The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is advancing nine solar projects on public lands that would add over 6 GW of combined electric generation capacity to the grid. Together, the projects would generate enough electricity to power roughly 2 million U.S. homes.

The BLM manages over 245 million acres of public land mainly in 12 western states, including Alaska. To date, the BLM has permitted more than 25 GW of clean energy projects, enough to power about 12 million homes. This includes solar, wind, and geothermal projects as well as gen-tie lines on public lands that are essential for connecting clean energy generation projects on both federal and non-federal lands to the grid.

“As we continue to review clean energy projects, we are committed to collaborating with states, Tribes and stakeholders to ensure that we are building lasting opportunities to create jobs and stimulate the clean energy economy,” said BLM director Tracey Stone-Manning.

The latest round of BLM project advancements include the Esmerelda 7 solar project, among the largest solar projects in the world. Esmerelda 7 is a set of seven proposed utility-scale solar facilities with battery energy storage systems near Tonopah, Nevada. The projects are proposed to be developed on 118,000 acres of BLM managed land.

BLM is now opening a 45-day public comment period on the draft environmental impact statement and resource management plan for Esmerelda 7. The environmental impact statement will provide the foundation for individual environmental analyses of each project, after which the BLM will decide whether to grant rights-of-way for some or all of the projects.

If all Esmerelda 7 projects are approved, the portfolio would add 5.35 GW of electricity, or enough to power about 1.6 million homes.

Along with the BLM-supported Esmerelda 7 is the Libra Solar project, a 700 MW solar and 700 MW battery energy storage project with a 24-mile generation tie-line, planned for development in Mineral and Lyon Counties in Nevada.

The BLM is also opening a 30-day public comment period for the Elisabeth Solar Project near Dateland, Arizona. The project would add 270 MW of solar and 300 MW of battery energy storage.

“With today’s advancement of nine solar energy projects on public lands, we are taking a significant step towards these efforts and President Biden’s ambitious clean energy goals,” said principal deputy assistant secretary for Land and Minerals management, Dr. Steve Feldgus.

As of July 2024, an additional 70 utility-scale clean energy projects are in process by the BLM throughout the Western United States. These projects have the potential to produce almost 32 GW of renewable energy. In addition, BLM has begun the preliminary review of approximately 166 applications for solar and wind development, as well as more than 40 applications for solar and wind energy site testing. 

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Public input sought for large-scale solar project in Arizona According to the application submitted by developer EDF Renewables, the proposed Socorro project will sit on 3,066 acres on nearly 6,000-acres of public land and it would produce up to 350 MW of solar energy along with battery energy storage.

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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input to inform development of an environmental assessment for the proposed Socorro Solar Energy project in southeastern La Paz County.

According to the application submitted by developer EDF Renewables in October 2021, the proposed Socorro project is designed to produce up to 350 MW of solar energy along with battery energy storage.

The BLM, Arizona State Office, completed the solar variance review process and determined that it is appropriate to continue processing the Socorro Solar Project application. At this time, BLM AZ is requesting concurrence on the State Director’s Socorro Solar Project Variance Determination.

Concurrence will not approve the proposed project, but allows the BLM to continue processing the application and initiate its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, including this public scoping and the preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement

July 1 marked the start of a 38-day public scoping period for an environmental assessment to analyze and disclose potential impacts. The BLM is seeking input relevant to the development of alternatives, environmental analyses and resource protection measures.

The project is expected to take up 3,066 acres of the nearly 6,000-acre site located within a Renewable Energy Development Area (REDA) as designated by the Arizona Restoration Design Energy Project Record of Decision issued by BLM in January 2013.

The clean electricity is expected to be delivered to the grid through the Ten West Link 500 kV bulk transmission line anticipated to be approximately 1.3 mile, which would cross the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and Interstate 10 to the south of the CAP. The application includes 30-foot wide access road for which the BLM is seeking a right-of-way for 40 years.

Project information, including maps, will be available on the project website within the BLM’s National NEPA Register.

Environmental assessments evaluate potential impacts of the project and addresses Native American religious concerns; threatened, endangered, and sensitive species; socioeconomic effects, environmental justice and other issues. The environmental assessment also looks at potential mitigation measures that can lessen environmental impacts.

In April the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released final rules governing the leasing and rental of renewable energy projects sited on public lands. The rules were developed with consultation from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Earlier in the year, the BLM released a draft analysis of the Utility-Scale Solar Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that identifies 22 million acres across 11 states that are best suited for solar development. The document calls for solar development to be focused on areas with fewer sensitive resources, less conflict with other uses of public lands, and close proximity to transmission lines, having identified 200,000 acres of land near existing transmission infrastructure.

A recent study by the Energy Markets and Policy (EMP) department at the Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, found that engaging the public is important when siting large-scale solar energy projects.

“The public’s input during scoping will help inform the BLM’s development of a range of alternatives that will be analyzed,” said William Mack, Colorado River District Manager. “We invite our federal, state, tribal, as well as local partners, stakeholders, and the public to participate in scoping.”

The United States has set a goal of achieving 100% clean energy by 2035. To do so, a vast amount of land needs to be used for solar energy production. The National Renewable Energy Lab estimates that if the United States were to meet all of its electricity needs with solar alone, around 10 million acres, or 0.4% of the area of the country, would be needed.

Comments must be submitted in writing by close of business on August 7, 2024. Written comments are encouraged and may be submitted by mail or email at BLM_AZ_CRD_SOLAR@blm.gov or within the project website in BLM’s National NEPA Register. If submitting by mail, send to: BLM Arizona State Office at 1 North Central Avenue, Suite 800, Phoenix, AZ 85004, and please note “Attention: Derek Eysenbach/Socorro Solar Project.”

If approved, the Socorro project is scheduled to begin construction in 2025.

From pv magazine Germany

Meyer Burger’s new plant in Goodyear in Arizona passed the factory audit according to UL test standards without any deviations, and production can begin.

The solar cells required for module production have been delivered from the German site in Thalheim to the U.S. plant for some time now. This will continue to be the case in the future to ensure the ramp-up in the USA, Meyer Burger added.

In addition to the module factory, Meyer Burger also plans to build a cell factory in Colorado. It is not yet entirely clear when this will be able to start production. This depends on the conclusion of the 45X financing. The due diligence of a major U.S. bank on monetization in accordance with Article 45X of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been completed and negotiations on the loan agreements are currently underway.

Meyer Burger says it is aiming to complete the deal and make the payment by the middle of the third quarter. At this time, the payment of export financing by a German bank for the construction of photovoltaic production in the U.S. is also expected. The photovoltaic company has also submitted the final application for the loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to finance the cell factory. This is currently still being reviewed, says Meyer Burger.

In addition, a commercial agreement has already been negotiated with a U.S. industrial and technology group and a term sheet for a possible investment in Meyer Burger has been exchanged. This strategic cooperation would enable Meyer Burger to manufacture solar modules in the U.S. with an ever-increasing proportion of domestic components.

Meyer Burger has already signed several contracts with EPC companies and energy suppliers for the purchase of its solar modules manufactured in the U.S.. Now another purchase contract for up to 600 megawatts per year has been added with a large energy company from the U.S.. Delivery has been agreed for three years from 2026 with an extension option for two years. The agreement is to take effect when the financing of the solar cell plant in Colorado Springs is completed, Meyer Burger said.

Meyer Burger shut down its module plant in Freiberg, Saxony , in April after there was no agreement within the federal government on resilience measures for German and European photovoltaic manufacturers .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Renewable energy developer Ørsted announced it has secured a $680 million tax equity financing for a portfolio of solar and storage assets in Texas and Arizona.

The project portfolio includes Eleven Mile Solar Center, a 300 MW solar and 300 MW /1200 MWh storage project in Pinal County, Arizona and Sparta Solar, a 250 MW solar project in Mineral, Texas.

J.P. Morgan made the tax equity investment, comprised of production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC) assets available through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Over 1.8 GW of Ørsted’s 5.7 GW portfolio is now supported by the investment bank.

The Eleven Mile Solar Center will receive a one-time investment tax credit for its battery storage system while the solar farm will generate production tax credits over a ten-year period.

The tax equity partnership includes options for tax credit transferability, a new option created by IRA. Tax credit transfers opened a new market for any corporate buyer to support clean energy projects and optimize their federal tax bill through purchasing tax credits.

“With this new market unlocked by the IRA, we’re excited to continue our tax equity partnership with J.P. Morgan and bring on new entities looking to advance the U.S. renewable energy industry, support job growth, and promote local economic development,” said James Giamarino, chief commercial officer for the Americas, Ørsted.

Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel for Ørsted and Milbank LLP served as legal counsel for J.P. Morgan.

The tax equity investment is expected to help complete the two projects which total 550 MW solar capacity and 300 MW, 4-hour duration energy storage. Commercial operations for both projects are expected for 2024. The solar projects are expected to contribute a combined $125 million in tax revenue over the life of the projects for public services in the local communities.

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.

Amphenol Industrial Operations, a U.S.-based global provider of interconnect systems, announced its manufacturing operations are now online in its new solar component factory in Mesa, Arizona.

The facility produces junction boxes for solar modules. Solar junction boxes are enclosures that are typically pre-installed on the back of a solar panel that connect power generated by solar cell to external lines.

Amphenol is currently operating its first production line, producing about 3,000 solar junction boxes per day, with two more lines currently being added. The company said the facility can support up to a dozen manufacturing lines, with each line able to produce around 100,000 boxes per month, or 1.2 million per month for the whole facility.

The facility is also equipped to begin manufacturing solar connectors and other advanced interconnect assemblies for solar arrays. Amphenol said production lines for these components are expected to be online in late 2024.

Amphenol has hired 70 new team members at its Mesa facility and anticipates more hiring as the production lines expand.

“By manufacturing and shipping high-quality, reliable solar products every day at our expanded Mesa facility, we’re building on our mission to help create a more efficient and sustainable U.S. solar supply chain,” said Mark Cunningham, general manager of Amphenol Industrial Operations. 

The 58,000 square foot facility was announced in September 2023, rapidly reaching operations and expanding the company’s existing operations in Mesa.

Amphenol said its products can help solar project developers achieve the 10% tax credit bonus adder within the Inflation Reduction Act clean energy incentives.

Longroad Energy installing U.S.-made First Solar modules in Arizona solar-plus-storage plant The 220 MWdc solar and 214 MWac / 855 MWh Serrano solar-plus-storage project will also feature Powin’s BESS, Sungrow inverters, and Nextracker trackers.

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Longroad announced the financial close of the 220 MWdc solar and 214 MWac / 855 MWh Serrano solar-plus-storage project in Pinal and Pima Counties, Arizona. Construction is now underway, and is expected to be complete by mid-2025.

Serrano represents the continuation of a longstanding partnership between U.S.-based solar manufacturer First Solar and Longroad. Serrano is the fourth Arizona project using First Solar’s modules that Longroad has financed in four years, and Longroad’s first to use First Solar’s Series 7 panels that are made in the U.S. First Solar has a manufacturing facility in Ohio and recently expanded operations to Alabama and Louisiana.

“We are proud to support American manufacturing and the domestic solar supply chain as we expand our solar footprint in the robust Arizona market, which now surpasses 1.5 GW of operating or under construction projects,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of Longroad Energy.”

The 214 MWac / 855 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) will be provided by U.S.-based energy storage platform provider Powin. The BESS will include SMA inverters and cells from AESC, which will be integrated into Powin’s Modular and Scalable Centipede Energy Storage Platform.

Nextracker is supplying trackers for the project and Sungrow is supplying the solar inverters.

Operations and maintenance (O&M) services for the project will be provided by NovaSource Power Services and Longroad’s affiliate Longroad Energy Services. Longterm O&M services for the BESS will be provided by Longroad, in conjunction with Powin and NovaSource Power Services.

Arizona Public Service (APS) will be the offtaker of electricity from the plant through a long-term power purchase agreement. The project will generate enough electricity to power roughly 61,000 Arizona homes.

“APS is widely regarded for providing top-quality, reliable service to our customers, and solar plus storage resources like the Serrano project bring value to Arizonans,” said Brian Cole, APS Vice President of Resource Management. “Our investment in cost-effective, renewable projects enhances our diverse energy mix, providing customers with power that is reliable, affordable and clean.”

Serrano is the fourth large-scale solar facility in Arizona being built by McCarthy for Longroad and is expected to employ over 300 people during the construction process. McCarthy is using registered apprentices and reports it will be paying prevailing wage to all workers on the project, in accordance with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Longroad estimates that the solar produced by Serrano represents over 330,000 metric tons of avoided CO2 emissions annually, or the equivalent of taking approximately 75,000 gas-powered cars off the road. Additionally the project is expected to contribute more than $25 million in revenue for Arizona schools and communities through its long-term Right of Way grant with the Arizona State Land Department and tax remittances.

Debt financing was led by CIBC and Societe Generale and included ANZ, PNC, Commerzbank AG, and U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance. CIBC acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger, Administrative Agent, Collateral Agent, and Green Loan Coordinator. Societe Generale acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger. U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance served as Joint Lead Arranger and Depositary Bank. Athene Annuity and Life Insurance Company, an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, is the project’s tax equity investor and was advised by Apterra Infrastructure Capital.

“Our continued role in supporting Longroad in the build out of their development pipeline is one example of CIBC’s commitment to the U.S. renewable energy and energy transition space as we work towards enabling a more sustainable and inclusive economy,” said Peter O’Neill, head of U.S. project finance and infrastructure at CIBC.

Longroad Energy Holdings has developed or acquired 5.4 GW of renewable energy projects across the U.S. and raised over $14.5 billion of equity, debt, and tax equity to support completion of its portfolio. Serrano expands Longroad’s solar footprint in Arizona to more than 1.5 GW of operating or under construction projects.

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has 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.

Commission Chair Jim O’Connor said he and three Republican ACC members approved the rate plan without knowing the real effect it would have on customers’ bills. Under the new rate hike, O’Connor promised customers will see their bills rise roughly 8%, far outpacing inflation.

APS president Ted Geisler told reporters that residential customers should expect to see bills increase by about $10 to $12 per month, while customers with rooftop solar can expect to see their bills increase by as much as $15 per month. The move comes on the heels of Arizona reducing its rooftop solar export rates, known as net metering rates, by 10% last summer.

However, the full impact of the rate hike has not been fully evaluated by the ACC. Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund requested the commission reconsider the approval, suggesting that APS should be required to testify under oath the exact projected impact on customers.

“Comprehensive data should be entered into the docket, and APS executives should be sworn in before they speak,” wrote Diane Brown in an appeal from the organization. “The commission failed to ask the questions necessary to ensure they had adequate and complete data before voting on the entire rate plan.”

Michael O’Donnell, vice president of Arizona-based solar installer Sunsolar Solutions called the proposal “truly outrageous.” He said solar customers are already paying about $80 per month on average to be connected to the grid, and that under the new rate structure, these customers can expect to pay $120 per month. This would even apply to customers who produce 100% or more of their electricity from their rooftop array.

Despite having an abundance of sun, steadily rising rates, and high electricity demand due to air conditioning use, Arizona is not a leading rooftop solar market. Export rates are low, and the ACC has approved numerous cuts, reductions, and demand charges on solar customers.

“Arizona is a needlessly difficult state to do business in,” said Christopher Worley, director of policy, Sunrun. “Adding unsupported, discriminatory charges to the state’s already low export rates is punitive to solar customers, bad for the solar industry, and bad for ratepayers.”

The charges retroactively apply to customers who already have rooftop solar and have signed a net metering agreement with APS. This type of discriminatory move by APS undercuts broader goals of supporting energy independence, bill stability, and lowered carbon emissions by weakening consumer confidence that solar is a stable investment.

“Retroactive policies like this undercut market certainty and drive frustration in customers,” said Worley.

The discriminatory charges on rooftop solar customers were justified based on a need to upgrade transmission, and due to “cost-shift issues.” The cost-shift is an argument used by utilities nationwide suggesting that non-solar customers are cross-subsidizing rooftop solar customers by increasing utility system costs.

When net metering rates were cut last summer, APS claimed “the magnitude of cost shift within the residential ratepayer class is within the range of $800 to $1000 per year.” This would amount to an $18 million cross-subsidization.

However, numerous studies by national labs and state groups have debunked utility claims of such a significant cost-shift. Berkeley Labs  found that at current levels of rooftop solar adoption, the cost shift is negligible. In its modeling, Berkeley researchers found that rooftop solar creates cost savings system-wide. At solar adoption rates of 10% of electricity generation mix or more, which is roughly where Arizona stands, the cost shift was found to be a miniscule $0.005 per kWh.

What’s more, amendments to the new rate hike create a cost shift in the reverse direction. Amendment 3 on the rate hike, proposed by Chairman O’Connor, would require APS to run a program leveraging customers’ rooftop solar and batteries to export power and serve peak demand hours on the grid.

“Programs like this leverage the investment of solar customers to save money for all ratepayers,” said Worley.

Over 2,000 individuals and organizations in Arizona filed public comments on the rate hike, nearly all of which were in opposition.

Arevon Energy, a renewable energy developer, owner, and operator announced it has secured $1.1 billion in aggregate financing commitments to support the development of its Eland 2 Solar-plus-Storage project in Kern County, California.

Eland 2 is a 374 MW solar, 150 MW / 600 MWh storage project. The project is slated to come online in Q1 2025.

Wells Fargo provided $431 million in tax equity commitment. Arevon also obtained $654 million of debt financing, including a construction-to-term loan, tax equity bridge loan, and letter of credit facilities.

Eland 2 will provide 200 MW of electricity under a power purchase agreement with Southern California Public Power Authority. The project will dispatch electricity from Tesla Megapack 2 XL batteries, for up to four hour durations during peak grid demand.

Combined with the project’s first phase Eland 1, the projects will total for 751 MWdc of solar and 300 MW / 1,200 MWh of energy storage. 

“Solar-plus-storage projects – like our flagship Eland 1 and 2 facilities – play an important role in Arevon’s strategy. Hybrid power plants deliver a more reliable, predictable energy yield during peak electricity demand periods, which in turn enables consistent returns across our diverse, multi-gigawatt portfolio,” said Kevin Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Arevon.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) served as the administrative agent, coordinating lead arranger, green loan coordinator, and bookrunner. Other coordinating lead arrangers included BNP Paribas, CoBank, Commerzbank AG, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and National Bank of Canada. J.P. Morgan served as joint lead arranger, collateral and depositary agent. Amis, Patel & Brewer, LLP represented Arevon as sponsor counsel; Milbank LLP served as lender counsel; and Sheppard Mullin served as tax equity counsel.

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Arevon owns and operates more than 3.5 GW of solar and storage assets across the country. The company has a project pipeline of more than 6 GW in development.

Arevon also recently announced a successful close of $350 million from Blackstone Credit and Insurance. The funds will support a 200 MW / 800 MWh battery project in Grand Terrace, California that is slated to reach commercial operations in Q2 2024. The project made use of the Inflation Reduction Act’s new tax credit transferability rule.

Qcells, a solar module manufacturer providing residential and commercial markets, announced it has entered a partnership with Solarcycle, a recycling company. Under the agreement, Qcells owned and installed solar panels will be recycled after decommissioning.

The agreement marks a landmark deal in solar recycling in the United States. Qcells operates one of the largest solar manufacturing operations in the United States, with plans to expand production to 8.4 GW annually by the end of 2024, adding 4,000 jobs. The company announced a $2.5 billion investment to support this expansion in January 2023.

Solarcycle said its patented recovery process retains 95% of the value of materials in the panel, as opposed to conventional methods, which extract about 50% of the material value. The company recycles aluminum, silver, copper, silicon, and low-iron glass and will send these materials back to the domestic manufacturing value chain, thereby supporting a circular economy.

With the rapid growth in solar energy in the U.S., there is also growing concern about what will happen to solar panels at the end of their useful life. Without an increase in solar recycling, the U.S. will contribute 10 million metric tons of trash in landfills and other waste facilities by 2050, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). To put into context, the U.S. dumps almost 140 million tons of waste each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“We want our solar panels to not only help our customers cut costs and carbon, but also to be a part of building a more sustainable clean energy industry. Our partnership with Solarcycle will give our panels a life after powering homes, businesses and communities, reducing waste and reusing pieces for all types of technology including solar.”

Solarcycle runs recycling centers in Odessa, Texas and Mesa, Arizona, employing nearly 100 people since opening operations in 2022. The company said it expects to employ over 700 people in the next couple of years.

“Together, we can close the supply chain loop to ensure solar energy is manufactured and recycled in the U.S. using American labor and cutting-edge sustainability practices,” said Suvi Sharma, chief executive officer and co-founder, Solarcycle.

Earlier this month, Solarcycle announced it would move its headquarters to Mesa, AZ and open a research facility at the location. The Mesa facility will initially recycle 250,000 solar panels each year, and ramp to one million panels per year to keep pace with growing market demand in the solar industry for its recycling and circular supply chain services.

The solar recycler has grown its infrastructure footprint nationally through high-volume contracts with industry leaders including AES, EDF Renewables North America, EDP Renewables North America, Greenbacker, Ørsted, Silicon Ranch, and Sunrun.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory projects that by 2040, recycled panels and materials could help meet 25% to 30% of U.S. domestic solar manufacturing needs.

Longroad Energy announced it is on track to complete the construction of its Sun Streams 4 solar and storage facility in Maricopa County, Ariz.

First Solar will provide Longroad with 800,000 Series 6 Plus solar modules. The cadmium telluride bifacial panels have a 455- to 480-watt capacity and offer up to 19% efficiency. Nextracker will supply its NX Horizon trackers, which have been configured to withstand Arizona’s extreme heat and overall climate. Sungrow’s utility-scale inverters feature an integrated current and voltage monitoring function that allow remote analysis and troubleshooting.  

Powin, a U.S.-based energy storage system manufacturer, will provide a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a duration of 1200 MWh. It will include SMA inverters and cells from the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, a Japanese lithium-ion electric vehicle battery developer. 

Powin says its modular and scalable Centipede Energy Storage platform arrives at the field built, pre-integrated and performance-tested in an outdoor enclosure, reducing installation time by 50%. The BESS has built-in emergency features that detect hydrogen levels and activate ventilation when necessary. 

U.S.-based national construction business McCarthy Building Companies Inc. is providing engineering, procurement and construction services for this project, which is the third Sun Streams 4 complex in the area. Other Longroad plants include Sun Streams 2, a 200 MWdc solar plant that began operations in mid-2021, and Sun Streams 3. The facility consists of a 285 MWdc solar array and BESS with a 215 MWac capacity and 860 MWh duration. The project, which is still in development, is expected to start commercial operations next year. 

McCarthy said it plans to hire over 250 people during Sun Stream 4’s peak construction phase, expected to run through July of next year. McCarthy is paying prevailing wages and leveraging over 65 registered operators and carpenter apprentices per Inflation Reduction Act tax incentive requirements. McCarthy states it is paying apprentices 70% to 95% of the project’s workers in the same occupation and receiving the Investment Tax Credit as a result. 

“Longroad is proud of the solar workforce we are helping to build and support in Arizona through our partnership with McCarthy,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of Longroad. “Sun Streams 4 is one of our first projects to incorporate provisions from the IRA.”

The solar and storage facility is expected to generate over $100 million in revenue for Arizona schools and communities through long-term leases with the Arizona State Land Department and tax remittances. 

Longroad will collaborate with Powin and NovaSource Power Services, a solar O&M service provider, to manage Sun Streams 4’s long-term operations. 

Solarcycle, a solar recycling company, announced the opening of its new headquarters in Mesa, Arizona. In addition to office space and a recycling facility, the headquarters is also equipped with a research lab that will employ scientists and engineers to work on the advancing the material refinement process to reach zero-waste and obtain the most value out of decommissioned panels.

The Mesa facility will initially recycle 250,000 solar panels each year, and ramp to one million panels per year to keep pace with growing market demand in the solar industry for its recycling and circular supply chain services.

With the rapid growth in solar energy in the U.S., there is also growing concern about what will happen to solar panels at the end of their useful life. Without an increase in solar recycling, the U.S. will contribute 10 million metric tons of trash in landfills and other waste facilities by 2050, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). To put into context, the U.S. dumps almost 140 million tons of waste each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Solarcycle reports that its proprietary technology enables the extraction of 95% of the value from recycled panels, including silver, silicon, copper, aluminum and glass. The company sells these higher-purity materials back to the domestic supply chain.

The company says it will create more than 100 local jobs and is hiring for positions in production, engineering, operations, IT, finance, sales and marketing, and management.

Solarcycle, now in its second year of operation, was founded by industry experts from leading corporations and institutions including Solaria, Nextracker, Sierra Club, and the University of New South Wales. The company raised an initial $6.6M seed round in May 2022 from leading renewable energy and circular economy investors including SolarCity founders Peter and Lyndon Rive, former CEO/CTO of Sunpower Corporation Systems Tom Dinwoodie, Urban Innovation Fund and Closed Loop Partners.

Also in its inaugural year, the company opened a facility in Odessa, Texas. To fund that facility the company raised $30 million in Series A funding in 2023, bringing its total funding to $37 million. The infrastructure financing was led by Fifth Wall and HG Ventures. The round also included participation from special situations partner Alok Sindher, Prologis Ventures, as well as existing investors Urban Innovation Fund and Closed Loop Partners.

In April 2023 the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the company a $1.5 million research grant to study the process for recovering higher-quality metals and materials extracted from retired solar panels.  

The solar recycler has grown its infrastructure footprint nationally through high-volume contracts with industry leaders including AES, EDF Renewables North America, EDP Renewables North America, Greenbacker, Ørsted, Silicon Ranch, and Sunrun.

Solarcycle reports that it follows stringent set of systems developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and is actively certified under ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 to recycle and process materials and minerals from solar panels.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory projects that by 2040, recycled panels and materials could help meet 25% to 30% of U.S. domestic solar manufacturing needs.

Solarcycle plans to announce additional facilities across the United States in 2024, with the intention of having a recycling center within 500 miles of 80% of the installed solar in the U.S., Jesse Simons, co-founder and CCO told pv magazine USA. He said the company relies on its logistics professionals to optimize the number of panels on a truck to make the fewest number of trips to bring panels to its sites.

Arizona’s Senate Committee on Natural Resources approved in a 3-2 vote to move forward SB 1066, establishing a solar royalties fund that would tax solar generated electricity exported from the state. It now moves to the state Senate for a vote.

The bill would require the owner or operator of solar assets to pay 12.5% per $1 of revenue earned for the sale of electricity exported out of the state. Each county would have its board of supervisors administer the program and collect the funds.

Funds would then be redistributed equally to residents in the county. This structure is similar to the oil export tax in Alaska, which cut a check of $1,312 to each resident last year.

This law would apply specifically to solar assets that deliver power to utilities outside the state. Residential rooftop solar, commercial and industrial on-site solar, off-grid solar, and solar owned by a public service corporation regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission (like APS or SRP) would be exempt from the tax.

Proponents of the bill said it would compensate Arizona residents for the harm created by companies that “exploit the land.”

Senator Priya Sundareshan, a Democrat from Tucson, argued that creating a tax on renewable energy that mimics Alaska’s oil dividend creates a false equivalency.

“Mining and oil and gas, these are all extractive industries that will result in some level of disturbance to the land, that is fundamentally pollution, impacts to the water quality,” she said. “There’s a lot more that goes into the extraction of oil and gas and other mining industries than, let’s say, passively sitting and letting the sun fall onto a solar panel.”

White Mountain Independent reported that Stan Barnes, a lobbyist for the Interwest Energy Alliance, argued that the law runs the risk of creating a trade war with other states. Taxing power delivered to a utility in another state would effectively push the cost onto the ratepayers in that state, he argued.

“More than one state can play this game,” said Barnes. “If other states did what Sen. Borrelli is proposing … our rates go up. It’s a bad game to play, it’s a trade war starting, anti-business kind of thing that Arizona would lose.”

Find the full bill and relevant proceedings and documentation here.

The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates that homeowners spend $25,000 installing residential solar systems, so it makes sense that more buyers are looking to purchase properties with solar panels already retrofitted. However, according to findings published in MarketWatch, even these homes can come at a premium.

To find out which regions of the U.S. have the highest number of solar-powered homes for sale per 100,000 people and how much prospective buyers are paying for solar-powered residences across the country, MarketWatch searched Zillow. Using the keyword “solar,” they assessed how many relevant home listings popped up in specific states and cities relative to the local population.

MarketWatch used each listing’s page views and price details to calculate the average interest in the property and determine how much more a buyer needs to pay for a solar-powered home:  

• In terms of cities, Las Vegas had the highest number of solar-powered homes for sale in the U.S. (287), while Goodyear, Ariz., had the highest number of solar-powered homes for sale per 100,000 people (58).
• Regarding states, California and Florida had the most solar-powered homes on the market at 6,014 residences and 2,852 residences, respectively. Hawaii and Nevada had the highest number of homes for sale per 100,000 people at 23 and 20 residences, respectively. 
• Regarding interest in purchasing a solar home, New Hampshire was the state with the highest number of views of solar home per day at 1,799. Irvine, Calif., attracted the highest number of views per day at 2,188. 
• For price, buyers of solar-powered homes in Kansas paid the highest premium in the country, at 91.15%. On the low end, buyers in California had a premium of 4.13%

MarketWatch attributes the high number of solar homes on the market in Las Vegas to the rapid growth rate of solar-powered developments in that area. Goodyear, Ariz., ranked high due to receiving 300 days of sunshine, making it ideal for solar, MarketWatch reports.

California had the highest number of solar-powered homes for sale at 6,014 listings, which MarketWatch also attributes to its regular exposure to the sun. Hawaii boasted the highest number of solar-powered homes on the market relative to the people at 23 listings per 100,000. The report authors state this is because its electricity costs are the highest in the nation.

The top nine U.S. cities that had the most interest in purchasing a solar-powered home were in California. These include properties in Irvine, Calif., which had 2,188 views per day, followed by Corona Calif., at 2,160 views and San Diego, Calif., at 2,151 views. MarketWatch states this is partly because of the rising costs of utilities in fast-growing cities. 

According to the study, buyers in Arkansas had the highest premium (91.5%) when purchasing a solar-powered home. Buyers in California pay an average 4.13% price premium on their solar-powered home, the lowest in the country. 

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) signed a project labor agreement to build the SunZia transmission line across Arizona and New Mexico. The $1.4 billion, 580-mile 525-volt HVDC transmission line is said to be the largest clean energy infrastructure project in North American history.

“The men and women of the IBEW are proud to partner with Pattern Energy and Quanta Services, Inc. on this historic energy infrastructure project. SunZia won’t just slash carbon emissions, but create good, middle class jobs throughout the region, and this transmission PLA guarantees that,” said IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper. “More good-paying, union jobs will create an economic ripple effect throughout Arizona and New Mexico, pouring money back into local communities.

The transmission line originates at a planned substation in near Corona, New Mexico, and traverses eight counties in New Mexico and Arizona before terminating at an existing substation in Casa Grande, Arizona. It will provide more than 3 GW of renewable wind power from central New Mexico to an estimated 3 million homes in central Arizona.

The IBEW labor union represents over 800,000 workers and retirees in the electrical industry in the U.S., Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. IBEW reports that more than 500 IBEW members will be employed in construction of the project. Pattern Energy reports that once construction is complete, approximately 150 permanent jobs will remain.

“The IBEW leads the way in recruiting and training the highly skilled workforce needed to build out a clean energy infrastructure and a resilient and modern grid,” Cooper said. “As the best trained, most experienced electrical workers in North America, the IBEW is ready to play a leading role in America’s renewable energy future by getting to work making SunZia a reality.”

Pattern Energy reports that, in addition to jobs, the project will bring multiple benefits to the region. Of the developer’s estimated $8 billion investment, Pattern says an estimated $1 billion will go to governments, communities, schools and landowners in both states in the form of sales and use taxes, property taxes, and land payments to federal, state, and private landowners.

Pattern Energy is a U.S.-based developer with a portfolio of more than 35 power facilities and transmission lines globally.

EnerVenue Energy Rack includes pre-assembled Energy Storage Vessels  The stationary energy storage solution includes a nickel-hydrogen battery, the battery management system and cabling.

BP to take full control of Lightsource BP  Energy giant BP announced today it would take full ownership of solar and wind energy developer Lightsource BP once a deal – pertaining to the purchase of the remaining renewables company’s shares BP does not own – goes through next year.

Photovoltaics for marine wildlife telemetry devices  A research team has tested mini solar modules in marine data collection devices, using animal hosts for water column profile measurements. The findings suggest that submarine PV can effectively operate in these applications at depths of up to 22 meters.

Imec integrates silicon heterojunction solar cells into curved surfaces  Imec has successfully integrated silicon heterojunction PV cells into curved surfaces, resulting in a 6% efficiency increase compared to passivated emitter and rear contact half cells. The cells are suitable for applications in vehicle-integrated and building-integrated photovoltaics.

SB Energy secures $2.4 billion for incentive-rich utility-scale solar projects  The 1.3 GW portfolio of projects are among the first to take advantage of the domestic content adder from the Inflation Reduction Act and are also qualified for the energy community credit adder.

New Hampshire seeks $70 million to expand low-income community solar The state’s Department of Energy requested a federal grant under the EPA’s Solar for All program.

From pv magazine global

A group of scientists have tested the use of special solar cells to monitor the behavior of seals during spring migration. They said this is the first long-term deployment of submerged solar cells in a realistic oceanic environment.

“Our work presents the first longitudinal study of photovoltaic cell performance in the marine environment that spans location, time, and depth,” researcher Collin A. Krawczyk told pv magazine. “We highlight novel methods of data collection in the marine environment, using animal hosts as vehicles for water column profile measurements. Based on our power results and energy predictions, solar power could feasibly provide all, or a significant portion, of the daily energy required by many marine wildlife telemetry modules.”

The academics said the electricity requirements of microelectronics applied in marine data loggers and other devices have fallen sharply in recent years, which makes PV a feasible power supply option.

To test their approach, the team attached special monocrystalline mini solar modules to four adult female northern elephant seals. The mammals make an ideal sensor platform for subsurface water profiling, as they average 2.9 dives per hour to depths of more than 400 meters and have migration patterns ranging from southern California to the North Pacific Ocean.

The scientists connected the mini PV panel to a device that measured and recorded the current-voltage relationship, in addition to a SPLASH10 tag that recorded the seal’s location, orientation, temperature, and depth. Unique names were given to each device: Kilo, November, Oscar, and Lima.

“The deployment of these devices began in late February of 2018, and both November and Oscar returned to the initial deployment location in early May of 2018. Kilo performed a much longer deployment, returning in early June of 2018,” the researchers said. “During this extended deployment, Kilo filled its on-board memory. Lima’s results were corrupted by a device malfunction during deployment.”

After recovering the modules, the academics had to perform extensive post-processing on them. They had to calibrate a time lag between the tags and the current–voltage devices and perform a curve fitting process for the latter. They also had to use a method that estimates the short-circuit current of a flat panel based on their tilted observed results. That is the module that was mounted to the head of a diving animal, and their panel-tilt angles were typically non-zero.

They found that maximum power averages as a function of depth are presented at up to 22 meters deep.

“Past 22 meters, our data became reliant on our low irradiance curve estimations, and the data here had very little medium/high irradiance curves,” they said. “At 5 meters depth, results show a 70% to 85% reduction in surface relative power, depending on the tag. While Kilo saw a higher reduction in power than November and Oscar, the reduction in power for November and Oscar at 15 and 20 meters was of roughly 84% and 90% reduction, respectively. At 15 meters, we found that there was an 85% to 95% reduction in available power, which increases to a 90% to 98% reduction at 20 meters.”

The researchers described their experiment in “Trans-oceanic subsurface photovoltaic performance,” which was recently published in Progress in Photovoltaics. They come from Northern Arizona University and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Gila River Indian Community announced that it signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install solar panels over irrigation canals on its land south of Phoenix, Arizona.

The first phase of the project will cover approximately 1,000 feet of canal, cutting down on water losses from evaporation. The project is expected to demonstrate the feasibility of solar-topped canals, potentially leading to additional miles of solar canals for the community in subsequent phases. The Army Corps is expected to complete the first phase of the project in 2025.

The cost of the first phase of the project is $6.744 million, adding 1 MW of solar capacity while reducing evaporation in the canal. The project is supported by a $517,000 grant from the Bureau of Reclamation. Funding for the second phase of the project is also expected to come from the Bureau of Reclamation, which is implementing a grant program established by Congress to pilot solar canals.

“This first pilot will break new ground and further the Community’s role as stewards of our shudag (water) and in keeping with the Community’s tradition of bringing innovation to irrigation systems throughout their lands,” said Gila River Indian Community governor Stephen Roe Lewis.

Earlier this year, a coalition of over 125 groups urged the U.S. Interior Department and the Bureau of Reclamation to evaluate the efficacy of solar canals. The request, signed by many leading climate and environmental groups, highlighted the opportunity to cover 8,000 miles of open-air canals with solar capacity. An estimated 25 GW of renewable energy, enough to power nearly 20 million homes, could be installed on these locations, the group said.

“The Bureau of Reclamation and the states dependent on the Colorado River are already considering unprecedented water cuts to protect the water supplies for 40 million people who rely on the river,” said the letter. “In a study examining similar action on water canals within California, scientists estimated that shade provided from solar panels could reduce the water loss due to evaporation by 63 billion gallons of water per year, an amount equivalent to annual water consumption of roughly 2 million people per year.”

The solar canal project implemented by the Gila River community is among the first in the U.S. to break ground. It is expected to serve as an example for other regions challenged by water conservation and clean energy goals.

For example, California’s Central Valley Project, a large canal system, alone uses approximately 1 billion kWh of electricity annually to pump water. Bringing solar power closer to these systems would offer an efficient system for moving water, displacing the diesel generators used today.

“Given the Bureau of Reclamation’s long history of creating hydroelectric power, the generation of gigawatts of solar power on its canals would be a purely additive benefit, and could even help address shortfalls in electricity generation as when hydroelectric facilities are unable to operate due to low water levels,” said the letter.

Installing solar on canals is gaining popularity worldwide. Projects in California, India, Spain, and France are underway, with many packing in large utility-scale capacities.

Terabase Energy, developer of Terafab, an automated utility-scale solar installation platform, announced it has successfully completed its first commercial installation. The company’s “field factory” installed 17 MW of a 225 MW solar project in Arizona in development by Leeward Renewable Energy and engineering and construction contractor RES.

The Terafab system makes use of digital twins, logistics software, an on-site digital command center, a field-deployed automated assembly line, and installation rovers that can operate 24/7.

In the Arizona project, Terabase said its labor productivity improved 25% when compared with manual installation.

“[The project] demonstrates that Terabase’s technology can drive substantial progress in solar construction safety, quality, cost, and schedule,” said Will Schultek, vice president of construction, RES.

The installation system cuts the amount of labor needed on-site and improves working conditions for laborers. Workers are housed in shaded and cooled conditions, allowing for system operation and installation in harsh desert environments.

Reducing labor requirements to install utility-scale solar project may prove useful for accelerating the energy transition. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) projects a demand of 800,000 new solar workers by 2030 to build the projects the United States needs to be on pace with its decarbonization plan. However, 44% of solar industry employers report it is “very difficult” to find qualified applicants, said the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC).

Terabase’s field factory also enabled a 100% return on solar panel packaging for reuse by the manufacturer.

Leeward Renewable Energy executive vice president of project execution Sam Mangrum said the benefits demonstrated in the project underscore the “transformative potential of automation” in solar.

“This milestone marks a pivotal moment in our mission to accelerate solar plant deployment to meet the terawatt scale demands of the future,” said Matt Campbell, chief executive officer, Terabase Energy. “Furthermore, the Terafab system was deployed alongside our Construct digital twin software for managing and monitoring solar power plant construction.”

Watch the automated installer in action below:

McCarthy Building Companies, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, began construction of four utility-scale solar projects in Texas and Arizona. The projects, which are in various stages of construction, will combine for over 1 GW of capacity once completed.

The projects have led to the creation of over 800 new construction jobs, 200 of which are slated to be equipment operator, mechanical and electrical apprenticeships. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit incentives call for apprenticeship labor and prevailing wage.

“Now with the IRA, there are federal incentives in place to further support apprenticeship programs that create even more good-paying jobs and expand workforce training pathways into these careers,” said Scott Canada, executive vice president, renewable energy, McCarthy Building Companies.

The four projects include:

• 260 MWdc solar project in Milam County, Texas, which launched in June and is scheduled for completion in December 2024, will hire at least 50 apprentices and currently has 21 on the project;
• 376 MWdc solar project in Arlington, Ariz., and includes a 300MW battery energy storage system is expected to complete in mid-2025, will hire at least 50 apprentices and currently has 19 on the project;
• 260 MWdc solar project in Pearsall, Texas, which is expected to complete in June 2024, will hire at least 50 apprentices and currently has 33 on the project;
• 217 MWdc solar project in Marana, Ariz. and includes a 213 MW battery energy storage system is expected to complete in March 2025, recently began preliminary site work and is in the process of hiring approximately 50 apprentices on the project.

With the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projecting an addition of 63 GW of solar capacity additions by the end of 2024, McCarthy and other utility-scale developers are working to support local skilled craft workers, industry veterans, and those displaced from other jobs to meet the rapidly growing labor demand.

McCarthy developed a U.S. Department of Labor-approved and registered apprenticeship program in 2021 to provide on-the-job training and technical instruction. McCarthy has successfully registered its solar apprenticeship programs in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Michigan, with registration in additional states in process. The firm has also partnered with unions in Nevada, Illinois, and California to develop complimentary apprenticeship programs.

The company’s apprenticeship program takes two to four years to complete, pairing apprentices with journey workers for the first year of training. The apprentices are required to complete 144 hours per year of related instruction. Upon completion of the apprenticeship, graduates receive a nationally recognized credential from the U.S. Department of Labor and are potentially eligible for a wage increase.

McCarthy first piloted its solar apprenticeship program on the 209 MW project in Livingston, Texas, which is slated to be complete in December 2023.

The project developer is currently constructing or has completed 85 utility-scale clean energy projects in the country, operating since 2010. These projects, once completed, will provide over 9.5 GW of capacity and 1 GW of battery energy storage. The company is 100% employee owned.

EDF Renewables North America is among the largest developers in North America, with over 35 years of experience and a portfolio that currently consists of 16 GW of developed projects and 13 GW under service contracts.

The company announced an agreement with Solarcycle, a technology-based solar recycling company, to recycle solar panels damaged or broken during construction and operation.

With the rapid growth in solar energy in the U.S., there is also growing concern about what will happen to solar panels at the end of their useful life. Without an increase in solar recycling, the U.S. will contribute 10 million metric tons of trash in landfills and other waste facilities by 2050, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). To put into context, the U.S. dumps almost 140 million tons of waste each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“As a company, we have committed to developing the recycling capability of our clean energy assets, starting with solar,” said Edgar Puerto, associate director, strategic procurement at EDF Renewables. “We view this as a key strategy for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and catalyzing a new domestic supply chain for made-in-America solar products.”  

Solarcycle reports that its proprietary technology allows for the extraction of 95% of the value from recycled panels, including silver, silicon, copper, aluminum, and glass. After extracting the raw materials from the solar panels, Solarcycle intends to sell the materials for the next wave of solar manufacturing in the U.S.

Solarcycle currently has facilities in Odessa, Texas and Mesa, Ariz. Jesse Simons, chief commercial officer and co-founder, told pv magazine USA that the company intends to break ground on a third in the Southeast soon. The intention is to have a facility within 500 miles of 80% of the installed solar in the U.S.

“We have a team of reverse logistics professionals who are experts in optimizing the number of panels on a truck to ensure we are using the fewest number of trips in order to bring panels to our sites, lowering costs and lowering carbon emissions,” said Simons.

The company has performed a lifecycle assessment, which determined that the carbon benefits of Solarcycle’s recycling process, which requires centralization and scale, far outweigh the carbon involved in transport.

Longroad Energy, a Massachusetts-based renewable energy systems developer, announced the financial close and start of construction of Sun Streams 4.

The project, located in Maricopa County, Arizona, includes 377 MWdc solar panels and a 300 MW alternating current battery energy storage system (BESS) with a duration of 1200 MWh.  It is expected to begin operating in mid-2025.

Other projects developed by Longroad include Sun Streams 2, a 200 MWdc solar project that started operating in the middle of 2021. Suns Streams 3 is a 285 MWdc solar panel and 215 MWac storage facility that is expected to begin running next year. Suns Streams 3 storage duration is 860 MW/h. All of Longroad’s facilities are based in Arizona. 

Sun Streams 4 will use bifacial solar silicon panels supplied by Ohio-based First Solar. The panels used for this project will produce up to 480 W and have a 0.3% annual degradation rate, the company reports. Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) will provide inverters along with lithium-ion cells for Sun Streams 4 BESS.

The BESS will be integrated with Powin’s Modular and Scalable Centipede Energy Storage Platform, and Powin will manage long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) services for Longroad’s latest facility in conjunction with NovaSource Power Services. The latter also offers O&M services for solar panel installations.

Longroad will leverage Nextracker’s solar tracker technology to ensure Sun Streams 4’s panels maximize solar production by following the sun all day. Sungrow solar inverters were selected for the project.

Longroad states that Sun Streams 4 will generate over 200 jobs during the building phase. McCarthy Building Companies Inc., a commercial construction business, will manage the engineering, procurement and development part of the project, as its renewable energy team is based in Arizona. This decision also represents the continuation of McCarthy’s partnership with Longroad as the contractor developed Sun Streams 2 and is currently building Suns Streams 3. 

Construction workers and engineers are expected to receive prevailing wages per Arizona’s labor laws. Prevailing wages are yet to be determined, as the Department of Labor is currently surveying heavy highway construction industries to set wage rates. Longroad is including Registered Apprenticeship provisions that allow workers to get paid experience in conjunction with classroom training. Both are requirements for companies leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Tax Credit program for applicable green energy projects.

Longroad states that Sun Streams 4 will add over $100 million to Arizona’s economy through long-term leases with the Arizona State Land Department and tax remittances. The funds will go toward improving state schools and the quality of life for Arizona communities.

Longroad has entered a power purchase agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS), the state’s largest electric utility provider. The joint venture is meant to help increase grid reliability in the state, especially during the peak summer demand months, as Suns Streams 4’s total output is enough to power 120,000 homes. 

Longroad acquired debt financing led by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). CIBC directed a group of investors, including financial services company The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, U.S. Bank tax credit investments and syndications subsidiary U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance and German universal bank Commerzbank AG through the loan process. 

“Sun Streams 4 has the distinction of being Longroad’s largest project to date by both megawatts and investment capital,” said Paul Gaynor, chief executive officer of Longroad Energy.

The organization has 4.9 GW of domestic renewable energy projects. Longroad has obtained over $12.8 billion worth of equity, debt and tax equity to fund its renewables portfolio. 

Ascent Solar approved to apply for federal funds to finance agrivoltaic project Ascent Solar’s proposed system utilizes thin film solar cell technology from copper indium gallium diselenide chemistry to provide farmers with energy-producing and resource-saving agrivoltaic systems. 

Solar sales don’t need to be quick or accurate – they need to be both  A compelling proposal is crucial to grabbing the homeowner’s interest before they close the door and head back inside.

Solar Energy Technologies Office supporting the buildout of a secure U.S. supply chain Department of Energy SETO director Dr. Jones-Albertus delivered the keynote address at pv magazine’s recent Roundtables US 2023, addressing the energy transition and the growth of domestic solar manufacturing.

Roadrunner Reserve energy storage system to be one of largest in Arizona  Canadian Solar’s e-Storage has entered the supply and integration contract for 1 GWh DC of energy storage solutions for DEPCOM Power and Tucson Electric Power.

Canadian Solar to open 5 GW solar cell factory in Indiana The company will invest $800 million to open the manufacturing plant.

Hoymiles introduces quad-module three-phase solar microinverter The company announced the North American launch of its inverter, which is designed for commercial and industrial installations.

Arizona utility Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is the owner of the Roadrunner Reserve project, a new energy storage facility being built by DEPCOM Power.

“Roadrunner Reserve will help us maintain reliability as we ambitiously but responsibly expand our community’s renewable resources,” said Susan Gray, TEP’s President and CEO. “This new system will be particularly important in helping us satisfy peak energy needs during the summer.”

Canadian Solar’s e-Storage has been awarded the supply and integration contract for 1 GWh DC of energy storage solutions for DEPCOM Power, Inc. and TEP. E-Storage is part of the Company’s majority-owned subsidiary CSI. DEPCOM Power is a Koch Engineered Solutions Company that operates solar development, EPC, O&M and energy storage and repowering services.

e-Storage will deliver its proprietary energy storage solution SolBank to the project, which has rated storage capacity of 800 MWh AC.

SolBank, which was announced at RE+ in 2022, is a proprietary, containerized energy storage system that uses high-cycle lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) batteries with a 2.8 MWh energy capacity. LFP chemistry has been found to cut the risk of thermal runaway that can be a problem in other lithium-based battery systems.

The battery enclosure contains liquid cooling mechanisms and humidity control, and active balancing battery management systems. The company said the technology complies with the latest international safety standards and features multi-level fire safety management systems, incorporating state-of-the-art monitoring and control systems and active cell balancing.

TEP expects to charge the grid-connected battery in the morning and early afternoon, when solar resources are most productive, then deliver stored energy later in the day when customers’ energy use is typically highest. The system will be built next to a southeast-side TEP substation.

Roadrunner will be the largest energy storage system on the TEP energy grid and among the largest in Arizona, the utility reports. Once operational, the energy storage project will serve up to approximately 42,000 homes for a four-hour duration.

In August Canadian Solar announced that e-Storage will deliver 1,200 MWh (1,519 MWh dc nominal) of energy storage solutions to Recurrent Energy’s Papago Storage project in Arizona, which will be the largest standalone storage project in Arizona.

The Papago project is scheduled to be in service in late 2024 and the Road Runner Reserve System project is scheduled to begin operations in the summer of 2025.

To date, e-Storage has implemented over 3.3 GWh DC of battery energy storage solutions across the United States, Canada, the UK, and China, bringing its total installed capacity and contracted pipeline to 12.4 GWh DC.

Roadrunner Reserve aligns with TEP’s 2020 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which planned to reduce carbon emissions 80% and add up to 1,400 MW of energy storage by 2035. TEP will file its next IRP on Nov. 1, 2023.

Group interconnection studies: Beneficial but not a panacea  IREC’s latest analysis compares group studies with serial solar interconnection studies, concluding that while group studies can help manage queue challenges, they don’t significantly expedite necessary grid upgrades.

Duke completes sale of renewables business, renamed to Deriva Energy  As part of Brookfield, Deriva has 5.9 GW of clean energy assets operating and under construction.

Sunnova misses on Q3 earnings, posts sunny forecast for 2024 The energy-as-a-service provider had more losses than the expected consensus, but its stock rose based on an optimistic view for 2024.

TotalEnergies adds a 280 MW Texas solar facility to its portfolio Myrtle Solar, located south of Houston, Texas will power Kilroy Realty assets and three of TotalEnergies production plants along the Gulf Coast.

American Battery Factory breaks ground on $1.2 billion Arizona gigafactory The lithium-ferro-phosphate battery cell factory will provide an estimated 1,000 jobs to the Tucson, Arizona area.

American Battery Factory (ABF) announced it has broken ground on its Tucson, Arizona lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) battery cell gigafactory. The two million square foot gigafactory will provide an estimated 1,000 jobs.

ABF is investing $1.2 billion in capital to open the factory. An estimated $3.2 billion in economic impact in Arizona is expected as a result of its operations.

The global market for lithium batteries is expected to reach $105 billion by 2025, as demand is expected to continue to accelerate. Increased renewable energy and electrification of transportation and the home is slated to drive this sharp increase in demand.

Located on 267 acres on the Pima County Aerospace Research Campus, ABF’s gigafactory will be a site for both LFP cell production and further research and development opportunities. The factory is being built using Sprung Instant Structures’ rapid modular construction model. The R&D center and initial factory module are expected to be constructed by 2025.

The company has recently expanded its executive leadership team, adding former Major General John Kem as president and award-winning Dr. Jun Liu as chief scientist. The company has also secured strategic partnerships with companies like Celgard, Anovion and FNA Group.

“Today’s groundbreaking represents a significant milestone for Arizona’s battery industry,” said Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, who participated in the event. “With this transformational investment, American Battery Factory advances Arizona’s clean energy industry and bolsters continued economic growth in Tucson and Pima County.”

Several clean energy companies have found a home in Arizona, including First Solar, TPI Composites, KORE Power and ElectraMeccanica.

Clean Energy Associates projects the global battery market will grow 186% by 2025 from 2022 production totals of 1,706 GWh.

Petaluma, California-based CMBlu announced it received $106.7 million of equity investment from global infrastructure group STRABAG SE to scale its long-duration energy storage technology. 

CMBlu’s product combines advantages of both redox flow batteries and solid-state batteries. Its product, called the Organic SolidFlow, offers independent scaling of power and energy without sacrificing energy density. 

The technology is built on safe, abundant, and recyclable materials, said the company. Its energy storage devices do not rely on conflict or rare materials. 

CMBlu is currently developing multiple pilot projects in the U.S. and Europe to demonstrate its technology. It has active projects with WEC Energy Group in Wisconsin, Salt River Project in Arizona and several sites in Europe. 

While former redox flow batteries use metals, the company’s Organic SolidFlow batteries use carbon-based molecules for its electrolytes. The company said certain carbon-based molecules naturally can oxidized and reduced or charged and discharged. These molecules are essential elements in the “redox” reactions that power all living cells. 

“Nature had a choice to use metal or organic molecules to store and release energy. It chose organic. So are we,” said CMBlu. 

The storage devices are intended for use in large stationary projects. The company said it has a “potentially unlimited” cycle life with proper maintenance. It offers up to 90% efficiency, approaching the 95% efficiency of lithium-ion alternatives. It also can be easily scaled to GWh scale, said the company. 

“To become reality, the energy transition will require storage capacity measured in terawatts,” added CMBlu chief executive officer and founder Peter Geigle. “Only with very large storage capacities can GHG reduction goals be met. Our Organic SolidFlow batteries can be scaled up to the gigawatt-hour range, which enables the balance between renewable energy supply and essential energy demand – even without wind or sun.” 

STRABAG said the investment will help it achieve its goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2040. The company said it intend to become a full-range supplier of energy services for its projects. 

“The game changer for the energy transition is safe and sustainable long-duration storage that can make renewable energy available when needed,” explains Klemens Haselsteiner, chief executive officer of STRABAG. 

Texas-based Plus Power announced financing commitments of $1.8 billion to advance five large-scale battery energy storage projects totaling 2.76 GWh. The company reports that the transactions will support construction and operations of the portfolio and include construction financing, term financing, letters of credit, and tax equity investments, in partnership with 11 leading industry lenders and investors.

The recent financing includes $707 million for the 250 MW Sierra Estrella Energy Storage facility in Avondale, Arizona, which is expected to be the largest standalone battery facility in Arizona once online. This financing is in addition to initial funding of $903 million.

“Over the last year, Plus Power has raised an unparalleled amount of capital for standalone storage projects from a wide range of leading energy project finance banks and investors,” said Josh Goldstein, chief financial officer of Plus Power. “This capital will support the ongoing buildout of the largest and most diverse portfolio of standalone storage projects in the U.S. The scale highlights our first-mover advantage in bringing high-quality projects to market as well as the tremendous work by our fantastic team.”

The Sierra Estrella facility is one of two battery storage projects the Salt River Project (SRP) announced in fall of 2022 with Plus Power, with both projects scheduled to come online by summer of 2024. The other, a 90 MW / 360 MWh project is called Superstition Energy Storage, which is planned for Gilbert, Ariz.

Norddeutsche Landesbank and Société Générale acted as coordinating lead arrangers while Mizuho, U.S. Bank, Bank of America, CoBank, and Siemens Financial Services, Inc. were joint lead arrangers.

The financing for the SRP facilities includes:

• Sierra Estrella (250 MW/1,000 MWh): $202 million of tax equity from Bank of America coupled with a $505 million construction, term loan, and letter of credit facility.
• Superstition Energy Storage (90 MW/360 MWh): $196 million construction, term loan and letter of credit facility.

The completed transactions were financings totaling $884 million to support construction of 700 MW of batteries on the ERCOT grid in Texas in the Ebony, Anemoi and Rodeo Ranch energy storage projects. Plus Power reports that while the Ebony and Anemoi projects are expected to operate as merchant resources in the ERCOT wholesale market, Plus Power executed an innovative hedge for Goldman Sachs’ commodities group for a portion of the Rodeo Ranch Energy Storage facility. The three storage facilities are expected to be operational next summer and are designed to bring stability to the ERCOT grid during high demand.

The financing for these projects brings Plus Power’s current ERCOT portfolio to 1.57 GWh. Deutsche Bank and First Citizens Bank were the coordinating lead arrangers, with First Citizens Bank as the administrative agent and Siemens Financial Services, Inc. acting as the joint lead arranger.

The financing for the three ERCOT projects includes:

• Rodeo Ranch Energy Storage (300 MW/600 MWh): $212.2 million of tax equity financing from Foss & Company, as well as $276 million of construction and term financing, for the Rodeo Ranch Energy Storage facility in Pecos.
• Ebony Energy Storage (200 MW/400 MWh): $196 million of construction and term financing.
• Anemoi Energy Storage (200 MW/400 MWh) $200 million of construction and term financing.

Plus Power expects the Ebony and Anemoi projects to operate as merchant resources in the ERCOT wholesale market, while the company reportedly executed an innovative hedge for Goldman Sachs’ commodities group for a portion of the Rodeo Ranch Energy Storage facility.

“These financings demonstrate Nord/LB’s commitment to the battery energy storage sector as the bank continues to play a prominent role financing strategic assets to support the energy transition as part of the broader mission to achieve a net neutral, carbon free grid,” said Sondra Martinez, managing director, Nord/LB. “We look forward to continuing the strong relationship with Plus Power to support both our company’s goals of decarbonizing the energy grid with high-quality projects.”

Plus Power currently has a growing portfolio of large-scale lithium-ion battery systems in more than 25 states and Canada, and the company reports that it is executing on 10 GW of interconnection capacity now in transmission interconnection queues.

Salt River Project (SRP), a not-for-profit energy company serving more than 1.1 million people in Arizona, has announced plans with German battery manufacturer CMBlu for a pilot project to deploy long-duration energy storage (LDES).

The 5 MW, 10-hour-duration Desert Blume project will use CMBlu’s non-lithium technology. CMBlue will build, own and operate the batteries on behalf of SRP at its Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center in Florence, Arizona.

CMBlu said its Organic SolidFlow battery technology is based on fully recyclable organic materials. It uses aqueous electrolyte solutions that are non-flammable. The company said the batteries are characterized by free scalability between power and capacity because the system separates the electrolyte from the actual energy converter, and self-discharge is avoided. Furthermore, by replacing individual components, original performance can be restored.

CMBlu expects its battery system to cost-effectively store and deliver energy for two to three times longer per cycle than traditional lithium-ion technology, which typically targets a four-hour duration.

While the battery installations are a pilot, SRP is depended on to provide water to about half of the valley’s residents, delivering more than 244 billion gallons of water each year, and it manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive system of reservoirs, wells, canals and irrigation laterals. The battery project is designed to store energy for SRP’s customers during daytime periods, largely from solar generation, and return that energy to the grid throughout the night. It will store enough energy to power about 1,125 average homes for 10 hours.

In 2022, a fire broke out at the Salt River Project when a lithium-ion battery began smoldering. Area businesses were evacuated out of an abundance of caution due to the potential hazards caused by off-gassing. As an alternative to lithium-ion, the project is implementing the Organic SolidFlow batteries in the pilot project. This is the first U.S. utility implementation of CMBlu’s batteries at this scale.

SRP selected CMBlu after issuing a request for long-duration storage project proposals from emerging energy storage companies. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will monitor the pilot project and help validate the performance of the technology in Arizona’s hot and dry climate.

This pilot is part of the third phase of development at SRP’s Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center. The first phase will add two flexible natural gas turbines with a total output of less than 100 MW, and the second phase will add a utility-scale solar generation facility capable of generating up to 55 MW of solar energy. Construction of the third phase is slated to begin in early 2025, and the pilot is expected to be operational in December 2025.

CMBlu’s technology will also be deployed in other pilot projects including one in Burgenland Energie in Austria, and another pilot in Milwaukee, Wisc. with WEC Energy.

CMBlu was founded in Germany in 2014 by biotech entrepreneur Peter Geigle and a group of German energy and automotive executives. Since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, CMBlu has entered the US market.

“Compared to Germany and the rest of Europe, the US is clearly marching ahead in the development and application of large-scale storage solutions,” said Peter Geigle, founder and CEO. He added that once the company’s products gain acceptance, it will remain “fully committed to a US manufacturing presence.”

Salt River Project (SRP), a not-for-profit energy company serving more than 1.1 million people in the Phoenix area of central Arizona and CMBlu Energy, a designer and manufacturer of long-duration Organic SolidFlow energy storage systems, announced plans for a pilot project to deploy long-duration energy storage (LDES).

The 5 MW, 10-hour-duration Desert Blume project will use CMBlu’s non-lithium technology. CMBlue will build, own and operate the batteries on behalf of SRP at its Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center in Florence, Arizona.

CMBlu said its Organic SolidFlow battery technology is based on fully recyclable organic materials. It uses aqueous electrolyte solutions that are non-flammable. The company said the batteries are characterized by free scalability between power and capacity because the system separates the electrolyte from the actual energy converter, self-discharge is avoided. Furthermore, by replacing individual components, original performance can be restored.

CMBlu expects its battery system to cost-effectively store and deliver energy for two to three times longer per cycle than traditional lithium-ion technology, which typically targets a four-hour duration.

While the battery installations are a pilot, SRP is depended on to provide water to about half of the Valley’s residents, delivering more than 244 billion gallons of water each year, and it manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive system of reservoirs, wells, canals and irrigation laterals. The battery project is designed to store energy for SRP’s customers during daytime periods, largely from solar generation, and return that energy to the grid throughout the night. It will store enough energy to power about 1,125 average homes for 10 hours.

In 2022 a fire broke out at the Salt River Project when a lithium-ion battery began smoldering. Area businesses were evacuated out of an abundance of caution due to the potential hazards caused by off-gassing. As an alternative to lithium-ion, the project is implementing the Organic SolidFlow batteries in the pilot project. This is the first U.S. utility implementation of CMBlu’s batteries at this scale. SRP selected CMBlu after issuing a request for long-duration storage project proposals from emerging energy storage companies. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will monitor the pilot project and help validate the performance of the technology in Arizona’s hot and dry climate.

This pilot is part of the third phase of development at SRP’s Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center. The first phase will add two flexible natural gas turbines with a total output of less than 100 MW, and the second phase will add a utility-scale solar generation facility capable of generating up to 55 MW of solar energy. Construction of the third phase is slated to begin in early 2025, and the pilot is expected to be operational in December 2025.

CMBlu’s technology will also be deployed in other pilot projects including one in Burgenland Energie in Austria, and another pilot in Milwaukee, Wisc. with WEC Energy.

CMBlu was founded in Germany in 2014 by biotech entrepreneur Peter Geigle and a group of German energy and automotive executives. Since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, CMBlu has entered the U.S. market.

“Compared to Germany and the rest of Europe, the U.S. is clearly marching ahead in the development and application of large-scale storage solutions,” said Peter Geigle, founder and CEO. He added that once the company’s products gain acceptance, the company is “fully committed to a U.S. manufacturing presence”.

“Make it burn” and other lithium-ion first responder guidance  American Clean Power has published a guide for first responders on lithium-ion battery energy storage system emergencies, offering insights based on the 2023 NFPA 855 code revision.

Coalition urges Biden Administration to scrap hydrogen hub plans; advocates push back  Building out the hydrogen market has been an area of priority for the Biden Administration, and the resource is expected to be a critical tool to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors.

GridLab 100% clean reliable grid study uses scrubbed data from utility PNM  New Mexico utility PNM has three possible pathways—all relying on a high percentage of wind and solar generation—to reach 100% clean electricity while maintaining reliable service, found a study by the non-profit consultancy GridLab and a team of experts.

Engie acquires Broad Reach Power Engie has acquired 350 MW of operating storage assets and 880 MW of assets under construction from U.S. battery specialist Broad Reach Power, with commissioning of the latter assets expected by the end of 2024.

Arizona approves cut to solar compensation rates  A 37% cut had been proposed, but the Arizona Corporation Commission upheld the precedent of capping the reduction at 10%, but new risks may emerge.

Solar-powered sensors for wildfire detection An AI-powered sensor was developed by Dryad Networks to detect wildfires and alert first responders.

New York’s first state-owned energy storage project now operatonal The 20 MW utility-scale battery energy storage facility will help accelerate the target of 6 GW of energy storage by 2030.

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted on August 24, 2023 to cut the Resource Comparison Proxy (RCP) in the state, a metric that is used to determine the market value of exporting rooftop solar production to the grid. The Commission voted to step down the RCP by 10%, adhering to a 2017 rule that capped value reductions at that level.

While the 10% reduction in exported solar harms rooftop solar customers, things may have ended up much worse. Arizona Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers filed an amendment that would cut net energy metering (NEM) rates to $0.053 per kWh, a reduction of 37%, which would have taken effect suddenly in September.

“The stability provided by the RCP is the fundamental reason solar has continued to thrive in Arizona. Stable, predictable rates give solar companies and consumers certainty about the future and the confidence to invest in their homes and businesses,” said Kate Bowman, interior west regulatory director, Vote Solar.

Vote Solar, a nonprofit advocating for equitable access to solar energy, filed comments on the RCP, emphasizing a need for a gradual approach to changes to let the market adapt. It commented that utilities have not filed transparent, publicly available data to support their RCP ratemaking calculations. The use of non-transparent internal utility data as the guideline for ratemaking is a problem that has been highlighted nationwide in similar such rulemaking battles. Investor-owned utilities appear to be digging moats around their business by squeezing out rooftop solar.

Vote Solar said Arizona’s RCP values put forth by utilities for 2023 have not undergone transparent scrutiny, potentially leading to unfavorable customer outcomes.

“Arizona families and businesses are facing rising energy prices, inflation, and high electricity bills following a summer of record-breaking heat. Rooftop solar is a solution that can help consumers take control of their energy costs, and any reductions to the RCP undermine the affordability of solar energy and hinder the expansion of solar adoption in the state,” said Bowman.

The proposed cuts to solar compensation rates are justified based on “cost-shift issues,” a utility-backed argument that non-solar customers were cross-subsidizing rooftop solar customers by increasing utility system costs. Utility Arizona Public Service (APS) provided data to the Corporation Commission claiming, “the magnitude of cost shift within the residential ratepayer class is within the range of $800 to $1000 per year.” This would amount to an $18 million cross-subsidization.

However, numerous studies by national labs and state groups have debunked utility claims of such a significant cost-shift. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that at current levels of rooftop solar adoption, the cost shift is negligible. At solar adoption rates of 10% of electricity generation mix or more, the cost shift was found to be a miniscule $0.005 per kWh.

While rooftop solar comes with many system-level benefits to efficiency and resource use, environmental footprint benefits, and social gain, the ACC has shown that these metrics are unimportant when evaluating the value of a good or service.

The ACC wrote it did not support “inclusion of societal and environmental factors and other externalities in valuing solar DG exports, which are speculative and inappropriate for ratemaking purposes.”

The adherence to a 10% reduction was a temporary win for rooftop solar, but the ACC stated it has interest in revisiting the foundations of Arizona’s solar compensation structures entirely. It is taking public input on the RCP prior to its October 11 meeting.

“Consumers and businesses rely on Commission decisions to make important decisions about their budgets and future investments, and dismantling the measured transition approach that the Commission initially championed creates destabilizing uncertainty,” concluded Vote Solar.

Following a spate of thermal runaway incidents this summer, American Clean Power (ACP) has released its “First Responders Guide to Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) Battery Energy Storage System Incidents.”

The release coincides with New York state’s convening of an expert panel to reevaluate energy storage installation guidelines. The decision was prompted after several lithium-based battery projects faced thermal issues in New York State this summer, including the Three Mile Bay incident in the header image. And while it was not explicitly stated, the convening is presumably also influenced by the Moss Landing energy storage facility incidents.

The ACP’s guide specifically targets energy storage systems (ESS) that use Li-ion batteries, highlighting hazards like fires, explosions, arc flashes, electric shocks, and exposure to toxic chemicals. The guidance is based on the 2023 NFPA 855 revision, whose requirements apply to an ESS housed in multiple outdoor enclosures with an aggregate energy capacity surpassing 600 kWh. For systems of this scale, ACP highlighted requirements include a hazard mitigation analysis, fire and explosion testing in accordance with UL 9540A, emergency planning, and annual training sessions.

Insights from the McMicken facility’s thermal runaway and explosion in Arizona are reflected in the current code.

Pre-incident planning

Facilities with a capacity over 600 kWh must submit a comprehensive set of pre-incident documentation to both local authorities and firefighting departments. Key documents include fire and explosion test results, a hazard mitigation assessment and a detailed emergency response plan. 

While the fire and explosion test results primarily focus on smaller components like battery cells, packs, and racks, the hazard mitigation report focuses on larger scale scenarios that could lead to a full-blown enclosure fire. The guide cites examples such as insulation loss leading to arcing or mechanical damages from vehicle impacts or flying debris.

Following the incident at McMicken, first responders now have mandated access to the battery management system data. During that Arizona mishap, adequate sensors and data would have alerted the first responders to the accumulating gasses in the battery enclosure. Knowing the temperatures of adjacent energy storage units can guide fire departments on any added protective measures.

Incident response

Emergencies involving fires, explosions, arc flashes, and toxic chemicals require quick assessments and appropriate protective gear upon arrival.

If there’s an active fire, allowing it to burn out thoroughly ensures the consumption of all fuel sources, reducing reignition risks. Monitoring neighboring enclosures to curb fire spread is paramount.

When there is no evident fire, the data from battery management systems proves invaluable insight into the enclosure’s internal situation and whether a thermal runaway event has occurred. During these types of events, accumulated gasses and mounting pressure within the battery unit create a volatile mix, risking explosions if unchecked.

Source: APS DNVGL

The McMicken event was triggered by gas accumulation. Responders, uninformed due to a lack of data, breached the enclosure, introducing large amounts of oxygen and driving an explosion that injured eight of them. One was thrown 73 feet from the container upon trying to access it.

Through any incident, the dangers of arc shock and toxic chemical exposure must be considered. Energy units, irrespective of the damage extent or visual status, should always be treated as fully charged. Combusted materials can release toxic gasses like hydrogen fluoride and carbon monoxide, demanding caution.

Hazard discussions

Concluding the guide, ACP sheds light on emerging industry views on incident management. Lithium-ion discussions oscillate between robust systems that curtail thermal events – risking explosions – and the “make it burn” approach:

Some ESS designs employ a ‘make it burn’ strategy, in which a sparker ignites flammable gas when the lower flammable limit is exceeded but before the lower explosive limit is reached. Such designs do not include fire suppression, on the basis that the loss of an enclosure through controlled burning is preferable to increasing the risk of an explosion.

In potential explosive scenarios, the wisdom of active venting enclosures is reiterated. If a first responder is unsure about an enclosure’s venting status, merely opening it can be useful – but perilous. Simple venting actions might not suffice in all cases, with active gas extraction deemed a more effective risk-mitigation strategy.

New York provides pre-development support for solar and storage for LMI housing  A New York State program helps bring solar power to low- and moderate-income (LMI) housing by providing pre-development grants and technical assistance. The Clean Energy States Alliance considers the program a model for other states.

SolarEdge joins Xcel Energy’s virtual power plant incentive program in Colorado The Renewable Battery Connect initiative will call on home battery owners to discharge power to the grid when electricity demand is especially high, and provide them with financial incentives in return.

Arizona to vote on 37% slash to solar net metering  A proposed amendment would supersede the 10% reduction cap currently enforced by law.

Microsoft invests in 6.6 MW solar facility in Mississippi Clearloop received an upfront payment for long-term renewable energy credits from Microsoft, a decarbonization investment in the Panola II Solar Farm.

Texas to activate its first virtual power plants A pilot project tests how consumer-owned small energy devices like batteries, generators, electric vehicle chargers and more can be virtually aggregated and participate in the wholesale electricity market.

The Arizona Corporation Commission is set to vote on August 24, 2023 on an amendment that would rapidly reduce the payments made to solar customers for exporting local rooftop solar production to the electricity grid.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers filed an amendment that would cut net energy metering (NEM) rates to $0.053 per kWh, a reduction of 37%, which would take place suddenly in September. This would supersede the legal foundation that set a 10% NEM rate reduction per year, which would have led to a rate of $0.076 per kWh.

The proposed amendment was justified based on “cost-shift issues,” a utility-backed argument that non-solar customers were cross-subsidizing rooftop solar customers by increasing utility system costs. Utility Arizona Public Service (APS) provided data to the Corporation Commission claiming, “the magnitude of cost shift within the residential ratepayer class is within the range of $800 to $1000 per year.” This would amount to an $18 million cross-subsidization.

However, numerous studies by national labs and state groups have debunked utility claims of such a significant cost-shift. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that at current levels of rooftop solar adoption, the cost shift is negligible. At solar adoption rates of 10% of electricity generation mix or more, the cost shift was found to be a miniscule $0.005 per kWh.

If the 37% cut is approved, APS will essentially buy local solar generation for $0.053 per kWh, and then sell it to neighboring Arizonans for nearly triple that price, as APS customers often pay retail rates ranging $0.12 per kWh to $0.17 per kWh.

The Corporation Commission deemed that the valuation of solar exports should be based on the “avoided cost” methodology. It further notes that only utility costs should be considered when designing the rates, ignoring any kind of societal or environmental externality associated with the technology, be it a benefit or a harm.

The Commission determined, “use of utility-scale solar obligations represents the most reliable and objective avoided cost proxy for rooftop solar and diminishes concerns for the inclusion of societal and environmental factors and other externalities in valuing solar DG exports, which are speculative and inappropriate for ratemaking purposes.”

Health and environmental benefits, significant cost savings and stability for ratepayers, and resilience to extreme weather or national security events are benefits to Arizonans that adopt solar but are not relevant factors in the Arizona Corporation Commission’s evaluation of ratemaking and the technologies it wishes to support. Utility costs and profits take precedence over these significant externalities.

If approved in the vote, the NEM rate cuts will take place immediately on September 1, 2023. The move is expected to cause damage to the residential solar industry. After California passed a similar net metering rate cut, demand in the subsequent quarter fell by 38%, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Texas attorney general: Counties cannot block solar development  A county government in Northeast Texas has been attempting to block solar development, but the Texas attorney general said it does not have the power to enforce a ban.

NorSun developing 5 GW U.S. solar wafer facility, Meyer Burger in the wings  The experienced Norwegian solar ingot and wafer manufacturer, is advancing plans for the construction of a 5 GW solar wafer factory in the U.S. Meyer Burger has stated that the two companies are communicating heavily on the topic, as the module manufacturer expects further expansion announcements.

Canadian Solar to deliver 1200 MWh of battery energy storage in Arizona  The Papago energy storage project for APS will use Canadian Solar’s subsidiary’s e-Storage SolBank, a containerized, proprietary battery energy storage solution. Once operational, the project is expected to dispatch enough power for approximately 244,000 homes for four hours every day.

SolarEdge adds power control system to inverter for system oversizing  Installers can avoid costly main panel upgrades due to updates to the company’s Home Hub and Wave inverters.

New study claims PV industry is neglecting overirradiance issues  Overirradiance conditions may affect the operating performance of photovoltaic plants, the stability of the electrical grid, and the efficiency of inverters. A research team has warned these effects are currently not being given proper consideration by the solar industry.

Canadian Solar Inc. announced that e-Storage, part of its majority-owned subsidiary CSI Solar, will deliver 1,200 MWh (1,519 MWh dc nominal) of energy storage solutions to Recurrent Energy’s Papago Storage project in Arizona.

Papago Storage is expected to be one of the world’s largest standalone energy storage projects and the largest standalone energy storage project in Arizona. Once operational, the project is expected to dispatch enough power for approximately 244,000 homes for four hours every day.

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

In April of this year Canadian Solar rebranded its wholly owned global energy subsidiary as Recurrent Energy. This segment develops both stand-alone solar and stand-alone battery storage projects, as well as hybrid solar-plus-storage projects.

Last year Recurrent brought online 2 GWh of energy storage, including the1,400 MHh Crimson Storage project in California. On average, the Crimson project is expected to store and dispatch enough electricity to power more than 47,000 homes each year.

The Papago battery energy storage systems (BESS) project will use e-Storage’s SolBank, a containerized, proprietary battery energy storage solution designed and manufactured for utility-scale applications.

SolBank, which was announced last year at RE+ in Anaheim, uses high-cycle lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) batteries with a 2.8 MWh energy capacity. LFP chemistry has been found to cut the risk of thermal runway, or fires, that can be problematic in other lithium-based battery systems. The battery enclosure contains liquid cooling mechanisms and humidity control, and active balancing battery management systems. The company said the technology complies with the latest international safety standards.

e-Storage will integrate the SolBank with battery inverters and controls, as well as offer operations and maintenance services and performance guarantees under a 20-year long-term service agreement to the project. e-Storage currently operates two fully automated manufacturing facilities with an annual capacity of 10 GWh for 2023. As of July 2023, the company deployed more than 2.7 GWh of battery energy storage solutions across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and China.

Recurrent Energy began developing the project in 2016. Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2024 with planned commercial operation in the second quarter of 2025.

Arizona Public Service is Arizona’s largest electric company, serving more than 1.3 million commercial and residential customers in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties. The company has committed to serving its customers with 100% clean and carbon-free energy by 2050.

Nikola was granted a total of $58.2 million from various regulatory agencies to build a series of hydrogen refueling stations for heavy-duty trucks, the company announced last week.

Nikola Corporation is a designer and manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial battery-electric vehicles (BEV), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV), and energy infrastructure solutions. With headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Arizona, the company began serial production of the hydrogen fuel cell electric truck last month. Earlier this year Nikola launched Hyla, a subsidiary with plans to generate 30 metric tons per day at its Phoenix, Ariz. hydrogen hub, with plans to expand to 150 metric tons in further stages. The first phase of construction of the hub is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024, the company reports.

The largest of the grants to Nikola is $41.9 million from the California Transportation Commission, along with California Department of Transportation to build six refueling stations for heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell trucks in Southern California. In addition, the company received $3.3 million from the California Energy Commission, $1.6 million from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee, $7 million from the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District and $4.4 million from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

“Building an integrated, hydrogen ecosystem to support hydrogen fuel cell electric truck deployment and creating a scalable energy business, is a top priority for us,” said Carey Mendes, president of Nikola Energy.

This May, Nikola announced a partnership between its Hyla brand and infrastructure company Voltera, to develop up to 50 hydrogen stations in North America over the next five years. Work has begun on eight initial stations, Nikola announced while reporting its second quarter earnings. The first one, which located in Ontario, California, is scheduled to begin operating at the end of this year. 

Some of the steps that regulators can take to ease the challenges in building out heavy-duty hydrogen refueling networks include implementing voucher-style programs that reduce the incremental cost upfront for end users, and federal funding that flows to states to offer grants, Mendes told pv magazine USA.

Nikola began serial production of its hydrogen fuel cell electric truck on July 31, the company reported in its second quarter earnings, and had at that point received orders for over 200 hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks from 18 customers. It expects to start delivering the trucks in September. 

Hydrogen as a transportation fuel is a relatively nascent market, especially in terms of the market for heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles, like trucks. As of this year, there were 59 retail hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S., largely clustered in California, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. However, only a small number of these are set up to support heavy-duty hydrogen vehicles. The agency anticipates that as more of these vehicles come on to the roads, the country will need to build out much larger stations. 

“The increase in production and distribution of hydrogen for these stations could improve efficiency and utilization of expensive capital equipment leading to lower fuel costs per kilogram, benefiting both heavy- and light-duty customers,” the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center notes. 

Last year, Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock Renewable Power announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding to take a closer look at designing, installing and operating a charging network for medium- and heavy-duty battery electric vehicles as well as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles across the nation, with an initial investment of $650 million. The companies planned to initially focus on charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles, and then hydrogen fueling stations. 

Ohio tightens screws on large solar facilities  The Ohio Power Siting Board has unveiled new regulations after its five year rule review, including 350 foot setbacks, sound regulations, and an underground drilling contingency plan, addressing the state’s extensive network of fracking pipes.

Arizona sues Vision Solar and lead generator Solar Xchange Arizona’s attorney general is suing Vision Solar and Solar Xchange for alleged utility impersonation, Do Not Call breaches, incentive misrepresentation, and misleading finance processes that had customers paying for solar loans before their bills were reduced.

Private investments in clean energy and manufacturing top $270 billion  While the U.S. has the financial capacity, technology and human capital, the question is whether government policy will allow for the clean energy infrastructure to be built out fast enough to achieve clean energy dominance.

California puts multi-meter rooftop solar at risk in proposed decision  The California Public Utilities Commission has returned with another proposed decision to stack the deck against rooftop solar.

GAF Timberline solar shingles recalled for fire hazard  The solar roof provider has recalled the product following property damage from thermal incidents.

Arizona’s Attorney General, Kris Mayes, has taken legal action against Vision Solar and has announced a nearly $14 million settlement with Vision’s lead generation partner, Solar Xchange.

The lawsuit alleges that telemarketing agents from Vision Solar and Solar Xchange frequently mislead consumers by falsely stating that their company, occasionally referred to as “Energy Exchange,” had affiliations with electric utility companies or government entities.

The complaint further contends that since at least 2019, Vision Solar’s telemarketers, including those from Solar Xchange, have placed tens of millions of unsolicited calls to numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. The document reveals that over 150,000 consumers received at least 50 calls, while over 12,000 consumers were contacted a minimum of 100 times. Numerous recipients, who were also on the Do Not Call list, had expressly requested Vision Solar and Solar Xchange to refrain from calling. However, they continued to receive multiple calls.

The state points out that Vision Solar has faced lawsuits “numerous times” for its abusive telemarketing practices. Vision Solar is currently facing legal action in Connecticut recently.

The lawsuit suggests penalties could be imposed on Vision Solar and Solar Xchange, with fines reaching up to $50,120 for each breach of the Do Not Call registry rules.

An additional complaint noted that the solar sales and installation process was misrepresented. It was often touted as offering immediate savings of 20-50% on a customer’s electricity bill. In reality, customers would procure a loan and begin making payments shortly after the major installation phase completed, however, the system sometimes would take several more months to become operational due to necessary state inspections and approvals. Arizona argues that this discrepancy was falsely represented, causing undue financial strain on homeowners.

In a separate filing, the Attorney General’s office noted that lead generator Solar Xchange has agreed to a settlement regarding the claims, without admitting any wrongdoing. The company is required to pay a partially suspended civil penalty of $13.8 million, with $62,500 payable within a week to both the U.S. Treasury and State of Arizona. Solar Xchange is also mandated to cooperate fully with any related investigations, specifically noting the state’s lawsuit against Vision Solar.

Solestial, a space-based solar technology provider based in Tempe, Arizona, and Atomos Space, an in-space logistics company, announced the two have entered a partnership in which Solestial will supply its ultra-thin PV blankets for Atomos’ solar-electric orbital transfer vehicles (OTV).

The deal calls for at least 20 kW of ultra-thin, low mass, radiation-hardened solar blankets to power the craft for several upcoming missions in 2024. The company said its 20-micron thick cells demonstrate over 20% efficiency.

Atomos’ OTVs provide a variety of transportation services for satellite operators. The craft use high-powered electric propulsion systems, making use of PV as a steady supply of power in space. Following an initial demonstration, the blanket shipsets from Solestial will power two OTVs providing deployment services to constellation operators in low Earth orbit and relocation services to operators in other orbits.

“It was clear that traditional space solar was too expensive and too supply-constrained to support our high-power OTV design,” said Vanessa Clark, Atomos co-founder and chief executive officer. “We were attracted to Solestial’s solution as they provided the best combination of solar array specific mass performance, radiation hardness, and affordability available on the market today.”

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) independently validated the ability of Solestial’s ultrathin silicon solar cells to effectively anneal radiation damage under sunlight at 90 C (194 F). This means the cells essentially self-heal under radiation damage.

Solestial’s silicon solar cells open circuit voltage dropped by only 4% and maintained 96% of initial value after being exposed to radiation equivalent to 10 years in low Earth orbit.

“Annealing of radiation damage in silicon is straightforward at high temperatures, for example, above 200-250°C, but this is not useful for applications in space as these temperatures are rarely, if ever, experienced in situ,” said Romain Cariou, space silicon solar applications expert, CEA. “The differentiation factor here is that Solestial’s cells can cure radiation damage at normal operating temperatures for solar panels in space.”

The Tempe, Arizona-based company has been developing its technology for over a decade, beginning its life in Arizona State University. It underwent a $10 million seed funding round in October 2022.

Solestial targets a 2025 launch of a manufacturing facility capable of producing 10 MW per year of solar blankets.

Arizona Public Service (APS) has released its 2023 All-Source Request for Proposal (RFP), in which the utility is asking developers to submit project proposals for flexible and innovative energy resources.

Last  year, APS released an RFP, and those projects, which will deliver just over 1 GW of solar and wind power combined, are expected to start next year. The energy generated will be enough to serve close to 160,000 Arizona homes. New energy storage projects with a capacity to store more than 1.4 GW of solar power are also planned.

“Our customers depend on us for top-quality service and we’re powering our state’s growth with our 2023 RFP and new clean energy projects coming online soon to continue to keep homes cool and electricity flowing to customers,” said Justin Joiner, vice president of resource management at APS.

This RFP is open to all technologies, including supply side and non-supply side resources. Of the 1 GW of resources, APS is seeking at least 700 MW of renewable resources. Proposed projects must be in service beginning in 2026 through 2028.

APS will use the PowerAdvocate platform to support the administration and evaluation of the RFP responses. The RFP is available to any entity that registers in PowerAdvocate and sets up an account. All RFP instructions, associated documents, instructions, and Q&A will also be available through the PowerAdvocate platform, and is also available here. The RFP process will be monitored and reviewed by a third-party independent monitor.

APS has a clean energy commitment that calls for 100% clean and carbon-free by 2050 , and that goal includes a nearer-term 2030 target of achieving a resource mix that is 65% clean energy, with 45% of its generation portfolio coming from renewable energy. APS has also announced its intention to exit from all coal-fired generation by 2031.

An example of its clean energy commitment, the 150 MW Agave Solar plant owned by APS, is expected to come online this summer and provide enough energy to power 24,000 Arizona homes. Agave features more than 400,000 First Solar modules installed on trackers from Nextracker. APS is also investing in energy storage and announced plans to add storage to the Agave plant.

APS, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, serves more than 1.3 million homes and businesses in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties. The utility reports that its current energy mix is 51% clean energy.

After securing growth of more than 12 GW of new panel orders from utility-scale solar developers since late 2022, First Solar has signed a multi-year secured debt agreement to procure a $1 billion revolving credit facility from major Wall Street banks.

On June 30, the Tempe, Arizona-based producer of U.S.-made solar panels arranged a new credit facility that includes a sub-limit of $250 million of available letters of credit. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank is lead arranger for the new debt, with participation from Bank of America, Citibank, Credit Agricole CIB, PNC Bank, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC Bank, MUFG Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Truist Bank.

“This agreement underscores First Solar’s bankability and is underpinned by the strong fundamentals that drive our business today,” said Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar. “We are focused on exiting this decade in a stronger position than we entered it and liquidity is a crucial differentiator that we intend to maintain. This revolving credit facility provides us the financial headroom and flexibility we need, while also balancing our ability to grow in response to demand for our technology.”

First Solar has seen a period of what the company calls “unprecedented growth,” which will add 8 GW of new production capacity between the second half of 2023 and 2026, when it expects to have a global manufacturing footprint of over 20 GW.

The company disclosed booking more than 12 GW of new orders in its fiscal year 2022, with 4.8 GW since Q422 alone at an average selling price of 32 cents per watt, according to its full year 2022 report.

First Solar is scheduled to commission a new 3.4 GW manufacturing facility in India in the second half of the year while expecting to add a new 3.5 GW factory in Alabama in late 2024 and expanding its existing footprint in Ohio by 900 MW by 2026.

The company is also investing up to $370 million in constructing a new research and development center in Perrysburg, Ohio, which is expected to be commissioned in 2024.

Financial terms

With the revolving debt facility, First Solar will increase its total debt profile to $1.252 billion outstanding leverage.  Based on a market consensus that the company should generate more than $670 million in 2023 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), the solar panel producer will have a 1.87 times net leverage profile (debt to EBITDA), based on the market expectation that the company generates at least $500 million in EBITDA in the second half of 2023.

The new five-year credit agreement includes financial covenants mandating the company to not exceed a net leverage ratio of 3.5x and maintain an interest coverage ratio of at least 3x.

Borrowings under the credit facility bear interest at an annual rate based on the current secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) of 5.06%, plus a credit spread adjustment of 0.10%, plus a margin of 1.75% to 2.25% based on its current net leverage ratio, putting the debt facility’s pricing at about 6.9% to 7.4% per year, SEC filings show.

Guidance

Based in Tempe, Arizona, First Solar is a U.S.-domiciled manufacturer of solar modules, and services the utility solar market. As of December 31, 2022, the company had $2.6 billion in cash and available term debt borrowings, compared to $1.8 billion in liquidity in 2021.

The company reiterated prior guidance given in late 2022 during its April 27 full year report. The domestic solar manufacturer expects 2023 net sales in the range of $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion, with sales volume of 11.6 GW to 12.3 GW for the year.

First Solar announced Edmonton-based wholesale power producer Capital Power has ordered 1 GW of its Series 6 Plus solar modules. The modules are expected to be delivered between 2026 and 2028, as demand for First Solar’s technology pushes its orders further into the future.

“Capital Power joins a growing group of project developers that partner with First Solar as a reliable module technology provider that can help de-risk their project pipelines by delivering long-term pricing and supply certainty,” said Georges Antoun, chief commercial officer, First Solar. “We are pleased that Capital Power selected Responsible Solar technology to power its assets reliably, affordably and sustainably.”

Capital Power, committed to net zero emissions by 2045, operates 7.5 GW of capacity across 29 facilities in North America. The company has a mixed asset base of solar, wind, gas, energy storage, and waste heat facilities. It has a U.S. solar pipeline of about 2.4 GWdc.

During Q1 2023, First Solar executed 9.9 GW of contracts and recognized 1.9 GW of volume sold, resulting in a total backlog of 69.4 GW, with an aggregate value sold of $20.4 billion, which implies approximately $0.293 per watt, an increase of approximately half a penny per watt from Q4 2022. During the quarter, First Solar produced 2.36 GW of Series 6 panels, which had an average Watts per module of 467 W.

First Solar’s cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film modules have among the lowest carbon and water footprint of any commercially available PV module today. The company’s CdTe technology certified a new record in Q1 2023 with a conversion efficiency of 22.3%.

The modules are included in the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry for sustainable electronics, signifying strong performance on metrics evaluating the management of substances in the product, manufacturing energy and water use, product packaging, end-of-life recycling and corporate responsibility.

“Credible life cycle-based ecolabels like EPEAT make it easier for solar developers, investors, and end-users to identify environmentally leading products from socially responsible companies,” said Samantha Sloan, vice president of policy, sustainability and marketing at First Solar.

The module provider is investing $1.3 billion in expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint from over 6.5 GW of annual nameplate capacity today, to approximately 10.9 GW by 2026. About $1.1 billion was invested in the company’s new 3.5 GW facility in Alabama, and $185 million was directed to improve and expand its original facility in Ohio.

The company also announced an investment of up to $370 million in a research and development innovation center that is slated to begin operating in 2024.

First Solar also recently showcased fully functional, pre-commercial, bifacial thin-film PV modules at Intersolar Europe in Munich, Germany. First Solar’s research and development teams have reportedly developed a transparent back contact for the module. This innovative feature allows infrared wavelengths of light to pass through the back of the module instead of being absorbed as heat. It also enables bifacial energy generation. The manufacturer said that this technology will reduce the operational temperature of the module and increase its specific energy yield.

A new solar development company, Hawthorne Renewables, has launched its headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the result of a merger between Power Capital Energy Group and Sulus Solar.

Since its beginnings in 2016, Portland, Oregon-based Sulus Solar scaled to deliver more than $150 million of solar projects across Oregon and Washington. The company is headed by two industry veterans, Colin Murphy and Conor Grogan.

“We’re incredibly proud of the success we’ve had and have a huge appetite to ramp up our operations with new infrastructure from this merger,” said Grogan.

The company is backed by Omnes Capital, a Paris-based green energy private equity firm valued north of $5 billion. Omnes Capital stated intent to invest over $250 million in the new Phoenix, Arizona-headquartered developer over the next three to four years.

Hawthorne Renewables said it targets 2 GW of operational solar assets over the next five to seven years. The company will develop, finance and operate projects. It will have a Portland office in addition to the Phoenix headquarters.

“We thoroughly analyzed a large set of potential development platform companies for our entry to the U.S., followed by extensive third-party legal and technical due diligence on the Sulus Solar platform,” said Justin Brown, co-founder and co-chief executive of Power Capital. “Conor and Colin stood above the pack as ideal partners amidst a dynamic and competitive market.”

M&A

In 2020 and 2021 mergers and acquisitions activity for renewables surged as valuations for platforms, which included project portfolios and corporate development teams that manage them, reached all-time highs. 

There is a growing trend of international players acquiring experienced U.S. developers with strong project portfolios, and CohnReznick said it expects this trend to continue in 2023. International independent power producers and infrastructure funds see acquisition as an efficient tool to enter or expand their presence in the growing North American market.

Corporate M&A activity that includes developer experience and a portfolio of projects offers scale and transaction efficiency that the acquisition of individual projects aren’t able to match.

FTI Consulting said in a whitepaper that notable 2022 M&A transactions included Brookfield Renewable’s pair of acquisitions of Scout Clean Energy ($1 billion) and Standard Solar ($540 million), Enbridge’s acquisition of Texas wind developer Tri Global Energy for $270 million, and German energy producer RWE AG’s acquisition of Con Edison’s Clean Energy Businesses for $6.8 billion.

“With patience, we anticipate strong M&A activity in traditional renewable assets, platforms and emerging technologies trending toward the second half of 2023 and into 2024 as greater clarity and increased value creation are established,” said the March 2023 whitepaper.

Columbia Law School of New York has released its third annual round up of anti-renewable energy legislation filed across the U.S. The report, Opposition to Renewable Energy in the United States – May 2023 Edition, aims to document local and state restrictions on, and opposition to, the siting of renewable energy projects from 1995 to May 2023.

The authors contend that “local opposition to renewable energy facilities is widespread and growing, and represents a potentially significant impediment to achievement of climate goals.”

The report highlights several particularly challenging situations including:

• In Virginia, at least seven counties adopted restrictive solar ordinances or moratoria between June 2022 and May 2023 (Charlotte, Culpeper, Franklin, Halifax, Page, Pittsylvania, and Shenandoah). For example, Pittsylvania County now prohibits the construction of any solar farm within 5 miles of any other solar farm and limits utility-scale solar projects to 2% of the total acreage of any zoning district. Franklin County has imposed a countywide cap of 1,500 acres for all ground-mounted solar projects.
• Between April 2022 and March 2023, at least 11 counties in Ohio adopted binding resolutions to prohibit large renewable energy projects in all of their unincorporated territories or very large swathes of those territories.

In the most recent version of the report, the researchers at Columbia identified no fewer than 228 local restrictions across 35 states. They also highlighted nine state-level restrictions that are so stringent they could block a renewable energy project, the authors say. Moreover, the team listed 293 renewable projects that have faced substantial opposition in 45 states.

The only states without significant restrictions or controversies, according to the authors’ criteria, were Alaska, Arizona, and Mississippi. For example, Yuma, Arizona, considered one of the sunniest cities in the U.S., has a long history of its power companies stifling the development of solar projects.

Most of the state-level restrictions targeted wind power, with only a few directly affecting solar. Two of these restrictions involved state bodies in Connecticut and Maryland needing to approve relatively small solar projects. In New York, the state government controls the approval of larger solar projects.

Before March 2022, the group had identified 169 unique local renewable energy restrictions. Since then, an additional 59 restrictions have been enacted, marking a 35% increase. Furthermore, throughout the year, 82 projects encountered contentious paths during their respective zoning processes.

This period saw a 39% surge in the number of projects facing ‘serious organized opposition’.

Concurrent with the strong rise of laws limiting renewables, is the fact that solar deployed a record 6.1 GW of capacity in Q1 2023 is set to deploy a record 30 GW of capacity in 2023. And while it is true that tens of projects have been rejected, thousands have been turned on.