North America

Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA), in partnership with 12 Florida municipal electric utilities and Florida Renewable Partners, has broken ground on the 223.5MW Florida Municipal Solar Project. Once completed, the installation will be one of the largest municipal-backed solar projects in the US.

John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport will be the site of New York City’s self-styled largest solar plant after the project, which includes energy storage, was awarded to SunPower Corp and Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Group.

One of the major public utilities in Arizona is starting deployment of a 250 MW / 1,000 MWh storage facility in Rainbow Valley, the southern neighborhood of Buckeye (Phoenix Metropolitan Area). Sonoran Energy Center is going to become the biggest storage system in Arizona and one of the biggest in the US.

Seoul-headquartered solar supplier Hanwha charges rivals in the United States, Germany and Australia with having violated its patent. In U.S., Jinko Solar – together with REC and Longi – have requested an intermediate review by USITC. Today, Jinko is expecting the judge to decide in its favor.

Ørsted has commenced construction on the company’s first utility-scale solar plus battery storage project, the 460-MWAC Permian Energy Center. The facility is located in Andrews County, Texas, and will come online in mid-2021.

The Chinese-Canadian manufacturer reported a 1% decrease in sales in the third quarter, with net profit falling 19%, to US$55.2 million. Quarterly shipments were up significantly year on year, from 1.59 GW in July-to-September last year to 2,387 MW this time around. The company expects to ship up to 8.5 GW of panels and achieve turnover of up to US$3.16 billion this year.

Coolidge-based Planning and Zoning Commission has supported sPower's 100-megawatt photovoltaic project as well as a 472-ha solution implemented by Saint Solar.

The latest study published by the International Renewable Energy Agency says the average solar electricity cost of $0.085/kWh produced by projects commissioned last year is set to fall to $0.048 next year, and $0.02-0.08 by 2030.

United States-based solar energy corporation SunPower is spinning off the majority of its manufacture into a separate company, Maxeon Solar. The latter is going to include Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor, the Chinese silicon wafer supplier, as an investor.

The American subsidiary of Hanergy Holding has set up a new efficiency record for large-scale thin-film PV module. The recorded figure is 18.64 per cent on a unit with a 1.08 sq m opening. The achievement has been registered by German Fraunhofer ISE.

A U.S. research group has developed a metal-carbon-nanotube composite – MetZilla – which can be embedded in commercial, screen-printable silver pastes and is said to reduce the formation of hotspots in solar modules and to prolong panel lifespan. The composite metal contacts are also ‘self-healing’ as they are able to regain electrical continuity after cycles of complete electrical failure caused by extreme strain.

Last Wednesday, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk stated concluding a 30-year-long purchase agreement to supply solar power generated at the 195MW Broken Spoke solar station to Georgia Power.

Next year, NASA is planning to forward a Ben-Gurion-created photovoltaic prototype to International Space Station, which is supposed to become a huge move toward nongovernmental individual space operations, as was stated in Tazpit Press Service.

McDonald’s signed two purchase agreements for 380 megawatts of renewable energy total capacity. The fast-food company is going to buy power produced by Aviator Wind as well as a large-scale solar project. Both facilities are located in Texas.

LA is rushing to renewable energy. The city has just approved a contract with a 25 year term to get powered by a solar plant in Kern County. The project is being implemented in the framework of the Global Green New Deal.