Soltec launched a new floating tracker, dubbed Flotus, designed for inland water bodies such as reservoirs and ponds.

A new concept in floating solar trackers

Last month, Spanish solar PV tracker manufacturer Soltec launched a new floating tracker, dubbed Flotus, designed for inland water bodies such as reservoirs and ponds.

Flotus features an east-west tracking system, similar to horizontal ground-based solar trackers, and an “advanced naval design” that Soltec claims enables it to withstand the rigours of being located on water.

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Source: PV Tech

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Tesla’s virtual power plant (VPP) in California delivered 100 MW of power to help the grid not use gas peaker plants yesterday.

Tesla’s California virtual power plant delivers 100 MW to help the grid

Tesla’s virtual power plant (VPP) in California delivered 100 MW of power to help the grid not use gas peaker plants yesterday.

It’s peaker plant season in California. Heat waves are hitting the region, people are cranking up their ACs, and it is putting quite a load on the electrical grid.

Tesla has been using virtual power plants to aggregate its distributed energy systems, rooftop solar and Powerwall, to provide grid services and get more value for their customers.

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Source: electrek

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Olympic Champion and Team Panasonic Brand Ambassador Michael Phelps embraces solar at home with Panasonic EVERVOLT Total Home System.

Check out Michael Phelps’ massive home solar + battery system

Panasonic had a line at its booth that wrapped around the tradeshow floor at RE+ 2023. The reason was high-profile Panasonic brand ambassador and Olympic champion Michael Phelps was hanging out and taking photos. With the Summer Olympics and another RE+ around the corner, Phelps is showcasing Panasonic in an even bigger way: a Panasonic EVERVOLT system designed to power his Arizona home on solar energy using 90 solar panels and 4 battery units.

This massive PV + storage system will reduce the overall home energy usage by up to 70% and provide back-up battery storage.

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Source: Solar Builder

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Bifacial solar panels and other crop-friendly technologies are expanding the field of opportunities for agrivoltaic development.

Peaches, grapes, & the agrivoltaic farm of the future

The emerging field of agrivoltaics has come a long way in just a few years. From a focus on pollinator habitats and grazing lands, agrivoltaic stakeholders are expanding their ambitions to raise peaches, grapes, and other crops within arrays of ground-mounted solar panels. Whether or not that blows up the whole argument against rural solar development remains to be seen, but the alliance between farmers and solar stakeholders could swing the balance and help accelerate the renewable energy transition.

The Agrivoltaic Revolution Is Coming

The agrivoltaic movement goes hand in hand with the falling cost of solar panels. Solar technology was relatively expensive in the early 2000s. To cut maintenance costs, rural solar developers put down gravel and other no-mow solutions for groundcover under the panels. Raising crops was definitely out of the picture.

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Source: Clean Technica

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Ed Miliband sets new rules on solar panels and approves three giant solar farms as Labour seeks to end years of Tory inaction

Labour’s ‘rooftop revolution’ to deliver solar power to millions of UK homes

Keir Starmer’s Labour government unveils plans for a “rooftop revolution” today that will see millions more homes fitted with solar panels in order to bring down domestic energy bills and tackle the climate crisis.

The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, also took the hugely controversial decision this weekend to approve three massive solar farms in the east of England that had been blocked by Tory ministers.

The three sites alone – Gate Burton in Lincolnshire, Sunnica’s energy farm on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border and Mallard Pass on the border between Lincolnshire and Rutland – will deliver about two-thirds of the solar energy installed on rooftops and on the ground in the whole of last year.

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Source: The Guardian

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The California Energy Commission announced new grants totaling $18.9M to help 334 cities & counties automate residential solar permits.

California Energy Commission gives cities and counties grants to adopt automated solar permitting

In an effort to spur the growth of rooftop solar, the California Energy Commission has just announced new grants to help communities automate the approval of residential solar energy permits, with the total of $18.9 million now reaching a whopping 334 cities and counties. Experts expect the move to increase the speed of installations, lower costs and accelerate solar adoption statewide.

Roughly 10% of properties in California have solar, a figure that needs to grow rapidly for the state to meet its clean energy goals. One of the biggest obstacles to completing more solar projects is permitting. Properties that install rooftop solar first need to receive a permit from the local building department. Outdated and inefficient permitting requirements in many areas combined with staffing shortages can add months of delays and thousands of dollars to solar projects. In many cases, property owners cancel the project when permitting becomes too cumbersome or expensive. Building officials who want to improve solar permitting frequently lack the resources to do so.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Timet’s facility in WV will use solar and batteries to make titanium products used in everything from airplanes to pacemakers.

In a first, a solar microgrid will directly power an industrial plant

For half a century, a sprawling lot in Ravenswood, West Virginia, was home to a giant aluminum smelter. But in 2009, Century Aluminum idled the facility, then permanently closed it six years later, and the 2,000-acre site became an empty expanse along the bending banks of the Ohio River.

Now, a different metal-making plant is getting underway on the property — and it will run primarily on renewable energy when it starts operations next year.

Titanium Metals Corporation, or Timet, recently began construction on a facility that will melt titanium to be shaped into parts for airplanes and other uses. Just next door, BHE Renewables is preparing to install arrays of solar panels and large battery systems, which will form a solar microgrid that connects to the titanium facility. Both companies are part of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Warren Buffett.

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Source: Canary Media

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Solar power units will be installed at 130 primary healthcare facilities in Ukraine, allowing them to significantly reduce electricity costs.

Solar panels to power 130 healthcare facilities in Ukraine

Solar power generation units will be deployed at 130 primary medical care facilities across Ukraine.

This was reported by the Ministry of Health, Ukrinform saw.

It is noted that equipment will be purchased and installed within the framework of the joint project run by the Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and the World Bank “Health Enhancement and Lifesaving, HEAL”.

“Regular enemy attacks on civil infrastructure endanger the full-fledged operation of our healthcare system. That is why we are working to provide medical facilities with opportunities for maximum autonomous work, so that patients can receive all the necessary medical care without interruption and in full. Modern technology allows for strengthening our energy security, including through installing solar power units,” said Minister of Health Viktor Liashko.

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Source: UKRINFORM

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Global solar deployment to add 3.8 TWac of new project capacity by 2033 compared to 1.6 TW of wind power, 640% growth for energy storage

Solar & wind uptake to reach 5.4 TWac from 2024 to 2033

From 2024 to 2033, developers will bring more than 5.4 terawatts (TWac) of new solar and wind capacity online, increasing the cumulative global total to 8 TWac, as the world endeavours to electrify economies and meet decarbonisation targets, according to latest analysis by Wood Mackenzie.

Energy storage capacity (excluding pumped hydro) will grow by more than 600%, with nearly 1 TW of new capacity expected to come online in the same period. This makes energy storage one of the fastest growing markets in the power industry as renewable integration challenges rise.

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Source: Clean Technica

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Work is nearly complete on a pilot project erecting solar canopies over a canal on tribal land south of Phoenix.

First solar-covered canal in US to go online this summer

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Work is nearly complete on a pilot project erecting solar canopies over a canal on tribal land south of Phoenix. When finished, it will be the first solar-covered canal in the U.S.

The project will cover a half-mile of the Casa-Blanca Canal, part of a network owned by the Gila River Indian Community, and will deliver power to the Pima and Maricopa tribes. Tectonicus, the firm behind the project, expects it will connect to the grid this summer, Canary Media reports. A similar canal pilot project is underway south of Modesto, California, and is set to be completed next year.

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Source: Yale Environment 360

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