“We’ve dug in deep on agrivoltaics, it’s now our default option for land use in our solar arrays,” Jesse Robertson-DuBois, Director of Sustainable Development at Bluewave, told pv magazine USA.

“The first approach on a project is ‘How can we accommodate agrivoltaics?’ It’s the first thing we do in development. Sometimes that turns out to be cropping, sometimes it’s sheep grazing, sometimes cattle – and sometimes we won’t have a good food related option, so we go to pollinators,” Robertson-DuBois explained.

Agrivoltaic solar power energy facilities are beginning to deliver on their promise. Despite organized public opposition to large solar plants, projects spanning 1,000 acres are successfully being integrated into regional agricultural practices. Polling indicates that public dissatisfaction tends to increase with solar facilities larger than 100 megawatts, while even smaller installations around 50 acres, or approximately 10 megawatts, can also attract negative attention.

Robertson-DuBois has a rich background in agriculture and farmland policy. He owns a farm in western Massachusetts where his daughter grazes sheep. Engaged in diversified agriculture for most of his life, he recently shared his enthusiasm for spending a weekend working with hay and vegetables on a farm near his home.

In the early stages of developing a new facility, Robertson-DuBois prioritizes building a trusting relationship with the farmer. This mutual trust is crucial as they navigate the evolving aspects of the project. A key part of their discussions involves identifying which pieces of farm equipment are essential for ongoing operations and which can be replaced or modified as project details are finalized.

For instance, in a project in Western Massachusetts, Bluewave opted to replace a tractor and a hay machine rather than modifying the entire array. The driveline of the Array Technologies solar tracking system (similar to a vehicle’s driveshaft and circled in red in the image above) was initially positioned lower than the height of those machines. Although it had already been raised to 10 feet above the ground to comply with Massachusetts agrivoltaic regulations, further elevating it to accommodate the farm equipment would have quadrupled the steel costs. This expense far exceeded the cost of replacing the machines.

From the collection of five agrivoltaic projects in Massachusetts, for which Bluewave raised $91 million, one is fully operational both agriculturally and in terms of solar power generation. The site supports cattle grazing, which has shown minimal impact on the animals. “They started grazing this spring, the grass growth and productivity are good. The cattle are loving the shade. They graze in one area, then move back under the modules, then move to the next grazing area,” noted Robertson-DuBois, before reminding us that the American Solar Grazing Association reports that over 100,000 acres of solar installations are grazed by various animals.

State programs are increasingly supporting agrivoltaic power plants. The SMART program in Massachusetts, initiated in 2018, offers up to six cents per kilowatt-hour for agrivoltaic projects. Meanwhile, newcomers like New Jersey and New York are exploring their own initiatives. Notably, the New York agrivoltaic pilot program is focusing on more challenging farming opportunities. Unlike ‘standard’ agrivoltaic technologies like sheep grazing or supporting pollinators, New York’s program is incentivizing the integration of agrivoltaics with livestock such as cows and even cannabis cultivation.

Robertson-DuBois explained in the Northeast U.S., designing solar trackers to withstand heavy snow loads typically results in a structure robust enough to accommodate cattle using them as scratching posts. The key, he noted, is to move certain less rugged pieces of hardware like wiring and combiner boxes out of reach.

When discussing the integration of solar power with soy cultivation – America’s second largest crop – Robertson-DuBois delved into the specifics:

Soy [has] absolutely, huge potential. It’s a bush crop, where the outer leaves on the plant are really there to protect the inside leaves. Soy has what is called what is a long photoresponse period; when exposed to too much light, the stomata close, shutting off photosynthesis. Then the soybeans kinda sit there saying ‘I don’t know if I’m ready yet’. At Bluewave, we’ve been watching research that reduces this photoresponse time and increase photosynthesis.

Robertson-DuBois also noted the viability of other grains like wheat, barley, and oats. While grain corn, which can easily grow over 12 feet in height, presents more challenges, sweet corn, intended for human consumption, is considerably shorter at 7-8 feet and might be more suitable.

Robertson-DuBois says that focusing on the farm and the farmer’s needs, as well as the impact on the local community, is crucial for advancing projects. When deploying solar on a hundred year old wild blueberry farm, Jesse and his team practiced building techniques that preserved the existing vegetation.

At Bluewave’s Deighton, Massachusetts facility, where grazing and vegetable cultivation are combined, Bluewave implemented careful construction practices to protect the soil from compaction and preserve organic material.

“Building trust with the community, understanding the farm, and putting real projects in the field – with real challenges being solved – that are [spread over] tens of acres is how Bluewave is moving forward in agrivoltaics,” Robertson-DuBois stated.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have achieved a significant breakthrough in stabilizing a key component of perovskite solar cells. They have developed a method to synthesize Spiro-MeOTAD, a crucial material for charge transport, without using noble metals. This development led to the creation of a solar cell with an impressive 24.2% efficiency, although it experienced rapid degradation.

The research, led by Dr. Matthias J. Grotevent and Nobel Prize laureate Moungi G. Bawendi, demonstrated that their new method can produce a Spiro-MeOTAD material that remains stable even after 1,400 hours of testing at elevated temperatures (85°C) under continuous one-sun illumination. This durability is critical for materials exposed to the high temperatures and humidity typical of solar panel environments.

Their study, titled “Additive-free oxidized Spiro-MeOTAD hole transport layer significantly improves thermal solar cell stability,” underscores the potential of this new method. The researchers discovered that “even at low doping concentrations of 1%,” Spiro units could increase their electrical conductivity by orders of magnitude.

One of the key benefits of the material blend is its high glass transition temperature, which is above 115°C. This allows the solar cell to exhibit enhanced thermal properties, making it more suitable for use in high-temperature environments.

In all of this, the research team says that while the thermally stable Spiro unit is only in a solar cell that reaches 6% efficiency, they see a path via future research to stabilize the 24% efficiency solar cell.

According to the study, Spiro is currently an expensive material, priced online at $334 per gram. However, the researchers predict that the price could drop significantly with bulk orders reaching kilogram levels, potentially falling to $30 per gram or even $3/gram. When asked about the material’s cost by pv magazine USA, Dr. Grotevent estimated that a full-sized solar panel would require approximately 0.33 grams of Spiro, assuming a layer thickness of about 120 nanometers. This would result in a material cost of less than $0.003 per watt for a solar panel with an efficiency of over 20%, adding about $1.06 to the overall cost of the module.

Researchers are exploring three main approaches to deploying perovskites, which have so far seen limited use. The first method involves stacking perovskites atop silicon within the solar cell, a technique that has gained significant attention for its high efficiency, exemplified by Longi’s record-setting 34.6% perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell. The second approach, currently undergoing testing by GCL Perovskites, involves constructing nearly complete perovskite solar panels and layering them over similarly complete silicon solar panels to combine their outputs. The third approach features standalone perovskite panels without silicon, as demonstrated by the 1 MW China Three Gorges solar power facility.

The Massachusetts House of Representatives has passed H.4876, a bill to address solar and energy storage development challenges in the state. The bill will next go to the state Senate to finalize a compromise bill.

The bill includes provisions to incentivize solar and storage development, streamline siting and permitting processes at both the state and local levels, and address grid interconnection challenges.

“House Bill 4876 will accelerate the build-out of solar and energy storage technology and address permitting and interconnection red tape that has been holding the Massachusetts solar and storage market back,” said Valessa Souter-Kline, northeast regional director, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

The reforms include time limits for authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ) to authorize permits. It also creates a pathway for a streamlined permit appeal process.

The bill also creates a statewide procurement of 5 GWh of energy storage.

“Massachusetts’s solar and storage industry has been surpassed by its regional neighbors in recent years, but these reforms are the spark the market needs to reach the Commonwealth’s bold clean energy vision,” said Souter-Kline.

Find the full bill text here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The U.S. recently exceeded five million solar installations, with the residential sector accounting for 97% of all solar installations in the U.S., according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie.

A recent report, The state(s) of distributed solar—2023 update from the Institute of Local Self Reliance (ILSR), estimates that 29 GW of solar capacity was installed in 2023; 31% of which is distributed solar. Distributed solar is solar that is owned by individuals, small businesses and public entities—and is generated at or very near the site where it is used.

The map below shows how much distributed solar was installed in each state through 2023, relative to population.

For the purposes of the map, community solar in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon is included as distributed solar.

To arrive at these figures, ILSR added its own figures on state community solar capacity to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) figures on small-scale photovoltaic capacity by state. This sum was divided by state population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, resulting in a figure of watts per person. The U.S. EIA did not collect data from Alabama or North Dakota.

A key finding is that 21 states and the District of Columbia have a distributed solar saturation of more than 100 watts per capita.

California, Arizona, Nevada, and Massachusetts all land in the top ten for both distributed solar saturation and total solar generation capacity.

California, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina have the largest overall capacity whereas Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and California have the greatest distributed solar saturation, as measured in installed distributed solar capacity per capita.

Several state solar markets have made significant changes since ISLR’s 2022 update. Installed distributed capacity grew by more than 1 GW in Texas (6 GW), California (4.7 GW), Florida (2.5 GW), Ohio (1.8 GW), Virginia (1.2 GW), and Colorado (1.1 GW).

Five states doubled or more than doubled installed capacity in 2023, including South Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Arkansas. While doubling capacity is good news, it still may not amount to much as both South Dakota and West Virginia are considered “solar laggards” according to PV Intel’s analysis, based on EIA data.

Other states that saw strong growth include Wisconsin, Indiana, Montana, Louisiana, Maine, and Michigan.

Community solar

Community solar provides a way for people to benefit from solar energy who may be unable to install solar either due to financial restrictions or because they do not have a suitable rooftop for solar.

ILSR’s 2024 Community Power Scorecard states that “a model community solar policy has no cap, has a fair compensation rate, simplifies the billing process for subscribers, meaningfully accounts for the challenge of reaching low- and moderate-income (LMI) subscribers, and rewards other beneficial development or small subscriber-friendly practices”.

ILSR reports that state policies like community solar, net metering, simplified interconnection rules and a renewable portfolio standard carve-out for distributed energy are crucial in promoting the adoption of distributed solar.

The distributed solar report notes that 19 states and the District of  Columbia currently have community solar policies and highlights nine states that ILSR calls “solar-enabling” for their strong community solar policies and installed capacity.

Total installed community solar capacity at the end of 2023:

1. New York 1.72 GW
2. Minnesota 904 MW
3. Massachusetts 852 MW
4. Illinois 251 MW
5. Maryland 149 MW
6. Colorado 147 MW
7. New Jersey 137 MW
8. Oregon 29 MW
9. Hawaii 4 MW

ILSR tracks these policies and others in its Community Power Map. According to the ILSR’s Community Power Scorecard, 26 received failing grades in 2024, suggesting that many states have much room for improvement.

ILSR’s State(s) of Distributed Solar analysis is updated annually. For a historical snapshot, explore archived analyses of distributed solar by state in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016.

Active Surfaces, a Massachusetts-based startup spun out of MIT, has raised $5.6 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round led by Safar Partners, a deep tech venture capital fund.

Active Surfaces is developing lightweight, flexible solar panels that can be integrated into virtually any surface. The solar is manufactured using a printed, roll-to-roll process. Co-founder and CTO, Richard Swartwout, said that this funding will enable the company to expand R&D efforts, scale up production, and bring its “cutting-edge solar solutions to market more rapidly”.

The funding round was led by the deep tech venture capital fund Safar Partners. Additional participants include QVT, Lendlease, Type One Ventures, Umami Capital, Sabanci Climate Ventures, New Climate Ventures, SeaX Ventures, and others—reflect a diverse support base ranging from institutional VCs to corporate backers.

“Active Surfaces is pioneering a transformation in the built environment,” said Tommaso Boralevi, Technology & Innovation Director Europe at the Milan Innovation District (MIND) established by Lendlease, a global construction, development, and investment company. “At Lendlease, we are committed to advancing sustainable urbanization, and our investment in Active Surfaces represents a significant step towards integrating novel capabilities directly into the fabric of future developments.”

The company was also awarded $100,000 as part of last year’s MIT $100K Entrepreneurship competition. It had previously won $75,000 from Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s (MassCEC) Catalyst, Diversity in Cleantech – Early Stage (DICES), and InnovateMass programs that support clean energy and climatetech innovators in Massachusetts.

Swartwout describes the flexible, thin film solar as a “solar 2.0” technology. Solar 1.0 technology is seen in the large, rigid and heavy solar panels commonly installed today. Active Surfaces expects its solar 2.0 thin-film solar to  deliver dramatically higher efficiency, lower costs and greater versatility.

The company plans to scale its laboratory-fabricated 4-by-4-inch photovoltaic devices by advancing industrial roll-to-roll semiconductor printing technologies.

The process originally began in the MIT.nano clean room, where a team of researchers coated the solar cell structure using a slot-die coater. This deposited layers of electronic materials onto a 3-micron thick substrate. Then an electrode is screen printed onto the structure. The module, which is then about 15 microns thick, can be peeled off the substrate.

The choice of substrate was critical as it had to be lightweight and flexible, yet strong. What they found was a composite fabric known as Dyneema, made of extremely strong fibers. A UV-curable is added in a thin layer, which adheres the solar modules to the fabric to form what is described an an ultra-light and mechanically robust solar structure.

By adding a layer of UV-curable glue, which is only a few microns thick, they adhere the solar modules to sheets of this fabric. This forms an ultra-light and mechanically robust solar structure.

The Energy Observer, a solar and wind-powered catamaran, is nearing the end of its extensive global journey, having sailed over 64,000 nautical miles while circumnavigating the globe. The vessel has demonstrated the viability of renewable energy-powered maritime travel, even across the most challenging oceanic conditions.

Last week, pv magazine USA met with Luc Bourserie, the systems engineer of the Energy Observer, in Boston Harbor. The 100-foot-long boat is powered by a sophisticated energy system that uses power from solar and wind, stores long-term energy in hydrogen and stores short-term energy in batteries.

The Energy Observer features 2174 square feet (202 square meters) of Solbian flex modules and newer bifacial modules. Rated at just over 33 kW, the real-world peak output of the panels is around 26 kW due to the panels’ fixed-angle placement all over the craft, optimizing for maximum cumulative output rather than peak efficiency.

At one point, solar panel upgrades were necessary. Initially, the vessel was equipped with hard-framed glass bifacial modules. Ocean water splashing forcefully broke some of the panels installed in front of the solar wings, so they were replaced with custom-made mono-face flexible panels. The bifacial panels that remained intact were kept at the rear, where reflection has a greater impact.

The design team selected flexible Solbian modules for their adaptability and durability and found that they were an ideal choice for curved surfaces, and their availability in various shapes and sizes ensured coverage for nearly any area. The modules are also robust enough to be walked on, a crucial feature for constrained spaces on the ship.

The ship uses 13 DC to DC converters, rated at 3 kW each, manufactured by BRUSA Electronik AG, an electronic mobility specialist based in Switzerland. These converters increase the voltage of solar output from 20 to 30 volts up to the 400 Vdc required by the main 100 kWh lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LiNMC) batteries used for propulsion and the 24 Vdc 20 kWh battery used for control systems. The converters are equipped with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controllers that optimize the conversion efficiency of solar modules under various lighting conditions. 

In strong winds, the Energy Observer can harness additional energy by engaging its propellers (in reverse), turning them into turbines that generate power. The ship’s innovative sails, known as Oceanwings, were first tested on this vessel and have since been adopted by the Canopée, a French container ship that transports rockets across the Atlantic. These sails cut fuel consumption by up to 30% compared to traditional diesel ships.

Bourserie said that the Oceanwings automatically adjust to maximize energy capture. These prototype sails have required ongoing development and some replacement components to withstand the rigors of maritime conditions.

The vessel is equipped with an innovative hydrogen storage and compression system that stores hydrogen at 350 bars in eight composite tanks, using a two-stage compression process developed with Nova Swiss to handle the transition from 30 bars (the electrolyzer’s output pressure) to 350 bars. The tanks offer a superior energy-to-weight ratio compared to batteries, storing ten times the energy at half the weight, and the multi-stage compressors are dramatically lighter weight than traditional models designed for fixed stations. This allows for efficient compression and storage of up to 62 kg of hydrogen.

The 62 kg of onboard hydrogen storage can power the ship’s fuel cells for approximately six days, providing 1 MWh of electricity and 1 MWh of thermal energy. Supplied by Toyota, the cells are a modified version of those used in the company’s Mirai vehicle.

While covering over 64,000 nautical miles, the Energy Observer generally navigated close to coastlines. However, it also undertook several significant open-ocean voyages across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. These segments taught the crew to strategically manage their energy resources.

For instance, Bourserie told pv magazine USA, on days with good conditions – strong sun and wind that allows them to avoid using motors – “We don’t do electrolysis in navigation, [as it’s a] matter of protecting the compressors, and besides, the excess energy would not be so much. To continue harvesting power from the sun, we’ll cook in the afternoon for the evening or use the washing machine, producing fresh water from sea water at that time.”

On CNET, ship scientist Katia Nicolet underscored the daily importance of energy management on board. There were often instances where the crew would need to consult Bourserie on energy usage, asking questions like, “Can we run the dishwasher? Can we have a hot meal tonight, or are the batteries too low?”

The crew faced unique challenges from the COVID pandemic as well, including an extended period of greater than 45 days without docking, highlighting the resilience and self-sufficiency of both the crew and the vessel’s renewable energy systems.

As the Energy Observer prepares for its final Atlantic voyage from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, it stands as a testament to the potential of renewable energy in powering our future on the seas.

The U.S. power grid in use today was built in the 1960s and 70s and is hard pressed to handle the extreme weather events caused by climate change, let alone the renewable energy needed to meet energy goals.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 70% of transmission lines are over 25 years old and approaching the end of their typical lifecycle. Grid upgrades that deploy modern grid technologies are sorely needed, and federal funding is available through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program, which recently closed applications for up to $2.7 billion in DOE grant funding under a second round.

Grid modernization has been underway in some states more than others, and the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center recently released The 50 States of Grid Modernization: Q1 2024 Quarterly Report, which looks at legislative and regulatory action related to smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure, utility business model reform, regulatory reform, utility rate reform, energy storage, microgrids, and demand response.

In Q1 2024, according to the report, 49 states plus DC and Puerto Rico took a total of 567 policy and deployment actions, the most common related to policies (133), financial incentives (108), and utility business model and rate reform (93).

Five top policy developments

Maryland: Lawmakers passed the Distributed Renewable Integration and Vehicle Electrification (DRIVE) Act in Maryland that directs the Public Service Commission to develop a program for utilities to establish virtual power plant (VPP) pilots to compensate owners and aggregators of distributed energy resources for distribution system support services.

Massachusetts: Eversource, National Grid and Unitil filed final electric sector modernization plans in January 2024. The plans include a variety of programs and investments, such as VPP programs, advanced distribution management system and distributed energy resource management system investments, resilience upgrades, heat pump integration, and non-wires alternative

Connecticut: The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) issued a set guidelines for utilities’ advanced metering infrastructure plans, including a directive to include advanced time-of-use rates and to use Green Button Connect functionality. Later in the quarter, PURA filed a straw proposal on performance incentive mechanisms (PIMs), which includes four PIMs based on non-wires solutions, equitable reliability, distributed energy resource interconnection, and avoided service terminations.

Colorado: The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved guidelines and directives for VPP implementation in Xcel Energy’s service territory.

Maine: The Governor’s Energy Office in Maine released its final long-duration energy storage (LDES) study that identifies policy considerations and actions for the state to support LDES. The PUC also released a study that examines utility control or ownership of energy storage, finding that utility ownership of storage should only be allowed under certain circumstances.

Top trends

Grid-enhancing technologies can boost the use of any existing transmission system, according to a study by The Brattle Group, which looked specifically at advanced power flow control, topology optimization and dynamic line ratings. The NC State report said use of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) is a notable trend and noted the following actions:

• Virginia lawmakers enacted a bill requiring utility integrated resource plans to include a comprehensive assessment of the application of GETs and advanced conductors. In
• Maine legislators enacted a bill requiring the PUC to conduct a review of available GETs that large investor-owned utilities may use to reduce investment needs in grid infrastructure.
• Minnesota lawmakers introduced bills requiring utilities to file plans regarding the implementation of GETs to prevent grid congestion at the transmission level.
• New York legislators introduced bills that would allow the Department of Public Service to approve requests from distribution companies to develop GETs.

Other states considering legislation initiating studies on GETs include Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Virtual power plants

VPPs give grid operators a utility-grade alternative to new generation and system buildout by automating efficiency, capacity support and offering non-wire alternatives, according to Jigar Shah, director of the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office. “By deploying grid assets more efficiently, an aggregation of distributed resources lowers the cost of power for everybody, especially VPP participants,” Shah said in an article in pv magazine USA.

According to the NC State report, a state policymakers and regulators are taking steps to develop frameworks for VPPs in their states:

• Pennsylvania regulators issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking seeking input on VPPs as a potential resource for the state.
• Maryland lawmakers passed a bill directing the Public Service Commission to develop a program for utilities to establish VPP pilots, with each investor-owned utility required to propose a pilot or temporary tariff by July 1, 2025.
• Colorado PUC issued a decision outlining rules for VPP pilots and acquisition.
• California and Hawaii regulators are also advancing expansive programs to promote VPPs.

Microgrids

Microgrids are groups of distributed energy resources, such as solar modules on a home, connected to a battery system, that can disconnect from the grid and operate independently during a power outage. The U.S. Department of Energy has a vision that 30% to 50% of electricity generation will come from distributed resources by 2035, with microgrids playing a key role in the transition.

The NC State report found that a growing number of states are evaluating the potential for microgrids to provide resilience or other benefits in their states.

• Colorado Energy Office is currently developing a microgrid roadmap, which will examine how microgrids can improve grid resilience and reliability in the state.
• New Hampshire lawmakers recently passed a bill requiring the state’s Department of Energy to study the potential benefits, risks and other factors of developing a microgrid framework.
• Rhode Island PUC issued request for proposal for a study related to microgrid program design.
• Puerto Rico Energy is examining revisions to its existing microgrid revisions.
• Arizona regulators issued a decision prohibiting Arizona Public Service from providing microgrid services.

Lawmakers in California, Iowa, New Jersey, and New York also considered legislation related to microgrid studies during the quarter.

From pv magazine Global

A global group of scientists led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a novel low-cost solar-powered brackish water desalination system that can reportedly reduce the levelized costs of water (LCOW) compared to conventional PV-driven desalination systems.

The proposed desalination system utilizes time-variant electrodialysis reversal (EDR) technology, which the researchers developed as a flexible variation of traditional EDR desalination. “Our research aims to address water scarcity in rural India where the majority of underground water is too saline to drink. The grid electricity access and stability are not good, suffering from frequent power cuts,” corresponding author, Wei He, told pv magazine.

“An EDR module is made up of a stack of ion exchange membranes and uses an electric field to move ions from the dilute flow channels to the brine flow channels between each membrane,” said the research group. “This electric field can be intermittently reversed to prevent the build-up of scale on the membrane.”

However, due to solar energy’s intermittent nature, the classic EDR is not a perfect fit. It requires constant power for its operation, and therefore, PV-EDR plants need the support of batteries or oversized solar systems, particularly at the start and end of the day when solar power is low.

“To overcome these problems, we have developed a flexible batch EDR technology that incorporates a time-variant voltage and flow rate adjustment,” the academics explained. “A model-based control method enables the EDR system to align its power consumption with available solar power at each time step while optimizing water production under varying solar conditions.”

To control the operation, the team created a feed-forward, model-based main controller running in Python to compute the optimal pump flow rate and the EDR stack voltage based on real-time sensor readings. A prototype was built at a research facility, closely reflecting the typical design parameters and operational conditions for a community-scale PV-EDR system sized to produce 6 m3 freshwater per day. It was powered by a solar panel with an area of 37 m2 and a tilt of 30 degrees.

This pilot system was tested for single-day and six-day analysis and compared to the traditional constant-operation EDR system. Both systems were fed with water with an average starting salinity of 970 mg l−1. The system was set at a conservatively low water recovery ratio of 60%.

“The flexible system is able to directly use 77% of the available solar energy on average compared with only about 40% in the conventional system (a 91% increase),” the scientists emphasized. “This suggests that a conventional system would require much more solar panel area to operate directly (that is, without any energy storage), increasing capital costs.”

In addition, the analysis showed that the average minimum battery capacity required for the flexible system was 0.27 kWh, a 92% reduction compared to 3.3 kWh in the constant system. “Finally, the results show that the flexible system can reach its production volume up to 54% faster than the conventional system,” they added.

Following the experimental results, the researchers conducted a cost analysis case study for the usage of such a system in Chelluru, a rural village in India located near Hyderabad. Using computer simulation and optimization, it was compared to a conventional PV-EDR system, a state-of-the-art constant PV-EDR, and a commercial on-grid reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system. “RO uses pressure to force water through a polymer membrane, while its constitutive ions are blocked by the membrane,” the group said.

“The optimized levelized cost of water (LCOW) achieved by the proposed flexible PV-EDR system is US $1.66 m−3, which improves the cost by 22% compared with the current state-of-the-art PV-EDR system and by 46% compared with the conventional PV-EDR system,” the scientists found. “The LCOW for on-grid RO is US $1.71 m−3, 3% above the LCOW of flexible PV-EDR.”

Their findings were presented in “Flexible batch electrodialysis for low-cost solar-powered brackish water desalination,” published in Nature Water. The team included researchers from King’s College London in the UK, and Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN) in Germany.

“For the next step, exploring the long-term performance and broadening the application scope of our PV-EDR technology beyond brackish water desalination presents a significant opportunity to address a wider array of global challenges related to water and liquid waste treatment,” concluded He.

Allow solar developers to choose “connect and manage,” says DOE roadmap  To speed interconnection of utility-scale renewables and storage projects, a U.S. Department of Energy roadmap sets forth 35 solutions and proposes actions to implement the solutions. The roadmap was developed through a DOE stakeholder process known as i2X.

Three-decker, solar and battery powered yacht hits the water in Italy  Silent Yachts launched the first Silent 62 3-Deck yacht, outfitted with 17 kWp of SunPower X400+ rigid glass solar modules and a newly enhanced 350 kWh LiFePO4 battery storage system, propelled by dual 340 kW electric motors.

Specialized EPC contractors key to smaller community solar projects  Innovative financing models and supportive policies are needed to make community solar financially viable and attractive to investors.

Massachusetts city that mandates solar on new buildings celebrates latest success Watertown, Massachusetts, a city with a model energy plan, now has a Gold LEED certified building with 252 kW solar and 125 kW storage system, along with 15 EV charging ports.

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.

The NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) released its Q1 2024 edition of its 50 States of Solar report, which looks at changes in policies on net metering, distributed solar valuation, community solar, residential fixed charges and more.

NCCETC is a public service center administered by the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University, with a mission to advance a sustainable energy economy by educating, demonstrating and providing support for clean energy technologies, practices, and policies. The Center is known for its DSIRE database that tracks incentives in all 50 states for renewable energy and energy efficiencies.

The Q1 2024 report finds that 43 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico took a total of 163 actions related to distributed solar policy and rate design. The map above summarizes state actions related to compensation for distributed generation (DG), rate design, and solar ownership. Of the 163 actions cataloged, the report authors note that the most common were related to DG compensation rules (56), followed by residential fixed charge and minimum bill increases (42), and community solar (37).

Trends spotted in the report include legislation to enable community solar, net metering reform considered by new states and states clarifying time of use rates for net metering customers.

Community solar is a way for homeowners, businesses and other organizations to invest in the benefits of clean energy when they have unsuitable conditions for rooftop or on-site ground-mounted installations. While installations of community solar contracted in 2022, Wood Mackenzie forecasts the U.S. community solar market to grow 118% over the next five years, with at least 6 GW expected to come online in existing markets between 2023 to 2027.

The NCCETC report finds that an increasing number of states are considering community solar legislation. For example, Pennsylvania recently passed a bill that would establish a community solar program, and similar bills are pending in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Legislators in Missouri are taking a slightly different approach with bills introduced that direct electric suppliers to create three-year community solar pilot programs, and similarly, West Virginia lawmakers intend to create a pilot program. Alaska, Georgia and Iowa also have community solar bills pending.

It comes as no surprise that more states are considering changes to their net metering rules, following in the footsteps of California’s NEM 3.0, which has become the solar policy story of the year. In Delaware, for example, lawmakers  approved legislation to conduct a net metering cost-benefit study, and regulators in Wisconsin are also conducting a value of solar study. In Kentucky, Duke Energy wants to implement a net metering successor tariff that would involve real-time netting and reduced compensation for exported energy for new customer-generators. A Washington utility is preemptively amending net metering tariff language to close the tariff upon reaching an aggregate cap.

States and utilities are increasingly moving to time-of-use rates because they vary the cost of electricity according to when it’s used. For example, a solar-powered home generates electricity during the day, when rates are cheaper, but the household may use the most electricity in the evening, when it is more expensive. Examples of states taking steps to clarify how net metering is conducted on a time-of-use rate basis include Kansas, Maryland and North Carolina.

Maryland’s Public Service Commission recently directed its rate design working group to examine utility tariffs and propose any needed charges for net-metered customers under time-of-use rates. In South Carolina pending legislation would increase the state’s net metering system size limit, but only for customer-generators on time-of-use rates.

The Q1 report noted top solar policy developments, which are both good and bad for electric customers generating their own solar electricity. In Massachusetts, which has especially solar-friendly policies, regulators voted to allow electric customers to transfer credits across utilities. Plus some systems are exempt from the state’s net metering caps.

Virginia, historically a coal state, voted in 2020 to close all the state’s coal power plants by 2024. This is part of the forward-looking Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires the state’s utilities to switch to 100% clean energy by 2050, while also adding 16 GW of solar and onshore wind, 3 GW of energy storage. Now legislators have gone a few steps further by passing bills that increase the capacity of Dominion Energy’s community solar program and direct regulators to set up a community solar program for Appalachian Power customers. Other bills under consideration in Virginia would expand solar leasing and power purchase agreements.

West Virginia, another former coal state, adopted net metering reforms that sets export credit rates at 8.91 to 9.343 cents per kWh in Monongahela Power & Potomac Edison’s rate case.

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved a request from major utility Arizona Public Service to raise electricity rates for all customers, assess fixed charges, and to single out those who have invested in rooftop solar with the largest of such charges. The approved charge equals $0.242 per kW of on-site generation for customers on standard time-of-use rates and $0.215 per kW for customers on the time-of-use rate including a demand charge. The report notes that several participants have filed petitions for rehearing to overturn the grid access charge.

To produce the quarterly 50 states report, NCCETC reports that it looks at important proposed and adopted policy changes affecting solar customer-generators of investor-owned utilities and large publicly owned or nonprofit utilities serving at least 100,000 customers.

Community solar provider Nexamp announced it has secured a $520 million capital raise led by Manulife Investment Management, with participation from existing investors Diamond Generating Corporation and Generate Capital.

The half-billion-dollar deal is expected to help the company expedite deployment of its national community solar project pipeline and expand on developer partnerships in new and existing markets.

Community solar is a fast-growing segment in the United States, expanding access to solar to customers that may not have a suitable roof or finances for rooftop residential solar. It is typically a subscription-based service under which a customer subscribes to a portion of an off-site solar array and receives credits on their electricity bill for the power generated by the solar asset.

Smaller than their utility-scale counterparts, community solar projects often opt for development on capped landfills, brownfield sites, highway rights-of-way, and other developed lands. This more distributed design for solar projects can help alleviate grid bottlenecks, reduce land development, and lower high-power transmission costs when compared to a centralized utility-scale design.

“This unprecedented investment reflects swelling confidence in the ability of independent renewable energy providers to reimagine outmoded infrastructure and reshape our grid,” said Zaid Ashai, chief executive officer, Nexamp.

Nexamp’s growth has been supercharged in recent years due in part to the Inflation Reduction Act, which has significant carve-outs for projects that serve low-income customers, are sited on brownfields and more. The company announced a second national headquarters in Chicago and it has stated a plan for more than $2 billion in investments in energy infrastructure in Illinois, which has among the nation’s most robust community solar markets.

Currently Nexamp serves nearly 80,000 customers with over 1.5 GW of projects either operational or in construction. The company has several gigawatts of projects in its pipeline in over 20 markets and the “combined potential to serve over one million customers in the coming years.”

In August 2023, Nexamp made the largest procurement order in U.S. history for the community solar sector by agreeing to purchase 1.5 GW of solar modules from Heliene. The modules are produced in North America, with Heliene operating factories in Ontario, Canada, Florida, and Minnesota.

“The infrastructure transition relies on the rapid deployment of proven technology solutions,” said investor Scott Jacobs, chief executive officer and co-founder Generate Capital. “Nexamp has been at the forefront of a distributed energy revolution in the United States, and we’re thrilled to expand our partnership.”

Massachusetts-based Alsym Energy announced it has secured $78 million in Series C funding, with funds provided by Tata Limited, General Catalyst, Thombest and Drads Capital. The funds are expected to help the company expand prototyping and pilot lines for its batteries.

Alsym develops a metal-oxide battery that uses similar chemical mechanisms as lithium-ion batteries, with a working ion shuttling between anode and cathode materials. The company said it uses inherently non-flammable materials and uses a water-based electrolyte. Battery fires are a known risk to conventional lithium-ion batteries.

The company said the chemistry is dendrite-free, which makes it immune to conditions that cause thermal runaway, the main cause of fire in lithium batteries.

The startup venture has disclosed that its electrode is manganese oxide, but other critical details have not been shared. It currently provides prototype samples, but no finished product is available for purchase.

(Read: “Can anything topple lithium-ion?”)

Alsym said its batteries can serve grid-scale use cases, charging and discharging intermittent solar and wind generation. The batteries can discharge between 4 to 110 hours.

The company’s first product, called Alsym Green, is targeting 3.4 MWh per 40 foot container, which it said is higher than other non-lithium battery alternatives available on the market today.

Alsym said its batteries will serve a wide range of other use cases including home energy storage, marine and maritime battery storage, small vehicles and passenger electric vehicles.

Despite this broad vision for its prototype stage battery, Alsym’s management said there is no one-size-fits-all chemistry for battery use cases.

“As the clean energy transition accelerates, it’s becoming more apparent that a single battery technology is not ideal for every use case, and that more options are needed to help address the challenges of a changing climate,” said Mukesh Chatter, chief executive officer and co-founder of Alsym Energy.

The company noted a non-lithium ion based battery may be desirable in a global market with competitive and constrained lithium supply chains.

More colleges and universities are adopting solar on their campuses, recognizing that solar installations can alleviate budget pressure, help schools meet clean energy goals and provide real-world learning opportunities for tomorrow’s leaders.

Princeton University in New Jersey is planning for a 2.2 MW portfolio of four solar projects to be installed on rooftop and canopy-mounted structures

New York-based Brightcore Energy will be installing 4,039 solar modules beginning in the summer of 2024.

Princeton University’s Sustainability Action Plan commits the school to achieving net zero carbon neutrality b 2046 and states that during the planning of future campus projects, campus leaders should ask themselves “Will today’s decision facilitate a movement towards the objective of nationwide decarbonization?”

The school also has a policy of avoiding purchase of offsets and states that school leaders should keep in mind that “paying others so that we can continue to pollute is not an effective global solution to climate change.”

“The school has shown great leadership with its ambitious and detailed sustainability plans, and we are excited to play a role in that,” said Mike Richter, president of Brightcore.

Further north, Northeastern University in Boston announced the recent completion of a 158 kWp rooftop solar system on its library.

Installed by Massachusetts-based Ameresco, the solar installation is expected to offset 146 metric tons of carbon (CO2) emissions.

Northeastern was one of the first universities in the nation to prioritize sustainability and in 2007 became a founding member of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, now the Climate Leadership Network and the University Climate Change Coaltion (UC3) led by Second Nature.

Northeastern reports that between 2005 and 2020, greenhouse gas emissions per square foot of building space on the Boston campus declined by 42%. The school attributes this success, in part, to fuel switching, energy conservation measures, such as lighting retrofits, and sustainable building design. Northeastern considers the installation on the Snell Library being a highly visible and important milestone.

“Northeastern has made significant progress reducing the carbon intensity of our buildings,” said Leah Bamberger, executive director of Northeastern’s Climate Justice and Sustainability Hub. “This project comes at an important time as we are developing plans to fully decarbonize our buildings and eliminate harmful emissions.”

California State University – Dominguez Hills has new off-grid solar powered benches on its campus, provided by Bluebolt Outdoor LLC.

The bench provides off-grid wireless charging for student devices like phones and tablets and contains a Wi-Fi access point. It has integrated LED lighting, USB charging ports, and a double-sided poster display space. The bench also contains environmental sensors for monitoring air quality and flood and fire detection.

Bluebolt said it manages advertising sales for the poster locations within customer-approved categories. The benches have been deployed in Katy, Texas, Victorville, California, and by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in Boston, Massachusetts.

Solar generation in the off-grid unit is stored in a lithium-ion battery. The bench has a monocrystalline solar panel with 135 W of power and 21.6% efficiency, making it considerably less powerful than the 400 W+ panels installed on residential rooftops today.

The onboard battery is rated at 12.8 V and 55 Ah. Full specifications sheet can be found here.

Bluebolt said it will continue a rollout of its product at locations in Arkansas, California, Illinois, and Texas this summer.

The company also provides solar-integrated newspaper kiosks that also contain Wi-Fi hotspots and wired and wireless charging ports.

The Massachusetts Solar Technical Assistance Retrofit (STAR) program provides technical and financial assistance for affordable housing organizations to adopt solar.

Researching the complex financial and technical aspects of solar projects for numerous multi-unit buildings can be a heavy lift for an already stretched housing agency staff. The program seeks to address this issue by acting as a guiding force through the decision-making process.

The program, administered by Boston branch of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Resonant Energy, and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC), has analyzed the portfolios of 44 affordable housing providers, encompassing more than 1,700 buildings.

Through its first three phases, affordable housing providers have installed or committed to a cumulative 7.9 MW of solar across nearly 200 rooftops. The projects represent more than $30 million in lifetime savings for the housing owners and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking 1,400 cars off the road.

One of the major hurdles in developing solar for housing authorities is the review and consent process with leaders and investors. STAR organizers worked directly with these parties, providing staff time and guidance to streamline the process.

“Without the expert assistance and flexible financing options through the STAR program, a shift of this magnitude would have been extremely difficult for us,” said Rafael Mares, executive director of The Neighborhood Developers (TND).

The STAR program supports housing providers in filing for tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act. Last fall, Resonant Energy helped clients submit 102 applications to the Department of Energy, representing $7.4 million in tax credit support if all are approved. Resonant Energy report that thus far, 68 of the 102 applications have been approved.

“2024 stands to be a watershed moment for solar and affordable housing,” said Isaac Baker, co-chief executive officer of Resonant Energy. “New state and federal resources are being rolled out that prioritize solar for affordable housing, making it easier for housing organizations to afford the upfront cost of solar and unlock meaningful savings for both the buildings’ and residents’ budgets.”

Statewide, Massachusetts applied for $250 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s $7 billion Solar For All program. About $65 million of the total is earmarked for affordable housing communities.

The EPA is expected to announce award decisions in March 2024. If the state is awarded, agencies will implement the funds in the following months.

The STAR program is financially supported from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s (MassCEC) EmPower Massachusetts Program, the Jampart Charitable Trust, and the Lauenstein Family Fund.

Phase four participating organizations included:

● Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA)
● Commonwealth Land Trust (CLT)
● HallKeen Management
● Harborlight Homes
● Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services (MHNHS)
● Peabody Properties
● Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH)
● Rural Development, Inc. (RDI)
● Supportive Living, Inc.
● Urban Edge
● Valley Community Development
● Way Finders

24M Technologies, based in Cambridge, Mass., developed what it calls a low-cost, simple, modular approach to lithium-ion battery manufacturing. Designed around the use of standard lithium-ion supply chain materials, the company announced a direct material recycling method it calls Liforever.

“Better battery recycling is essential for a sustainable energy future, but the use of binders in conventional cell production has made direct recycling impractical,” said 24M CEO Naoki Ota.

Liforever works by keeping the active materials in their original form and does not create a black mass. This is in contrast to recycling methods used for lithium-ion cells that form black mass e-waste as a result of its use of toxic pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling processes. This conventional method also damages the structure of the anode and cathode materials and so it is not usually used to recycle more expensive metals such as nickel, manganese and cobalt.

“Liforever solves these challenges by enabling the reuse of nearly every part of the battery cell without requiring the expensive, inefficient and environmentally challenging processes used in conventional cell recycling,” said Ota. “These cost savings are further optimized by our streamlined SemiSolid technology, which eliminates half of the steps used in conventional cell production.”

24M reports that its Liforever method enables recycling of all active materials from the anode (graphite) and cathode (NMC, LFP, NCA, etc.). After recovery, the active materials undergo a low-cost cleaning and, as needed, re-lithiation to reclaim their original capacity.

The Liforever recycling methodology is designed to be compatible with recycling regulations, 24M reports. The fact that the process is chemistry agnostic means that it can support next-generation batteries of all chemistries, according to 24M.

24M Technologies was spun out of A123 Systems in 2010, and then acquired a renowned customer base, including license agreements with Volkswagen Group, Fujifilm Corporation, Kyrocera Corporation, Lucas TVS, Axxiva and FREYR. The last three companies announced plans to to build gigafactories based on 24M’s technology in India, China, Norway and the United States.

The company says it has simplified lithium-ion battery production with a new design that requires fewer materials and fewer steps to manufacture each cell. Its solution is a semi-solid flow battery in which the electrodes are mixed directly into the electrolyte, and as a result of its SemiSolid cell process and chemistry-agnostic platform, it can reduce manufacturing costs by up to 40%. The company says it also reduces the need for more than 80% of the inactive materials in traditional batteries, such as copper and aluminum.

In 2022 24M received a grant from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program to develop and scale a high-energy-density battery that uses a lithium metal anode and semi-solid cathode for use in electric aviation.

The latest New England Independent System Operator (ISO-NE) capacity auction for 2027-28 concluded with coal failing to secure a spot, while solar, storage and wind all increased their market share.

ISO-NE announced that approximately 950 individual energy resources successfully bid to provide capacity if needed. Out of these, 603 were solar power or solar-plus-storage facilities, accounting for 16.6 GW of the total 31.5 GW of capacity.

The size of the sources ranged from 7 kW to 1.2 GW. The smallest facility, a 7 kW solar power plant named “Grasshopper 142 Blackstone,” is located in southeast Massachusetts. The largest solar plant, Three Corners Solar, which is located in Maine, secured a bid for 77.1 MW of capacity.

Facilities receive a monthly payment based on their available kWac capacity. The auction’s preliminary price is $3.58/kW per month, 38% higher than last year’s bid, but similar to bids placed five years ago.

The 7 kW Grasshopper solar facility bid that it could guarantee 2.462 kWac of capacity, earning a monthly payment of $8.81 and an annual total of $105. The facility must rebid next year. The Three Corners Solar facility, bid for its full capacity of 77.1 MWac but only for the summer period from June to September. It will earn $276,018 for each month and $828,054 for the summer season.

In 2019, Sunrun secured capacity payments for a distributed solar and storage portfolio for the first time, with delivery beginning under the contract in fall 2022. Since this initial bid, known as “FCA 13,” Sunrun has consistently secured contracts each year. Most recently, they won with three portfolios, totaling 5.67 MW of capacity.

The ISO noted that 1.7 GW of energy storage won bids, with 700 MW of those being new facilities this year. Energy storage first won capacity bids in the 2019 auction with 5 MW of capacity.

Offshore wind had a big moment with Vineyard Wind 1, an ~800 MW facility nearing completion, securing capacity payments on its first bid. The facility clinched two blocks: a 146 MW/50 MW winter/summer capacity and a larger 347 MW/185 MW block. Notably, wind farms typically offered more capacity in winter, whereas solar installations mainly provided value in summer or had reduced winter capacity when paired with energy storage.

The largest resource in New England to win capacity was the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire, which secured 1.25 GW of capacity.

The Merrimack Generation Station in Bow, New Hampshire, a 482 MW coal plant that had been winning capacity bids until 2023, failed again to win any bids. The plant’s last payments of $785,000 a month will end with the closure of the 2025-2026 capacity season. According to the plant owners, the only financial path forward is to rely on revenue generated from supplying electricity during winter peak demand periods.

There are no other coal facilities currently operating in New England. However, wholesale electricity emissions in the region have not decreased for several years. This is because natural gas still dominates the grid, representing 46% of generation. Additionally, the retirement of multiple nuclear facilities has contributed to this trend.

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Baltimore Gas and Electric installs battery storage system to manage winter peaks The 2.5 MW/9.74 MWh Hitachi Energy facility helped the utility avoid distribution upgrade costs and also participates in the PJM Interconnection.

Module prices steady as market mulls price hikes 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.

Debunking solar myths: What about nuclear? Part three of Dan Shugar’s series on replacing fiction with facts about solar, when the proverbial Uncle Bob comes to dinner.

Massachusetts expands solar net metering, bucking a national trend Massachusetts expanded access to net metering, showing a commitment to distributed energy. The Department of Public Utilities expects to save ratepayers $10 million with the regulatory change.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued an order revising the state’s Net Metering Program regulations, expanding access to a broader solar customer base.

Net metering is a process by which solar customers export their excess electricity production to the grid in exchange for credit on their utility bills. The rate structure has been a primary driver in distributed, rooftop solar across the nation.

DPU’s order now allows municipal and state-owned solar asset owners to take advantage of net metering. It also enables the transfer of net metering credits between utilities. And large commercial solar facilities are exempt from net metering caps. These moves, along with a restructured cost recovery plan, are estimated to save ratepayers $10 million.

Massachusetts has tapped 10.8% of its rooftop solar generation potential, among the highest adoption rates in the country, according to Environment America. The new regulations are expected to help spur the deployment of solar facilities across the state, support Massachusetts’s move towards electrification, and cut costs for residents and businesses.

This regulatory change bucks a national trend set by California, a state that has sent its rooftop solar industry reeling with its transition to Net Energy Metering 3.0. After slashing its net metering credit rates by about 75%, among other moves, the state has suffered over 17,000 job losses, major bankruptcies, and a sharp drop in rooftop solar installations. Analysts say that California is now off-track for reaching its climate goals. Other major rooftop solar markets, including North Carolina, Arizona, and others have followed California in cutting net metering rates, despite the industry tailspin.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts has doubled down on net metering, recognizing the system-wide cost and resilience benefits of rooftop solar.

“Net metering enables customers to cut their energy costs,” said DPU chair James Van Nostrand. “This is another example of the important nexus between the clean energy transition and maintaining affordability for Massachusetts residents.”

Massachusetts sets caps on how much capacity of rooftop solar can be eligible for net metering. It used to have an exemption for small systems of 10 kW or less, but this cap is now lifted to 25 kW.

Furthermore, behind the meter systems over 60 kW, and up to 2 MW are now exempt from the net metering cap.

Changes to the program include:

• New ability to transfer net metering credits from certain net metering facilities served by one utility to customers of a different Massachusetts electric distribution company (EDC); 
• Exempts facilities that serve on-site load and are larger than 60 kW and less than or equal to 2,000 kW (if private) or 10,000 kW (if public) from the net metering caps (for example commercial rooftop or adjacent parking lot canopy); and 
• Changes to the treatment of the Net Metering Recovery Surcharge (NMRS) to reduce costs of the program to ratepayers.

DPU said the moves were made to help the state adhere to its 2021 climate action plan. The full summary of net metering revisions can be found here.

Why rooftop?

Recent modeling from Environment America found that rooftop solar has technical potential to meet 45% of U.S. electricity demand. Today, it only represents about 1.5% of the electricity used.

“Today, in Massachusetts, you can get your energy straight from your roof,” Neumann told lawmakers. “It’s making less and less sense to pay for power from a distant plant spewing pollution when we can soak up the sun on our rooftops.”

Rooftop solar “has myriad benefits for the environment and consumers,” said the report. This includes reducing the need for dirty power plants and expensive transmission lines, providing lower costs, and can help to increase the grid’s resilience to extreme weather and other shocks.

Distributed solar helps squeeze other emitting sources off the grid. Take the 1.4 GW Mystic Generating Station serving the ISO New England grid operator region. The natural gas plant used to be fired up in the winter to prevent blackouts, but the grid operator said increased solar capacity has made the grid reliable enough to shut Mystic down. Over 5.4 GW of solar, most of it rooftop, has helped enable the transition away from fossil fuels, even in the harsh New England winter.

Another environmental benefit of rooftop solar is the reduction of land use for energy development, sometimes referred to as “energy sprawl.” For each gigawatt of rooftop solar installed in lieu of utility-scale projects, over 5,200 acres of land are saved.

Further, rooftop solar can save the nation on rising transmission needs and costs.

“Because rooftop solar generates power that can be used on-site reduces the need for transmission from central generating stations, potentially saving states and municipalities time and money on their energy transitions,” said the report. “To reach renewable energy targets, some expansion of transmission infrastructure will be necessary, but maximizing the potential of rooftop solar can help to minimize the amount we need to build.”

Solar is also now the most cost-effective new generation source in most markets and most conditions in the United States. On average, new-build solar costs 29% less than the next-cheapest fossil fuel alternative, said Ernst and Young.

This article was updated to accurately reflect the net metering exemption thresholds.

Energy Vault begins building first-of-its-kind green hydrogen storage project The 293 MWh green hydrogen and battery storage facility is being built in utility Pacific Gas & Electric’s service territory in Northern California.

Meyer Burger to shut down plant in Germany and pivot to the U.S. Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger will seek shareholder approval for a rights issue of as much as $284 million to finance the completion of its U.S. manufacturing facilities in Colorado and Arizona.

DOE announces $366 million for energy projects in rural and remote communities  The funding will support solar, energy storage and other clean energy deployment across 20 states and 30 tribal nations.

NREL finds 100% renewable scenario improves LA air quality and health NREL modeled that LA and surround counties could save over $4 billion from improved health outcomes. The most significant reductions in emissions resulted from electrification and infrastructural changes to the non-power sector, such as transportation and buildings.

Hope at the end of solar supply turbulence Growing demand for solar products is colliding with the hesitant shipment strategies of manufacturers, according to pvXchange’s Martin Schachinger.

All floating PV technologies at a glance An international research team has produced a comprehensive overview of more than 300 works of published literature on floating PV, spanning 2013 to 2022. The scientists laid out the benefits and challenges of the technology and pointed to gaps that should be filled with future studies.

Massachusetts lawmakers urged to adopt “million solar roofs” equivalent In California, Governor Schwarzenegger’s million solar roofs initiative spurred the nation’s largest small-scale solar market. Environment America created a petition to support a 10 GW buildout of solar in Massachusetts to preserve its forests and other lands.

Anza expands back-end visibility for solar module procurement The platform has added granular insights into technical, commercial, supply-chain, and risk-related aspects of equipment procurement.

Massachusetts is among the most densely populated states in the United States. Despite the land use constraints caused by a dense population, the state has made considerable progress installing small-scale solar. However, the state has a long way to go to meet its clean energy targets, and solar is expected to serve the bulk of the capacity added.

The state’s Climate Plan for 2050 estimates that between 27 GW and 34 GW of solar would be required to reach its goal of net-zero emissions by midcentury. The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) reports that 4.3 GW of solar was installed through Q3 2023, so there is a long runway for growth.

With this growth path comes the opportunity to ensure that solar is built in a way that preserves Massachusetts’ many forests, farmlands, and other undisturbed lands.

Johanna Neumann, acting director of Environment Massachusetts, urged lawmakers to take action to consider adopting a “million solar roofs” equivalent in the state. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s million solar roofs initiative helped the state launch the nation’s largest rooftop solar market, which represented roughly 50% of the nation’s rooftop solar deployment at its peak.

Neumann’s plan for Massachusetts would enact a goal to install the equivalent of a million solar roofs, or 10 GW, by 2030. Those interested in supporting this measure can sign a petition from Environment America.

“Today, in Massachusetts, you can get your energy straight from your roof,” Neumann told lawmakers. “It’s making less and less sense to pay for power from a distant plant spewing pollution when we can soak up the sun on our rooftops.”

As of 2022, Massachusetts has tapped about 10.8% of its total rooftop solar potential, said Environment America. The state ranks 11 nationwide for total solar deployment and fourth in small-scale solar deployment.

Why rooftop?

Rooftop solar “has myriad benefits for the environment and consumers,” said a report from Environment America. This includes reducing the need for dirty power plants and expensive transmission lines, providing lower costs, and can help to increase the grid’s resilience to extreme weather and other shocks.

Distributed solar helps squeeze other emitting sources off the grid. Take the 1.4 GW Mystic Generating Station serving the ISO New England grid operator region. The natural gas plant used to be fired up in the winter to prevent blackouts, but the grid operator said increased solar capacity has made the grid reliable enough to shut Mystic down. Over 5.4 GW of solar, most of it rooftop, has helped enable the transition away from fossil fuels, even in the harsh New England winter.

Another environmental benefit of rooftop solar is the reduction of land use for energy development, sometimes referred to as “energy sprawl.” For each gigawatt of rooftop solar installed in lieu of utility-scale projects, over 5,200 acres of land are saved.

Further, rooftop solar can save the nation on rising transmission needs and costs.

“Because rooftop solar generates power that can be used on-site reduces the need for transmission from central generating stations, potentially saving states and municipalities time and money on their energy transitions,” said the report. “To reach renewable energy targets, some expansion of transmission infrastructure will be necessary, but maximizing the potential of rooftop solar can help to minimize the amount we need to build.”

Solar is also now the most cost-effective new generation source in most markets and most conditions in the United States. On average, new-build solar costs 29% less than the next-cheapest fossil fuel alternative.

Even with the threat of heavy snow (that turned into a light drizzle), solar professionals flocked to the RE+ Northeast event in Boston’s Seaport district, for an expanded convention center floor hosting over 200 booths with thousands of attendees. The RE+ Northeast show, located in New England in February, has grown from its humble beginnings in the Westin hotel to the cavernous Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, with plenty more space for future growth!

Now, onto the floor!

Sun Ballast has reduced its use of aluminum racking components by 95%, opting instead for concrete racking components. This approach simplifies the installation process and utilizes the weight of the concrete racking for ballasting, effectively securing modules to the roof.

As seen in the image above, metal clips secure the modules to the ballast components. pv magazine USA reached out to a tax attorney to determine how the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) domestic content bonus, which requires a 40% average of “Made in America” components across the basket of products, will categorize the ballasts. The question at hand is whether the concrete racking components will be considered part of the 40% basket with some flexibility in sourcing, or if they will be subject to a stricter “Made in America” requirement as standard structural components. This distinction will impact how these components can be used to meet the domestic content requirements of the IRA.

Pegasus showcased two unique products: one that eliminates the need for caulking during attachment and another that reduces the number of racking components needed. The company’s InstaFlash unit integrates a non-hardening, semi-liquid sealant into the flashing, which fills any spaces made by drilling lag bolts into a roof.

The product is designed to squeeze out of the flashing when the integrated lag bolt is tightened, ensuring a secure and watertight seal.

Pegasus’ second product on display, SkipRail, is a mid-clamp product that sits between modules and connects two separate rows together. This design allows installers to skip adding a set of rails and flashing as well as holes in the roof, for the row of modules that connects to a standard two-rail row of modules.

Anker, traditionally known for making small portable batteries and other gadgets, has launched a home battery system. The system features an inverter with up to 6 kWac of standard output, which can be combined with up to six 5 kWh battery packages, totaling a potential 30 kWh.

The Solix X1 battery chemistry is lithium phosphate, which contains no cobalt.

SolarPanelRecycling.com showcased a sampling of the materials it recycles from solar panels during the deconstruction process, including silicon, plastic, copper, and glass. The featured image at the top of this article provides a visual representation of these materials after deconstruction. The company claims it has the capacity to recycle 100 million pounds of material per year, which equates to approximately 2 million solar panels.

All Correct Solar offers EL imaging services, with Beryl Weinshenker, formerly of PVEL, highlighting the company’s ability to provide deliverables to insurance companies and manufacturers that determine module acceptance and deficiency. The image below shows a solar module removed from a site after a recent inspection, with multiple cells damaged. Weinshenker suggested that the damage might have been caused by a solar panel above this one being dragged across the pallet, rather than being properly lifted.

The company also offers services for scanning solar modules as they are unloaded from shipping containers, emphasizing the importance of clear “module acceptance provisions” in purchase agreements with distributors and manufacturers. Spot-checking modules and informing manufacturers of such checks can help ensure the integrity of deliveries.

Span was onsite as well, showcasing its advanced electrical panel and new electric car charger at the booth. A representative demonstrated the company’s mobile app, which smoothly allows users to prioritize circuits powered by the battery backup and automatically recalculates the battery’s runtime based on the adjusted “must have” items.

Sistine Solar refers to their printing technology as “SolarSkin,” which is a proprietary process that allows for the application of graphics on a thin-film polymer. This technology enables businesses and homeowners to customize the appearance of their solar panels to blend seamlessly with their roof or display any design they desire. 

The company was open with pv magazine USA about their costs and pricing for printing in color on both residential and commercial sized solar modules. The printing costs are eligible for the 30% IRA tax credit. Sistine Solar noted that homeowner associations are a popular driver for residential solar consumers, while advertising is the top driver of commercial panel installations.

A graphic displayed at the booth illustrated the trade-off between “Maximum PR Value” and energy yield, with options for 85%, 90% and 95% module efficiency.

BrightView Vegetation Management offered a basketball shooting arcade game at the conference, with the highest scorer winning a pair of Apple Airpods. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company provides vegetation management services for ground-mounted solar facilities, as well as tree trimming services for commercial and residential solar projects.

Invaleon, a residential, commercial, and utility solar engineering, procurement, and construction company from Haverhill, Massachusetts, also had a booth at the show. However, the representatives were a little too busy to attend on Tuesday.

Additionally, pv magazine USA had a booth at the event, with Matt Gallinger, Anne Fischer, Ryan Kennedy, Eckhart Gouras, and yours truly in attendance.

We look forward to seeing you on the floor at the next show!

Despite dire warnings of a foot of snow, 3,500 people arrived at the Boston Convention Center Tuesday morning for the annual RE+ Northeast.

The Northeast show is the flagship regional conference conducted by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA). It is also the largest of the RE+ regional conferences and this year it is bigger than ever, having outgrown its previous space and now filling a hall in the convention center.

State representative Jeffrey Roy delivered the welcome to a packed room for the opening session. Roy is chairperson of the joint committee on telecommunications, utilities and energy, and house chair of the manufacturing caucus. He welcomed the clean energy advocates to the Commonwealth, a state with a strong policy support for renewables.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA highlighted the industries associations roadmap for 2024, what she said is a pivotal year for the industry. She emphasized the importance of state policy, as exemplified in the Commonwealth, noting both risks and opportunities affecting the industry. Partisanship is one of the risks, especially in this election year, she said.

Delivering the keynote was Tarika Barrett the CEO of Girls Who Code, an organization with a mission to close the gender gap in technology. Barrett noted a growing gender gap in females entering STEM professions and the impact that has on the economy.

The exhibit hall is filled with over 200 exhibitors, and the larger convention hall provided plenty space for the influx of attendees. Traffic remained steady throughout the day, with attendees remarking that RE+ Northeast has become a must-attend show.

Yaskawa Solectria Solar debuted its XGI 1500 utility-scale and commercial string inverters, designed and engineered in Lawerence, Massachusetts and assembled and tested in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The company said its inverters are qualified as domestic end products compliant with the Buy American Act and eligible for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Yaskawa Solectria is exhibiting in booth 325.

One of the technical highlights of opening day was an overview of a new standard by EMerge Alliance. The Alliance describes the new standard as interoperability data model (IDM) framework that allows encoding of electrical compatibility information of microgrid component devices (power sources, conversion, storage, circuit protection and distribution devices) into a machine-readable format.

“This standard and its associated open-source public library satisfies the urgent need for a standardized information framework that can be utilized by design systems to assist inexpert and non-technical users evaluate electrical compatibility in the concept stage of system design and significantly reducing engineering soft-cost of a project,” said Dusan Brhlik, chair of the Microgrid Technical Standards Committee and EMerge Alliance Governing Board member.

RE+ Northeast continues today with more cutting-edge workshops, roundtables, and exhibits. pv magazine USA can be found in booth 850.

Onyx Renewable Partners L.P. is developing two community solar and energy storage projects in Massachusetts that will have a total of 6.2 MW of solar and 5.5 MWh of energy storage.

The two projects, which are planned to be located within the ISO New England (ISO-NE) region, are expected to offset 3,900 tons of carbon dioxide per year the equivalent to powering approximately 700 homes, according to the U.S. EPA.

Both solar-plus-storage installations feature Qcells modules along with DC-coupled battery storage technology and its Geli Energy Management System (EMS). Qcells and Onyx plan to deploy a risk-sharing partnership structure on the projects, including a revenue share agreement and Qcells’ Network Operations Center (NOC) Services offering to mitigate risk on the long-term assets.

 The Qcells Geli EMS reportedly uses the same machine learning algorithm to model the financial returns on projects as used in real-time battery operation, providing what Qcells says is accurate and reliable project revenue projections.

The projects are expected to benefit from the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program. This program is capped at an aggregate 1.6 GW of deployment and provides per-kWh incentives for PV projects 5 MW or less, with about 20% to35% of the allotted capacity designed for projects 25 kW or less. It works on a declining-block program in 80 MW blocks, meaning that earlier projects will be more heavily incentivized, and as the program passes through the blocks, incentive values will drop by 4% per block.

Both projects will also participate in the state’s Clean Peak Energy Standard (CPS), an initiative aimed at meeting high electricity demands with clean energy to create a more sustainable and reliable power grid.

 The Geli EMS will help optimize battery charging and discharging to comply with program requirements for SMART and CPS, the companies report.

Qcells announced the expansion of its solar module factory in Dalton, Georgia where it added 2 GW of solar capacity, bringing the U.S. factory’s output to more than 5.1 GW. The company said its Dalton factory is the largest manufacturing plant of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and the first solar panel plant expansion since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The expanded factory will manufacture nearly 30,000 solar modules a day, and will create 510 new jobs.

Onyx Renewables, based in New York City, is an institutionally backed, vertically integrated, developer, owner and operator of solar and energy storage projects. The company was established in 2014 by Blackstone Group, and is now, Onyx is owned by SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT), a global investor in sustainable energy solutions. The company reports that it has completed more than 11 GW of renewable energy, with an operating portfolio of over 380 projects and a development pipeline spanning 35 states.

Onyx and Qcells announced interest in expanding the solar-plus-storage partnership to projects in ISO-NE, California ISO, NYISO, and more.

At the upcoming regional RE+ Northeast event in Boston, Massachusetts, Yaskawa Solectria Solar will display its new XGI 1500 inverters and accessories. The utility-scale and commercial string inverters are designed and engineered in Lawerence, Massachusetts and assembled and tested in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

The company said its inverters meet Federal Acquisition Regulations definitions of a Commercial Off-The-Shelf item, which qualifies the products as domestic end products compliant with the Buy American Act and the eligible for the 10% domestic content bonus credit under the Inflation Reduction Act.

“We look forward meeting with attendees who want to grow their business in the northeastern U.S.,” said Jonathan Helmuth, director of sales, Yaskawa Solectria Solar. “It is a great opportunity to interact with the northeast audience and share how they can earn 10% domestic content bonus credit with our made in the USA Solectria XGI 1500 Inverters and accessories.”

Solectria’s XGI 1500-DCG series inverters come as a result of direct collaboration with major U.S. solar panel manufacturer First Solar. The products are designed to reduce potential induced degradation (PID). The inverters are optimized for First Solar modules and feature an electrically grounded DC input, which the company said supports performance and longevity. The company offers a hands-on troubleshooting class for its products.

Solectria said the XGI inverters are designed for ground-mounted utility-scale solar arrays, with models available for service connections at both 600 Vac and 480 Vac. The XGI series offers 99% peak efficiency and 98.5% CEC rated average efficiency.

The inverters support advanced grid-support functionality and meet the latest IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 standards for safety. The company offers a five-year manufacturer’s warranty with the option to extend it to ten years.

Each string inverter measures a height of 29.5 in. (750 mm), width of 44.3 in. (1125 mm), and depth of 15.4 in. (390 mm). The unit weighs 290 lbs. and is enclosed in NEMA 4X, IEC IP66, Type 3R, polyester powder-coated aluminum.

A full spec sheet of the XGI 1500 DCG series can be found here. The company will display its products at the RE+ Northeast Event, February 13-14, Boston, MA at booth 325.

Direct Energy to power Boston Community Choice Electricity program  This municipal aggregation initiative will offer Boston residents 24% to 100% renewable electricity while reducing their utility bills by about 15%.

Huge Texas battery energy storage facility begins operation  The 300 MWh Revolution energy storage facility was completed in one year—on schedule and within budget.

Indoor bifacial solar cell technology at CES 2024  Ambient Photonics touts its new solar cell as the future power source for connected devices, potentially eliminating the need for batteries.

Contact lens manufacturer safeguards operations with rooftop solar California-based Staar Surgical will reduce operational costs and avoid spoiled production with an on-site solar microgrid.

The largest solar facility in Wisconsin is now active The 300 MW project serves Madison Gas and Electric and WE Energies customers.

First Solar to power its module factory in India with solar and wind Cleantech Solar says it plans to develop 150 MW of solar and 16.8 MW of wind in India, supplying around 7.3 GWh of clean electricity to First Solar’s new 3.3 GW vertically integrated solar factory in the state of Tamil Nadu. The solar component of the project will use First Solar’s India-made Series 7 modules.

Direct Energy, a renewables and energy-related service provider, plans to expand its offering to over 200,000 households and businesses as the new supplier of Boston Community Choice Electricity (BCCE). The program allows the city to purchase clean electricity in bulk from a competitive supplier (Direct Energy) to service Boston residents.

The default service offered by BCCE provides an estimated savings of about 15% when compared with traditional Boston utilities.

Community choice programs, sometimes called community choice aggregation (CCA), defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are programs that allow local governments to procure electric power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while still receiving grid services from their utility. The benefit of these programs is that they help communities exercise control over their electricity sources, demand more green power and negotiate lower electricity prices. Demand aggregation gives communities greater leverage when conducting these negotiations.

The initiative is central to the city’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to make Boston carbon neutral by 2025 by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and energy supply systems, in addition to buildings.

The three products offered under the BCCE include the Optional Basic Program, which costs about $0.14/kWh and gives customers 24% renewable energy. The Standard (default) service costs about $0.15/kWh and provides 39% renewable energy. Lastly, the Optional Green 100 tier costs $0.17/kWh and offers users 100% renewable energy. All offerings are available through December 2025.

The default service and Optional Green 100 tier provide customers with more renewable energy electricity at a lower cost than Boston’s Basic Service; this includes utilities such as Eversource, National Grid and Unitil.

According to the official website of the City of Boston, Eversource recently filed its proposed new Residential Basic Service rate ($0.17/kWh) and Small Business rate (about $0.18/kWh) with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. While the rates came into effect at the start of this year, BCCE’s default offering offers a 15% lower rate while providing consumers 62.5% more Massachusetts Class I renewable power. The latter includes electricity generated from solar panels, solar thermal electric and wind energy facilities that started operating after 1997.

Moreover, the Optional Green 100 provides 100% Massachusetts Class I renewable electricity to consumers, which Direct Energy states is more than three times the state’s annual Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) for utilities provided at a cheaper rate. The Database for State Incentives and Renewables Efficiency lists Massachusetts Class I RPS for utilities as being 40% renewable by 2030 and increasing by 1% yearly after that.

Users who subscribe to the service can join BCCE by calling Eversource, asking them to remove their supply block, then enrolling in the program online. Previous BCCE customers looking to opt out of the program or move up or down tiers can do so anytime. Residents who don’t opt out of the program are automatically registered to receive the default product. Moreover, new BCCE customers will receive a mailed notification each quarter, which allows them to switch tiers or opt-out.

Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest electricity and natural gas suppliers, among other energy services. Moreover, the organization states it operates in eight provinces in Canada and all 50 states, including the District of Columbia. The company reports that it has almost 4 million customer relationships and 3,000 employees. 

Read more about community choice programs here.

The recent surge in energy storage installations in the U.S. is seen in both residential and grid-scale sectors, while commercial and industrial saw a slight decline quarter-on-quarter, according to the recent Wood Mackenzie and American Clean Power Association (ACP) US Energy Storage Monitor report

The cumulative volume installed across all sectors between Q1 and Q3 of this year totals 13.5 GWh, compared to the 12 GWh installed in all of 2022. It would have been much higher, noted Vanessa Witte, senior research analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s energy storage team, had 80% of projects in the pipeline being delayed.

In Q3 grid scale increased deployment by 37% quarter on quarter for 2.2 GW/6.8 GWh. This boost led to a record-breaking quarter for both MW and MWh installed.

“Energy storage deployment is growing dramatically, proving that it will be essential to our future energy mix,” said Frank Macchiarola, ACP chief policy officer. “This industry will serve as the backbone of our modern grid. As we continue to build a strong domestic supply chain, streamlined permitting and evolving market rules can further accelerate the deployment of storage resources.”

Source: US Energy Storage Monitor | Q4 2023, American Clean Power Association and Wood Mackenzie

The grid-scale sector’s 2023 forecast increased just slightly due to strong Q3 volume, however, the remainder of the forecast lowered by 7% on average. This sector faced multiple challenges, which caused volatility in the market and hindered project completion, according to Witte.

“Grid-scale declines were more focused on challenges not only with supply and permitting, but also with the backlog of applications in most ISOs interconnection queues that are preventing projects to move through the development process,” said Witte.

In the community, commercial and industrial (CCI) storage sector, deployment fell 7% quarter on quarter, with an estimated 30.3 MW and 92.9 MWh installed. While California had a growth of 35% in energy storage this sector in Q3, Massachusetts recorded none, which lowered the overall percentage for the nation.

Interconnection queue issues affect all solar sectors but was especially felt with CCI deployment. Despite challenges, which also include state incentives and community solar programs, the CCI sector is forecast to double in 2024, and to “become a larger share of the forecast in 2025 and beyond, which will bring more geographic diversity to the U.S. market,” said Hanna Nuttall, a research analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s energy storage team.

The residential energy storage segment contracted 14% over 2022, deploying a combined 88.31 MW in Q3. California had a slow first half of the year when it saw a contraction of 31% over the first half 2022. But it did much better in Q3 with 78.4 MW of energy storage deployed, an increase of 35% year over year.

Regional deployment

Regionally, California almost doubled its installed capacity of energy storage quarter over quarter to finish with 78.4 MW installed—the largest increase in the country. All other states deployed a combined total of 88.31 MW, a slight decrease over Q2, which saw 89.53 MW deployed.

At the grid-scale level, California and Texas had 694 MW and 758 MW installed, respectively, accounting for 67% of Q3 capacity. Arizona came in third with 508 MW installed.

The CCI sector is strong in California and is expected to double in 2024 as California opens its community solar-plus-storage program.

The 2023 residential forecast increased by 4% as the California market began to pick up in Q3 after the passage of NEM 2.0. The residential segment is expected to double between 2023 and 2025, but growth slows later in the forecast period as solar penetration increases in California.

Looking at the duration of grid-scale storage by region, the report indicates that California California led with 2.7 GWh for a 40% share of Q3. Texas came in second, with 1.5 GWh. The average duration for the quarter clocked in at 3.1 hours.

Key drivers

Drivers of energy storage markets include price declines coupled with lower demand for electric vehicle batteries. The report estimates that, for example, median grid-scale lithium-ion battery storage system prices declined 23% quarter over quarter as a result of easing supply chain challenges and lower commodity pricing.

Where prices are increasing is in balance of plant (BoP) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), which the report contends is mostly due to high labor demand along with administrative cost increases due to try to meet the new prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements brought about by the Inflation Reduction Act.

While the future looks bright for energy deployment, the report revised the Q2 forecast down 5%, estimating that the U.S. storage market will install approximately 63 GW between 2023 and 2027 across all segments.

Longroad Energy Holdings, a U.S. renewable energy developer, owner and operator announced it closed $600 million in debt financing to support the growth of its solar, wind, and battery energy storage portfolio. 

The credit facility is composed of a $275 million term loan, a $175 million revolving credit facility, and a $150 million letter of credit facility. The syndicated corporate credit facility was by Apterra infrastructure capital, a company of Apollo. Joint lead arrangers were Barclays and HSBC. 

The funds build on an August 2022 funding round of $500 million led by Infratil, New Zealand Superfund, and MEAG. The 2022 investment marked a pivot for Longroad from a project sales-based business to one focused primarily on project ownership and operation. 

“This additional capital will fuel the expansion of our owned operational fleet to more than 9 GW by 2027 and support our robust 30 GW pipeline of development projects,” said Paul Gaynor, chief executive officer, Longroad Energy. 

Longroad was founded in 2016 and has developed or acquired 4.9 GW of renewable energy projects across the United States and raised over $12.8 billion of equity, debt, and tax equity to support completion of its portfolio. Today, Longroad owns over 3.1 GW of wind, solar, and storage projects and operates and manages a total of 5 GW on behalf of third parties. 

Arizona project 

The company recently announced the financial close and start of construction of a 377 MWdc solar project in Maricopa County, Arizona. It also contains a 300 MW / 1200 MWh battery energy storage system, making it among the largest solar-plus-storage projects in the nation. It is expected to begin operations in mid 2025. 

The project will use bifacial solar silicon panels supplied by Ohio-based First Solar, with power ratings of 480 W and a 0.3% annual degradation rate. Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) will provide inverters along with lithium-ion cells for the energy storage system. The BESS will be integrated with Powin’s Centipede energy storage system. 

Longroad said the project will add over $100 million to Arizona’s economy through long-term leases with the Arizona State Land Department and tax remittances. The project is expected to produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 120,000 Arizona homes. 

Agilitas Energy building 4.8 MW storage project in Con Edison footprint Under a ten-year contract, the non-wires project will discharge up to four hours of stored energy during the utility’s peak demand period.

New IRA rules expand access to community solar  The Inflation Reduction Act is opening the door to new business models that will dramatically accelerate the development of community solar and the benefits it provides to consumers, while also simplifying the process.  

Strategies to deploying solar in underserved communities  Clean Energy States Alliance, assesses eight approaches U.S. foundations are following to support the development of solar and solar-plus-storage projects for community-serving institutions.

Shoals posts 48% year-over-year growth in record quarter The electrical balance of systems company’s gross margins shrank, leading to a net loss of $9.8 million. It has an ongoing legal case in which it is seeking damages from a wire insulation provider.

Solar Decathlon announces 105 teams for 2024 Design Challenge  Representing 93 collegiate institutions, the teams will compete in designing high-performance, zero-energy buildings.

ReVision Energy to acquire Sunbug Solar, expanding Massachusetts footprint Once the acquisition is complete, Sunbug will operate under the ReVision brand, serving New England customers with all electric technology including solar, heat pumps, EV chargers, heat pump water heaters and battery storage.

California rooftop solar policy struggles serve as warning to nation In the pv magazine Roundtables US 2023 live event, four expert panelists shared their views on the post-NEM 3.0 California rooftop solar market, and how energy storage will need to play an increasingly important role.

ReVision Energy announced it is acquiring Massachusetts-based Sunbug Solar, a Somerville, Mass.-based solar provider established in 2009.

ReVision Energy, reportedly the largest employee-owned solar installer in the country, has 20 years experience in the renewable energy industry and serves Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts customers. The company has offices in South Portland and Montville, Maine; Brentwood and Enfield, New Hampshire; and North Andover, Massachusetts. With over 400 employee co-owners, 15,000 installations, ReVision is a Certified B Corp and member of Amicus Solar Cooperative.

The Amicus Solar Cooperative comprises 75 member companies ranging in size from 10 to 420 employees. Combined, Amicus members reportedly employ over 4,000 solar energy and storage professionals across 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and western Canada. Amicus facilitates collaboration among its members, enabling veteran solar companies to share knowledge with smaller companies, with a goal of furthering the industry overall. They share insights on topics such as safety, marketing, sales, installation best practices, understanding policy changes and they also pool their purchasing needs in supplier partnerships.

With the acquisition of Sunbug Solar, also an Amicus member, ReVision increases its footprint in the state of Massachusetts. The state has a target of doubling solar installations and quadrupling energy storage deployment by 2030 as well as putting one million electric vehicles on the road in the same timeframe.

According to a recent state study, more than 10 times the current amount of solar will need to be installed to generate the 27 to 34 GW necessary for Massachusetts to reach its decarbonization goals.

For more on Massachusetts’ clean energy plans, read 50 states of solar incentives: Massachusetts.

Sunbug Solar and ReVision Energy executives said by working together, they can install more solar, advocate more effectively for clean energy regulation and provide a comprehensive range of solar energy solutions.

“If we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to clean and renewable energy. This goal cannot be achieved alone or done in a way that leaves out vulnerable communities,” said Fortunat Mueller, CEO and president of ReVision Energy.

The brand transition is expected to be complete in mid-2024, at which time Sunbug Solar’s offices in Woburn and Westfield will unite with ReVision Energy’s North Andover office and will all operate under the ReVision Energy brand, serving Sunbug Solar’s 3,000 existing clients as well as new customers. Sunbug’s 60 employees will join ReVision Energy’s team of 400 employee co-owners and become eligible to become employee-owners as well.

Sunbug Solar CEO Janice DiPietro will transition to a leadership role at ReVision Energy.

“The alignment between our two companies is extremely strong,” said DiPietro. “We share common values, processes, and an unwavering commitment to do right by our employees, customers, and the communities we serve.”

ReVision Energy established its Massachusetts branch in North Andover in 2017. Collectively, the two organizations have completed more than 4,000 installations in Massachusetts and 18,000 across New England.

Builders are responding to new demand for energy efficient, clean energy homes with their own battery system for backup in the event of power outages. In California in particular, the demand is driven by California’s 2020 Solar Mandate that requires all newly built homes to install solar photovoltaic systems.

Four home construction firms– Beazer Homes, CC Homes, Meritage Homes and Toll Brothers—have contracted with SunPower to install Equinox solar systems on nearly 1,000 homes in eight states.

The SunPower Equinox system, which has been sold since 2016, features all SunPower-made products from the panels to the microinverters to the racking system to the monitoring hardware and software.

“Forward-thinking builders who incorporate a renewable infrastructure from day one can reduce the cost of homeownership, provide a shield against rising energy bills and positively address climate change,” said Matt Brost, vice president of New Homes sales for SunPower.

Meritage Homes began installing SunPower systems on California homes but will soon begin including solar as a standard feature on single-family homes and townhomes across the greater Denver area.

Toll Brothers, Inc. expanded its national agreement with SunPower to include not only California, but now Nevada, New York and Massachusetts.

Beazer Homes plans to add SunPower solar to 125 homes across Maryland and Delaware including the Chase Oaks development in Lewes, Delaware and all future homes built at Holly Farms in Parkville, Maryland. SunPower reports that all the homes in these communities will be certified by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a DOE Zero Energy Ready Home. Beazer Homes has committed to ensuring that by the end of 2025 every home they build will meet the requirements of the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program.

For a home to achieve DOE Zero Energy Ready Home status it must meet rigorous efficiency and performance requirements including generating enough energy to offset the home’s use. Most types of new homes in the U.S. are eligible to participate in the program, and the homes are verified by a qualified third-party as part of the certification process.

“Our collaboration with SunPower Solar will provide additional energy cost savings and bring Beazer homeowners one step closer to realizing net zero energy usage,” says Chance Hall, division president for Beazer Homes in Maryland.

CC Homes is now offering SunPower’s solar systems to all homeowners in their communities in South Florida. The collaboration is expected to retrofit hundreds of households within CC Homes’ communities with SunPower’s solar panels, along with equipping new construction with solar.

Also read about an all-electric, solar-equipped community in Vermont here.

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) has analyzed the shift from serial to group solar interconnection studies across five states. The analysis shows that under specific circumstances, group studies can alleviate some queueing issues, however, they do little to accelerate essential grid upgrades as solar continues to expand. In some cases, group studies may actually slow down the interconnection process.

IREC’s report, “Thinking Outside the Lines,” focuses on group study programs in California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and North Carolina. The report describes the formation of group studies and their related timelines, study methodologies, management of project modifications and withdrawals, and the allocation of upgrade costs.

A primary advantage of group studies is found in areas with a high volume of interconnection applications tied to the same power grid. In such regions, projects can navigate through queues more efficiently and cost-effectively.

However, IREC also notes a drawback to group studies: They can take a lot longer to complete than individual studies. Initiating a group study can take from 40 days to 12 months, depending on how quickly projects are accumulated. Once underway, the more complex group study can take an additional 247 to 490 days to complete.

Initiating group studies presents its own set of challenges. In certain regions, solar power group studies must collect a minimum number of projects before launching, leading to uncertainty surrounding their commencement dates. On the other hand, some areas operate with fixed start dates. Missing a start date can postpone a project by a full year.

In the PJM interconnection region, group studies are launched every six months, with the preceding six months focused on collecting projects. When these studies commence, they evaluate hundreds of projects across various regions under their jurisdiction.

However, the PJM interconnection process has been put on hold for multiple years, as the grid management organization grapples with an influx of solar projects. By comparison, a lone interconnection application outside of PJM for a standard-sized, distribution-level solar project can get started within twenty business days and be completed in just four months.

Another benefit of group studies is cost allocation. As IREC notes, in Oregon, utility company PacifiCorp divides 50% of a group study’s charges per project, with the remaining half based on the project’s size in megawatts. In another example of cost allocation, an 80 MWac solar project in a North Carolina group study incurred a fee of just $3,000.

This $3,000 fee for a significant North Carolina project stands in stark contrast to the $18,600 fee for a single, ongoing 3.6 MWac project in New York, as relayed to pv magazine USA by a local developer. This disparity suggests that, on a per-megawatt basis, New York’s study fee is roughly 138 times costlier than North Carolina’s.

The IREC report also shed light on cost allocation challenges. In Minnesota, Xcel Energy’s upgrade costs were so steep that every participant withdrew upon discovering their share of the expenses. In contrast, Massachusetts is trialing a “beneficiary-pays” approach, wherein upgrade expenses are distributed among existing group study members, prospective interconnection customers, and ratepayers, and are determined by the benefits each group receives.

The Massachusetts group study process was put in place after state utilities say they were caught off guard by how much solar was submitted for connection to the power grid when the SMART program was launched.

Earlier studies from the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) have pinpointed fundamental issues with interconnection cost allocation. Specifically, existing customers reap substantial benefits from grid upgrades without shouldering the associated costs. ACORE’s investigation delved into 12 power grid upgrades driven by renewable energy projects, evaluating both the costs and the benefits of these upgrades. The findings were clear: Approximately $1 billion in benefits, funded by renewable projects, extend across the entire power grid, benefiting all energy sources, renewable or not.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes provisions designed to bolster wages for solar power installers. To qualify for the IRA’s full 30% base tax credit, projects with a grid connection exceeding one megawatt must pay all employees the prevailing wage.

Although prevailing wage rates aren’t equivalent to union wages in most markets, they serve to narrow the wage gap between standard labor rates and union benchmarks.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), and the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) have signed a national tri-trade solar agreement. The agreement specifies the roles of each union in utility-scale solar projects across the United States, California excluded.

The IBEW spokesman told pv magazine USA that details about individual tasks each group performs is available via local union contacts. The IUOE will focus on foundational work such as driving piles and ground screws, while LUINA will handle the deployment of racking solutions. The IBEW will handle the final stages of the projects, which includes installing the solar panels as well as completing electrical balance of system work, such as wiring and inverters.

The IBEW spokesperson added that the unions have also ironed out language regarding staffing. If one group lacks the necessary labor force, the other unions will provide the required team members to complete the project.

The unions told pv magazine USA, that when it comes to the pricing of installation services, “We believe that in most cases, not just under the right circumstances, our wage mix under this agreement will beat the pricing of the nonunion sectors.”

Beyond the solar industry, the IRA has extended its benefits to other unionized sectors. The Vineyard Wind project, under construction off the Massachusetts coast, forged a labor agreement with the Southeastern Massachusetts Building Trades Council, committing to employ 500 union members.

Recently, Vineyard Wind faced criticism from the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1413 (ILA) for failing to uphold its promise to hire both Black and local workers. New employment contracts were signed a week after the allegations.

Separate from the IRA’s tax benefits, auto workers successfully negotiated a union contract for a GM-owned battery plant. While the IRA doesn’t directly fund car battery facilities, it does subsidize the vehicles in which these batteries are installed.

MIT researchers have developed a new CSP system to produce green hydrogen. The system, which is currently in the conceptual stage, aims to use up to 40% of solar heat for green fuel generation – a significant improvement from previous systems, which only achieved a 7% utilization rate.

“The increase in efficiency could drive down the system’s overall cost, making solar thermochemical hydrogen (STCH) a potentially scalable, affordable option to help decarbonize the transportation industry,” the scientists said. “It is a big step toward realizing solar-made fuels.”

Similar to other STCH designs, the conceptual system can be built around an existing CSP plant, absorbing the receiver’s heat and directing it to split water and produce hydrogen. However, there is a novel two-step thermochemical reaction at the heart of the new system.

“In the first step, water in the form of steam is exposed to a metal. This causes the metal to grab oxygen from steam, leaving hydrogen behind,” the scientists said. “Once hydrogen is separated, the oxidized (or rusted) metal is reheated in a vacuum, which acts to reverse the rusting process and regenerate the metal. With the oxygen removed, the metal can be cooled and exposed to steam again to produce more hydrogen. This process can be repeated hundreds of times.”

The efficiency of this process is related to its train-like design, with box-shaped reactors running on a circular track. Each reactor in the train would house the metal repeatedly going through different thermochemical stations.

“Each reactor would first pass through a hot station, where it would be exposed to the sun’s heat at temperatures of up to 1,500 C. This extreme heat would effectively pull oxygen out of a reactor’s metal,” the group said. “That metal would then be in a ‘reduced’ state – ready to grab oxygen from steam. For this to happen, the reactor would move to a cooler station at temperatures around 1,000 C, where it would be exposed to steam to produce hydrogen.”

Another improvement in the system is its ability to recover most of the heat used in the process. It does so by allowing reactors on opposite sides of the circular train-like track to exchange heat through thermal radiation. In addition, a second set of reactors circle around the first train, moving in the opposite direction and operating in cooler temperatures. This allows the evacuation of oxygen from the hotter inner train, without the need for energy-consuming mechanical pumps.

“When fully implemented, this system would be housed in a little building in the middle of a solar field,” said researcher Aniket Patankar. “Inside the building, there could be one or more trains each having about 50 reactors. And we think this could be a modular system, where you can add reactors to a conveyor belt, to scale up hydrogen production.”

The research team said it will build a prototype of the system in the coming year.

“We’re thinking of hydrogen as the fuel of the future, and there’s a need to generate it cheaply and at scale,” said the study’s lead author, Ahmed Ghoniem.

Form Energy, a manufacturer of a 100-hour iron-air battery, believes that if New England adopts a ‘fossil-free by 2050’ policy, their energy storage system could replace a massive 111.4 GW of solar capacity and circumvent the need for 80.3 GW of less than 10-hour lithium-ion energy storage. The company further contends that its batteries are well-suited to address the decreased productivity of offshore wind during winter lulls, effectively adding 14.4 GW of offshore wind capacity and helping phase out 15.4 GW of fossil fuel dependence.

The product is touted for its cost benefits, delivering capacity at an approximate $20/kWh – a stark contrast to the $176/kWh of a 6-hour lithium-ion solution (one of many storage products the document modeled). This value proposition is detailed in their recent white paper, “Clean, Reliable, Affordable: The Value of Multi-Day Storage in New England.”

According to Form Energy’s modeling, by harnessing solar energy more judiciously, New England could realize savings of around $115 billion. An additional $80 billion in savings is projected on the lithium-ion storage front, totaling an estimated $190 billion.

As New England contemplates a transition to a ‘fossil-free by 2050’ framework, the elimination of fossil fuels would pivot their energy dependence to renewables. Current cost modeling suggests that overbuilding renewables and curtailing as needed is more affordable than installing standard 4 and 6-hour lithium-ion backups when it comes to covering the three day winter time wind power lulls that must be considered.

By design, overbuilding renewables results in significant curtailment. In the heavily oversized model, a mere 79% of New England’s offshore wind and 43% of its solar potential are exploited. With Form Energy’s approach, these figures could catapult to 95% and 84% respectively, slashing curtailment by 83%.

While roughly $190 billion in hardware is saved, the system requires the installation of $92 billion of other equipment – including Form Energy’s own technology. The expansion of offshore wind facilities would require an added $29.1 billion (at $2,021/kW), medium-range storage is estimated at $16.1 billion (at $3,232 per kW), and Form Energy’s 23.4 GW/2.34 TWh setup would cost around $46.8 billion (at $2,150 per kW).

It’s worth noting that although Form Energy’s product does greatly increase system efficiency, its round-trip efficiency is under 50%, in contrast to lithium-ion’s 85%.

Factoring in these expenses, net hardware savings hover around the $100 billion mark. Moreover, the company notes that offsetting 111 GW of solar could conserve nearly 300,000 acres of New England’s land.

On the other hand, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources suggests that the energy produced by those 300,000 acres of solar could be matched in capacity by the deployment of as much as 152 GW of “highly suitable” rooftop solar in Massachusetts alone.

Beyond the $100 billion in projected savings, a crucial takeaway is Form Energy’s adherence to a “No Fossil Fuel” system. Presently, New England is without a unified regional policy, with only some progressive states like Massachusetts targeting a “Net Zero” status by 2050.

A prevailing concern for New England’s wind energy is its unpredictability. Despite offshore wind resources in New England demonstrating an impressive winter capacity factor of 60%, there are stretches with virtually zero production, sometimes lasting several days.

To address this, Form Energy analyzed two decades of offshore wind data from ISO New England, the regional power grid manager. The data suggests that pairing every MW of offshore wind with 0.56 MW and 30-34 MWh of energy storage would capably handle offshore wind interruptions, even those at the 90th to 95th severity percentile.

Numerous energy storage alternatives could fit this bill, but Form Energy’s solution stands out. It’s projected to be nearly 80% more affordable than lithium-ion counterparts, carries a minimal fire risk, and boasts over double the longevity, making it an attractive proposition for the region’s energy future.

From pv magazine Global

Researchers led by MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have demonstrated solar-powered multi-stage membrane distillation. They claim it can significantly reduce the cost of water production.

“The configuration of the device allows water to circulate in swirling eddies, in a manner similar to the much larger ‘thermohaline’ circulation of the ocean,” the scientists said. “This circulation, combined with the sun’s heat, drives water to evaporate, leaving salt behind. The resulting water vapor can then be condensed and collected as pure, drinkable water. In the meantime, the leftover salt continues to circulate through and out of the device, rather than accumulating and clogging the system.”

Solar energy is a cornerstone of the global push toward a decarbonized economy in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. But the environmental outcomes of solar projects can vary vastly. 

In Massachusetts, a small and densely populated state, open spaces come at a premium. This leads to forested and workable lands being purchased and developed for solar projects.  

The Massachusetts Audubon Society released a report that showed the state has developed about 5,000 acres of natural and working lands for the purposes of solar development between 2010 and 2020. While the state has over 5 million acres of forest, the impact of this development is more than just the land area lost. Forests are powerful carbon sinks, as plants respirate by taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. 

The 5,000 acres of development since 2010 has led to an equivalent carbon sequestration loss of over 500,000 metric tons of carbon. This is comparable to the annual emissions of 100,000 gas powered vehicles. More than half the ground mount solar capacity in the state has been developed on destroyed forest land, said the report. 

This loss of stored carbon works against the state’s goals of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. In order to reach that target, solar will need to expand five to seven times its current cumulative capacity by mid-century.  

The report said that if current development trends continue, over 4.6 million metric tons of sequestered CO2 would be stripped from the earth, which is equivalent to about 75% of the annual emissions of the City of Boston. 

The unprecedented development offers an opportunity to place a value on the difference in environmental outcomes of a project. The Audubon Society recommends encouraging a mix of rooftop solar, solar parking canopies, and solar developed on landfills and other contaminated sites, and defunct golf courses. 

The report assessed that with legal zoning setbacks incorporated, about 35,000 acres of Massachusetts’ 55,000 parking lots could host solar parking canopies, leading to a 9.9 GW total solar technical potential. When combined with nearly 120,000 acres of viable rooftop space, parking canopies and rooftops can combine for over 30 GW of solar potential. 

The report recognizes that rooftop and parking canopy development is more expensive than ground-mounted utility-scale systems. Reaching Massachusetts’ mid-century climate goal while following the Audubon Society’s mid-range land preservation scenario, which still allows for about 98,000 acres of land development, would cost about $900 million more than the business-as-usual scenario. 

However, the report argues that when a valuation is placed on the stored carbon, this development scenario could lead to $940 million to $980 million in benefits. 

“Forests directly absorb carbon from the atmosphere — that’s what photosynthesis is. They are a technology for carbon removal,” said Jonathan Thompson, senior ecologist at Harvard Forest and report co-author.  

“But we also need to remember that forests are far more than buckets of carbon. They are providers of clean air and clean water. They are where we recreate. They’re where we find solace and they are home for biodiversity,” said Thompson. 

The report from Massachusetts Audubon included several policy recommendations for the state: 

• Eliminate state incentives for solar projects on valuable natural and working lands while increasing incentives for solar on rooftops and developed lands 
• Invest in reducing the labor and permitting costs of rooftop and canopy solar projects 
• Support large-scale landowners in building solar on rooftops and near existing transmission infrastructure 
• Launch a statewide planning effort to integrate clean energy and transmission infrastructure into the process of land development 
• Fund permanent protection of Massachusetts’ highest-value natural and working lands 

Northeast U.S. solar developer and operator BlueWave received $91 million in financing, which the company says will allow it to achieve long-term ownership and management of its portfolio of projects.

The financing will go toward the construction of five projects featuring dual-use solar development attributes, called agrivoltaics, in Massachusetts. These projects are “strategically implemented to benefit all parties impacted by the projects,” including landowners, farmers and the surrounding community, according to BlueWave. The financing includes a $64 million debt raise with KeyBank, and $27 million tax equity raise with U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance.

The five projects include a 3.6 MW facility in Dighton; 3.5 MW facility in Douglas; 2 MW facility in Haverhill; and 2 MW and 8.6 MW projects in Palmer, Jesse Robertson-DuBois, director of sustainable solar development at BlueWave, told pv magazine USA. 

The projects will use ATI racking and will all be elevated 10’ to accommodate agricultural operations under the arrays, Robertson-DuBois added. Moreover, the systems are spaced more widely than typical, and account for fence setbacks and turning clearances needed for agriculture equipment.

“These design decisions were all made to ensure efficient farm operations. The combination of added height and wider row spacings results in a minimum of 50% light availability for every square foot of ground,” Robertson-DuBois said. 

The project sites include a varied group of crops, pollinator habitats and livestock grazing operations, according to BlueWave. At four of the projects, farming operations will be able to continue uninterrupted beneath the solar arrays, and the fifth includes the creation of a new grazing pasture. All projects are scheduled to come online in 2023, and will be interconnected with National Grid. 

BlueWave’s projects will be included under the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program, and are expected to save money on the bills of around 770 low-income households. The 3,200 MW declining block incentive program was created by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. Eligible projects must be interconnected by one of the state’s three investor-owned utilities, and are paid tariff-based incentives directly by the utility. 

Agrivoltaics are a combination of farming practices with solar photovoltaic energy production and is expected to become a $9.3 billion market by 2031. Experts at Allied Analytics say that the practice can help address food security while also transitioning to clean energy. The global installed agrivoltaics output rose from 5 MW in 2012 to 2.9 GW in 2020, according to the company. 

Massachusetts is a leader in agrivoltaics, thanks to its SMART solar incentive program, which includes an adder for agrivoltaic systems, Mark Sylvia, chief of staff at BlueWave, told pv magazine USA.

The state’s 2022 Climate Billl also included the creation of an agrivoltaics commission to make recommendations to remove barriers to the further development of agrivoltaic projects, Sylvia added. 

In May 2022, BlueWave announced it had been acquired by Axium Infrastructure, an infrastructure investment management firm with a North American renewables portfolio.

The quote by Robertson-Dubois was changed to say “The combination of added height and wider row spacings results in a minimum of 50% light availability”, rather than “maximum”.

When it comes to clean energy policy, legislative solutions are often in the spotlight. While legislation has a vital role to play in advancing our energy transition, there is an equally crucial, and often much less visible, path away from fossil fuels and toward a brighter, cleaner future. That path runs directly through state energy regulatory bodies, like public service or utility commissions. Regulation is where some of the most impactful decisions on energy generation, costs, and consumption are made. When approached through a people and justice-first lens, the results can be transformative. When that lens is removed, we run the risk of exacerbating existing power structures that benefit wealthy utility companies over the people they’re tasked with serving. How we choose to show up, and who we make space for at the table, can mean the difference between truly equitable solutions and maintaining the status quo.

One shining example of equity-centered regulation done right comes from Michigan, where Vote Solar and our partners negotiated a landmark settlement with utility giant, DTE Energy. Through a combination of hard-fought negotiations and a public pressure campaign, we secured a settlement that will add 3,800 megawatts of renewable energy to the grid, retire coal seven years ahead of schedule, and direct $38 million toward utility payment assistance programs and energy upgrades for low-income customers. The settlement provisions will lead directly to improved health outcomes for communities who have long borne the brunt of pollution from fossil-fuel facilities. Moreover, fewer families will be forced to make impossible decisions between paying their utility bill and affording other necessities like groceries and medication. According to Will Kenworthy, Vote Solar’s Senior Regulatory Director for the Midwest, the agreement was “one of the biggest regulatory wins” we’ve seen. While there’s always more progress to be made, we’re incredibly proud of the possibility this achievement represents.

This year also brought progress in Minnesota, where we and our partners in the Just Solar Coalition urged the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to address entrenched racial and wealth disparities in bill affordability for Xcel Energy customers. While the PUC’s decision didn’t include everything we advocated for, it did include a major finding. In its order, the PUC explicitly acknowledged the importance of justice in setting energy costs: a very rare occurrence that speaks to just how far advocates have been able to shift the needle in our collective understanding of energy justice and equity.

These victories, and many others, were made possible through a combination of regulatory expertise and justice-focused, collaborative partnerships with frontline, community-based organizations. We walked in lockstep every step of the way and showed up as a united front. Most importantly, we respected and relied on one another’s expertise. Without the deep knowledge and lived experience of our frontline partners, our understanding – and thus the energy decisions made – would fall short of serving the very people who are most impacted by them.

Unfortunately, this type of collaboration is still the exception, not the norm. Both community-based organizations and individual members of the public face structural and systemic barriers to participation in making decisions that directly impact them. Regulatory proceedings are often shrouded in technical jargon and unwelcoming to those without advanced knowledge of regulatory policy — not to mention those who primarily speak a language other than English. Even if someone does feel empowered to share their perspective, logistical hurdles like work schedules, transportation, and caregiving responsibilities can stand in the way. For organizations, intervening in a regulatory docket — the formal process of opposing a utility’s proposal — is often time-consuming and expensive.

State energy regulators have both a responsibility and an opportunity to break down these barriers to participation — and fortunately, there’s already a good amount of trusted guidance on how to make that happen. Earlier this year, Vote Solar joined a working group convened by the Massachusetts Attorney General to release recommendations for improving public participation. In speaking to more than 650 Massachusetts residents, our working group learned that even relatively easy-to-implement solutions can make a meaningful difference when it comes to public engagement. For example, providing language interpretation, scheduling public hearings at accessible locations and at varied times of day, and developing education resources in plain, non-technical language could all empower someone to step into a room they’ve previously been locked out of.

Of course, the onus isn’t solely on regulators and other policymakers. Clean energy advocates — especially those of us privileged enough to have adequate staff and financial resources — also have a responsibility to ensure that we’re conscious of who is being consulted, heard, and invited. True energy equity requires that everyone have the opportunity, knowledge, and access to participate fully in the regulatory process. As Vote Solar continues to advance our mission of a resilient world, powered by the sun, our commitment to centering justice has never been more important. We invite, and implore, you to join us.

Sachu Constantine is the executive director of Vote Solar, a national nonprofit working to realize a 100% clean energy future through a solutions-driven, people-first approach.

Ohm Analytics’ second-quarter report on distributed solar generation paints a complex picture across the residential, commercial & industrial (C&I), and community solar sectors. Overall, the market expanded by 6%, buoyed by an 11% increase in residential solar, but hampered by a 24% decline in community solar. The C&I sector held its own with 7% growth.

The rise in residential solar can be attributed to two key factors. The first is a resurgence of third-party ownership, partially resulting from enhanced value stemming from the Inflation Reduction Act, but also from increasing interest rates. Additionally, California’s NEM 2.0 program, which ended on April 14 this year, led to a surge in applications and installations.

In Massachusetts, third-party ownership of residential solar projects jumped from 37% in October 2022 to 57% in July, marking a 54% increase. On a national scale, third-party entities own 25% of all residential solar installations. This number is somewhat deflated by California’s NEM 2.0 program, which had motivated private ownership.

Ohm Analytics reported an addition of 1,466 MW of residential solar capacity. In California, the growth rate was 23% year-over-year. Complementing California, the combined growth for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts stood at 29%. These gains counterbalanced sluggish markets in Arizona (down 4%), Texas (down 20%), and Florida (down 5%). The backlog from California’s NEM 2.0 is anticipated to bolster installation rates through the end of the Q4.

California’s NEM 3.0 appears to have kickstarted the energy storage attachment rate that the state envisioned, with current sales recording a 70% attachment rate.

Joseph Wyer of Ohm pointed out the rising interest rates for residential solar, with a current median APR of 4.49%. This is a significant increase from the 1.99% median APR reported in 2022. Wyer suggested that these rising finance costs are eroding the value proposition for residential solar:

I think the most interesting and clear story right now looking at the raw data is the regional financing trends, especially in the northeast.

Outside of the residential market, installation volume is more muted.

The C&I market witnessed the installation of 385 MW, marking a 7% year-over-year growth. Declines in major markets like California and New Jersey were partly offset by single digit growth in states such as Arkansas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Drawing on permit growth and industry feedback, Ohm Analytics projects encouraging installation figures for the C&I sector in the upcoming quarters.

Despite a 9% rise in prices to $1,093 per kWh, energy storage installation volumes in the C&I sector grew, albeit from a small base, by 52% year-over-year.

In the distributed solar sector, community solar lagged with a 24% decline in Q2. However, this was still an improvement, as it recorded 185 MW, outperforming the previous quarter’s more dismal numbers. Ohm Analytics cited interconnection challenges in Massachusetts and Maine as growth roadblocks but remains optimistic for the tail end of 2023 and the trajectory into 2024-2025.

Another challenge for the community solar market is its “solar coaster” nature; it relies on programs with limited capacity that are subject to slow-moving political developments. For example, Illinois has a lottery-based community solar market, and installations based on last year’s lottery result are just getting underway. Meanwhile, New Jersey’s community solar program has been stagnant for a year as the state prepares to launch a more permanent initiative.

These challenges suggest that the community solar market may fall short of the Biden administration’s target of 27 GW of solar by 2025.

Yaskawa Solectria Solar announced it will exhibit its new XGI 1500-250 series of utility-scale string inverters at the RE+ 2023 event, September 11-14 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Solectria’s full line of inverters range from 25 kW to 250kW, with string combiners and web-based monitoring for all sizes of solar arrays. The new XGI series inverters are Made in USA at its Illinois facility, made of U.S. and global components. The company said its products qualify for the domestic content bonus tax credit within the Inflation Reduction Act.

The XGI 1500-250 series was developed in collaboration with U.S. solar panel manufacturer First Solar and are optimized for the company’s solar modules. Tesla PowerPack Microgrid systems have also been tested and demonstrated for compatibility with the XGI 1500 series.

The inverters feature Silicon Carbide technology and have an electrically grounded DC input for optimal performance and longevity.

“As the largest and longest-standing U.S. Manufacturer of PV inverters for Commercial and Utility applications, Yaskawa Solectria Solar is proud to showcase our newest XGI 1500 inverter models and energy storage solutions at RE+ this year” said Mark Goodreau, general manager at Yaskawa Solectria Solar.  “We look forward to helping project developers and owners to qualify for the 10% Domestic Content Bonus Credit by designing PV systems with our U.S. manufactured inverters.”

The XGI 1500 series comes in output ratings between 175 kW and 250 kW, with 480 Vac and 600 Vac configurations. The absolute maximum input voltage is 1500 Vdc and the peak efficiency is 99%, while the CEC rated efficiency is 98.5%.

For communications and monitoring, the inverters are WiFi and Ethernet compatible and have SunSpec Modbus TCP/IP monitoring. Firmware updates can be performed remote or local.

The inverters have passed IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 standards for safety and the enclosure is polyester powder-coated aluminum that is NEMA 4X, IEC IP66 and Type 3R rated. Each unit measures 29.5 inches by 44.3 inches and 15.4 inches deep and weighs 290 lbs. The inverters come standard with a 5 year warranty with option for 10 years.

Find the products on display at RE+ Las Vegas, booth 925, Sands Level 2. Read the full spec sheet here.

People on the move: SEIA, Athanor and more  Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

One of the largest U.S. solar projects secures $779 million financing  The 800 MWdc Illinois-located project, second largest in the nation, is developed by Swift Current Energy.

Clearway to procure 2 GW of solar trackers from Nextracker  The U.S.-made trackers will supply a portion of Clearway’s solar development pipeline across 17 states.

Boston mayor bans fossil fuel use in municipal buildings  Michelle Wu signed an executive order banning the use of fossil fuels in new construction and renovated buildings.

Developer challenges Massachusetts town on solar zoning restrictions  PureSky Energy, formerly Amp Energy, contends that Shutesbury, Massachusetts is violating state law with its solar zoning regulations. The town is actively seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.

Solar developer PureSky Energy, previously known as Amp Energy, has taken legal action against the town of Shutesbury, Massachusetts. The developer alleges that the town’s current land zoning regulations are excessively restrictive, jeopardizing five of their proposed projects. In a recent move, the town made an effort to have the lawsuit dismissed.

At the heart of the lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts Land Court under the landowner’s name, W.D. Cowls Inc, is the state law M.G.L. 0.40A,§3. The relevant relevant provision of this law states:

No zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare.

Source: Shutesbury.org

Drawing from a prior legal case where the above legislation was referenced, Tracer Lane II Realty, LLC v. City of Waltham, the presiding judge declared, “An outright ban of large-scale solar energy systems in all but one to two percent of a municipality’s land area, however, restricts rather than promotes the legislative goal of promoting solar energy.” Based on this, the court found the local township’s zoning regulations to be in violation of M.G.L. 0.40A,§3.

PureSky’s filing contends that seven regulations, when combined, render the development of large-scale ground solar projects within the township unfeasible. The company argues that these regulations are inconsistent with the Tracer Lane ruling. Earlier in 2023, Schutesbury indicated that they would amend their zoning laws to align them with the Tracer Lane decision.

W.D. Cowls presented a table in the filing that highlights how the town did not make substantial modifications to its key zoning provisions. Despite the presented evidence, the town subsequently declined W.D. Cowl’s solar projects.

Shutesbury’s bylaws notably restrict solar power plants to under 15 acres, equivalent to 3 to 4 MWdc of solar, and place further limitations on solar arrays exceeding 1.5 acres. Construction vehicles must use paved roads only, a stipulation made challenging by the fact that, as the filing notes, “only 26% of the roadways within the Town are paved.” Additionally, the regulations require the solar developer to designate a protected area four times the size of any deforestation caused by the installation. The protected area must exist on the same parcel of land.

The suit pertains to the development of five solar facilities under development:

• 5 MWac/12 MWdc – 793.82 acres – Lot ZG-2
• 5 MWac/12 MWdc – 263.0 acres – Lot ZD-37
• 2 MWac/4 MWdc – 296.8 acres – Lot ZF-15
• 5 MWac/12 MWdc – 140.18 acres – Lot ZU-2
• 3 MWac/5 MWdc – 389.0 acres – Lot ZW-6

The proposed solar facilities, spanning 190 acres with a total capacity of 20 MWac/45 MWdc and situated on lots totalling 1,882 acres, would generate $450,000 in annual taxes.

A local organization opposed to clear-cutting forest land, Smart Solar Amherst, posted the plans for one of these facilities on its website. The coalition, consisting of Amherst residents, supports the development of renewable energy sources while emphasizing the protection of forests, native habitats, water, and biodiversity. 

Highlighting the need for better siting of large solar facilities, they point out that the site is situated among various wetlands and streams. While the facility is thoughtfully designed to skirt the wetland areas, clearing the surrounding forests could alter the site’s water retention characteristics.

M.G.L. c. 40A, § 3. has been pivotal in Massachusetts approving 800 MWh of energy storage. Then-Attorney General Muara Healey, now the state’s Governor, cited it to challenge the City of Carter’s moratorium on solar and battery projects. She argued they unjustly constrained solar initiatives without valid public interest reasons, thus breaching the law. She also stressed that such restrictions impeded the state’s solar energy policy, suggesting the city’s justification for further impact studies did not sufficiently justify their actions.

As part of the city’s push to become carbon emissions neutral by 2050, Boston mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order to ban the use of fossil fuels in new and renovated buildings.

The order calls for a ban of energy sources like heating oil and natural gas, modernizing public buildings in one of the nation’s oldest cities. With over 16 million square feet of property owned by the City of Boston, the order makes strides toward the city’s goals of decarbonization and electrification.

Buildings account for more than 70% of Boston’s total carbon emissions, with municipal buildings representing a 2.3% share. The city has already set aside over $130 million in its capital plan to revitalize older structures and add decarbonization and efficiency measures.

The fossil fuel ban applies to existing city buildings that undergo extensive renovations that cover over 75% of the building’s square footage. It also applies to renovations to HVAC systems, hot water or cooking equipment.

While public buildings are a small portion of the overall building footprint in Boston, private-sector market participants said the progress towards 100% electrification in public buildings will serve as a case study for decarbonization.

“The lab sector is particularly difficult to get to 100% electric,” said Tamara Small, chief executive officer, NAIOP Massachusetts. “So seeing how the city — with perhaps some additional public sector resources — could get there, will be helpful for us.”

Boston also opted in to a new state-specialized code that requires new construction to be wired for future all-electric use. These regulations take effect Jan 1, 2024.

“I think it will cost the city more money, but in the long run, I think it’s a good investment,” said Larry DiCara, a former Boston city councilor and real estate attorney.

While electrification may incur new costs for Boston buildings, it paves the way for operating on 100% emissions-free power. As the nation transitions away from fossil fuels toward low-cost, reliable sources like solar and wind, cost advantages will follow.

Today, solar energy remains the lowest-cost option for adding new generation to the electric grid.

From pv magazine global

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered that cement and water, combined with with a small amount of carbon black, create a powerful, low-cost supercapacitor that could provide a scalable, bulk energy storage solution suitable for a variety of applications.

The key to the new supercapacitors comes from a method of producing a cement-based material with an extremely high internal surface area due to a dense, interconnected network of conductive material within its bulk volume, allowing for high energy storage capacity.

The researchers achieved this by introducing carbon black into a mixture along with cement powder and water, and letting it cure. The water naturally forms a branching network of openings within the structure as it reacts with cement, and the carbon migrates into these spaces to make conductive, wire-like structures within the hardened cement.

The material was then soaked in a standard electrolyte material, such as potassium chloride, which provides the charged particles that accumulate on the carbon structures. Two electrodes made of this material, separated by a thin space or an insulating layer, form a very powerful supercapacitor, the researchers found. They also pointed out that the amount of carbon needed is very small –as little as 3% by volume of the mix–to achieve a percolated carbon network.

“The material is fascinating because you have the most-used manmade material in the world, cement, that is combined with carbon black, that is a well-known historical material–the Dead Sea Scrolls were written with it,” said MIT professor Admir Masic. “You have these at least two-millennia-old materials that when you combine them in a specific manner you come up with a conductive nanocomposite, and that’s when things get really interesting.”

The team calculated that a block of nanocarbon-black-doped concrete that is 45 cubic meters in size–equivalent to a cube about 3.5 meters across–would have enough capacity to store about 10 kWh of energy.

However, they also found that there is a tradeoff between the storage capacity of the material and its structural strength. By adding more carbon black, the resulting supercapacitor can store more energy, but the concrete is slightly weaker. Therefore, for applications such as a foundation, or structural elements of the base of a wind turbine, the “sweet spot” is around 10% carbon black in the mix, the researchers found.

According to the researchers, the availability, scalability and versatility of the carbon-cement supercapacitors opens a horizon for design of multifunctional structures. There is a big opportunity for employing these supercapacitors for bulk energy storage in both residential and industrial applications ranging from energy autarkic shelters and self-charging roads for electric vehicles, to intermittent energy storage for wind turbines.

Having proved their principle on a 1 V and 3 V supercapacitors, the researchers now plan to build a series of larger versions, starting with ones about the size of a typical 12 V car battery, then working up to a 45-cubic-meter version to demonstrate its ability to store a house-worth of power.

Their findings were discussed in Cement supercapacitors as a scalable energy storage solution published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Heliene plans to manufacture 1 GW solar modules, 1.5 GW solar cells in the U.S.  Canadian-based Heliene plans a new factory in Minnesota that will begin producing modules in 2024 and cells in 2025.

One research team’s approach to scaling a domestic circular lithium-ion battery economy National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers continue their quest to accommodate growing electric vehicle and infrastructure demands.

Renewed efforts to build solar cells from moondust  Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has been awarded $35 million in funding from NASA to improve the company’s commercial solution that produces silicon from lunar regolith. The U.S. space agency’s first efforts to build solar cells based on lunar regolith date back to 2005.

Pressure brings sweltering sun and soaking rain: July extremes in America  In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, presents the solar irradiance data it collected for North America this month. July’s high pressure in the southwest and trough in the northeast dramatically influenced the region’s solar energy production.

Stiff competition predicted for USDA $9.7 billion focused on renewables  Modeling shows that five of the nation’s 63 rural generation and transmission cooperative utilities alone could cost-effectively install 19 GW of solar and 7 GW of storage with support from a USDA program.

Solar-plus-battery projects take shape in the Northeast  Altus Power announced a 10 MW solar, 15 MWh storage project in Massachusetts while Summit Ridge Energy commissioned two of four planned energy storage systems in New York City.

Altus Power announced the addition of a new combined 10 MW solar plus 15 MWh battery storage system in Holliston, Massachusetts. The benefits of the electricity generated will be delivered under long-term agreements with a regional supermarket as well as local community solar customers under the Massachusetts DOER SMART Program.

The Holliston project was developed in partnership with REA, one of Altus Power’s long-standing channel partners, and adds to the 116 MW of solar arrays currently owned and operated by Altus Power in Massachusetts.

“Battery storage is an important tool for local utilities to ensure grid stability as they increase their reliance on renewable electricity,” said Gregg Felton, co-CEO and co-founder of Altus Power. “In addition, we expect storage will increasingly be paired with Altus Power solar arrays for customers interested in clean, on-site backup power and electric vehicle charging.”

Altus Power, headquartered in Stamford, Conn., recently announced first quarter 2023 revenues of $29.4 million, a 53% increase as compared to first quarter 2022. In the fourth quarter 2022, the company grew its portfolio in part due to the acquisition of an 88 MW commercial solar portfolio in Arizona, Nevada, Indiana and Pennsylvania, from D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, and 9 MW of New Jersey assets acquired from a local developer.

New York City ESS

Summit Ridge Energy commissioned the 15 MWh Arlington and 15 MWh Littlefield energy storage systems (ESS), the first two of its four in New York City.

When the final two projects are energized in the coming months, Summit Ridge Energy’s four ESS will provide 58 MWh of energy storage capacity to New York’s electric grid and reduce the need for diesel-powered peaker plants, the company reports. Summit Ridge Energy financed, developed and constructed the projects, in partnership with Qcells, and serves as the long-term owner-operator.

The Arlington and Littlefield projects came online under the New York State Public Service Commission’s (PSC) Value Stack (VDER) program. The Value Stack compensates projects such as solar-plus-storage, based on when and where they provide electricity to the grid and compensation is in the form of bill credits.

“These energy storage projects are providing critical grid resilience for New York City and supporting the state’s transition to renewable energy,” said Brian Dunn, chief operating officer at Summit Ridge Energy.

New York University’s (NYU) Langone Health partnered with Summit Ridge Energy to purchase all of the bill credits from these first two projects. Summit Ridge reported that the hospital is demonstrating the important role large end userscan play in the move toward a low-carbon future. These agreements support the health system’s sustainability goals, which recognize climate change as a threat to public health, and includes a carbon neutrality goal by 2050.

“As we pursue opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our facilities, it is equally as important for us to support efforts to harden and decarbonize New York City’s energy grid for the benefit and resiliency of the communities we serve,” said Paul Schwabacher, senior vice president, facilities operations, NYU Langone Health.

In the past five years, Summit Ridge Energy, which specializes in community solar, has deployed over $1.6 billion into clean energy assets. With a development pipeline of more than 2 GW, Summit Ridge Energy will have more than 400 MW of PV online by the end of 2023, providing solar power to 50,000 homes.