News

Johnson Controls announced a partnership with Capital Dynamics to increase the amount of capital available for customers in North America working on solar or battery storage projects. The agreement will grant easier access to funding for Johnson Controls customers using a Power Purchase Agreement for projects of varying sizes, starting at $1 million, by aggregating them into a larger portfolio of projects.

Standard Solar has completed a seven-site solar project for Flushing Community School District in Flushing, Michigan. In a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership, Standard Solar designed, built, financed and will operate and maintain solar arrays at all seven schools within the Flushing Community School District. The renewable energy generated by the 956.8 kilowatts of combined arrays is estimated to save the school district $45,000 annually and $900,000 over the course of the contract.

Azimuth Energy recently completed a 1-MW community solar project at St. Louis Lambert International Airport for Ameren Missouri. The project was first announced in 2017.

Next year’s first major solar-plus-storage trade show on the calendar announced a new partnership with NABCEP to increase attendee numbers. Eligible PV professionals will be able to attend the Intersolar North America expo hall for free at the San Diego Convention Center from February 4-6, 2020, and can register for NABCEP-approved continuing education classes to receive up to nine Continuing Education Units (CEUs) they can use toward Board Certification and recertification requirements.

The Boys & Girls Club of Manchester has transitioned to solar energy. ReVision Energy installed 408 solar panels this summer on three rooftops, at the Union Street Clubhouse (81.3 kW) in Manchester, New Hampshire, and the Pool House and Stebbins Family Hall buildings at Camp Foster in Bedford (49.3 kW).

First-half losses that ballooned to $85.3 million saw the share price of the Texan third-party solar company fall 8% according to San Diego law firm Robbins Arroyo LLP. The legal business says it is investigating ‘potential violations of federal securities laws’ in connection with last month’s IPO.

A binational integrated solar industry project, announced just over a year ago, aims to build a vertically integrated solar manufacturing industry along the border between Brazil and Paraguay. But the project is now on hold pending an update and reassessment by its new managers.

Walburga Hemetsberger joined SolarPower Europe as its new CEO around six months ago. It’s been a busy time, with the European elections and attempts to implement net zero emissions strategies that have kept Brussels hustling and bustling. At the same time, Europe’s solar industry association has been trying to push its industrial policy and rooftop campaign. Hemetsberger sat down with pv magazine for an update.

The Mexican electric power industry is maintaining its dynamism, despite a collective perception of inactivity stemming from a lack of information from the federal government. And renewables are barely mentioned in the National Development Plan for 2019–2024 drawn up by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

X-ray analysis is said to have solved the mystery of how to preserve optical absorption in perovskite layers. Researchers say the discovery could help stabilize the material and speed up the launch of a new ingredient for PV research.

International data suggests that fires caused by rooftop solar power systems are rare; however, the United States doesn’t centrally track this information – with the National Fire Data Center classifying them in the “other” category.

According to official statistics produced by the nation’s National Energy Administration, China’s cumulative installed PV generation capacity had reached 185.5 GW at the end of June.

The performance of the company’s Selectively Coated Ribbons was measured for more than a year in a field test. Heraeus says the yield gains are achieved by the device’s optical properties – said to enable improved reflection – even at low angles of incidence and in low-light conditions.

Poland’s second largest power company, Tauron, wants to build a 5 MW ground-mounted facility in Jaworzno and is seeking EPC contractors through a tender. The project is part of the company’s plan to deploy PV on its unused sites.

A maturing PV market does not automatically deliver certainty in terms of technology roadmaps and industry dynamics. Crystalizing trends and anticipating developments is the business of analysts, so pv magazine assembled four of solar’s best to talk about prices, technology and market-defining policy developments.