USA

The US government has extended its solar import tariffs to bifacial modules, in a policy u-turn set to partially redraw the global trade flows of the fast maturing technology.

The polysilicon company draws another bad hand in the trade war.

The global solar market is growing rapidly but remains highly fragmented, Wood Mackenzie says.

The U.S. Trade Representative has not responded to claims it will end the exemption from Section 201 duties. If true, the development could be a big hit for Asian PV manufacturers and an annoyance for the U.S. market – but a positive for First Solar.

A proposal to turn the site of a former landfill near Houston’s Sunnyside community into the largest urban solar farm in Texas has local officials and residents hopeful that change may finally be coming to a site that has been an eyesore for decades.

Maxar Technologies awarded a contract to Deployable Space Systems to manufacture flexible solar arrays for the Power and Propulsion Element of the Gateway, a key element of NASA’s Artemis campaign to return humans to the moon.

PacifiCorp released a draft of its long-term energy plan that continues investments in new wind generation and transmission, while adding significant new solar and storage resources. The plan, which is the result of a comprehensive data analysis and stakeholder input process, demonstrates the company’s adoption of additional lower-cost renewable resources to meet customer needs and support for its phased coal transition.

Sunnova Energy Corporation is collaborating, through the Solar Foundation’s “Solar Saves Lives” program, with non-profit organizations in Puerto Rico to support critical energy projects on the island.

US solar firm SunPower is to deploy 3.7MW of solar carports across 10 locations in Contra Costa County, California, with some of the sites using energy storage.

The Norwegian polysilicon and silane gas producer has announced it will listen to offers for its production facility in Butte Montana after mothballing its other manufacturing operation – at Moses Lake, Washington – in the summer.

A U.S. microgrid specialist will draw up proposals for an independent solar-plus-storage system to ensure a remotely-situated cannabis farm in California can get the energy it needs to power cultivation.

LevelTen claims its online platform offers small companies the chance to band together to buy green energy and connects renewable energy producers and consumers in such an effective manner it has already driven $1 billion of green energy supply in its homeland.

An accelerated transition to renewables could go either way, regarding the United States’ unique geopolitical strength. According to Indra Overland – head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs – the U.S. could surrender a major advantage if it abandons fossil fuel. The nation could, however, remain dominant in the global energy sector if it continues to lead on innovation and clean energy tech-related intellectual property.

Google has signed a deal for 250MW of solar energy from installations planned in Texas by Chicago-based developer Hecate Energy.

Ranger Power will search for a buyer of its 230 million dollar solar site in eastern Lincoln.