Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ), a global provider of solar modules, energy storage, and other clean energy components and solutions, announced its Q2 2024 earnings

The company posted $1.64 billion in revenues, roughly coming in line with Wall Street expectations. However, revenues are down from $2.36 billion in Q2 2023, and the company’s share price declin.ed about 15% in the trading session following the earnings report.

Canadian Solar attributed the decline in revenues to sharply falling global solar module prices.

Total module shipments recognized as revenues in the second quarter of 2024 were 8.2 GW, up 30% quarter-over-quarter and remained consistent year-over-year. Of the total, 135 MW were shipped to the company’s own utility-scale solar power projects.

“Today, we have reached an optimal scale—large enough to maintain a highly competitive cost structure yet lean enough to adapt swiftly to changes in industry dynamics,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive officer, Canadian Solar.

Shares fell as Canadian Solar forecast third quarter revenues of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion, significantly lower than Wall Street expectations of $2.22 billion. The company now guides $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion for full year revenues, falling short of analyst estimates of $7.66 billion.

The company recorded 17.2% gross margin, in line with guidance of 16% to 18%. Its e-STORAGE order backlog grew to $2.6 billion, backed by a record 66 GWh of pipeline, as of June 30, 2024.

Its solar project development arm Recurrent Energy expanded its total development pipeline to 27 GW of solar and 63 GWh of battery energy storage, as of June 30, 2024. The company also achieved initial closing of BlackRock’s investment in Recurrent Energy, representing the majority of the planned $500 million capital infusion. During the quarter, the company also announced a $200 million private placement of secured convertible notes with PAG.

“In our module business, we continue to apply a disciplined approach to operations, from strategic capacity investments to stringent order management. At the same time, we are positioning ourselves for sustainable medium- and long-term growth through our energy storage business, e-STORAGE, and global project development platform, Recurrent Energy,” said Qu.

The company said Recurrent Energy will continue to increase leverage in the near-term to support its transition to a partial independent power producer (IPP) model. As of June 30, 2024, Recurrent Energy’s total solar project development pipeline was 27.4 GW, including 1.7 GW under construction, 4.8 GW of backlog, and 20.9 GW of projects in advanced and early-stage pipelines.

“While we continue to navigate challenging market conditions, our focus remains on sustainable, profitable growth. We are beginning to see signs of market rationalization, as module pricing and input costs reach record lows. In line with our commitment to strategic future planning, we are adjusting certain capacity investments to ensure a resilient financial profile. We anticipate stabilization in the second half of the year,” said Qu.

A report on state government- and utility-driven initiatives affecting electric vehicles (including hybrids) shows the majority of such efforts continue to focus on rebates and incentives for consumers and commercial fleet operators to acquire them. However, regulations and actions to modify electricity rates relating to EVs and develop charging infrastructure are also moving forward.

The Q2 2024 edition of “50 States of Electric Vehicles” published by the NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) at North Carolina State University said a total of 561 EV actions were taken during the timeline of the report. In 2024, as of early August, 29 states have enacted legislation related to transportation electrification. Massachusetts, New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota, Michigan and Hawaii were the most active in this regard, the report said.While the report shows that governments continue to invest heavily in creating markets and incentives for growing EV numbers, certain trends are showing the effects of these vehicles in the real world. For example, more states are imposing additional registration fees for electric vehicle owners, with most U.S. states now having such fees in effect. Also, a growing number of states are opting to adopt per-kWh fees for electric vehicle charging.

The publicly available executive summary of the $500 report did not identify a cause for these actions; however, it’s no secret that states imposes such charges in order to recoup gas taxes lost from non-hybrid EVs bypassing gas pumps.

The report also shows the growing footprint of EVs on the nation’s electricity grids. Utilities are developing charging programs to manage the EV charging load. The report cites NV Energy’s proposed charging programs as part of its latest transportation electrification plan as well as Xcel Energy’s request for a new active managed charging program in New Mexico. Actions of other utilities proposing to offer EV owners incentives to divert charging to during off-peak hours.

More importantly, a growing number of utilities are filing expansive transportation electrification plans on a routine schedule, the report said, with several states now requiring this.

“As the adoption of electric vehicles continues to grow, so too does the EV focused utility offerings, with an increased focus on active managed charging programs,” Emily Apadula, policy analyst at NCCETC, said in a statement. “These programs allow the utility to directly control a customer’s charging load in order to remotely optimize charging times and reduce stress on the grid.”

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

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

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

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

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

Terrasmart outlines the following advantages of its hail stow feature:

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

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

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

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

People on the move: Mayfield Renewables, First Solar, Meteomatics Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

Net metering hangs in the balance in New Hampshire A group of interested parties, including the state’s utilities and the Granite State Hydropower Association, agreed on a settlement that calls for the rate to stay the same for two years.

Northvolt closes Cuberg’s ops, shifts lithium-metal battery R&D to Sweden Three years after acquiring U.S.-based Cuberg, Swedish battery maker Northvolt has decided to shut down the California unit and move future lithium-metal battery R&D to Sweden.

PV module cooling tech based on single-channel containing nanofluids Scientists in Mexico have conceived a new solar module cooling tech that can reportedly improve PV power generation by up to 2%. The system uses nanofluids embedded in an aluminum single-channel attached to the back of the panel.

GM signs agreement to match assembly plant power demand with solar The automaker entered a 15-year, 180 MW solar power purchase agreement (PPA).

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Clean Energy NH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D.R. Horton, among the largest new home builders in the United States, announced it has selected Streetleaf as a national vendor. 

In the agreement, Streetleaf will provide its solar-powered streetlamps to D.R. Horton for its new construction communities. 

Streetleaf’s latest streetlamp includes a 21% efficiency solar panel, 220W high-efficiency LED lights, and an NiMH battery. The resilient structure can withstand temperatures up to 158 degrees F and winds of 160 mph. It an be installed at heights 15 to 25 feet and is available in black or white.

“Any housing project being developed without solar-powered streetlights is a missed opportunity for the future of that community,” stated Liam Ryan, chief executive officer of Streetleaf. “The demand for sustainable living solutions is growing exponentially and our streetlights are attracting the attention of potential homebuyers.” 

D.R. Horton already installs smart home technology in every home it builds. Now the company is incorporating smart neighborhood solutions, including solar-powered streetlights from Streetleaf. 

“Sustainable infrastructure is highly attractive to homeowners, and the added peace of mind that comes with knowing the lights are designed to remain operational even during many extreme weather events like hurricanes is equally important,” said Brad Conlon, senior vice president, business development, D.R. Horton. 

Over 7,300 Streetleaf streetlights have already been installed in more than 100 projects across the U.S. This has led to an estimated 2.6 million pounds of CO2 savings compared to traditional streetlights, said the company. 

Mayfield Renewables announced that Jacob Betcher has been appointed as its new chief executive officer (CEO), effective immediately. Betcher is an accomplished engineering professional and proven business leader having been an engineering manager at Generac Power Systems and COO at Apricity.

First Solar announced that Brian Willis is the new manager, corporate communications & external relations. Will was previously director of communications at Pioneer Public Affairs and at Zero Emission Transportation Association.

Meteomatics, the weather intelligence and technology company , is expanding work with U.S. energy companies and investors with the appointments of Durjoy Mazumdar as North America’s head of sales and Chris Hyde as senior sales manager for North America. Mazumdar and Hyde will lead Meteomatics’ continued expansion into the U.S. energy market, as it equips companies and investors with hyperlocal weather intelligence to predict energy demand and consumption in real-time.

ThinkLabs AI, Inc., a startup focused on developing technology to help enhance electric grid planning and operations through a combination of intelligent automation and AI, announced the appointment of five new senior team members:

As the chief technology officer at Thinklabs AI, Neal Vali drives the company’s overall technology strategy and vision. Prior to Thinklabs AI, Neal was the Head of Data and ML Engineering at GE Vernova, where he played a pivotal role in redefining Grid Orchestration using cloud-native solutions.

Gang Zheng, director of research and development at ThinkLabs, worked as the director of autonomous grid orchestration and senior manager of WAMS at GE. There, he led a software development and delivery team across the U.S. and Canada, focusing on product development, project delivery, and user support. His team successfully delivered key projects such as real-time distribution system state estimation, distribution model validation, and an oscillation source location system for power grids.

Chaitanya Baone, head of product at ThinkLabs brings over 12 years of experience in power and energy management products across T&D grid planning and operations, microgrids, EV smart charging and energy storage optimization. Baone has a proven track record of driving growth through innovation and has held leadership roles in R&D, engineering and product management organizations across GE, Eaton, Rivian and Itron.

Surendranath (Suren) Vallabhajosyula is the head of machine learning & data engineering at ThinkLabs. In this role, he is responsible for defining and building the company’s machine learning platform, overseeing application design, architecture, security practices, and infrastructure for multi-cloud data and machine learning applications. Before joining ThinkLabs, Suren served as the senior director of architecture and data platforms at Toyota Financial Services (TFS). There, he spearheaded the development of a secure, scalable, multi-tenant global data platform to support various data and machine learning initiatives.

Before becoming the Head of Finance at ThinkLabs AI, Vimali Pathmanathan, CPA, CA worked for GE Vernova and Opus One Solutions (acquired by GE Vernova in 2022) for seven years. She held key roles as controller and director of finance, playing a pivotal role in financing and acquisition activities.

From pv magazine ESS News

Middle-market infrastructure investment firm Nova Infrastructure announced it has completed its purchase of UGE International, a solar and energy storage developer and operator.

The acquisition includes Nova purchasing approximately 70% of UGE’s shares. The company is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange.

UGE is a solar operator and developer of rooftop and ground mount commercial, industrial and community solar energy solutions. Founded in 2010, UGE develops, builds, finances, owns and operates solar and battery storage projects in New York, New Jersey, Maine, California, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts.

The company has delivered over 500 MW of projects and currently has a portfolio of more than 12 operating and 81 advanced backlog projects in 11 states. UGE is a community solar and battery storage platform with a vertically integrated business model and a diversified project portfolio.

“Nova committed acquisition capital as well as growth capital to support the expansion of the UGE platform and installed MW,” shared Allison Kingsley, co-founder and partner at Nova.

NOVA was advised in this transaction by Blank Rome LLP and Bennett Jones LLP, and UGE was advised by Mintz LLP and CP LLP.

California advances flexible demand that can absorb renewable power  With flexible demand appliance standards for pool controls set to take effect in California next year, the state is now developing standards for electric storage water heaters, to be followed by standards for five more types of appliances.

PV systems can now support grid as fossil fuels decline A new report by the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaics  Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) says that existing PV systems have the technical capabilities to provide various frequency-related grid services.

Google invests in 800 MW solar project in Illinois The Double Black Diamond Solar project may be the largest solar installation east of the Mississippi when complete in 2025.

The Hydrogen Stream: U.S. companies, institutions present hydrogen plans As the hydrogen project in Appalachia moves on, American Airlines confirms its commitment to hydrogen aircrafts. Meanwhile, a Scottish distillery might soon run on hydrogen for whisky production.

Startup Enteligent secures $6 million to scale solar EV charging The company offers a DC-to-DC electric bidirectional electric vehicle charger that allows EVs to charge directly from solar panels without the need to convert to AC.

Natron Energy announces $1.4 billion sodium ion battery factory in North Carolina The company will open a 24 GW annual production facility, creating over 1,000 jobs.

Enteligent, a startup offering solar-powered DC-to-DC chargers for electric vehicles, announced it has raised $6 million in capital from investors to scale commercialization of its products.

The recent funds bring Enteligent’s capital raise to $19 million since 2021. The funding round was led by Taronga Ventures, a global technology investor in real estate and infrastructure.

Funds will primarily be used to scale commercialization of the company’s DC-based solar optimization solutions. This includes the company’s signature technology, the TLCEV DC-to-DC bidirectional electric vehicle charger. Enteligent said its product is the first EV charger to be powered directly by DC-source electricity.

The startup has already secured orders for its technology. The company is supplying its long-dwell-time 25kW DC-to-DC EV charger to a large logistics company to power its newly electrified delivery fleet.

Enteligent said that traditional fleet charging infrastructure uses AC Level 2 chargers that require significant engineering planning, long permitting wait times, and high costs. Furthermore, AC charging relies on the vehicle’s onboard AC/DC converter to charge its DC battery, which wastes 10% to 20% of the energy through conversion losses and is often limited to charge rates of 9.6 kW or less.

The company said its direct DC product leans on the inherent efficiency and reliability of DC technology. It avoids the energy conversion losses and equipment costs associated with converting solar energy from DC to AC and back again, which reduces overall expenses and makes clean energy more effective and affordable.

Entligent also manufactures solar rapid shutdown devices, module level power electronics, and other solar balance of systems components.

“Enteligent’s technology sets a new standard in maximizing solar energy efficiency,” said Jonathan Hannam, managing partner at Taronga Ventures. “Their holistic approach to solar power optimization offers practical solutions with real-world applications that meet the needs of global real asset owners and operators. Together, we can significantly advance decarbonization efforts for real assets.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The California Energy Commission expects to issue flexible demand appliance standards for electric storage water heaters “hopefully” within months, said Michael Sokol, director of the efficiency division at the California Energy Commission (CEC), on a webinar hosted by the Clean Energy States Alliance.

The CEC issued a flexible demand appliance standard for pool controls last October. CEC Commissioner Andrew McAllister said at the time that a standard for electric storage water heaters would be next, noting that ten of the largest heat pump manufacturers had committed to help California reach its goal of 6 million heat pumps for water or space heating by 2030.

Flexible demand appliance standards in California will work in tandem with flexible rates for electricity, enabling appliances to operate when rates are lower, for example when renewable generation is high.

EV chargers, batteries, and more

The CEC has set a tentative sequence for developing flexible demand appliance standards for five more types of appliances, based on “our early analysis” and preliminary stakeholder planning discussions, Sokol said.

The third standard, after pool controls and electric storage water heaters, is expected to cover electric vehicle supply equipment, such as EV chargers. Next would be standards for battery energy storage systems.

The next three standards to be developed would have “end-user time impacts,” Sokol said, namely low-voltage thermostats, electric clothes dryers and dishwashers.

McAllister said last year that California aims to reach 7 GW of load flexibility by combining 3 GW of price-responsive demand from appliances with 4 GW of traditional demand response, in which some customers “drop load” during the 100 highest-demand hours of the year.

A Californian who owns a pool and operated a flexible demand pool control unit on its default schedule would save about $100 per year, Sokol said. Customers will have the ability to override the default schedule and operate a pool control unit at times of their choosing.

CalFlexHub

Much of the research underlying the new standards is conducted by the California Load Flexibility Research and Deployment Hub (CalFlexHub) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

CalFlexHub will hold an all-day symposium on September 24.

Most states with renewables targets are meeting them Nearly all states with a renewable portfolio standard have met or nearly met their current standard. Four states have yet to meet their solar carve-out requirements.

U.S. module manufacturers seek “critical” retroactive tariffs Led by First Solar and Hanwha Q Cells, U.S. solar module manufacturers have filed allegations with the Commerce Department, citing “critical circumstances” and suggesting increased module imports due to their previous lawsuit filings.

12 GW of utility-scale solar deployed in first half of 2024, doubling 2023  The Energy Information Administration reports that 20.2 GW of electricity generation capacity was deployed in the U.S. in the first half of 2024, with solar energy leading and energy storage also seeing significant deployments. Fossil fuel retirements exceeded new fossil constructions more than tenfold.

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

U.S. solar car race success for two Canadian teams Solar car teams from Canada outperformed in two categories of the latest Electrek American Solar Challenge.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. connected 20.2 GWac of utility-scale power plants to the grid during the first half of 2024. This capacity includes 12 GW from solar power, which represents 59% of the total additions. Additionally, 4.2 GW of this new capacity was attributed to energy storage.

Florida and Texas led the nation in utility-scale solar development, contributing 38% of the new solar capacity. Notable projects include the 690 MW Gemini Solar facility in Nevada, which integrates solar and storage, and the 653 MW Lumina Solar Project in Texas.

Energy storage was the second most significant technology by capacity with a total deployment of 4.2 GW. California led the charge, contributing 37% of the total energy storage capacity, followed by Texas (21%), Arizona (19%), and Nevada (13%). Together, these states accounted for 90% of the energy storage capacity added, with the 380 MW battery at the Gemini facility being the largest of the period.

Fossil fuel retirements far outpaced new fossil capacity deployments. The EIA noted that 5.1 GW of capacity was retired, with 53% from methane (2.7 GW) and 41% from coal (2 GW). In contrast, only 0.4 GW of new gas capacity was deployed.

The U.S. energy sector’s growth trajectory is expected to continue its upward trend. For the second half of the year, the EIA forecasts an additional 42.6 GW from new capacity deployments, including 25 GW from solar and an additional 10.8 GW of energy storage. Combined with the first-half capacity of 12 and 4 GW, the nation could finish 2024 with 37 GW of new utility-scale solar and 15 GW of new energy storage facilities.

Is 37 GW real or a mirage?

Whether we can actually reach the projected record capacities of solar will be dependent on politics. The nation is currently debating the imposition of new AD/CVD tariffs, which if implemented at the rates suggested by the filers, would lead to the United States paying three times the international price for solar panels. Historically, similar AD/CVD tariffs led to delays and cancellations for about 20% of utility-scale solar capacity in 2022.

Solar industry analyst Roth MKM has suggested that developers are proceeding cautiously, potentially deferring some 2024 projects to 2025 due to these tariff risks. Just last week, U.S. module manufacturers filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce seeking critical retroactive tariffs.

In 2023, the U.S. added just over 18 GW of utility-scale solar, according to the EIA. Including all capacities, from residential to utility-scale, Wood Mackenzie significantly adjusted their capacity estimations upward to just over 40 GWdc of solar power deployed in 2023. At the start of 2024, the EIA projected about 36 GWac of new utility-scale solar capacity. Combined with small-scale solar projections from various groups, it was suggested that nearly 53 GWdc of new solar capacity might be deployed in the United States in 2024. The EIA indicated that if the current pace continues, then 37 GW of utility-scale solar will be deployed in 2024, more than doubling last year’s record capacity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From pv magazine Global

Student solar car teams from Canada’s Polytechnique Montréal and École de technologie supérieure made it to the podium at the Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024, a distance-based competition for solar cars.

With a multiple occupant vehicle (MOV) named Esteban 11, students from Polytechnique Montréal won first place in the MOV category in both the qualifier circuit race, known as the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) and in the main race, the Electrek American Solar Challenge, which requires completing a minimum of 1,500 miles (2,400 km).

The Esteban team completed 1,610.3 miles at an average speed of 36.2 mph (58.26 km/h), with an overall score of 73.86. The MOV category is scored on factors beyond the distance covered, such as practicality, amount of external energy used, and whether the 35 mph target average speed was maintained.

The other Montreal team, hailing from École de technologie supérieure, won silver in the single occupant vehicle (SOV) category, completing 2,004.5 miles with the Éclipse XI solar car. The SOV class is scored solely on miles driven. Only in the event of a tie is elapsed time relevant.

This year’s winner of the SOV class was the University of Michigan student team with its Astrum solar car, completing 2,095.5 miles (3,372 km) with an average speed of 37.51 mph.

Esteban 11 by the Polytechnique Montréal student team

The Esteban project spokesperson told pv magazine that the team began competing with a two-seater MOV in 2019. “Switching categories allowed us for more creativity in our design. Being multiple occupants also displays the efficiency of our car. Especially in the event, the broader public gets to learn how the technology evolves,” said the Esteban spokesperson.

The team used a 1218 W solar array with cells from Singapore-based Maxeon and encapsulation by German specialist PV panel manufacturer OPES Solutions. The 4-wheel vehicle weighed 293 kg, measuring 4.92m x 1.8m x 1.04 m. The battery was a 9.2 kWh by China-based BAK Technologies, weighing 47 kg, paired with two 5kW M2096D-3 hub motors from Japan’s Mitsuba in a carbon fiber monocoque.

“One great challenge we had was splitting the battery pack. This allowed us to have a lower center of gravity but complicated the monitoring and protection,” the spokesperson said, adding that a new printed circuit board design adhering to professional standards with features to manage heat effects also made a difference this year.

Éclipse XI by the École de technologie supérieure student team

The Éclipse XI, a 3-wheel design weighing 200 kg, measured 4.5 m x 1.5 m x 1.1 m. It was equipped with a 1000 W solar array spanning 4m2, based on Sunpower Maxeon Gen 3 solar cells. It had a 20 kg 5kWh lithium ion battery by Japanese manufacturer Panasonic.

The Éclipse XI team not only won a silver medal in the American Solar Challenge competition, it also won two awards, an Electrical Design Award, and the Abe Poot Award. The latter is named after an influential figure in the U.S. solar car racing community, that recognizes team spirit of collaboration and cooperation, according to the Éclipse XI team spokesperson.

The Electrical Design Award recognized the performance of the electrical setup. “At FSGP, we were the first team to complete both electrical and battery protection system inspection with all green status. We also proved that our electrical systems were robust and reliable along both races, more than 4500 km without any issue,” the Éclipse team spokesperson told pv magazine.

“For this race, we used a custom-made motor casing with air cooling system to help us climb the most steeped hills along the route,” they said, adding that the team is currently working on an improved maximum power point tracking that will “maximize efficiency across all operating ranges” to be able to reduce overall weight and cost.

The Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024 attracted over 30 student-run teams from the U.S. and Canada. It began on 20 July in Nashville, Tennessee, and ended in Casper, Wyoming, on 27 July. The primary route has 1562.2 total miles to complete and vehicles must average at least 35 mph for the event. There are seven optional loops to earn additional points.

Solar panel manufacturers First Solar, Hanwha Q Cells, Meyer Burger, Mission Solar, REC Silicon, Convalt, and Swift Solar, grouped under the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee (AASMTC), have filed a new complaint by the Wiley Rein law firm with the U.S. Department of Commerce alleging increased solar panel imports from Vietnam and Thailand as a result of the Alliance’s prior antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) legal filings.

The AASMTC, citing “critical circumstances,” has filed for retroactive tariffs on all solar panels imported since their filing in April.

The filing states that, due to the April AD/CVD actions, “several China-based companies operating in Thailand and Vietnam appear to have actively accelerated their U.S. solar exports, likely to evade impending duties.” The filing suggests that solar module imports from Vietnam have increased by 17%, while those from Thailand have grown by nearly 40%. In total, the increase relative to the prior months was about 2.6 GW of module capacity.

At the beginning of 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and other groups suggested that the U.S. might install 53 GWdc of solar in the upcoming year. If realized, this would represent a 32% increase over the 40 GW of solar deployed in 2023.

Roth MKM, a solar industry analyst, provided insights on the complexities of the situation with an industry lawyer:

The data Wiley is using is not accurate, as it includes product subject to Solar I (i.e., the China case, because of circumvention). So, we have to wait to see what the accurate data says. And, even if DOC ultimately goes affirmative, the ITC also has to reach an affirmative finding, and the ITC rarely finds critical circumstances. So, this will cause (is already causing) havoc in the industry, but will likely turn out to be a flash in the pan.

In 2022, the EIA reported that the threat of AD/CVD tariffs had prompted delays or the cancellation of around 20% of utility-scale solar generation capacity. Solar industry analyst Roth MKM has suggested that solar developers are currently slowing project deployments due to the AD/CVD tariff risks associated with solar module procurement, pushing 2024 installations into 2025.

If the Department of Commerce were to implement the tariffs suggested by the group, it would lead to the United States paying three times the international price for solar panels. ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy) president and Chief Executive Officer Ray Long said a finding of AD/CVD violation “could unintentionally cede U.S. leadership in the solar industry to other countries.”

Last week, the Biden administration maintained a 14.5% tariff on imported solar cells and increased the volume of cells allowed from 5 GW to 12.5 GW to keep up with growth in solar module manufacturing facilities.

All but three of the 29 states plus DC that have a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) are meeting their current targets, according to an analysis by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Vermont’s current RPS target of nearly 60% is the highest of any state, as shown in the featured image above, provided in the analysis. Every bar in the image without a light blue segment at the top means that state has met its current RPS.

The study says that “large shortfalls” in New York and Illinois are “expected to close” as contracted projects come online.

The study counts a state as meeting its RPS if the state’s utilities have retired renewable energy credits (RECs) equal to the amount of the RPS requirement. States award RECs for renewable power generation.

A state may also permit utilities to comply with its RPS by submitting “alternative compliance payments.”

Delaware’s “large shortfall,” the study says, is due to its low cost for alternative compliance payments compared to other states in the region.

Puerto Rico is not included in the analysis but also has a large shortfall in meeting its renewables target. The territory stands at 12% renewables, compared to its current target of 20% by 2022.

Solar carve-outs

Of the 15 states plus DC that have RPS carve-outs that require a certain amount of solar and/or distributed generation, all but four have met or nearly met the goals, as shown in the nearby image.

 Drivers

While the study says that “parsing out the incremental impact of individual drivers” for the growth in renewables generation is “challenging,” it observes that RPS policies have been a “larger driver” of renewables deployment in three regions:

• The Northeast, where almost all renewable capacity additions—mostly onsite and community solar in recent years—are serving RPS demand
• The Mid-Atlantic, thanks to solar carve-out capacity and RPS-certified projects with corporate power purchase agreements, which “potentially sell RECs into compliance markets”
• The West, where added renewables are driven by “aggressive” long-term RPS and clean energy standard (CES) targets throughout the region, and where non-RPS additions are mostly onsite solar.

Regions where RPS standards have been a “smaller driver” are:

• Texas, which achieved its final RPS target in 2008, so that all renewables growth since then is not influenced by the RPS
• The Midwest, where there is “lots of wind development,” some of which is contracted to utilities with RPS needs
• The Southeast, where renewables growth is primarily driven by utility procurement and qualifying facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA).

In all but two regions, renewable generation well exceeds the combined RPS targets for the states in the region, as shown in this graph from the study:

Ultimate targets

Across the 29 states plus DC with an RPS, 16 have ultimate RPS targets of at least 50% of retail electricity sales, and 4 have a 100% RPS. Sixteen states have adopted a 100% clean energy standard, which can be met by renewables and typically also nuclear and hydroelectric generation as well.

RPS and CES policies will require 900 TWh of new clean electricity by 2050, the study says, “equivalent to roughly 3x the historical rate of RPS buildout.”

Berkeley Lab is hosting a webinar on August 28 to present the study’s complete findings. The study is titled “U.S. State Renewables Portfolio & Clean Electricity Standards: 2024 Status Update.”

Sage Geosystems begins construction of 3 MW geothermal storage facility for ERCOT grid Company draws on oil and gas drilling tech to get renewable energy from dry rock formations.

The myth of meaningful and equitable energy access What it takes for low-income households to truly benefit from community solar.

Form Energy iron-air battery in Maine granted $147 million The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting Power Up New England with $389 million of federal funding. As part of the Power Up New England program, Form Energy is to deploy an 85 MW/8500 MWh multi-day battery system in Lincoln, Maine.

What to look for in tracker monitoring technology Software can boost production and mitigate risks.

Global solar module prices fall amid weak demand In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

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

Which solar inverter manufacturers are most financially stable?  Sinovoltaics, in its latest financial stability ranking of inverter manufacturers lists Hoymiles, Eaton and others at the top. 

Biden issues new proclamation on solar cell tariffs  Tariffs on solar cells remain, but volume increases from 5 GW to 12.5 GW.

What happens when solar is installed without homeowner’s permission A Connecticut couple and several companies including Sunrun have been sued by the state’s Attorney General for forging signatures, faking a voices, and unlawfully installing solar panels on a home without the owners’ consent.

Ebon Solar to invest nearly $1 billion in U.S. solar cell factory The solar cell manufacturing facility is to be located in New Mexico and expected to bring over 900 jobs to the area.

IRA 2-year anniversary: A look at its successes and failures David Burton, attorney with Norton Rose Fulbright and specialist in energy tax law, looks at tax credit transfer, domestic content, energy communities, prevailing wage and more.

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

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

The ABCs of tracker technology

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

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

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

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

The three Ps of tracker software technology

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

1- Protect from weather damage

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

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

2- Predict and ease O&M

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

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

3- Produce more energy

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

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

Five questions to ask 

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

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

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

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

From ESS-news

he U.S. Department of Energy has granted $147 million to construct an energy storage facility at a shuttered paper mill. The battery energy storage system (BESS) from Form Energy, a Somerville, Massachusetts-based grid-scale energy storage developer, will be able to store enough wind and solar power to serve up to 85,000 homes.

The 85 MW iron-air battery system is both safer and more affordable than its lithium-ion counterparts since it uses abundant iron and oxygen. The battery storage project will be one of the largest of its kind in the world and is meant to support one of the most congested parts of the New England grid.

Form Energy will deploy the 85 MW battery system at Lincoln Technology Park, which can discharge energy for up to 100 hours or just over four days. The Power Up New England program includes strengthening the transmission system to deliver higher power loads from renewable sources, including nearby onshore wind turbines.

According to local media sources, Sen. Angus King, an independent, said the project is a step forward in tackling the increase in extreme weather events in Maine. In December and January just passed, hundreds of thousands of Mainers were left without power for extended periods of time after the devastating storms that hit the state.

Although iron-air battery systems are a nascent technology, iron-air batteries are finding increased attention globally as governments strive to secure grids with renewable energy using energy storage systems from abundant materials.

A recent report in Chinese media describes the metal-air battery industry internationally as showing “great market potential”. Supportive policies for these battery types have been developed in China, Japan and in Europe, while the U.S. has funded the research and development of metal-air battery technology through the Advanced Energy Research Program (AERP).

According to the Chinese publication Sohu.com, the US and Japan are in the leading position globally in terms of metal-air battery technology research and industrialization. While some local news sites in Maine suggest the local population is still skeptical of the project, the operating company, Form Energy, is already building a number of such projects across the United States.

In June 2023, Form Energy announced a definitive agreement with Georgia Power, a Southern Company utility, to deploy a 15 MW / 1.5 GWh iron-air battery into the utility’s Georgia grid, providing a 100-hour dispatch long-duration energy storage (LDES) system. In July 2023, Minnesota’s public utilities commission approved Form Energy’s 10 MW/1 GWh iron-air long-duration energy storage facility construction project for Xcel Energy.

Continue reading on ESS-news.com.

A look at IRA successes and failures David Burton, attorney with Norton Rose Fulbright and specialist in energy tax law, looks at tax credit transfer, domestic content, energy communities, prevailing wage and more.

Jimmy Carter, champion of solar energy At the age of 92, President Carter’s dedication to solar energy came full circle when his family decided to convert 10 acres of their peanut farm into a 1.3 MW solar farm.

Making perovskite solar PV circular from the start Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers used a circular economy framework to determine how to scale, deploy, and design metal halide perovskite solar panels to be easily recyclable in the future.

Heliene to procure U.S.-made solar wafers from NorSun The NorSun wafers will be supplied from the company’s planned 5 GW wafer factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IRA failures

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People on the move: Green Lantern, FTC Solar, Perch Energy and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

PNNL unveils Grid Storage Launchpad to bring together researchers to tackle energy storage tech A new building at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory aims to unite researchers and stakeholders to push forward advancements in grid storage technologies.

What happens when solar is installed without homeowner’s permission A Connecticut couple and several companies including Sunrun have been sued by the state’s Attorney General for forging signatures, faking a voices, and unlawfully installing solar panels on a home without the owners’ consent.

Aurora Solar introduces solar models powered by EagleView EagleView brings its geospatial data and imagery library to Aurora’s solar modeling function, helping installers to design, plan and validate solar projects.

Pivot Energy partners with Microsoft to develop up to 500 MW of community solar  The portfolio is planned to be developed in locations across the United States from 2025 through 2029.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Connecticut Attorney General has initiated legal action against two individuals and three companies for committing multiple crimes, including impersonation of homeowners and unauthorized installation of solar panels.

The state’s lawsuit targets Sierra Howes and Dakota Grumet, principals at Elevate Solar Solutions, Bright Planet and Sunrun, the company responsible for the installations and system ownership. This action addresses three distinct cases in Connecticut, namely the Windsor, Stafford Springs and Wethersfield transactions.

In one particularly bold instance, known as the Windsor Transaction, Howes and Grumet proposed a residential solar project costing $306 per month to a homeowner who rejected the offer. Subsequently, an employee from Bright Planet is alleged to have forged the homeowner’s digital signatures. The lawsuit also includes a recorded call of a Bright Planet employee impersonating the homeowner to Sunrun:

The Sunrun representative then asks Sierra Ford to put the consumer on the line to confirm the details of the transaction. The consumer is female. However, the voice purporting to be the consumer’s on the recorded call is a deep male voice. The voice purports to confirm the consumer’s name, but erroneously reverses the first and last names, as was done on the contract.

On October 9, approximately a week after the deceptive call, Sunrun, notably efficient on this occasion, installed a 14.22 kW residential system without permits.

The Stafford Springs and Wethersfield transactions similarly showcase unethical practices. In Stafford Springs, a homeowner consented to a solar agreement, but claims to have never received a contract to review, later discovering the total cost would exceed $135,000 over 25 years. In both instances, the solar panels were installed in late 2022 without initial permits, which were only later approved by local authorities. To date, neither system has been activated.

In all three instances, the solar modules are still on the respective homes. The Attorney General’s complaint enumerates fifteen counts of legal violations, with four charges each against Sunrun, Bright Planet and Elevate Solar Solutions. These charges include unfairness, deception, per se violations (violations that are inherently illegal), and willfulness.

In the broader context of door-to-door sales, several U.S. states have taken similar legal actions. Minnesota, for instance, recently sued four of the nation’s largest solar finance companies. Vision Solar has faced lawsuits in multiple states, including Connecticut and Arizona. Additionally, Vivint Solar, prior to its acquisition by Sunrun, was sued in New Mexico. Most recently, Rhode Island enacted a law requiring background checks for residential solar salespeople.

From ESS-news.com

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the opening of the Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL), a new facility at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington.

The 93,000-square-foot or nearly hectare-sized research facility will house 30 laboratories and about 100 researchers. It is equipped to evaluate new battery materials and battery systems up to 100 kW operating under realistic grid conditions.

The DOE hopes that the ability to collaborate with scientists, engineers, industry, and agencies in one building will accelerate the development and roll-out of new grid-scale storage energy technologies and ideas.

Along with research initiatives, GSL will serve as an educational center, training technicians, grid operators, first responders, safety officials, and more.

Vince Sprenkle, energy storage expert and GSL’s first director said: “Energy storage will be a significant part of a resilient and reliable grid that’s fully decarbonized. And GSL will help us get there,” said “GSL is truly an integrated facility that incorporates everything from fundamental materials research to testing 100-kilowatt batteries.”

Read the rest of the article on ESS-news.com.

Peter Diamandis is joining the Advisory Board of PeroNova, a climate tech company, to develop new uses for this cost-effective and versatile material.

Green Lantern Solar announced the promotion of Jon Sutton to Director of Engineering. Sutton, formerly Green Lantern Solar’s Construction Manager, possesses a wealth of experience in successfully leading complex engineering projects, making him a vital asset to the company’s ongoing success. In his new role, Sutton will lead Green Lantern Solar’s engineering division, ensuring the highest standards of quality and efficiency across all projects.

FTC Solar’s Board of Directors appointed Yann Brandt, a longtime solar executive, as the company’s new president and chief executive officer and a member of the Board, effective August 19, 2024. He joins the company from FlexGen, a leading battery energy storage services and software company, where he most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer since November 2022 and previously as Chief Financial Officer since February 2021. Prior to FlexGen, Brandt served as CEO of Quick Mount PV, a manufacturer of solar racking for residential solar, where he led the company’s reorganization and subsequent strong growth.

Perch Energy, a clean energy technology platform and leading provider of community solar services, appointed Russ Main as its new chief financial officer (CFO) and Jeffrey Battles as senior vice president (SVP) of Technology.

National Renewable Solutions (NRS), a U.S.-based renewable energy company, announced four leadership promotions to charge the company’s growth plans: Lindsey Ransom is now chief commercial officer and will oversee offtake origination strategy, commercial markets and regulatory affairs, policy, ESG and communications functions.  Mike Peck is chief operating officer after having been senior VP operations. In his new role, he will draw upon his 16 years of renewable energy industry experience to lead NRS in strategically improving its operations capabilities. Vineet Parkhe is chief technology officer. He and his team will continue to collaborate across the organization, and drive technical rigor, efficiency and innovation across all aspects of NRS’ business. Ben Klassen is the new chief legal officer. After serving as general counsel since February 2022 he will now focus on risk management and direction of legal strategy as NRS continues to grow its portfolio of renewable energy projects.

Bracewell LLP announced that renewable energy and project development attorney Hans P. Dyke has rejoined the firm’s Washington, DC office as partner in the energy practice. Dyke, a Bracewell partner from 2017 to 2021, returns to the firm after serving as general counsel of Sol Systems, LLC since he left Bracewell in 2021.

Flow Aluminum, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based startup innovating the energy industry with an aluminum-CO2 battery alternative to lithium-ion, announced the addition of Dr. Olaf Conrad as chief technology officer. In this executive role, Dr. Conrad will establish a technology roadmap for Flow Aluminum and lead its technical team in commercializing the product.

Tariffs on solar cells remain, volume increased The Biden administration issued a proclamation stating that the tariff rate quota of 14.25% on solar cells will remain but volume increases from 5 GW to 12.5 GW.

Agrivoltaics for corn Researchers have created a novel model that can help developers asses corn growth in agrivoltaic facilities. They also proposed to use spatiotemporal shadow distribution (SSD) to optimize crop yield and power production.

World’s highways could host 52.3 billion solar panels, say researchers Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Geosciences, and Columbia University have concluded that solar-covered highways could meet more than 60% of the world’s annual energy needs.

ChargePoint introduces Omni Port universal EV charger The connector is compatible with all major electric vehicle brands, including Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles.

ChargePoint, a provider of one of the largest EV charging networks in the United States, introduced Omni Port, an electric vehicle charging connector solution designed to be compatible with all major EVs.

Omni Port eliminates the hassle of carrying a charging adapter or having to dedicate parking spaces for different charging types. The port is available at no incremental cost, the company reports, and is now a standard feature of ChargePoint products.

“With Omni port, ChargePoint solved the challenges associated with a multiple connector environment, ensuring Tesla and non-Tesla drivers can continue to expect a world-class driver experience,” said Rick Wilmer, chief executive officer, ChargePoint.

ChargePoint designed the charging station to seamlessly adapt to each EV. Drivers enter their vehicle’s make and model into the ChargePoint app, tap to charge, and the charging station automatically releases the correct connector type. For users that would prefer not to use an app, a credit card payment option is available at the station.

Omni Port is built into both AC and DC charging stations. The charger enables full support for vehicles with 800 volt architecture, enabling max charging speeds for sustained periods.

The are more than 5.5 million EVs on roads in North America, more than half of which are equipped with J1772 or CCS1 charging ports. As automakers attempt to align on a single connector type for the future, these 5.5 million drivers need assurance that they will be able to charge when they need to. Omni port gives drivers and station owners peace of mind by combining these most common connector types into a single solution.

ChargePoint said Omni Port will begin to ship by the end of 2024. It can be retrofitted on ChargePoint CP6000 and Express Plus Power Link 2000 models at a “nominal cost.”

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

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

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

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

IRA-driven battery projects face delays amid economic headwinds: report A Financial Times report has found numerous IRA-driven projects announced or under construction have been placed on hold or cancelled, including the battery industry, due largely to an EV slowdown.

Solar inverter manufacturer financial stability ranking updated The latest financial stability ranking of inverter manufacturers from Sinovoltaics lists Hoymiles Power Electronics, Eaton, Enphase, Kstar and Delta Electronics as the top five.

Rhode Island passes new consumer protections for solar industry amid rising concerns Governor McKee has signed new legislation protecting consumers from aggressive sales practices by door-to-door solar salespeople. Compliance includes federal background checks, disclosure of savings documentation, and detailed breakdowns of lease versus cash system pricing.

DCE Solar “roof-friendly” solar mount passes key safety certification The Eco-Top rooftop mounting structure is designed for commercial and industrial rooftops.

Near $1 billion solar cell factory announced in New Mexico Ebon Solar will invest $942 million in a solar cell manufacturing facility, bringing over 900 jobs.

Rhode Island has enacted the “Residential Solar Energy Disclosure and Homeowners Bill of Rights Act” to protect homeowners from predatory door-to-door sales tactics in the solar industry.

The law applies to any individual selling a solar system purchase agreement, a lease agreement, or a power purchase agreement (PPA). It covers anyone soliciting a homeowner or selling a solar project for up to four individual housing units simultaneously. Notably, the law does not apply to solar lease deals with payment terms of less than five years, transactions that involve a generator, or commercial systems.

The law requires all parties selling residential solar to register with the state and renew the registration annually. For the solar company, at least one person in charge of residential sales must have their name and address on file with the state. Additionally, all individuals directly selling to homeowners must undergo a national background check, including fingerprinting, which must be submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The registration process will be managed by the Rhode Island Division of Taxation.

The Department of Business Regulation is authorized to investigate complaints, impose administrative penalties, revoke registrations, and order violators to cease operations. The department can also impose fines of up to $5,000 per violation for up to four years after the violation has occurred.

The law mandates that specific documents be provided to homeowners. A hard copy or email of the solar agreement must be given to the homeowner. Additionally, the state will issue a standard disclosure form that must include the following information:

• A statement indicating whether operations and maintenance are included in the agreement.
• A written estimate of projected savings over the system’s expected lifespan.
• An estimate of savings beyond the system’s anticipated useful life.
• Data fields used to calculate the savings projections.
• The electricity escalation rate applied in the savings assumptions.
• Information on tax credit eligibility.

Additionally, the new law gives residential customers the right to rescind or cancel the deal for seven days after entering the agreement.

The law goes into effect in March 2025.

The bill was prompted by an increase in consumer complaints regarding aggressive and misleading sales tactics by some solar companies. By implementing these regulations, the state aims to build public trust and encourage the adoption of solar energy while protecting consumers from unscrupulous actors. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, along with other state officials, has emphasized the importance of these protections in fostering a reliable and transparent solar industry in Rhode Island.

Several other U.S. states have taken action against door-to-door sales companies. Minnesota recently sued four of the nation’s largest solar finance companies. Vision Solar has been sued in multiple states, including Connecticut and Arizona, while Vivint Solar, prior to its acquisition by Sunrun, was sued in New Mexico. Sunrun, along with several other solar door-to-door companies, has also been sued in Connecticut.

(Read: “U.S. government announces resources to protect solar customers“)

DCE Solar announced its Eco-Top rooftop solar mounting structure has achieved UL 3741 certification, placing the product in compliance with National Electric Code (NEC) 2020 standards.

The Eco-Top rooftop mount structure is designed for commercial and industrial rooftops. It is a ballasted racing system with durable recycled rubber ballast pads. DCE Solar said the mounts are designed to be roof-friendly, protecting the integrity of a roof by leveraging aerodynamics and structural performance to minimize roof loading. The mount uses recycled rubber ballast pads that limit vibration and protect the roof membrane and uses decreased ballast blocks and attachment counts to limit roof penetration and damage.

DCE Solar said its system requires five times fewer mechanical attachments and ballast blocks, resulting in material and labor savings of $0.03 to $0.06 per watt.

The company offers two main options – the Eco-Top High Density, which increases capacity by up to 20% with more wattage per square foot, and the Eco-Top-MR for metal roofs.

All structural components are constructed from g115 galvanized steel. An integral wind deflector minimizes system loading and also functions as a ballast tray, providing a location to place ballast in the array.

The structure is fastened via serrated flange heads. It has built-in vibration resistance and integral grounding and bonding, and all nuts are wax coated to eliminate galling.

The structure is rated for an average dead load of 3.5 psf, or 90 mph wind. It enables flat, 5 degrees, or 10-degree angle tilt. It has a 14 inch or 18 inch shade spacing. The Eco-Top mount supports all major module brands.

“Passing the UL 3741 certification for our Eco-Top Roof-Top solution underscores our dedication to safety, innovation, and efficiency in the solar industry,” said Bill Taylor, chief executive officer, DCE Solar. “This certification not only validates the quality of our product but also provides our customers with the confidence that they are investing in a top-tier, secure solar solution.”

DCE Solar is a U.S. manufacturer of solar ground-mounts and roof-mounted racking systems, founded in 2009. Find a product sheet for the Eco-Top here.

From pv magazine Global

Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based quality assurance services firm, released the third edition of its Sinovoltaics PV inverter manufacturer financial stability ranking, featuring 32 manufacturers. The ranking is based on publicly available information on publicly traded companies.

The top ten inverter manufacturers are China’s Hoymiles Power Electronics, Irish energy management specialist Eaton, U.S.-based microinverter specialist Enphase Energy, China-based Kstar Science and Technology and Taiwan-based Delta Electronics, followed by China’s Sinexcel, Switzerland-based ABB, China’s Goodwe, France’s Schneider Electric and U.S.-based Emerson.

In this edition, Schneider Electric is new to the top ten, coming up from fifteenth to ninth.

Sinovoltaics notes that the report, which is global in scope and calculated since September 2021, provides insight into how the financial strength of inverter manufacturers has evolved over the past three years. The report is free to download.

The ranking is based on a so-called Altmann Z-score, a quantitative formula that uses multiple corporate income and balance sheet values to measure the financial health of a company. Sinovoltaics assesses a company’s financial strength through a credit-strength test based on profitability, leverage, liquidity, solvency and activity ratios.

A score that is 1.1 or lower indicates a higher probability of bankruptcy within the next two years, while a higher score of 2.6 or greater indicates a solid financial position.

Sinovoltaics has published several other manufacturer rankings for the quarter, including reports focused on battery manufacturers and module manufacturers. It notes that the financial ranking does not indicate the quality of the equipment, rather they are meant to be used as an element of the due diligence process, or to help identify financially stable partners.

From ESS-news.com

Key battery manufacturing projects initiated in response to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are facing setbacks, according to a Financial Times (FT) investigation.

The IRA, signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, proposed a $369 billion injection into the US clean energy economy. The industrial policy focused on reshoring manufacturing for the renewable energy transition, and significant announcements have been made for U.S. manufacturing in batteries and materials, solar manufacturing, hydrogen, and more.

Yet the FT reports, when including semiconductor manufacturing as well, that of the projects worth more than $100m, “a total of $84bn have been delayed for between two months and several years, or paused indefinitely.” The FT notes some delays are public knowledge, while others have not been formally announced, citing interviews with more than 100 companies and state and local authorities to determine project statuses.

In terms of batteries and public announcements, LG Energy Solution’s $2.3 billion battery storage facility in Arizona is on a construction suspension after being quadrupled in March from its first announcement.

Read the complete article at ESS-news.

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

Solar+storage microgrids to provide reliability for Northern California tribes Solar-plus-storage microgrids to be built, owned and operated by three tribes in Humboldt County, California are expected to reduce outages by 90% at a lower cost than undergrounding power lines.

CleanCapital acquires 13 MW brownfield portfolio The two projects include Steel Sun II, located on the former Bethlehem Steel site on Buffalo’s waterfront and the Homeridae project, one of two solar arrays in Olean sited on a former oil refinery and tank farm.

SEG Solar opens 2 GW module factory in Houston Ribbon-cutting event marks $60 million investment in U.S. solar manufacturing.

Wood Mackenzie: U.S. community solar to double in five years  Cumulative community solar installations are forecast to increase from less than 7 GW installed today to over 14 GW by 2029.

Tesla usurps Sungrow as lead BESS producer globally in 2023 Sungrow has lost its crown as the “lead producer” in the battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market to Tesla, according to the Wood Mackenzie report ‘Global battery energy storage system integrator ranking 2024’. Tesla claimed a 15% global market share in 2023.

SunPower goes bankrupt The company, one of the longest running solar companies in the U.S., spun off its manufacturing business in 2020 to focus more squarely on rooftop solar as demand surged. Since then, demand cooled considerably, and, under a high interest rate environment, the strategy proved fatal for the company.

Goldman Sachs invests $440 million in renewable independent power producer  The strategic investment in BrightNight will support the development of utility, commercial, and industrial solar and energy storage projects.

More money is going into solar than all other forms of generation combined, reaching $500 billion in 2024 The International Energy Agency projects that solar will attract more investment than all other electricity generation sources combined. Global energy spending is set to surpass $3 trillion for the first time this year.

Republicans request continuation of IRA post-January Eighteen Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to preserve the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) if their party takes control of the political reins in January.

Sunrun stock rises on strong cash generation in Q2 earnings The residential solar and energy storage provider increased its battery attachment rates and net subscriber value of its customers.

SEG Solar officially opened its new photovoltaic module manufacturing facility in Houston on August 8 with a gala event featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony and live country music. The automated factory line has an initial capacity of 2 GW of n-type panels per year with plans to expand to 5 GW by 2030.

“You see this facility?” said Jun Zhuge, SEG’s founder and chief operating officer, addressing an audience of mostly customers, partners and local officials gathered for the opening. “We have invested $60 million right here in Houston. We’re not just talk.”

The new factory and headquarters complex features 145,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space and 16,000 square feet of office space. The fully automated production line – SEG claims it’s the longest PV line in the world – takes in glass and cells and runs through production stages over conveyor belts all the way through framing and packaging. There are numerous stations for various inspection and quality assurance processes. The hands-off line requires 12 technicians to attend the machinery, although more were on hand for training purposes.

“We don’t just want to make money,” Zhuge said. “We want to build solar manufacturing in this country. We want to bring all of the supply chain to this country.”

Conceived by co-founders Zhuge and Jim Wood, who serves as chief executive officer, SEG Solar was launched in California in 2016. Through 2021 the company established cell and module factories in Southeast Asia and China. The photovoltaic cells that feed the Houston operation are sourced from Indonesia, but the company says it is committed to producing cells in the U.S.

A veteran of investment banking and solar installation businesses, Wood eventually went to work for a large Chinese solar manufacturer. He teamed up with Zhuge and other partners with industry experience, and they decided there was a real opportunity to establish a successful American module producer under the right circumstances.

“We looked at a lot of the lessons that we’ve learned from myself and other folks here working at other manufacturers and we said, we’re going to lean heavily into automation,” Wood told pv magazine USA, adding that the production machines are the largest of their types available. “Those stringers are 1.3 times faster than any other stringers in the world. So because we’re fully automated, because the capacity of those lines are larger, because the machines run faster, we’re able to be as competitive here as we would be in Southeast Asia.”

According to Wood, the company looked at other regions to establish its U.S. manufacturing base but decided that Houston offered a number of key advantages for SEG Solar’s strategic development plans. He cited Houston as having one of the best ports in the country, a large and educated labor force with many skills and a very friendly business atmosphere. Moreover, Texas is already the second largest solar market in the U.S. with 42 GW installed as of Q2 2024, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, and is poised to become number one next year.

Wood stresses that SEG Solar’s purpose is not to satisfy domestic content requirements or circumvent tariffs. It is a 100% U.S.-owned company, with the principals assuming financial as well as managerial responsibility for its operations.

“SEG is financed internally,” he said. “We don’t have private equity. There are no external owners. We haven’t taken any outside debt. We’re a true American company where we’ve taken our profits, recycled them and grown this business organically.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Three solar-plus-storage microgrids will “transform” a 142 mile-long distribution circuit that serves three tribes in eastern Humboldt County, California from “one of the state’s least reliable” circuits into a “highly resilient” system, says the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt University.

The Schatz Center, which is leading the microgrid system design, says the microgrids will have a total of 9 MW of solar and 14 MW / 37 MWh of storage. The rural location will also enable 2 MW of small-scale, fish-safe hydropower and 1 MW of small-scale generation powered by forest residues.

A microgrid will serve each of the three tribes served by the “Hoopa 1101” distribution circuit—the Hoopa Valley, Yoruk and Karuk Tribes. The microgrids are expected to reduce outage hours in the area served by 90%. The cost will be about half the cost of improving reliability by undergrounding power lines, the Schatz Center said.

Chairman Russell Attebery of the Karuk Tribe said the project will “provide the safeguards needed to survive along the river. Our people will no longer fear losing their food or vital medical resources, like vaccines, as we have in the past.”

Each microgrid will be located “in front of the meter” and thus will be capable of powering a portion of the distribution circuit during local outages. The microgrids will be “nested,” enabling them to function either jointly or independently, as immediate circumstances along the power line require.

The project, known as the Tribal Energy Resilience and Sovereignty (TERAS) project, will advance sovereignty through tribal construction, ownership and operation of the advanced microgrid systems, and will include career development and education components.

The design has wide applicability, suggested Schatz Center Director Arne Jacobson, saying the center is “excited to radically expand the capacity of microgrids to provide energy reliability in high-risk locations.”

The Schatz Center previously designed California’s first front-of-the-meter, 100% renewable energy microgrid at the Redwood Coast Airport, and the first iteration of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s microgrid in Humboldt County. The center is now designing an expansion of that microgrid into four nested, behind-the-meter microgrids, which will provide a demonstration site for the controls system that will subsequently be deployed along the Hoopa 1101 circuit.

The $177 million TERAS project is being supported with a federal cost share of $88 million, awarded in the latest round of grants under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program. In making the award, DOE said the project will “develop a replicable public-private partnership model for equitable and community-driven grid modernization.”

DOE says the GRIP program is designed to “enhance grid flexibility and improve the resilience of the power system against growing threats of extreme weather and climate change.”

The Schatz Center is also developing a campus-wide microgrid at Cal Poly Humboldt.

U.S. government announces resources to protect solar customers  Treasury, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission have partnered on developing consumer advisories and educational resources to help people navigate the solar buying process while avoiding deceptive practices.

O&M executives seeking underperforming solar assets Zack Hobbs and Casey Gilley are seeking to purchase, repower and maximize solar power farms that asset owners don’t have the time or resources to redevelop.

Republicans request continuation of IRA post-January Eighteen Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to preserve the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) if their party takes control of the political reins in January.

New bidding strategy for PV asset owners operating in spot market Conceived by an international research team, the new bidding strategy applies to the day-after and the intraday markets. It uses a technique that transforms results from probabilistic models into actual scenarios. Their method showed its ability to yield increased revenues and reduced imbalance.

Jera Nex acquires U.S. solar sites from Lightsource bp Jera Nex has purchased two US solar arrays totaling 395 MW from Lightsource bp. The acquisition marks Jera Nex’s first deal since it launched in April. Lightsource bp will continue to manage assets and provide maintenance services at the projects.

U.S. DOE announces $1.45 billion loan for Qcells solar panel factory The Department of Energy announced a conditional commitment to loan Qcells for its Georgia factory producing solar ingots, wafers, cells, and panels.

Microvast Holdings, a battery designer, developer, and manufacturer, announced a new energy storage system product called the ME6.

The ME6 is a high energy density lithium ferro-phosphate (LFP) containerized battery system that carries 6 MWh of power in a 21-foot container.

Microvast has a long history of developing nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries for commercial vehicle customers. The new 565 Ah LFP-based batteries are optimized for stationary energy storage system customers.

“Energy storage is essential for carbon reduction and accelerating the global transition to clean energy. Our ME6 energy storage solution can be used for any application where electric energy supply is needed,” said Yang Wu, chief executive officer of Microvast.

The containerized battery has a lifecycle exceeding 10,000 cycles and up to a 30-year lifespan, said the company. It is IP55, and C4 rated for safety and contains nitrogen-based protection systems to prevent fires.

The ME6 includes an integrated modular cooling system, which extends battery life and enhances round-trip efficiency.

“Our integrated modular liquid cooling system helps ensure consistent battery temperatures, optimizing performance through active cell balancing and enhancing round-trip efficiency while reducing heat loss,” said Dr. Wenjuan Mattis, chief technology officer, Microvast.

Microvast said its LFP solution offers a lower-cost alternative to NMC batteries. The batteries do not contain cobalt, making them a more sustainable choice for large-scale renewable energy operations.

With this new product announcement from Microvast comes a shift in regional operations. The company will close its Colorado manufacturing facilities and focus solely on producing LFP batteries at its Clarksville, Tennessee facility. Microvast said its products are expected to qualify for the IRA Section 45X advanced manufacturing tax credit.

“ME6, the latest generation of our energy storage solutions, is engineered for enhanced efficiency,” said Mattis. “Utilizing our high-performance LFP cells, we have developed a ME6 container that boosts capacity and stability while providing an exceptional lifespan of up to 30 years and supporting more than 10,000 cycles.”

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loans Programs Office (LPO) announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.45 billion to Qcells to support its North American solar manufacturing expansions.

The loan guarantee is offered through LPO’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, which includes financing opportunities for innovative energy and supply chain projects and projects that reinvest in existing energy infrastructure.

The company is developing a solar ingot, wafer, cell, and solar panel manufacturing facility, supplying each stage of the solar supply chain from raw polysilicon to end-user components. The facility, located in Cartersville, Georgia, will be the largest ingot and wafer plant in the United States, addressing critical early stages of the supply chain.

Once fully operational, the facility is expected to produce 3.3 GW of solar panels per year. This is roughly enough solar capacity to power half a million U.S. households, said the company. It is also equivalent to reducing emissions from power generation by more than 5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

The project is expected to support 1,200 construction jobs and, upon completion, 1,950 full-time operations jobs. Approximately 40% to 50% of the construction work has been awarded to local contractors, including contractors from Atlanta, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. According to an economic review by the Cartersville-Bartow County Department of Economic Development, the investment will create nearly 6,800 jobs in Bartow and Whitfield Counties and has a potential sales output of more than $2 billion.

Panels produced at the site will be designed for both distributed and utility-scale applications. Qcells is also among the largest utility-scale project developers for both solar and storage in the United States with over 2 GW of projects developed or constructed and a project development pipeline of over 10 GW. The company has entered into an 8-year, 12 GW solar and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement with Microsoft to be fulfilled with solar panels made in Cartersville.

Components produced by the project are expected to benefit from the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit. Qcells’ products produced at the site are also expected to contribute to project eligibility for the domestic content 10% tax credit bonus.

“Since IRA’s passage, over 325 GW of manufacturing capacity has been announced across the solar supply chain, representing more than 31,000 potential jobs and nearly $16 billion in announced investments across 111 new facilities or expansions,” said a press release from DOE.

While this conditional commitment indicates DOE’s intent to finance the project, DOE and the company must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan.

Eighteen members of the House Republican Conference have written to Speaker Mike Johnson, emphasizing the need to “prioritize business and market certainty” amid calls to repeal or amend the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Signed into law by President Joseph Biden on August 16, 2022, the IRA was approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives the previous week without any Republican support.

Even though no Republicans voted for the bill, investments stemming from the bill have predominantly flowed into Republican Congressional districts, according to their historical voting patterns.

Source: Environmental Entrepreneurs

The letter was delivered on August 6, 2024, just one day before the two-year anniversary of the IRA’s passage through the Senate, which was finalized by a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris.

The letter critiques the bill as flawed, arguing that it will distort energy markets. Yet, it also asserts that “American energy dominance increases national security, and creates American jobs,” indirectly suggesting that the IRA supports ‘American energy dominance’. The Representatives report that many companies have leveraged the energy tax credits to fund significant investments in new U.S. energy infrastructure. Furthermore, they express concerns from industry leaders and constituents alike, who fear the existing energy tax regime may “once again be turned on its head due to Republican repeal efforts.”

Prematurely repealing energy tax credits, particularly those which were used to justify investments that already broke ground, would undermine private investments and stop development that is already ongoing. A full repeal would create a worst-case scenario where we would have spent billions of taxpayer dollars and received next to nothing in return.

The Republican Representatives are:

• Andrew R. Garbarino – New York’s 2nd District
• David G. Valadao – California’s 22nd District
• Lori Chavez-DeRemer – Oregon’s 5th District
• Marcus J. Molinaro – New York’s 19th District
• Erin Houchin – Indiana’s 9th District
• Anthony D’Esposito – New York’s 4th District
• Michael V. Lawler – New York’s 17th District
• Jen A. Kiggans – Virginia’s 2nd District
• Nick LaLota – New York’s 1st District
• Young Kim – California’s 40th District
• John R. Curtis – Utah’s 3rd District
• Don Bacon – Nebraska’s 2nd District
• Thomas H. Kean, Jr. – New Jersey’s 7th District
• David P. Joyce – Ohio’s 14th District
• Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. – Iowa’s 1st District
• Juan Ciscomani – Arizona’s 6th District
• Earl L. “Buddy” Carter – Georgia’s 1st District
• Mark E. Amodei – Nevada’s 2nd District

The letter was spearheaded by Representative Andrew R. Garbarino of New York, who in August 2022 voiced his opposition to the IRA, labeling it as misleading and potentially harmful to the economy:

I voted AGAINST the deceptively named ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ just like I voted against the reckless Build Back Better scheme. Two hundred and thirty economists agree that the so-called Inflation Reduction Act is expected to contribute to skyrocketing inflation and burden the American economy. Aside from completely failing to reduce inflation, this bill fails to address the SALT deduction cap while raising taxes that will impact the middle class.

The debate over the IRA’s naming and its effectiveness is debated. Political pundits suggest that Senator Joe Manchin’s rationale for the name was a politically palatable counter to the criticized “Green New Deal,” not an effective anti-inflation measure. While it is clear that the peak of the nation’s recent inflationary peak aligned with the IRA’s signing, and that inflation has since fallen precipitously since the signing, economic analyses have not demonstrated a causative impact on inflation.

Operations and maintenance (O&M) operator Zack Hobbs, in collaboration with commercial solar developer and former CPA Casey Gilley, has established a new partnership, CSS Repower. Their goal is to purchase and repower solar “fixer-upper” farms.

Hobbs, through his ownership of Carolina Solar Services, a specialist in solar O&M, has access to solar power plants in need of repowering services. However, the asset owners prefer to spend their time and capital on new projects.

“Many solar farms in North Carolina were built between 2010 to 2015 and are reaching “middle age,” which is showing up in the form of deteriorating modules or unsupported and underperforming inverters,” said Hobbs. The asset owners don’t want to deal with these troublesome assets as they are focused on new development projects.

As the fractional CFO for Carolina Solar Services, Gilley has developed spreadsheets to model the return on investment for repowering services to help asset owners financially justify their repair and upkeep actions.

“[There are] lots of challenges with repowering, mostly the 80/20 rule as it relates to tax, negative capital accounts as a result of accelerated depreciation, and engineering and renovation work (which CSS Repower and Carolina Services can perform),” said Gilley. “It’s going to be a financial engineering exercise to find good projects, something that I think I’ll be good at.”

CSS Repower targets distressed and underperforming solar assets:

• $2 million to $20 million project size
• Value-add solar farm “fixer-upper” repowering projects.  
  • Acquisition of underperforming assets at a discount
  • Replacement of modules & inverters
  • Maximization of DC capacity under existing interconnection or application to expand system size with the addition of battery storage
  • Projects qualify for new tax credits as long as at least 80% of the existing equipment is replaced (80/20 rule)
  • In-house operations & maintenance team to complete all electrical engineering & construction work
• Projects eligible for 30% to 50% tax credits + accelerated/bonus depreciation
• Timeline:  90 to 180 days from closing until completion (a major advantage as projects are already approved and interconnected, reducing risk and expediting transactions)

Having recently read a pv magazine article about backsheet cracking, Gilley shared his concerns: “the more I learn about solar, the less excited I am about owning sites for more than 20 years. I recently looked at a large site that now has 64% of the modules with severe backsheet cracking. This will be a challenging warranty claim with the manufacturer as the warranty only covers the modules, not lost production. For such a massive site, we’re talking big bucks in lost revenue and downtime during repair.”

Gilley added, “This goes back to not only building and designing the projects right the first time, but also having good insurance and good O&M providers for the projects and underwriting accordingly in the financial model.”

Gilley and Hobbs believe that their combined experience in financial optimization, engineering, and O&M has uniquely prepared them for this opportunity.

From pv magazine Global

Jera Nex, the renewables unit of Japanese power generator Jera, has acquired two U.S. solar projects totaling 395 MW from Lightsource bp. The projects are the 300 MW Oxbow solar array in Louisiana and the 95 MW Happy installation in Arkansas.

Both sites are in commercial operation. The Oxbow site has long term power purchase agreements (PPA) with corporate customers including eBay, while the Happy project was a long-term PPA with Conway Corp, a city-owned utility system in Conway, Arkansas.

The transaction, executed in partnership with Jera Americas, has already secured regulatory approvals. As part of the agreement, Lightsource bp will continue to provide asset management and maintenance services to Jera Nex.

The acquisition is Jera Nex’s first since the company launched in April and marks its first step into the U.S. solar market. The London-based company claims to have a current portfolio of more than 3 GW of solar, onshore and offshore wind and battery storage projects.

“This first transaction since our recent launch is an indication of our ambitious plans to scale onshore and offshore renewables for a sustainable future; we hope to build a broader onshore renewables portfolio in the U.S. and globally,” said Richard Scott, VP for development and construction onshore at Jera Nex.