The US power landscape is about to be shaken up to the tune of 4.5GW worth of new solar energy generation & storage projects over the next 5yrs

The solar energy gloves finally come flying off

The solar revolution has stalled out in some parts of the US, much to the delight of fossil energy stakeholders. However, anything can happen at any time, and it just has. The US power landscape is about to be shaken up to the tune of 4.5 gigawatts’ worth of new solar energy generation and storage projects over the next five years, and three of the most asleep-at-the-solar-wheel states in the nation stand stand to get jarred awake by the sudden influx of investments in clean power.

3 US States In Need Of A Solar Energy Makeover

The leading energy firms Entergy and NextEra Energy Resources announced the new 4.5-gigawatt collaboration last week, to cover solar energy and storage projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, where Entergy is the electricity provider for a total of 3 million customers.

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Source: Clean Technica

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California plays an important role both as a buyer and a supplier of clean power. It has more solar power than any state besides Texas

A Western US energy market would boost clean energy. Will it happen?

Utilities, policymakers, and clean energy advocates across the U.S. West have long agreed that a region-wide electricity trading market would be a win-win. It would dramatically expand clean energy capacity — allowing California solar to shine in other places and wind from inland states to blow into power-hungry California — while also reducing power costs for utility customers.

But the idea has struggled to get off the ground after more than a decade of effort, as the stakeholders involved have failed to find a market structure that makes everybody happy.

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Source: Canary Media

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Swift Solar is betting on cells that use perovskite, a material that can improve efficiency — but also has yet to be proven at scale.

Startup plans to build next-generation US solar factory in two years

Startup Swift Solar Inc. wants to build a US factory for manufacturing its futuristic panels in the next two to three years amid government plans to bolster the sector against China’s dominance.

The California-based company aims to produce cells with a material known as perovskite, which can allow panels to capture energy from the sun’s rays more efficiently. Durability, though, remains an issue.

Swift plans to open its first plant with the initial capacity to produce 100 megawatts annually of technology that pairs perovskite with traditional silicon photovoltaic cells. For comparison, the average Chinese plant churns out about 10,000 megawatts per year while US projects tend to be in the 1,000 to 3,000 megawatt range, according to BloombergNEF solar analyst Jenny Chase.

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Source: Bloomberg

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A record-setting 11GW of new solar module manufacturing capacity came online in the USduring Q1 2024, the largest quarter of solar manufacturing growth in American history.

USA solar panel manufacturing capacity soared 71% in Q1 2024

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A record-setting 11 gigawatts (GW) of new solar module manufacturing capacity came online in the United States during Q1 2024, the largest quarter of solar manufacturing growth in American history.

According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q2 2024 report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, total U.S. solar module manufacturing capacity now exceeds 26 GW annually.

In addition, the industry also installed an impressive 11.8 GW of new solar capacity, bringing total capacity to 200 GW in the United States. The report also contains new data from 2023, showing that the United States added over 40 GW of new solar capacity last year. Wood Mackenzie now projects that the U.S. solar industry will install another 40 GW in 2024.

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Source: Clean Technica

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New testing conducted at France’s oldest PV system have shown that its solar modules can still provide performance values in line with what the manufacturers promised.

Solar modules deployed in France in 1992 still provide 75.9% of original output power

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French association Hespul was created in 1991 to set up the first photovoltaic plant connected to the national network in France. Following the inauguration of the Phébus 1 power plant on June 14, 1992 in Ain, Hespul decided to expand its activity to promote photovoltaics in France, which at the time was almost non-existent.

The association has now revealed that around 10 m2 of the panels, corresponding to around 1 kW, were dismantled from the system last year and submitted to a series of tests according to the international standards.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Investment in solar PV is expected to surpass all other generation technologies combined with over US$500B, according to a report from IEA.

IEA: Solar PV investment to surpass all technologies combined in 2024

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Investment in solar PV is expected to surpass all other generation technologies combined with over US$500 billion, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In its annual investment report, World Energy Investment, the IEA also highlights that for every US dollar invested in fossil fuels, two US dollars will be invested in clean energy this year. This is an increase from last year when the ratio was at US$1 versus US$1.7, respectively. Globally, clean energy technologies and infrastructure investment are expected to reach US$2 trillion in 2024.

Falling module prices and easing supply chain pressures have offset the impact of high interest rates, as solar panel costs have decreased by 30% over the past two years. However, the growth of spending for renewables – and particularly distributed solar PV – is expected to continue at a slower pace in 2024 than previous years.

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Source: PV Tech

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The US Department of Energy (DOE) is going to repurpose sites previously used in the nuclear weapons program into solar farms.

The US is putting enough solar to power 70,000 homes on old nuclear weapons sites

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is going to repurpose sites previously used in the nuclear weapons program into solar farms.

DOE is negotiating leases with two developers for solar farms within the 890-square-mile Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site, in Idaho Falls. The plan is to produce 400 megawatts (MW) of solar power – enough to power 70,000 homes.

These are the first projects as part of the DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, launched in July 2023, in which portions of federal land previously used in the US nuclear weapons program will be repurposed into clean energy sites. (Note that INL has never been part of the nuclear weapons program.)

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Source: electrek

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The world’s biggest solar plant has come online in China, capable of powering a small country with its annual capacity of more than 6B KWh.

World’s biggest solar farm goes online, big enough to power a country

The world’s biggest solar plant has come online in China, capable of powering a small country with its annual capacity of more than 6 billion kilowatt hours.

The facility in a desert region of the north-west province of Xinjiang covers 200,000 acres – roughly the same area as New York City.

The 5GW complex, which was connected to China’s grid on Monday, is powerful enough to meet the electricity demands of a country the size of Luxembourg or Papua New Guinea.

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Source: Independent

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Agrivoltaics offers a promising solution to the complex task of harmonizing energy production and agriculture.

Agrivoltaics boost food & energy production in Asia

Every autumn morning at an aquaculture site near the mouth of the Yellow River in China’s Dongying City, Shandong Province, farmers begin packaging shrimp for their customers. Their harvest is increasingly more bountiful thanks to an innovative way of farming that integrates renewable energy into agriculture.

Here, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels were installed several meters above the water, helping to generate an annual 260 gigawatts-hours of energy — enough to power 113,000 households in China. Since its completion and grid connection in 2021, the farmers have also gained many benefits.

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Source: Clean Technica

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For 55 days in a row, electricity from solar, wind, and water power exceeded 100% of power demand on CA’s main grid for part of the day.

Solar passes 100% of power demand in California

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California has been a leader in the installation of solar power plants and wind power plants for many years now (despite its recent anti-rooftop solar shift via “Net Metering 3.0”). That has led to more and more of its electricity generation coming from renewables. The trend has been going on for years, but there are a couple of recent developments that should really get people’s attention.

Record Solar Power in California Passes 100% of Power Demand

For 55 days in a row, electricity from solar, wind, and water (hydro) power exceeded 100% of power demand on California’s main grid for part of the day. Also, going back further, that has been achieved in 80 out of the last 87 days. That is since early March (International Women’s Day), late winter.

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Source: Clean Technica

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