USA

US telecoms and entertainment giant AT&T has inked a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Chicago-based developer Invenergy for 800MW of solar and wind.

Hanwha Q CELLS has celebrated the grand opening of what it bills as the “largest” solar panel factory in the western hemisphere, a US$200 million facility in Dalton, Georgia, meant to supply 1.7GW to the US market every year.

While the cost of installing solar panels has fallen dramatically (more than 70% since 2010, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association ) and continues to decline, cost is still—understandably—a major consideration for customers.

The US Department of Energy has shut down the site for its Open PV Project, which supplied cost and installation data. Is this the winding down of a project whose time had come, or is the administration of President Donald Trump closing off another data source on renewable energy?

Amazon unveiled a number of new climate initiatives this week, including 80% renewables by 2024, zero emissions by 2040, a fleet of 100,000 electric vans and a $100 million investment in reforestation measures.

Tumbling solar costs have spurred Google on to a dramatic boost of its exposure to the technology, acting to line up supply from projects worldwide as part of a major clean energy push.

This week pv magazine was in Amsterdam for the sixth edition of the BifiPV workshop, where the discussion focused on the impressive achievements made by bifacial solar modules and the challenges the technology faces as it moves toward mainstream adoption.

MIT scientists claim to have created a material 10 times more black than anything witnessed to date. It is said to be able to absorb more than 99.96% of incoming light and reflect 10 times less light than other superblack materials. The invention may be interesting for the development of black silicon PV technology and carbon nanotube-based solar cells.

When Sony first commercially introduced lithium-ion batteries in 1991, the industry recognized their potential to revolutionize portable electronics. Ever since, there have been countless efforts to improve the technology, with many researchers focusing on energy density and longevity, in line with demand from emerging applications such as electric vehicles (EVs) and on-grid energy storage. Julian Jansen and Youmin Rong of IHS Markit discuss the effect of safety concerns on this rapidly growing global market.

NextEra Energy Partners has announced a private offering of US$500 million in senior unsecured notes due 2026 by its subsidiary company NextEra Energy Operating Partners (NEP OpCo).

Baltimore-based power provider Constellation has inked a deal to sell power from a 175MW solar facility in Virginia to Johns Hopkins University, spice and seasoning mix company McCormick & Company and department store corporation TJX Companies.

Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation (SIRC) has completed the acquisition of The Montross Companies, an establishing roofing company in San Diego.

Solar Frontier Americas has acquired a 50.5MW PV project purchased from CS Solar, a JV company of Samsung Solar Energy. The installation is located in Stanislaus County, California, just a few hours southeast of San Jose.

Virginia’s state governor has issued an executive order that reiterates the need to have “at least” 3GW of solar and offshore wind projects in development by 2022 in order to reach a string of ambitious new renewable energy production targets.

Avangrid Renewables has signed off on an agreement with Axium Infrastructure to transfer 50% ownership of both the Copper Crossing Solar Project and Dry Lake II Wind Farm in the coming months.