California

The US renewables business of Japanese oil and gas major Idemitsu Kosan has bought a 100MW solar project in Colorado from GCL New Energy, a subsidiary of China's GCL New Energy Holdings.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law last week financial protections for consumer investments in rooftop solar energy. The law, AB 1208 authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), extends a prohibition on cities and counties taxing the energy generated by rooftop solar panels for use by homeowners and businesses.

The 100-megawatt club is about to get a lot busier. Here are the world’s eight largest battery storage projects.

A new coating developed by scientists at Stanford promises to bring lithium metal batteries ‘closer to reality’, by significantly extending their operational lifetime and limiting the occurrence of dendrites at the anode, which can cause short circuiting and fires.

Tara Doyle started her career in the solar energy industry more than 15 years ago, and today serves as the chief commercial officer at PVEL, which claims to be one of the first testing laboratories to focus on bankability for the downstream PV buyer community. The lab serves developers, financiers, O&M companies, asset owners, and insurers.

The California Independent System Operator has warned state regulators that there could be a 4.7 GW capacity shortfall in 2022, in the early evening hours of the annual peak demand events of September. The grid operator has suggested the alteration of water cooling laws, as well as increased procurement of resources.

MiaSolé Hi-Tech Corp., a California-based manufacturer of lightweight, thin-film photovoltaic solar modules and a subsidiary of Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, has announced multiple improvements in its module design for extreme conditions.

California roofing and solar installer Citadel Roofing & Solar has entered into a strategic partnership with solar equipment distributor Solar Roof Dynamics (SRD) to streamline Citadel’s solar efforts in preparation for California’s solar mandate on all new home construction.

US solar and battery storage service giant Sunnova is partnering with roofing and solar contractor PetersenDean Roofing & Solar to help Californians prepare for the state’s new residential solar law.

Newish European-based panel manufacturer FreeVolt has entered into a partnership with California-headquartered energy management company Apparent. FreeVolt’s U.S. installation division FreeVolt USA will team with Apparent to provide solar-plus-storage systems to California homeowners and C&I customers.

Ralphs, a subsidiary of The Kroger Company, announced the installation of a 2-MWac PV solar array at its automated distribution center in Paramount, California, a 555,000-sq-ft building that provides products to 190 Ralphs stores and 95 Food 4 Less stores throughout Southern California.

Within the first day of accepting applications, California’s new Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program is nearly fully subscribed, having received more than 240 applications representing over 74 MW of solar power generating capacity and $163 million in reserved funding.

San Jose Clean Energy (SJCE) and EDP Renewables SA (EDPR), through its fully owned subsidiary EDP Renewables North America, signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for 100 megawatts of new solar energy and 10 MW of battery storage at the Sonrisa Solar Park in Fresno County, California. The project is anticipated to be operational in 2022.

On July 29, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision in Winding Creek Solar LLC v. Peterman et al., ruling that California’s feed-in tariff for small qualifying facilities (QFs), the Renewable Market Adjusting Tariff (ReMAT), violates the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) (Ninth Circuit Case No. 17-17531).

EDP Renewables’ American subsidiary will sell 100MW of energy and 10MW of energy storage from a project in central California to the city of San Jose's default electricity utility, San Jose Clean Energy.