200 MWac of solar power coupled with 169 MW of energy storage. As indicated in the site layout above, the batteries are positioned at the site of the solar inverters, suggesting potential DC coupling with the solar power.

Nestled in Fresno County, the Luna Valley facility is surrounded by a mix of existing and future solar power plants. To the south, it is neighbored by the existing Tranquility Solar Project. The Adams East Solar Projects lie to the east, while the Scarlet Solar Power Project, currently under development, is situated to the west.

This facility is one of sixteen current and prospective solar facilities within a fifteen-mile radius.

The Luna Valley facility has secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) with SDG&E, SCE, and PWRPA, while the Daggett Storage facility has an agreement exclusively with SDG&E.

According to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), SDG&E has contracted equal amounts of solar and energy storage from the Luna and Dagget facilities. These resources are linked in a “virtually paired hybrid contract” as part of legislative efforts to replace the potentially retiring 2.2 GW Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The combined resources are designed to be available daily from 5 P.M. to 10 P.M., providing power for at least five consecutive hours.

The energy storage facility, featuring a four-hour 113.5 MW battery, marks the final phase of the now complete 482 MW Daggett Solar plus 394 MW Energy Storage complex. To fulfill the five-hour runtime requirement, the facility operates the 113.5 MW battery at a derated 91 MW.

A sound study reveals that daytime noise levels within the facility’s perimeter could reach up to 55 decibels (dB), comparable to a loud conversation. Just outside the fence, sound levels peak between 40 and 45 dB, with the lower end akin to a whisper and the upper end similar to a normal conversation or a running dishwasher.

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, pv magazine reviewed the productive lifespan of residential solar panels and inverters. Here, we examine home batteries, how well they perform over time, and how long they last.

Residential energy storage has become an increasingly popular feature of home solar. A recent SunPower survey of more than 1,500 households found that about 40% of Americans worry about power outages on a regular basis. Of the survey respondents actively considering solar for their homes, 70% said they planned to include a battery energy storage system.

Besides providing backup power during outages, many batteries are integrated with technology that allows for intelligent scheduling of the import and export of energy. The goal is to maximize the value of the home’s solar system. And, some batteries are optimized to integrate an electric vehicle charger.

The report noted a steep uptick to consumers showing interest in storage in order to self-supply solar generation, suggesting that lowered net metering rates are discouraging export of local, clean electricity. Nearly 40% of consumers reported self-supply as a reason for getting a storage quote, up from less than 20% in 2022. Backup power for outages and savings on utility rates were also listed as top reasons for including energy storage in a quote.

Attachment rates of batteries in residential solar projects have climbed steadily  in 2020 8.1% of residential solar systems attached batteries, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and in 2022 that rate climbed over 17%.

Life of a battery

Warranty periods can offer a look in installer and manufacturer expectations of the life of a battery. Common warranty periods are typically around 10 years. The warranty for the Enphase IQ Battery, for instance, ends at 10 years or 7,300 cycles, whatever occurs first.

Solar installer Sunrun said batteries can last anywhere between 5-15 years. That means a replacement likely will be needed during the 20-30 year life of a solar system.

Battery life expectancy is mostly driven by usage cycles. As demonstrated by the LG and Tesla product warranties, thresholds of 60% or 70% capacity are warranted through a certain number of charge cycles.

Two use-scenarios drive this degradation: over charge and trickle charge, said the Faraday Institute. Overcharge is the act of pushing current into a battery that is fully charged. Doing this can cause it to overheat, or even potentially catch fire.

Trickle charge involves a process in which the battery is continually charged up to 100%, and inevitably losses take place. The bounce between 100% and just under 100% can elevate internal temperatures, diminishing capacity and lifetime.

Another cause of degradation over time is the loss of mobile lithium-ions in the battery, said Faraday. Side reactions in the battery can trap free usable lithium, thereby lowering capacity gradually.

While cold temperatures can halt a lithium-ion battery from performing, they do not actually degrade the battery or shorten its effective life. Overall battery lifetime is, however, diminished at high temperatures, said Faraday. This is because the electrolyte that sits between the electrodes breaks down at elevated temperatures, causing the battery to lose its capacity for Li-ion shuttling. This can reduce the number of Li-ions the electrode can accept into its structure, depleting the lithium-ion battery capacity.

Maintenance

It is recommended by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to install a battery in a cool, dry place, preferably a garage, where the impact of a fire (a small, but non-zero threat) may be minimized. Batteries and components around them should have proper spacing to allow cooling, and regular maintenance check-ups can be helpful in ensuring optimal operation.

NREL said that whenever possible, avoid repeated deep discharging of batteries, as the more it is discharged, the shorter the lifetime. If the home battery is discharged deeply every day, it may be time to increase the battery bank’s size.

Batteries in series should be kept at the same charge, said NREL. Though the entire battery bank may display an overall charge of 24 volts, there can be varied voltage among the batteries, which is less beneficial to protecting the entire system over the long run. Additionally, NREL recommended that the correct voltage set points are set for chargers and charge controllers, as determined by the manufacturer.

Inspections should occur frequently, too, said NREL. Some things to look for include leakage (buildup on the outside of the battery), appropriate fluid levels, and equal voltage. NREL said each battery manufacturer may have additional recommendations, so checking maintenance and data sheets on a battery is a best practice.

How long do residential solar inverters last? Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar inverter. In Part 2 of our series, we look at solar inverters.

GADS reporting required for far more solar facilities in 2025 With the North American Reliability Corporation’s Generating Availability Data System’s requirement dropping for 100 MW to 20 MW solar installations, many more solar installers will need to comply.

California community action agency breaks ground on vehicle-to-grid solar project 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.

ReCreate unveils details of U.S. solar cell, module factory The new venture is expected to bring 2 GW of solar module manufacturing capacity to the US market within 18 to 24 months.

How long do residential solar panels last? Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar panel. In the first part of this series, we look at the solar panels themselves.

New design for antimony trisulfide solar cells promises 30% higher efficiency An international research team has proposed a series of optimization techniques for antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) solar cells that may reportedly increase the efficiency of these PV devices to over 11%. The resulting new cell design is said to significantly improve band alignment control and parameter optimization.

Trina Solar probing potential breaches of TOPCon patents Trina Solar says it has started evaluating potential violations of some of its patents for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) tech. One of the patents focuses on the number of busbars and their width in TOPCon solar panels.

Reducing solar project timelines and costs with integrated switchboards Utility-scale solar projects can be developed more rapidly and cost effectively through the use of integrated switchboards, said a report from Castillo Engineering, Recon Corporation, EPEC and ReBoSS.

U.S. Senators introduce comprehensive energy permitting reform act Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) released the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, promising to accelerate the permitting processes for energy and mineral projects of all types in the U.S.

DOE’s Liftoff Plan: Three actions utilities can implement 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.

The Hydrogen Stream: Europe could miss 2030 hydrogen targets The European Court of Auditors says the European Union will likely fail to achieve its 2030 renewable hydrogen goals, while the US Department of Energy and Arches have agreed to build a $12.6 billion hydrogen hub in California.

DOE offers conditional loan guarantee for 200 MW solar, 285 MW storage in Puerto Rico Two solar-plus-storage projects in Puerto Rico eligible for a loan guarantee would double the territory’s utility-scale solar capacity.

Canadian government extends heat pump grant scheme The provincial government of Prince Edward Island, Canada, has signed an agreement with the Canadian federal government to implement the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) program. The scheme offers grants to low- and medium-income households to install heat pumps and has nationally delivered more than 7,000 units to date.

$7 billion federal ‘Solar for All’ program faces vendor and compliance challenges A group of panelists at the RE+ conference in Philadelphia, panelists provided updates on the EPA-administered Solar for All Program, which extends solar access to low income households.

Massachusetts passes pro-solar and energy storage reforms The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill to put time limits on solar permit processing, streamlined appeals processes, energy storage procurement goals, and more.

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.

The Energy Information Administration reported in its monthly electric power industry report that battery adoption rates are rising among solar customers in California.

In October 2023, about 20% of California solar shoppers opted to include a battery energy storage system in their installation. In April 2024, that number has climbed to over 50%.

The change to battery-included systems is largely due to the transition to Net Energy Metering 3.0, a regulatory structure that decreased the amount paid to customers for sending solar production directly to the grid. Due to an hourly mismatch of peak solar production and peak electricity demand, regulators shifted compensation rates to place an emphasis on storing and dispatching solar generated electricity when it is needed the most.

A 50% or greater battery attachment rate is a significant change for the state’s solar industry. Solar-plus-battery systems make up about 9% of all installed residential net metering capacity in California. Over 40,000 new systems were added between October 2023 and April 2024, accounting for 232 MW of new battery storage capacity in the state, said EIA.

While NEM 3.0 achieved its intended effect of encouraging more battery installations, the rulemaking decision was unpopular with solar advocates. The change increased the overall sticker price for installing solar, and while you get the added benefit of battery backup during outages, the amount of time it will take to breakeven on a solar investment in California has increased. This has led to a decline in installations, with Q1 2024 having the lowest installed capacity in a quarter since 2021 with a little over 300 MW of solar installed.

California now has more than 12,000 MW of installed solar capacity in residential net metering systems smaller than 1 MW. Residential installations account for more than 70% of installed net metering capacity, and about one-third of total installed solar capacity in the state.

“Our data show that during the third quarter of 2023, 83,376 new residential net metering photovoltaic systems were installed, compared with 70,152 systems connected under the old NEM 2.0 rule during the same period in 2022. However, we cannot differentiate the systems that requested to be grandfathered to NEM 2.0,” said EIA.

The first quarter of 2024 saw an additional 46,631 systems installed. Since January 2022, an average of 21,000 solar systems were added every month.

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.

Solar corporate funding drops to $16.6 billion in H1 High interest rates, an uncertain rate trajectory and timeline, increasing trade barriers, supply chain challenges, concerns about the presidential election’s impact on the sector, and constantly evolving trade policies have created a climate of uncertainty.

First Solar commissions 1.3 million square-foot R&D facility The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation in Lake Township, Ohio includes a high-tech pilot manufacturing line allowing for the production of full-sized prototypes of thin film and tandem PV modules.

Intersect Power closes $837 million in financing for three battery systems in Texas Each project comprises 86 Tesla Megapacks and will provide a capacity of 320 MWh of battery storage with a two-hour duration.

S&P Global launches daily spot market price assessment for solar panels The tool has been billed as the world’s first independent daily spot market price assessment for solar panels. S&P Global says it has been launched to aid transparency in technology pricing as solar modules become increasingly commoditized.

Generac awarded up to $200 million from DOE for solar and storage in Puerto Rico The funds seek to build energy resilience in Puerto Rico, where hurricanes and other extreme weather frequently leave residents without power.

North American solar power purchase agreements rise 3% in Q2 LevelTen Energy released its quarterly PPA Price Index Report, showing an increase in prices following a modest drop in Q1.

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.

People on the move: Swift Current Energy, Lightsource bp, WTS Energy, and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

50 states of solar policy moves, Q2 2024 Q2 2024 saw 44 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico take a total of 182 distributed solar policy actions.

Grid operator PJM to start talks on regional transmission The nation’s largest grid operator told renewables trade groups that it will launch a transmission planning process ordered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Utah developer rPlus secures $1B in financing for 400 MW/1600 MWh solar-plus-storage project  The Green River Energy Center will supply power for PacifiCorp.

Peak Energy secures $55 million Series A funding to manufacture sodium-ion batteries The company plans to deliver its first systems in 2025 and open a full-scale production facility in 2027.

U.S. residential solar down 20% in 2024 A webinar hosted by Roth Capital Partners looked at the health of the residential solar market and forecasts for next year.

From pv magazine ESS News site

The global energy storage fleet continues to grow in leaps and bounds on the back of the growing demand for clean firm capacity and rapidly falling battery storage prices. However, analysts suggest that the industry is only in the starting blocks, with exponential growth to be expected in the years to come.

According to the latest forecasts from research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, the global energy storage market (excluding pumped hydro) is on track to reach 159 GW/358 GWh by the end of 2024.

Looking ahead, 926 GW/2,789 GWh will be added between 2024 and 2033, marking a 636% increase, Wood Mackenzie’s Q2 global energy storage market outlook update finds. This makes energy storage one of the fastest-growing markets in the power industry as renewable integration challenges rise.

“Global energy storage deployment in 2023 achieved record-breaking growth of 162% compared to 2022, installing 45 GW/100 GWh. While impressive, the growth represents just the start for a multi-TW market as policy support in terms of tax exemption and capacity and hybrid auctions accelerate storage buildout across all regions,” said Anna Darmani, principal analyst, energy storage at Wood Mackenzie.

China remains the global leader in terms of energy storage deployment, due to its booming solar market, with an average of 42 GW/120 GWh annual capacity additions forecasted in the next 10 years.

To continue reading, please visit our ESS News website.

In less than a decade, data and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie forecasts that the world will multiply its total renewable energy capacity.

From 2024 to 2033, the firm forecasts that 4.7 TW of DC solar capacity will be installed globally. China is expected to contribute 50% of the total.

Solar and wind together are expected to add 5.4 TW through this period, increasing the global total to 8 TW. Energy storage capacity is expected to grow by more than 600%, with 1 TW expected to come online over the period.

“Global demand for renewables has reached unprecedented levels, driven by country-level policy targets, technology innovation, and concerns over energy security. Integrated power technology solutions will continue to evolve, evidenced by a significant increase in storage-paired capacity growth, despite inflation, grid constraints and permitting challenges,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president, global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie.

The firm forecasts that 500 GW of new solar and wind capacity installed in 2023, and average 560 GW annually over the 10-year outlook. Solar is expected to account for 59% of global capacity added over the period.

In the first quarter, U.S. developers installed more solar in the first quarter of 2024 than in all of 2019. Installations in China were up 36% year-on-year, and new capacity in India through Q1 were equivalent to 85% total capacity installed in 2023. However, Europe’s distributed solar boom has started to weaken, with first quarter residential installations contracting more than 30% in Germany and over 50% in the Netherlands as retail rates come down.

“Ultra-low module prices intensified the rate of solar deployments last year in Europe and China and will continue to do so in the near-term. But grid constraints and a return to lower power prices and subsequently lower capture rates will impact markets and other regions,” said Juan Monge, principal analyst, distributed solar PV at Wood Mackenzie.

Monge added that maximizing solar capacity in the next 10 years will depend on additional technology developments from expanding grid infrastructure to incentivizing flexibility solutions, transportation and heating electrification.

Drastic drops in solar module prices and tight interconnection deadlines have triggered 150% annual growth for PV installations globally, said Wood Mackenzie. The firm expects this growth curve to continue until 2026, when there may be a two-year slowdown due to an expected pause in development activity before the next round of planned procurement drives higher deployment.

Meanwhile the global energy storage market is on track to reach 159 GW/358 GWh by the of 2024. Looking ahead, 926 GW/2789 GWh is expected to be added between 2024 and 2033, marking a 636% increase.

“The growth represents just the start for a multi-TW market as policy support in terms of tax exemption and capacity and hybrid auctions accelerate storage buildout across all regions,” said Anna Darmani, principal analyst, energy storage, at Wood Mackenzie.

From ESS News

Canadian Solar’s e-Storage has secured a contract from Nova Scotia Power to develop the first grid-scale battery energy storage projects across three locations in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The projects, totaling 150 MW / 705 MWh DC and located in Bridgewater, Waverley, and White Rock, will play a major role in enhancing the grid reliability and stability, while contributing to provincial and federal targets of achieving 80% renewables by 2030.

Construction will be completed by the end of 2026, and the first site expected to be operational in 2025. e-Storage will provide comprehensive engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services along with long-term service agreements (LTSA).

Peter Gregg, President of Nova Scotia Power, said: “We look forward to collaborating with communities and project partners to ensure these projects provide the most cost-effective value to our customers.

Elsewhere, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan’s first utility-scale BESS project came online last week. The construction of the 20 MW facility began in 2022, and it was a Canadian community effort.

Canada’s On Power provided the BESS’ equipment while local utilities business SaskPower employed contractors to complete the installation onsite. The BESS is located at SaskPower’s Fleet Street substation in Regina, which is the capital city of Saskatchewan. The Canadian government supplied approximately $13 million of the project’s total $34 million cost.

“The addition of battery storage will enable SaskPower to better respond to the fluctuating demands of our electrical grid,” said Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskPower.

Rupen Pandya, SaskPower’s president and CEO said the company was pleased to be adding battery storage as another tool to help it provide power to its customers. Pandya hinted at the possibility for more BESS work if the Regina BESS is a success.

“The experience we gain from operating our first BESS will help us determine the potential for more battery energy storage in the future,” he added.

The project coming online is a significant development for Saskatchewan, which hopes to reach net-zero emissions 15 years later than the national Canadian target of 2035.

Elsewhere in Canada, other BESS-related advancements have been pouring in. In May, the government of Ontario completed the largest battery storage procurement in Canadian history. It secured 2,195 MW from ten projects ranging in size from 9 MW to 390 MW.

Article continues on ESS News…

The secret to keeping a highly renewable island grid stable It may seem counterintuitive to operators who are familiar with traditional grid management methods, but the key to stabilizing the destabilizing effects of more renewables on the grid is–more renewables.

Time to talk solar curtailment It’s time to assess curtailment, as rising amounts of excess generation are being wasted in several markets. This can be problematic for the solar industry but Toby Couture and David Jacobs, coordinators of think tank Global Solar PV Brain Trust, argue that curtailment is not always bad.

In case you missed it: Five big solar stories in the news this week  pv magazine USA spotlights news of the past week including market trends, project updates, policy changes and more.

California city to install pop-up solar canopy with EV charging  The City of Campbell contracted with Paired Power to install its Pairtree solar canopy.

Aiko presents ABC solar module with world record efficiency of 25.2% at Intersolar The Chinese back contact module maker said its new products rely on the company’s all-back-contact (ABC) cell technology and feature a temperature coefficient of -0.26% per C.

People on the move: Amp Energy, Deriva Energy, Atwell LLC, and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

Arizona’s largest energy storage project closes $513 million in financing The 1,200 MWh Papago Storage project will dispatch enough power to serve 244,000 homes for four hours a day with the e-Storage SolBank high-cycle lithium-ferro-phosphate battery energy storage solution. 

Scientists develop silver-free PEDOT:PSS adhesive for shingled solar cells Researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have developed a new silver-free adhesive for shingled solar cells. The novel adhesive is based the PEDOT:PSS polymer and can reportedly reduce silver consumption to approximately 6.3 mg/W.

Longi launches ultra-black HPBC solar modules for residential applications The Chinese manufacturer said its new Hi-MO X6 Artist series has an efficiency of up to 22.3% and a power output ranging from 420 W to 430 W. The smaller version is currently priced at CNY 298 ($41.7)/m2 and the largest model is sold at CNY 268/m2.

Nextracker acquires solar foundation specialist Ojjo for $119 million Ojjo makes a unique truss system that reportedly uses half the steel of a conventional foundation and a design that minimizes grading requirements.

Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. has secured $513 million in project financing for its Papago Storage project located in Maricopa County, Arizona.

The 1,200 MWh Papago Storage, which will be the largest energy storage project in Arizona, is expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2024, with commercial operations slated for the second quarter of 2025. Once operational, the project is expected to dispatch enough power for approximately 244,000 homes for four hours every day.

The Papago battery energy storage systems (BESS) project will use e-Storage’s SolBank, a containerized, proprietary battery energy storage solution designed and manufactured for utility-scale applications. SolBank, which was announced at RE+ in Anaheim in 2022, uses high-cycle lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) batteries with a 2.8 MWh energy capacity.

Recurrent Energy, owner of the project, secured a 20-year tolling agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS) for the energy storage project, under which the utility pays for the right to charge and discharge the battery when it needs to.

MUFG and Nord/LB acted as coordinating lead arrangers for the Papago Storage project financing. The financing includes a $249 million construction and term loan, a $163 million tax equity bridge loan, and a $101 million letter of credit facility. Joint lead arrangers for the transaction included Bank of America, CoBank, DNB, Rabobank, Siemens Financial Services, and Zions.

“Today, we are thrilled to see nearly a decade of planning culminate in the financing of what will be the largest energy storage project in Arizona,” said Ismael Guerrero, CEO of Recurrent Energy. “We appreciate the continued support from our partners Nord/LB and MUFG in our shared mission to advance the clean energy transition.”

Last April Canadian Solar rebranded its wholly owned global energy subsidiary as Recurrent Energy. This segment develops both stand-alone solar and stand-alone battery storage projects, as well as hybrid solar-plus-storage projects. To date, Recurrent Energy has delivered more than 10 GWp of solar power projects and 3.3 GWh of energy storage projects, with a global project development pipeline of 26 GWp and 56 GWh for solar and energy storage respectively, the company reports. In North America, Recurrent Energy is developing a pipeline of 6.3 GWp of solar projects and 18.9 GWh of battery energy storage projects.

Wood Mackenzie and American Clean Power released its quarterly Energy Storage Monitor report, finding that the U.S. storage market posted strong growth in the grid-scale and residential storage sector, while the commercial and industrial sector retracted significantly in Q1 2024. 

The grid-scale market installed 993 MW / 2,952 MWh of storage, with California, Texas, and Nevada responsible for 90% of the total. This was a record quarter for grid-scale storage, growing 84% year-over-year over Q1 2023. The enormous backlog of grid-scale storage with interconnection applications has grown 10% year-over-year, with 426 GW of storage in the queue nationwide. 

Costs declined considerably year-over-year, with grid scale storage averaging $1,776 per kWh in Q1 2023 and falling 39% to $1,080 per kWh in 2024. The grid-scale segment is projected to see a 45% increase year-over-year in 2024 with 11.1 GW/31.6 GWh installed, bringing total cumulative volume in the next five years to 62.6 GW/219 GWh.

About 250 MW / 515 MWh of residential storage was installed, posting a slight increase of 8% over Q4 2023. Interestingly the residential solar segment grew 48% on a MW capacity basis year-over-year for Q1. 

California tripled its number of residential storage installs year-over-year for Q1. Batteries were attached to 41% of installed solar arrays in California, suggesting there is still a lot of room for growth, said Wood Mackenzie. High interest rates continue to drag down the residential solar and storage market, increasing the amount of third-party owned systems like leases and power purchase agreements (PPA). 

Wood Mackenzie forecasts that 13 GW of distributed storage will be deployed over the next five years. The residential segment will constitute 79% of distributed power capacity installations, said the report. It said that more residential storage will come online as costs decrease and the value of exporting rooftop solar mid-day decreases as well. 

Despite growth in other sectors, the commercial, community and industrial market had its worst quarterly deployment total in years. The California market has remained stagnant as most systems installed are under Net Energy Metering 2.0, and New York and Massachusetts have had down quarters. 

“The CCI segment continues to see the highest barriers to growth in the near-term, but its strong value proposition and emerging value streams will make it an exciting growth segment in the later years of our ten-year forecast,” said Wood Mackenzie. 

Across all segments, Wood Mackenzie expects 12.9 GW / 35.8 GWh of storage to be installed in 2024. In its quarterly report, the firm raised its five-year forecast for grid-scale installations by 5% and residential sector installations by 8%. The five-year commercial, community, and industrial forecast was cut by 34% after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) made an unfavorable ruling on community solar.

Looking ahead, Wood Mackenzie expects 75 GW / 251 GWh to be installed through 2028.

“The rapid growth of the energy storage industry comes at a critical time, providing a solution to growing energy demand and increasingly variable weather conditions that are placing added stress on the grid.” said John Hensley, vice president of markets and policy analysis at American Clean Power, “A strong start to 2024 sets expectations high for the remainder of the year.”

Read more energy storage news coverage on the new pv magazine energy storage platform.

This article was amended to correct MWh to KWh in reference to declining costs.

From ESS News

U.S.-based energy solutions company Torus has announced the signing of a deal with real estate developer Gardner Group to provide its propriatery BESS and FESS technologies in one of the largest commercial energy storage projects in the U.S. state of Utah.

The deal will see 26 MWh of systems installed and supported by Torus’ proprietary software platform, enabling intelligent energy management, demand response capabilities, and seamless integration with renewable energy sources and EV charging infrastructure.

The project will also leverage Torus’ participation in Rocky Mountain Power’s Wattsmart Battery program, which supports grid resilience through the integration of energy storage resources into a VPP ecosystem. The Torus VPP platform enables predictive analytics for demand response, energy arbitrage, and frequency regulation.

Startup Giraffe Financial aims to unravel tax credit complexities for businesses Giraffe received a $1.5 million pre-seed round of funding and plans to help underserved small- and medium-sized businesses access IRA tax credits.

CATL, Gotion deny U.S. accusations of forced labor U.S. lawmakers have urged for Chinese battery heavyweights CATL and Gotion High-Tech to be immediately added to an import ban list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Both manufacturers have adamantly denied the allegations.

Bitech Technologies sells 2.4 GW of solar to focus on energy storage Bitech completed the sale of 2.425 GW of its greenfield solar projects to “a third party purchaser”. The company plans to turn its focus to its battery storage business, which it believes, could ensure better investment returns.

Hawaii’s largest solar-plus-storage facility now operational The 60 MW Kūihelani solar-plus-storage facility will generate enough electricity for 27,000 homes, with a 240 MWh battery energy storage system.

Solar represents over 80% of U.S. electric capacity additions in 2024 Combined with wind, the two technologies represent 99% of all capacity additions, according to data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Maxeon reveals minimized risk of hotspots in IBC solar panels Maxeon’s Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar panels were found to disperse heat evenly, leading to lower operating temperatures in the shade and reduced degradation.

Swift Solar closes $27 million in funding, plans perovskite solar factory Swift Solar, a specialist in perovskite tandem photovoltaics, plans to build a factory in the U.S. in the next two to three years to manufacture thin-film solar.

Hawaii has the highest average electricity price of any state at 43.93 cents per kWh, nearly triple the U.S. average, yet this project will cut that cost for many residents. Developer AES Hawaii projects that the Kūihelani Solar-plus-Storage facility will generate enough electricity for 15% of Maui’s needs at just 8 cents per kWh.

“Maui residents will soon be seeing the benefit of Kuihelani in their electric bills and the reassurance of knowing they will have reliable electrical power for their homes and businesses,” said former Maui Mayor Victorino.

Islands that are not covering their energy needs with renewables are beholden to imported fossil fuels. The energy generated by this facility will offset the need to import an estimated 2 million barrels of oil.

Situated on 450 acres in central Maui, between Kūihelani Highway and Maui Veterans Highway, the project supports the state’s goal of 100% renewable energy and decarbonization targets by 2045. AES Hawaii broke ground for construction less than two years ago, and as with most large-scale solar projects, the company sought input from the community prior to construction. As a result, AES Hawaii modified its plans.

“We reduced the size of the project site by 35%, minimizing the project’s environmental footprint, while maximizing the usage of the available land in a responsible manner,” said Sandra Larsen, Hawaii market business leader for AES.

Hawaiian Electric is the offtaker of the electricity, having signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with AES Hawaii.

Nearly 300 jobs were supported during construction of Kūihelani Solar-plus-Storage and and generated approximately $68 million for Maui’s economy, according to AES Hawaii. In addition, project area is also designed for agricultural use.

AES Hawaii more than 300 MW of renewable energy in construction or operational, enough to power 120,000 homes statewide. The company estimates that this is the equivalent of eliminating more than 175,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and more than 15 million barrels of oil consumption over the course of project lifecycles.

From pv magazine ESS News

California-headquartered renewables company Bitech is selling 2.425 GW of its total 3.840 GW solar project portfolio. According to its website, Bitech’s primary focus as owner operator is the monetization and modernization of its 1.96 GW pipeline of grid-balancing battery energy storage system (BESS) projects. Bitech says it has a combo pipeline of 5.8 GW of BESS and solar projects.

A large part of Bitech’s business model is building partnerships and M&A deals with other renewables businesses, such as Emergen, a company it purchased from Texas-based solar and storage developer Bridgelink on April 24. With this transaction, the solar assets that have now been offloaded had entered Bitech’s portfolio.

Bitech’s wholly owned subsidiary Emergen will receive $19,400,000 from “a non-related third-party purchaser”, if the projects achieve a Point of Interconnection and subsequently obtain all Necessary Land Rights and the option to return certain or all projects is not executed.

Commenting on the decision to divest…

Article continues here.

From pv magazine ESS News site

Houston-based long-duration energy storage developer Quidnet Energy has announced a major deal that could see hundreds of megawatts of its innovative technology deployed in Texas to help address ERCOT’s urgent need for energy storage.

The company has announced a strategic partnership with a $10 million investment from Hunt Energy Network (HEN), a distributed energy resources developer with experience in subsurface development.

The two Texas-based companies will collaborate on a build-transfer program for 300 MW of projects utilizing Quidnet Energy’s GES technology, which relies on well-sealed underground reservoirs for energy storage.

The partnership will pair Quidnet’s solution with HEN’s similar subsurface technologies and its capabilities in developing energy storage projects, the companies said in a release.

“Quidnet Energy’s GES technology presents a unique opportunity to revolutionize energy storage, and we’re excited to invest in a solution that purposefully transforms existing resources to expand access to long-duration storage,” said Pat Wood, III, Chief Executive Officer for Hunt Energy Network.

To continue reading, please visit our ESS News website.

California transitioned its rooftop solar policy on April 15, 2023, eliminated net energy metering (NEM) and moving toward a net billing tariff (NBT) structure. The change essentially cut the rate paid to customers for exporting their excess solar production to the grid by about 80%. On year later, Lawerence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has released a report evaluating changes in the state’s rooftop solar market.

LNBL found that rooftop solar installations in California were roughly equal in 2023 to 2022. However, 80% of the systems installed were NEM 2.0 installations rushing into interconnection queues before the April 15, 2023 deadline to secure the more lucrative rate structure. To date, about 50,000 systems have been interconnected under the new NBT structure, in addition to 200,000 NEM systems interconnected over the same period.

Data from EnergySage, operator of the largest residential solar quote site in the U.S., are “suggestive of a more sustained downturn,” said the report.

Quote requests spiked during the December 2022-April 2023 window between announcement and implementation of NBT. Since then, monthly quote requests have averaged roughly 60% of historical (2019-2021) levels.

A 40% drop in historical quote requests is a “leading indicator” for market activity and “is perhaps the clearest signal yet of a substantial and sustained market contraction,” said LBNL.

A significant contraction of the rooftop solar market is not an ideal outcome for California, a state with ambitious clean energy goals and an electricity affordability crisis. Trade association leaders have warned that California is unlikely to reach its clean energy targets without robust contributions from the rooftop solar industry.

(Read the opinion piece: “We must push back on net billing“)

However, the transition to NBT has created some outcomes in California that may be desirable. The profile of an installed system has changed considerably. Pre-NBT, customers attached battery energy storage with their rooftop array in roughly 10% of installations. Now, post-NBT installations include batteries 60% of the time.

This is important for California’s grid operators, that seek to smooth out the mismatch between solar generated electricity supply and demands on the grid. This mismatch, often represented by the “duck curve,” has been deepening in California, causing pricing and grid maintenance issues, and creating a need for inefficient natural gas “peaker” plants to serve times of high demand and low generation.

The high battery attachment rate offers customers some benefits, too. While the overall sticker price goes up with a battery-attached system, the return on investment has improved relative to a solar-only installation.

Installers report a median payback period of eight years for solar systems with a battery, while standalone solar systems have a longer median payback period of about 10 years. Battery storage enables customers to store their solar production and use it when grid prices are at their highest, rather than selling it to the grid at pennies on the dollar on sunny afternoons. Solar-battery owners also have the option to be compensated for exporting power during peak demand events or emergencies, potentially creating a new stream of revenue.

Customers with batteries also benefit from having backup power during grid outages, which remains the number one reason for including batteries nationwide, according to an installer survey by SolarReviews.

“Since November 2023, residential storage installs have averaged roughly 5,000 systems per month, more than double the monthly pace over the preceding three years,” said the report from LBNL.

The Berkeley Labs report noted a change in financing options for residential solar customers. Over the final 12-months of NEM, third party ownership rates, including leased and power purchase agreement systems, averaged 26% for stand-alone solar and 11% for solar and storage systems. This jumped up to 39% for standalone solar and 52% for solar plus storage under the NBT system. Some of this change may be attributed to increased interest rates creating loan terms for customers that are more difficult to digest.

Finally, the Berkeley Labs report noted an increase in consolidation in the California rooftop solar market. The market share of the top five installers in the state rose from 40% during the last year of NEM to 51% during the first year of NBT.

One year in, it is clear that the change to NBT has drastically altered the California rooftop solar industry. However, the backlog of NEM orders being served in 2023 has made it unclear what the total effect of this policy change will bring. This sets the stage for 2024 being a critical proving ground for the health of this industry.

“These trends, and others, will no doubt come into sharper focus over the next year or so, once the NEM backlog is fully cleared and a ‘new normal’ under NBT sets in,” concluded Galen Barbose, staff scientist, LBNL.

From pv magazine Global

Enel Green Power, the renewable energy unit of Italian utility Enel, and UK-based gravity storage specialist Energy Vault have jointly announced plans to build a large-scale gravity storage facility in the United States.

The system will operate in the ERCOT market. It will also serve the Solutions Excellence Center in Texas, a research facility for innovative storage technologies that is currently under construction.

“The plant is one of the first of its kind in the world and the first in the West,” Enel Green Power said in a statement. “The validation of the technology, which has been tested on the US market, will provide our group with the basis for future projects that could employ gravitational technology for long-term storage applications.”

In March, Energy Vault completed a 25 MW/100 MWh gravity-based storage facility in China.

EVx, the Energy Vault system, demonstrated round-trip efficiency of about 75% in a pilot project installed in Switzerland in 2020. The company said it expects that to be improved to about 80%, placing it in a similar range as pumped hydro storage and even grid-scale batteries.

Energy Vault’s storage device lifts composite blocks with an electric (solar-powered) motor. The lifted blocks are stacked, which creates potential energy. As the blocks are lowered, the energy is harvested and dispatched for use.

It said the tower’s design is based on the physics of pumped hydroelectric energy storage. However, as a solid “mobile mass,” the composite blocks do not lose storage capacity over time. The composite blocks can be made cheaply, said the company, using excavated soil from the construction site, waste materials like mine tailings and coal ash, and even fiberglass from decommissioned wind turbines.

The tower is controlled by computer systems and machine vision software that orchestrate the charging and discharging cycles. A range of storage durations from two to 12 hours or longer is achievable, said the company.

California approves uncapped fixed charges on electricity bills The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to approve a controversial electricity rate rule called the Income-Graduated Fixed Charge, enabling utilities to assess an average $24 monthly fixed charge on residential bills.–roughly double the national average in the United States. It applies to all customers, regardless of how much electricity they consume. 

Cypress Creek Renewables constructs 208 MW / 80 MWh solar-plus-storage facility in Texas The site reached commercial operation on May 2, adding enough capacity to the grid to serve the equivalent of 41,600 homes in the Brackettville, Texas area. Over $11.5 million in tax revenues are expected to be generated for the county by the project, along with $11.7 million earmarked for the Bracket Independent School District.

Adena Power was the winner of the People’s Choice Award, chosen as the “best startup” by the 300 attendees at the 2024 National Renewable Energy Lab’s Industry Growth Forum.

Ohio-based Adena Power was selected out of a field of more than 210 to present its sodium-based energy storage products to investors and industry representatives at the Industry Growth Forum (IGF) held last week in Denver, Colorado.

“Adena team and I are thrilled to be selected to present at IGF this year,”said Nathan Cooley, co-founder and CEO. “Since the end of last year’s event, we have made it a goal to be requested to present at IGF. We see the NREL Industry Growth Forum as the best climate tech startup event on the calendar.”

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) hosts the IGF, now in its 29th year and considered one of the nation’s premier events for cleantech entrepreneurs and other industry experts.

The IGF is an opportunity for cleantech entrepreneurs, investors and experts from industry and the public sector to showcase innovative technologies and identify business solutions and to network. NREL facilitates connections between startups and motivated investors to drive innovation to market for impact. NREL is the only U.S. federal lab dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency research.

“The theme of this year’s IGF is ‘breaking ground,’ and I believe our presenters represent that well in a variety of different ways,” said NREL Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) group manager Katie Richardson. “From batteries to revolutionary software, these presenters will help us all break ground through innovation. There is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ deployment strategy as we continue the global transition to a cleaner energy future, and that’s why it’s crucial to be in the room at IGF 2024 to learn from peers in the industry.”

Adena reports that its technology addresses all the limitations of conventional, molten sodium batteries and combines the energy density and roundtrip efficiency of li-ion batteries with the safety and lifetime of flow batteries.

With manufacturing facilities in Lewis Center, Ohio, Adena Power is in the demonstration phase of its IP-protected energy storage solution.

The company recently completed the successful demonstration of a 1 kWh battery module and reports that the test validates important components within the module and positions Adena for a larger external demonstration with a utility partner early next year.

“This successful module test finishes a very successful year for Adena Power,” said Neil Kidner, president of Adena Power. “We are looking forward to building on this result and continuing to meet our aggressive product development goals in 2023.”

Adena has been in discussions with utilities and renewable developers and is aiming to develop an energy storage solution that is safer than lithium ion, has a flexible duration and a lower installed cost. The company expects to launch our first product early in 2025.

Read about the 2023 NREL Industry Growth Forum.

Anza, a solar and energy storage procurement platform, announced it has introduced expanded capabilities and now has over 20 energy storage products on its platform.

In 2023 Anza was spun out of Borrego Solar after Borrego developed the solar and battery storage online marketplace and optimization solution. The proprietary software that drives the digital marketplace identifies the most optimized solar module and storage components based on customer-provided project details.

The Anza marketplace is designed to give procurement professionals, developers and engineers access to the data they need to evaluate storage product pricing over a project’s lifetime. With solutions for the utility-scale and distributed generation market, Anza’s Effective $/Watt analytics allows users compare products based on risk, production and installation cost.

“Project developers and procurement professionals are faced with an escalating number of factors they must consider when evaluating an energy storage project, and the lack of real-time pricing among all the different product options and configurations slows decision making and increases risk,” said Mike Hall, CEO of Anza.

The Anza platform was developed to offer engineers and procurement professionals a streamlined way to obtain product and pricing data from multiple suppliers. Anza reports that its platform enables IPPs, developers and engineers the ability to instantly compare AC and DC energy storage systems (ESS), thus saving what could amount to considerable time and money.

“The Anza platform enables us to evaluate multiple energy storage products and PCS configurations in seconds,” said James Beach, co-founder and managing partner, EnerSmart Storage. “With Anza’s specialized technical and commercial expertise, it’s a no-brainer to partner with them in this rapidly evolving market.”

In its first year as a separate company, Anza has experienced 100% growth and the platform has facilitated the assessment of more than 35 GW of solar and 75 GWh of energy storage across over 1,000 projects to date, the company reports.

Microsoft announces largest-ever corporate procurement of renewable energy The tech giant signed a power purchase agreement for 10.5 GW of renewable energy to help power its datacenters with clean energy. Cost to build is projected at more than $11.5 billion to build, according to Bloomberg NEF.

California hits energy storage milestone Batteries dominate the evening grid with 10 GW/40 GWh of capacity.

New green bank to support distributed solar and storage in the Appalachian region The Green Bank for Rural America will support community lenders in Appalachian communities to finance climate-supporting projects including distributed solar and storage. The bank and four others received a total of $6 billion in federal awards.

]]> https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/05/03/u-s-solar-industry-week-in-review-8/feed/ 0 103899 https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/04/26/u-s-solar-industry-week-in-review-7/ https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/04/26/u-s-solar-industry-week-in-review-7/#respond Fri, 26 Apr 2024 21:00:56 +0000 https://pv-magazine-usa.com/?p=103651 pv magazine USA spotlights news stories of the past week including market trends, project updates, policy changes and more.]]> pv magazine USA spotlights news stories of the past week including market trends, project updates, policy changes and more.

Solar manufacturers want anti-dumping tariffs enforced The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which includes First Solar, Qcells, Meyer Burger, REC Silicon, and others 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.

SunPower to close business units, cut about 26% of workforce SunPower’s struggles reflect a market-wide retraction in residential solar, which has been battered by worsened economics from high interest rates and unfavorable policy and ratemaking changes. We did have an inkling when revenues reported last December reflected a 28% year-over-year decline, while operating expenses increased, and net income resulted in a loss of $123.9 million.

President Biden announced the ambition to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines over the next five years  The Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program intends to fund upgrades and modernization of the transmission and distribution system to increase reliability and resilience to prepare the grid for extreme weather as well as to ensure delivery of affordable, clean electricity to all communities across the nation.

IRS issues final guidance for clean energy tax credit transferability Under a tax credit transfer transaction, renewable energy developers and owners are essentially able to sell tax credits for cash, making financing easier for new clean energy projects. The transferability option is generally open to the entities that are not covered by the direct pay option.

NREL updates interactive chart of solar cell efficiency The highest research cell efficiency recorded in the chart is 47.6%, for a four-junction cell developed by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Also included is the 33.9% world record efficiency achieved in November by Longi for a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell and the 27.09% efficiency achieved by the same company for a heterojunction back contact solar cell.

From pv magazine Global

Batteries need to lead a sixfold increase in global energy storage capacity to enable the world to meet 2030 targets, after deployment in the power sector more than doubled last year, the IEA said in its first assessment of the state of play across the entire battery ecosystem. In this scenario, battery energy storage systems would account for 90% of the increase and pumped hydro for most of the rest.

In its “Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions” report, the Paris-based watchdog described batteries as critical to delivering the climate and energy targets outlined at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai. It said that growth in batteries outpaced almost all other clean energy technologies in 2023, driven by falling costs, innovation, and supportive industrial policies.

Strong growth occurred for utility-scale battery projects, behind-the-meter batteries, minigrids and solar home systems, adding a total of 42 GW of battery storage capacity throughout the world, up by more than 130% year on year. Meanwhile, electric vehicle (EV) battery deployment increased by 40% in 2023, with 14 million new electric cars, accounting for the vast majority of batteries used in the energy sector.

“Despite the continuing use of lithium-ion batteries in billions of personal devices in the world, the energy sector now accounts for over 90% of annual lithium-ion battery demand,” the IEA report said. “This is up from 50% for the energy sector in 2016, when the total lithium-ion battery market was 10-times smaller.”

In less than 15 years, battery costs have fallen by more than 90% – one of the fastest declines ever seen in clean energy technologies. Nonetheless, the report found that costs need to come down further without compromising quality and technology to globally scale up batteries.

The expectation is that further innovation in battery chemistries and manufacturing could reduce global average lithium-ion battery costs by another 40% from 2023 to 2030 and bring sodium-ion batteries to the market. The IEA said that sodium-ion batteries would account for less than 10% of EV batteries to 2030, but they would make up a growing share of stationary storage batteries, as their costs are 30% lower than those of lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

“The combination of solar PV and batteries is today competitive with new coal plants in India. And just in the next few years, it will be cheaper than new coal in China and gas-fired power in the United States. Batteries are changing the game before our eyes,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The cost cuts also make standalone battery storage more competitive with natural gas peaking options, the IEA report said.

In the most ambitious scenario, total spending on batteries across all applications is set to increase to $800 billion by 2030, up almost 400% from 2023. This means doubling the share of batteries in overall clean energy investment within seven years.

Global battery manufacturing has more than tripled over the last three years. While China produces most batteries today, the report showed that 40% of all announced plans for new battery manufacturing are in advanced economies such as the United States and the European Union.

“If all those projects are built, those economies would have nearly enough manufacturing to meet their own needs to 2030 on the path to net zero emissions,” said the report.

Petition filed to enforce antidumping tariffs on solar imports  A coalition of U.S. solar manufacturers submitted a request for investigation of alleged dumping of Chinese goods in four Southeastern Asian nations responsible for roughly 80% of U.S. solar panel supply.

People on the move: Urban Solar, Kilo Power, Palmetto and more  Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

NREL updates interactive chart of solar cell efficiency The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has updated its research cell efficiency chart for a range of PV technologies.

A second solar project takes off at JFK airport TotalEnergies began construction of an onsite solar-plus-storage system, providing energy to Port Authority and Con Edison, as well as community solar for area residents.

Reconductoring could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035  Replacing existing transmission lines, known as conductors, with advanced conductors could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035 even if transmission in new corridors was limited, found a study by UC Berkeley and GridLab researchers.

RFP alert: Community choice aggregator seeks renewable energy and storage  Central Coast Community Energy announces a request for proposals (RFP) for renewable energy and storage Projects in CAISO territory.

Enphase delivers revenue miss amid softened residential solar demand The company remains profitable, generating $41.8 million in free cash flow, despite a slumping market.

SunPower to close business units, cut about 26% of workforce The company announced plans to wind down its residential solar installation locations and close its direct sales unit.

TotalEnergies is constructing a 12 MW solar canopy in a long-term parking lot at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York. The solar will be paired with 7.5 MW / 25 MWh of battery energy storage to help reduce reliance on the electric grid during peak periods.

TotalEnergies will own, operate, and maintain the system, and recently signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for half the energy generated (6 MW) from the behind-the-meter portion of the project.

The other half the electricity generated is allocated as community solar, to be completed in phase two of the project. The plan is to deliver energy to Con Edison through the NYS Community Distributed Generation Program and provide guaranteed electric bill savings for 25 years to historically disadvantaged and environmentally impacted households located in nearby Queens communities.

“We applaud Governor Hochul, PANYNJ and NYPA for their leadership on this unique project, which will not only make clean power accessible to millions of travelers who pass through JFK Airport each year, but also reduce electricity costs for residents of low-income neighborhoods in Queens,” said Marc-Antoine Pignon, managing director, TotalEnergies Renewables USA.

TotalEnergies told pv magazine USA that the project will be constructed on a canopy with a custom wave design. Included will be 32,000 Sunpower solar modules and 164 SMA inverters. There will also be five Tesla Megapack battery energy storage systems.

The project is expected to be placed in service in phases during 2025 and 2026. When complete, this JFK solar carport will produce enough clean energy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 6,000 tons annually, equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 1,500 gasoline powered passenger vehicles driven for one year. It will also contribute to the Port Authority’s goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the agency’s facilities by 2050.

Last year another solar project was announced for JFK International Airport. The New Terminal One microgrid project will include 11.34 MW of rooftop solar with 2 MW / 4 MWh of lithium-ion batteries and 3.68 MW of combined heat and power (renewable natural gas) and hydrogen fuel cells. Electricity from this project is expected to meet 90% of the electrical needs of the terminal.

TotalEnergies has a portfolio of large-scale solar, battery storage, onsite B2B solar distributed generation and other renewable projects that are expected to generate up to 10 GW of clean power by 2025 and more than 25 GW by 2030. The company recently reached over 1.5 GW of renewable PPAs with over 600 industrial and commercial customers worldwide, of which 1.1 GW is already operational.

Qcells leads petition to revoke bifacial exemption The bifacial exemption may be revoked once again, this time by the Biden Administration following a petition by Qcells, which has a large manufacturing footprint in the United States. Reuters reported that, Qcells, the solar division of Korean conglomerate Hanwha, sent the formal petition to the U.S. Trade Representative on Feb. 23 requesting the exemption to be revoked.

Quoted solar prices decreased on the marketplace, falling 3.5% to $2.80  For the first time since 2021, quoted solar prices decreased on the marketplace, falling 3.5% to $2.80 per watt for quotes in the second half of 2023. The median system size over that period was 11.3 kW, leading to an average quoted system price of $31,640 (before any associated tax credits or incentives). These prices are the lowest since mid-2020.

DOE lays out roadmap to advance interconnections of renewables The report presents 35 interconnection improvement solutions developed through a DOE stakeholder engagement process, known as the Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) program.

Puerto Rico net metering law at risk  Central to Puerto Rico’s future success with residential solar is a law that extended the territory’s net metering policy for solar through 2031. Yet that law, known as Act 10-2024, has been challenged by the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) for Puerto Rico, a body created by federal law.

Important Q1 solar policies across 50 states  The Q1 2024 report by NC Clean Energy Technology Center finds that 43 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico took a total of 163 actions related to distributed solar policy and rate design. Read about what works for or against the advancement of solar energy.

Resilient Watertown, the city’s Climate & Energy Plan, outlines 61 actions to ensure the city is on its way to achieving its goal of 100% of electricity sourced from renewables by 2050.

Two elements of the extensive plan are to promote electrification and enhance and actively promote zero-carbon mobility options for travel. In fact, the city plans to not only have all registered vehicles be electric by 2050, but also has a goal of cutting in half personal vehicular travel miles.

In 2018 the Watertown Town Council passed a first-in-New-England solar ordinance requiring solar on the equivalent of 50% roof coverage for new and substantially renovated buildings over 10,000 sq. feet and 90% of parking garages.

Now the city celebrates the operation of a solar and storage project installed at 66 Galen, a brand new 224,106 square foot life science building that features purpose-built offices and laboratories.

The project was directed by Houston-based Catalyze, a national Energy Transition Partner that develops, finances, owns, and operates integrated renewable assets. Catalyze owns two proprietary technologies: REenergyze, an origination-to-operations software integration platform and SolarStrap, a proprietary mounting technology to install rooftop panels.

The Gold LEED-certified facility draws power from 252 kW solar and 125 kW storage system, covering about 10% of the buildings electricity needs. It also boasts a series of EV charging stations featuring 15 ports, located within the parking garage and are intended for use by employees and visitors.

The installation features Znshine Solar modules, a 251 kWh battery from SYL and Powercharge EV chargers. Catalyze told pv magazine USA that the battery storage system will be used to offset peak demand times, supplying solar power to the building when the cost of power from the utility provider would be at its highest.

Other sustainability features include 100% recyclable terra cotta tiles with a low-e coating on the exterior that maximize the building’s insulative properties and minimize solar heat gain; high-efficiency LED and self-dimming lighting to minimize light pollution; a variable-volume air handler system that helps reduce energy cost by 19%, according to Catalyze, compared to buildings of a similar size; and significant water conservation infrastructure that directs excess rainwater to green space.

To support this project, Catalyze participated in the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program, an incentive program that has catapulted Massachusetts into the top ten list for solar states.

The building, which is called 66 Galen, is owned by Davis and Boston Development Group, with investment by Actis and Encap.

“It’s terrific to see a multi-technology scheme such as 66 Galen which comprises energy generation from solar PV and battery storage come into operation,” said Javier Orellana, director, energy infrastructure at Actis. “It’s a perfect demonstration of the energy transition in progress.”

66 Galen is not the first solar on a commercial building in Watertown. The largest commercial solar installation is on Arsenal Yards.

The more than one million square foot mixed-use development that includes state-of-the-art life science lab space, 300 apartments, and a 146-room hotel. The 1. 1 MW of solar was installed in 2020 by Boston-based Kearsarge Energy.

Watertown is also home to the first net-zero school in Massachusetts. The Cunniff elementary school is testament to the support among municipal leaders as well as town residents. In developing the Climate & Energy Plan, the city surveyed residents, solicited comments, distributed educational materials, had conversations at five public events and invited the public to the three advisory group meetings—all to solicit feedback and support for the clean energy goals in Watertown.

Watertown intends to re-evaluate its goals and actions regularly in order to keep them on target for the 2050 goal, and also to adjust any actions to adapt to new trends and technologies.to update and adjust actions and targets to adapt to emerging trends and technologies.

California Supreme Court takes a look at NEM 3.0  The controversial rooftop solar rulemaking decision has risen to the Supreme Court of California, with the state’s highest court granting review for a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity.

Eyes were on the sky for the 2024 solar eclipse  With an estimated 6.5 GW of solar in the path of the eclipse, load balancing, battery storage and the significance of solar energy in the U.S. was brought front and center.

Texas, now the number one state for solar, is seeing a drop in use of natural gas  The Lone Star State is seeing tangible changes to its daily electricity supply, lowering the need for natural gas peaker plants, said the Energy Information Administration.

Despite opposition, 4.95 MW agrivoltaic community solar project in Illinois moves ahead Lightstar Renewables’ Nesler Road project will grow hay along with enough solar energy to power 1,100 Illinois homes.

Renewables and storage interconnection backlog grew about 30% last year  With grid interconnection reform yet to take place, solar and energy storage wait in line for studies to be completed. The growing backlog of projects awaiting grid interconnection studies called a major bottleneck for project development, according to a recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs.

A 12.5 MW solar with 50 MWh energy storage system is now operating on O’ahu, the most populated and third largest of the Hawaiian islands.

AES Hawaii installed the West O’ahu Solar + Storage system on land owned by the University of Hawaii, which will provide electricity to O‘ahu’s power grid under a 25-year power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric at a cost of $0.115 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The energy produced is expected to reduce O‘ahu’s use of fossil fuels by 750,000 barrels of oil and the associated pollution and greenhouse gases emitted over the project’s lifetime.

Hawaii launched its ambitious Clean Energy Initiative in 2008, which set a goal of achieving the first-in-the-nation 100% renewable portfolio standards by 2045. In 2022 29% of the state’s electricity came from renewables, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Of that clean energy flowing into the grid, nearly 19% comes from solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

“This project represents another positive step in our state’s efforts to achieve our renewable energy goals,” said Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima, Hawaiian Electric Vice President of Resource Procurement. “Our growing portfolio of renewable power and energy storage resources work together to provide reliability and energy security on our isolated island grid,”

EIA data shows that Hawaii uses the most petroleum of any state and has the highest electric rates in the nation. Currently at 41.60 cents per kWh, Hawaii’s rates are triple the average in the U.S. The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative is working toward transforming energy planning and delivery in the state.

“This project is one of many we welcome, as we make progress toward the Hawaiʻi Clean Energy Initiative, launched in 2008,” said Governor Green, who attended the commissioning. “We will continue the good work that is underway to make our islands petroleum-independent by the year 2045. Our administration is investing in contractor training programs to build a workforce with the technical expertise to support efforts like this.”

AES Hawaii President Sandra Larsen said that more than 120 jobs for local workers were supported during the two-year construction phase. In addition, she noted that the land is being used for sheep grazing to support the island’s agricultural and food production needs.

The West O’ahu Solar + Storage project is one a dozen projects that AES currently has in progress around the state. Collectively these installations will provide nearly 400 MW of renewable energy while eliminating more than 470,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and more than 30 million barrels of oil consumption over the course of their lifecycle, AES reports.

Texas led the United States in solar installations in 2023, and it is projected to continue its leadership through the next five years, with the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) expecting over 40 GW of capacity addition. To place this solar boom in context, the entire United States had just 40 GW of total cumulative installed solar capacity in 2016, according to SEIA.

The effect of solar on Texas’ grid is starting to have tangible effects on the daily supply of electricity, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Solar, now often paired with flexible battery energy storage, is helping serve seasonal and daily intermittent electricity demand, helping to squeeze out natural gas plants.

“With more solar capacity on the ERCOT electricity grid, we expect less use of natural gas generation during the middle of the day when solar generation displaces it,” said EIA. “We also expect less use of natural gas in the summer when electricity demand is at its highest in Texas.”

However, EIA expects natural gas to continue to play a role in the ERCOT grid. The intermittent cycles of solar and wind generation lead to an evening mismatch of supply and demand, typically around the hours of 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This mismatch is sometimes referred to as the “duck curve,” a phenomenon familiar to grid operators in California.

“As solar power generation declines later in the afternoon, natural gas is dispatched to meet the electricity demand,” said EIA. “Wind generation also increases in the evening, limiting the need for additional generation from natural gas or other dispatchable resources.”

Energy storage is increasingly important in closing this supply and demand gap and negating the need for emissions-causing natural gas burning. Many energy storage projects being deployed in Texas today range between one to four hours of duration, serving the use case of dispatching electricity when it is needed most. Natural gas peak demand plants or “peaker” plants are among the most inefficient uses of natural gas reserves. A study from Sandia National Laboratories explores this issue and how energy storage is expected to replace natural gas peakers.

This is reflected in the capacity additions planned for ERCOT. EIA expects 13 GW of battery storage capacity to be added between the time of this report and 2025. Over the same period, 3 GW of natural gas additions are expected.

Solar generation has increased significantly over a year for Texas. In winter 2022-23 peak generation was 2.1 GWh, and in 2023-24, it reached 3.8 GWh, said EIA. Wind production remained relatively flat, though it remains a larger source of electricity than solar on the ERCOT grid. In the summer of 2022, the maximum hourly average solar generation was 3.9 GWh and increased to 5.3 GWh in the summer of 2023.

Solar generation increased 35% year-over-year in the state, and 16 GW of solar was added in 2023 alone. Developers are expected to add another 24 GW in 2024 and 2025, while wind power is expected to increase by 3 GW of capacity.

California officials call for repeal of $24 fixed rate fee Although it’s better than the proposed $128 fee, a coalition objects to the $24 fixed monthly charge that the California Public Utilities Commission approved to be levied on customers, regardless of how much electricity is used at home.

California solar distributor goes out of business AEE Solar, a California-based solar distributor owned by Sunrun, announced it is going out of business in early May and placing its remaining inventory on clearance sale before closing operations. Such closures could be the result of weakened demand for distributed solar, particularly in California, since NEM 3.0 went into effect.

The U.S.  may soon face another ongoing tariff enforcement saga Another round of antidumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) tariffs may be on the way, accord to a note from Roth Capital Partners. Not good news for the solar industry as it experienced project delays and cancellations when AD/CVD tariff enforcement threatened supply in the past.

PPAs are all the rage. Power purchase agreements (PPAs) have emerged as the go-to financing tool for commercial and industrial (C&I) solar adopters looking to avoid upfront costs and realize immediate energy savings. Read about Microsoft recently entering into two power purchase agreements for a total of 400 MW of solar energy from Texas solar plants.

U.S. DOE invests $4 million in thermal energy storage  Thermal energy storage offers a low-cost alternative to existing energy storage technologies, and DOE is providing funding for a pilot demonstration program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a multi-day energy storage system using heated sand.

With “blackouts on the rise,” the primary cause of “our unreliable grid” is not the changing energy mix but “a failure of grid governance,” say four law professors in a white paper published by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Pointing to the “correlated failures of gas and electricity supply,” the authors say policy makers should focus on distributed energy resources (DERs) such as rooftop solar, battery storage and demand response to ensure that “resources that perform during extreme weather events” are available in the future.

Solutions proposed in the paper include eliminating the ability of states to “veto” the participation of demand response providers in wholesale markets, and speeding up and enhancing regional rules for the participation of DERs in those markets.

In another set of recommendations, the authors call for reform of “overly privatized governance systems.” They say both the  North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which is responsible for writing and enforcing grid reliability standards, and regional grid operators known as RTOs, which are responsible for designing and operating the markets that ensure resource adequacy in many regions, are private membership organizations.

Both NERC and RTOs are “dominated by entrenched, large industry players” who, as voting members, select each organization’s governing board and vote on the standards to be approved by the board. “This structure produces decision-making processes and rules that favor incumbents,” the authors say, which “lack adequate input from numerous public stakeholders, who have much to gain or lose from reliability-related decisions.”

The authors recommend strengthening public control of grid reliability by enhancing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) oversight of NERC and RTOs.

They also recommend creating a public office of grid reliability in place of NERC that “might also function as the central locus of planning for new transmission lines—a process that will be critical to ensure reliability in coming decades.” In a “more modest” proposal, they call for requiring NERC and RTOs to include more public representatives across their voting sectors and boards and “better balanced authority among stakeholders.”

“Most ambitiously,” the authors say in a final set of recommendations, “Congress should vest more authority in FERC to write and enforce reliability standards.”

“Those interested in shoring up grid reliability,” the paper concludes, “should focus on these institutions and their pathologies as the first step to real and durable grid reliability in the coming decades.”

The paper’s four authors are Alexandra Klass, Joshua Macy, Shelley Welton and Hannah Wiseman. They teach law, respectively, at the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State University. The white paper draws from ideas first presented in two law review articles by the authors, and is titled “The Key to Electric Grid Reliability: Modernizing Governance.”

Shelley Welton has previously called for considering public control of grid operators to speed interconnection of utility-scale solar, wind and storage projects.

In related work, Harvard law lecturer Ari Peskoe has called for overhauling regional grid operators to speed interconnection of renewables.

CPUC lowers proposed fixed rate charge from $128 to $24.15

After initially saying that Californians could be assessed up to $128 on their electric bills, the commission now proposes a rate of $24.15. regardless of any energy conservation efforts or solar production at home. Along with the fixed charge, electricity rates for generation will be reduced by about 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour. CPUC said the move was motivated in part to decouple energy use and grid maintenance costs.

IRS releases updated guidance on energy communities

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department announced additional guidance for determining what a qualified energy community is. Projects in energy communities can qualify for the production and investment tax credit bonuses available within the Inflation Reduction Act, and those bonuses are offered for projects within brownfield, coal and other communities that will face challenges in the transition away from fossil fuels.

The five states with the least amount of solar installed  

PV Intel identifies the solar laggards–North Dakota, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alaska, and South Dakota–and examines that factors to led to the low rate of solar adoption including policies, electric rates and availability of alternative emission-free electricity from wind, hydro, and nuclear.

Solar and storage to replace coal in New England

In a big win for Sierra Club, The Conservation Law Foundation, and the Environmental Protection Agency, the last two remaining coal-fired plants will be shut down. Both plants are in New Hampshire, and owner Granite Shore Power has committed to using the properties for solar and battery storage.

Hurry up and wait– staggering amount of solar projects queued up for interconnection

By year-end 2023, 1086 GW of solar projects awaited transmission interconnection, along with 503 GW of standalone storage, according to preliminary data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The amount of storage in hybrid projects, such as solar-plus-storage projects, awaiting interconnection at year-end was estimated at 525 GW.

A boom in energy storage installations  With lowered costs, easing supply chains and steady demand, the U.S. is seeing huge growth in energy storage. Across all segments, the U.S. energy storage industry deployed 8.7 GW, a record-breaking growth of 90% year-over-year. The nation deployed 4.2 GW in Q4, 2023, and California and Texas installations accounted for 77% of Q4 additions, said a recent report by Wood Mackenzie.

California cuts interconnection costs if developers agree to export limitsThe California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has passed a decision allowing distributed renewable energy resources like residential solar and battery energy storage to interconnect to the grid without triggering grid impacts that require costly infrastructure upgrades.

More than $1 billion equity and debt financing for Avantus  Global investment firm KKR announced the signing of an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Avantus, marking KKR’s first U.S. investment under its global climate strategy. Following the close of the transaction, KKR and existing investor EIG, 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.

Tesla’s new power play  The first installations featuring the Tesla Powerwall 3 are currently being completed in the United States, with the company promoting a fully integrated solar-plus-storage and electric vehicle (EV) residential system, with big backup power capacity. While the first Powerwall created a new market segment, the latest iteration enters a marketplace in oversupply.

U.S. states have a lot of work to do on energy policy  The Institute for Local Self-Reliance rates states on policies related to energy democracy and accountability, and with 26 receiving failing grades, this year’s scorecard suggests that states can do far better.

Global investment firm KKR announced the signing of an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Avantus, marking KKR’s first U.S. investment under its global climate strategy.

The investment reflects the rapid growth in solar in the U.S. In 2023, solar made up over half of new generating capacity for the first time. The report estimates that in 2023, the U.S. solar market installed 32.4 GWdc of capacity, a 51% increase from 2022. This was the industry’s biggest installation year by far, exceeding 30 GWdc of capacity for the first time.

“Solar is the fastest growing electricity source in the U.S., and along with energy storage, will serve as the backbone of a modern electric grid that is clean, reliable and resilient,” said Patrick Goff, chief financial officer at Avantus. “KKR’s investment provides Avantus the financial backing and expertise to execute on our ambitious portfolio and lead the energy transition across the Western United States.”

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 bring to life one of the largest clean energy development pipelines in the country.

Avantus has a project pipeline of 30 GW of solar and 94 GWh of battery storage, enough to provide 20 million people with clean energy. The company has developed and sold 6.5 GW and 6.3 GWh of solar and storage projects, respectively.

Following the close of the transaction, KKR and existing investor EIG, 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.

“To support an economy-wide energy transition, there is a need to significantly expand renewable energy generation by 2050 and enable grid electrification,” said Charlie Gailliot, partner and co-head of global climate strategy, KKR. “Because of these tailwinds, we see enormous opportunity for Avantus. The company’s impressive team and development track record, coupled with its mature project pipeline, set it apart from other renewables developers.”

Following the closing of the transaction, KKR announced plans to support Avantus in creating an equity ownership program to provide all employees the opportunity to participate in the benefits of ownership of the company. Since 2011, KKR reports its portfolio companies have awarded billions of dollars of total equity value to over 60,000 non-management employees across more than 40 companies.

In its latest Energy Storage Monitor report, Wood Mackenzie outlined the continued trend of rapidly increasing battery energy storage deployments across the U.S., with data through Q1 2024.

Across all segments, the U.S. energy storage industry deployed 8.7 GW, a record-breaking growth of 90% year-over-year. The nation deployed 4.2 GW in Q4, 2023, and California and Texas installations accounted for 77% of Q4 additions, said Wood Mackenzie.

The U.S. grid-scale storage market shattered previous quarterly installation records in Q4 2023, deploying 3,983 MW / 11,769 MWh, leading to an average duration of 2.95 hours. A combination of short-duration energy storage serving acute peak electricity demand times, and four-hour grid-scale batteries are common configurations in today’s market.

The residential energy storage market reached a marginal record quarter in Q4, 2023, deploying 218.5 MW, beating the record set by Q3 of 210.9 MW. The community, commercial, and industrial (CCI) segment deployed 33.9 MW, with the most deployment occurring in California, Massachusetts, and New York, said Wood Mackenzie.

“Q4 2023 was extremely strong for the U.S. energy storage market, helped by easing supply chain challenges and system price declines,” said Vanessa Witte, senior analyst, Wood Mackenzie.

The storage boom has been supported in part by drastically lowering costs. In Q4, battery prices declined rapidly, in large part due to lower-than-expected EV demand in the U.S. and EU, and due to an oversupply of battery grade lithium raw material.

“Chinese OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are selling DC blocks at aggressively low prices, undercutting competitors in order to gain market share,” said the Wood Mackenzie report. “However, this price pressure isn’t enough for all developers to turn away from the full AC-block solution of a more traditional integrator.”

Since last summer, lithium battery cell pricing has plummeted by approximately 50%, according to Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the world’s largest battery manufacturer. In early summer 2023, publicly available prices ranged from $0.11 to $0.13 /Wh, or about $110 to $130 per kWh. Goldman Sachs predicts that these price reductions will make electric vehicles as affordable as gasoline-powered vehicles, leading to increased demand.

While the grid-scale segment grew 98% year-over-year in terms of capacity deployment, Wood Mackenzie warns this growth curve is not likely to continue.

“Growth flattens in 2025 and 2026 as project capacity is pushed into later years of the forecast largely due to early-stage development challenges such as permitting and siting difficulties, and interconnection queue timelines,” said the report.

Meanwhile, Wood Mackenzie expects the residential segment to grow to 2.1 GW per year in 2024, while CCI is expected to install 1.2 GW annually. It said that the emergence of storage incentive programs and the transition to NEM 3.0 in California will support distributed storage growth in the coming years. It also highlighted strong distributed energy storage growth in Puerto Rico.

“Energy storage has unique capabilities to address grid resilience, with the ability to serve as generation, load, and transmission. These benefits to the grid have been evident, especially in recent years, as storage has provided reliability and stability during critical moments like historic heatwaves. With a robust pipeline, the future for energy storage deployment is strong,” said John Hensley, vice president of markets and policy analysis, American Clean Power.