Solar Residential News

Panasonic launches new residential solar battery
The Japanese electronics manufacturer said the EverVolt storage system is available in the U.S. market in AC and DC-coupled versions, with a storage capacity ranging from 5.7-34.2 kWh, depending on the model chosen.
Sep 25, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Residential, Storage, Japan, Panasonic, Asia, lithium-ion storage, Mukesh Sethi
Solar-plus-storage for social housing
U.K. nonprofit organization Together Housing is launching a solar-plus-storage demonstration project in a social housing complex. The $2.4 million pilot is designed to identify alternative commercial models for residential storage, following the abrupt reduction of feed-in tariff rates.
Sep 20, 2019 // Commercial, Residential, Storage, UK, Europe, solar-plus-storage, ESIF, Patrick Berry
Korea’s South Jeolla province is becoming a solar hub
According to Korean government, around 18,000 unlicensed projects up to 1 MW in size are being developed in the area. Restrictions on such projects, which are driving this year’s strong solar growth in the country, are being introduced to reduce their environmental impact.
Sep 19, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Korea, MOTIE, KEPCO
Austria mulls mandatory PV as new rebates for solar and storage launched
With the region of Styria considering making PV mandatory on all new buildings, the nation’s Climate Fund will support PV and storage projects in agriculture and forestry. Applications can be submitted by November 2020 – or until the pot is empty.
Sep 19, 2019 // Plants, Residential, Storage, Rooftop PV, storage, Europe, Austria, Styria
Commercial and residential PV installer SIRC acquires Montross
Solar Integrated Roofing Corporation (SIRC) has completed the acquisition of The Montross Companies, an establishing roofing company in San Diego.
Sep 19, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, California, USA, North America, sirc, montross, roofing, David Massey
Poland slashes VAT for residential solar from 23% to 8%
The Polish parliament has adopted new environmental provisions which also include a tax reduction for micro PV. The measure comes on top of the Mój Prąd rebate scheme for residential rooftop projects ranging in size from 2 kW to 10 kW which was launched in July.
Sep 17, 2019 // Plants, Residential, Poland, Europe, Andrzej Sebastian Duda, esidential
The US tops 37.9 GW of large scale solar
That record figure of utility scale PV was under contract at the end of June with 8.7 GWdc under construction. However, installation levels fell slightly, year-over-year.
Sep 17, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, USA, ITC, Texas, Wood Mackenzie, North America, Minnesota
Dubai has 106 MW under net metering
Most of the generation capacity – around 63 MW – was deployed in the emirate over the last 14 months.
Sep 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Dewa, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Shams Dubai
Brexit paralysis and lack of incentives leave community energy facing uphill struggle in the UK
The future benefits of technology such as smart meters and the associated aggregation of small scale generation are not being adequately rewarded, support for solar and wind is being cut off and parliament is fixated solely on one issue
Sep 16, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Policy, UK, Ofgem, Emma Bridge, Brexit, Ovo Energy, Patrick Allcorn
Sweden increases budget for solar incentives by $48m
Funding for the rebate scheme had already been increased in April. Overall, the budget for this year now amounts to almost $125 million.
Sep 13, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Markets & Finance News, Sweden, Andreas Thorsheim
Essent takes over Belgian solar installer Aralt
The Essent business of German utility RWE wants to widen its clean energy offer for Belgian clients. Last year Aralt achieved a €5 million turnover.
Sep 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Markets & Finance News, Germany, Europe, Belgium, Aralt, Essent, Benelux
Luxembourg launches 40 MW solar procurement
The exercise will be open to PV projects ranging in size from 200 kW to 5 MW.
Sep 12, 2019 // Plants, Commercial, Residential, Tariffs, tender, Europe, Luxembourg, Claude Turmes
Bipartisan bill looks to simplify distributed solar permitting in US
A Republican senator from Maine and a Democratic senator from New Mexico have introduced legislation that aims to slash costs and red tape currently complicating local permitting for distributed renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging systems.
Sep 10, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Markets & Finance News, Storage, Grids, Rooftop PV, USA, storage, North America, rooftop solar system, distributed solar, investment tax credit, Ross Hopper, Maine
SunPower’s new Design Studio uses machine learning to design residential solar projects in seconds
SunPower has launched a web application that can design rooftop solar projects in seconds. SunPower’s Design Studio combines SunPowers’s Instant Design technology, Google Cloud and Google Sunroof to deliver customizable residential solar designs that take into account roof size, shading and energy potential. Homeowners can modify their design based on their energy needs, resulting in more accurate predictions of electricity bill and energy savings.
Sep 9, 2019 // Plants, Residential, SunPower, Design Studio, Jake Wachman
Canadian researchers have done the math on optimizing PV output
Mathematicians at Canada’s University of Waterloo who turned their attention to solar power have developed an algorithm they say offers better control over PV plant output. The researchers estimate the algorithm could improve the output of a 100 MW power plant by almost a million kilowatt-hours per year.
Sep 3, 2019 // Technology, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Canada, North America, University of Waterloo’s Department of Applied Mathematics, Milad Farsi