The VPP program would allow fleets of customer-sited batteries to be remotely dispatched when demand for electricity is at its highest, the grid most stressed, and energy prices through the roof.

California Energy Commission approves new statewide VPP program

The California Energy Commission (CEC) approved on July 26 a new program that would tap into thousands of distributed solar-charged and standalone batteries located at homes and businesses throughout the state to meet the state’s growing electricity needs, particularly on hot summer evenings.

The concept is sometimes called a “virtual power plant,” and it is now featured in an innovative new part of the CEC’s Demand Side Grid Support program. The program would allow fleets of customer-sited batteries to be remotely dispatched when demand for electricity is at its highest, the grid most stressed, and energy prices through the roof. Energy prices rise when supplies are tight, like in a heat wave when demand for electricity spikes to keep air conditioners running. Bringing fleets of batteries online during these high-price events will help respond to grid emergencies, avoid power outages, help lower prices for all ratepayers and ultimately avoid grid emergencies in the first place.

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Source: Solar Power World

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According to US EIA, there are more than 5,000 solar farms across the US. In 2022, they produced 3.4% of the nation's electricity.

Amid record heat, solar farms help ease the strain on US power grids

Next to the rows of alfalfa, another type of farm is taking root in Southern California’s Kern County, one that’s harvesting clean, renewable energy.

Solar Star, one of the largest solar farms in the U.S., has a peak output of 586 megawatts.

“These panels track the sun all day,” said Alicia Knapp, president and CEO of BHE Renewables, which owns Solar Star. (I’ll double-check all quotes)

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Source: CBS News

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The FERC approved a rule to speed up clogged interconnection processes that have left power generation and energy storage projects waiting years for permission to connect to the grid.

FERC issues rule to speed grid connections for storage, renewables, other generators amid 2 TW backlog

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved a rule to speed up clogged interconnection processes that have left power generation and energy storage projects waiting years for permission to connect to the grid.

“Today is a historic day,” FERC acting Chairman Willie Phillips said during a media briefing. “This rule will ensure that our country’s vast generation resources are able to interconnect to the transmission system in a reliable, efficient, transparent and timely manner.”

The rule, called Order 2023, is the first major change to FERC’s interconnection requirements in two decades.

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Source: Utility Dive

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The $1 billion investment will be the largest clean energy project in KY and one of the largest in the US to be built on former mine lands.

Rivian and partners are turning a huge Kentucky coal mine into an 800 MW solar farm

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Rivian, BrightNight, and The Nature Conservancy will together turn one of the largest coal mines in the US into Kentucky’s largest solar farm.

Starfire Mine used to be one of the largest coal mines in the US. And now, global renewable power producer BrightNight’s CEO Martin Hermann, Rivian’s founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, and The Nature Conservancy’s CEO Jennifer Morris announced today that all three companies will work together to transform Kentucky’s Starfire into a solar farm.

Rivian and The Nature Conservancy collaborated to choose “a clean energy project that would accelerate an equitable, science-based clean energy transition that maximizes positive impacts on climate, conservation, and communities,” and they selected BrightNight to be the Starfire solar project’s developer.

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Source: electrek

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TFE is making a significant investment in a series of sustainability projects, spanning across four properties and exemplifying its proactive approach to reducing its carbon footprint.

Napa Valley winemaker adds solar arrays to four properties

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Trinchero Family Estates (TFE) is making a significant investment in a series of sustainability projects, spanning across four properties and exemplifying its proactive approach to reducing its carbon footprint. These projects – scheduled for completion by the end of this year – will include solar installations at four California wineries: Westside winery in Lodi, Main Street winery in St. Helena, Trinchero Central Coast winery in Paso Robles, and Green Island Road winery in American Canyon. Together, the installations will total more than 6.4 MWDC.

Green Island Road winery’s solar installation is the first to be completed and receive permission to operate and the American Canyon winery is now running on solar. REC Solar/Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions has meticulously designed the systems at Green Island Road and TFE’s other properties to accommodate evolution and expansion. Main Street winery’s systems will come online in December, with battery storage and microgrid capabilities.

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Source: Solar Power World

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The FPSC on Gao’s wearable sweat sensor has a record-breaking PCE exceeding 31 percent under indoor light illumination.

New Caltech wearable sensor sets record for solar power efficiency

Sweat, like blood, can tell us a lot about a person’s health. And conveniently, it’s a lot less invasive to collect.

This is the premise behind the wearable sweat sensors developed by Caltech’s Wei Gao, assistant professor of medical engineering, Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, and Ronald and JoAnne Willens Scholar.

Over the past five years, Gao has steadily added features to his wearables, making them capable of reading out levels of salts, sugars, uric acid, amino acids, and vitamins as well as more complex molecules like C-reactive protein that can provide timely assessment of certain health risks. Most recently, in collaboration with Martin Kaltenbrunner’s group at Johannes Kepler University Linz in Austria, Gao has powered these wearable biosensors with a flexible solar cell.

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Source: Pasadena Now

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In less than a year, IRA has prompted investment in a massive buildout of battery and EV manufacturing across the states.

One year old, US climate law is already turbocharging clean energy technology

On a recent day under the July sun, three men heaved solar panels onto the roof of a roomy, two-story house near the banks of the Kentucky River, a few miles upstream from the state capitol where lawmakers have promoted coal for more than a century.

The U.S. climate law that passed one year ago offers a 30% discount off this installation via a tax credit, and that’s helping push clean energy even into places where coal still provides cheap electricity. For Heather Baggett’s family in Frankfort, it was a good deal.

“For us, it’s not politically motivated,” said Baggett. “It really came down to financially, it made sense.”

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Source: The Daily

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Bright green vines snake upwards 20 feet (six meters) toward an umbrella of solar panels at Josef Wimmer’s farm in Bavaria.

Hops for beer flourish under solar panels. They’re not the only crop thriving in the shade.

Bright green vines snake upwards 20 feet (six meters) toward an umbrella of solar panels at Josef Wimmer’s farm in Bavaria.

He grows hops, used to make beer, and in recent years has also been generating electricity, with solar panels sprawled across 1.3 hectares (32 acres) of his land in the small hop-making town of Au in der Hallertau, an hour north of Munich in southern Germany.

The pilot project — a collaboration between Wimmer and local solar technology company Hallertauer Handelshaus — was set up in the fall of last year. The electricity made at this farm can power around 250 households, and the hops get shade they’ll need more often as climate change turbocharges summer heat.

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Source: MERCED SUN-STAR

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Research suggests that suspending solar arrays over canals can not only generate electricity but may also reduce water evaporation in drought-prone regions.

Can America’s canals double as solar farms?

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Some 8,000 miles of federally owned canals snake across the United States, channeling water to replenish crops, fuel hydropower plants and supply drinking water to rural communities. In the future, these narrow waterways could serve an additional role: as hubs of solar energy generation.

A coalition of environmental groups is urging the federal government to consider carpeting its canals with solar panels. The concept was pioneered in India a decade ago and will soon be tested in California for the first time. Early research suggests that suspending solar arrays over canals can not only generate electricity in land-constrained areas but may also reduce water evaporation in drought-prone regions.

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Source: Canary Media

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Gov. Hochul says the 7.2-MW community solar project is expected to power over 1,600 homes & reduce energy costs for Medline & local residents

New York completes state’s largest rooftop solar project atop Medline distribution center

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Medline Industries is the nation’s largest privately held medical products manufacturer and distributor. The $8 million community solar project was completed on May 26. The solar panels will generate 8.5 million kilowatt-hours of clean power annually, the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, or NYSERDA, said in a news release.

Community solar projects are intended to provide homeowners and renters access to clean energy without installing rooftop panels on their homes. Residents who subscribe to the Medline community solar system can receive credits on their electricity bill for an estimated 10% in monthly savings, according to Hochul’s announcement.

The project completion supports New York’s goal of installing 6 GW of distributed solar by 2025, and 10 GW by 2030, as outlined in its Climate Leadership and Community Protect Act.

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Source: Utility Dive

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