The Big News. SolarWakeup is going on the road with SolarWakeup Live!, a regional in person breakdown of the top news in solar. I’ll be interviewing local leaders, investors and startups about their work in the solar industry. The tour will go around the Country but now is your chance to tell me where I should start. Fill out this survey and make your voice heard.
LADWP Goes Storage. LADWP is fast tracking an energy storage project after an earlier halt to a massive natural gas power plant. Grid level storage is continuing to ramp nicely in California but what most solar pros should be thinking about is adding batteries to their existing solar farms on the DC side of the inverter. Lost energy and management of solar power is best when it is done this way without the massive efficiency losses of AC connected energy storage. For years now, energy storage and solar have been separate markets. Neither needing the other until today. Soon enough, every solar asset will have storage integrated like another inverter but large solar farms will have the ability to replace the peaking plants in operation today that will not be rebuilt at the end of life. More on this to come soon.
Specific Examples, Humanizing Solar Impact. Take your life savings, start a business and create jobs. That’s the story of Las Vegas solar company Louise Helton who made it through the recession that hit Vegas hard only to be struck by utility overreach and regulatory uncertainty. Taking this story public is where solar wins. No amount of lobbying and political donations can compare to the story telling of people’s lives.
The Solar Eclipse Of The Heart. The eclipse was cool but most importantly my job of finding solar articles gets easier. Also, congrats to any editor that was able to write a headline without using the word eclipse as a pun. I did hear that global solar will be eclipsing nuclear going forward.
- Utility Dive: Los Angeles muni speeds deployment of 20 MW battery storage project
- High Country News: In solar scuffle, big utilities meet their match
- Business Insider: Incredible photos of the solar eclipse across the United States
- GreenBiz: From Tesla to Mercedes-Benz, automakers become energy companies
- Bloomberg: Sempra Dares Buffett to Be Disciplined
- Vox: Wind and solar power are saving Americans an astounding amount of money
- Las Vegas Sun: Public Utilities Commission begins hearings on solar rates
- Greentech Media: How the Historic Event Tested Customer Engagement on the Electric Grid
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann