By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent If there’s one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on, it’s the increasing political power of solar energy. Just ask the more than 100 representatives the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) visited this summer during what it called its Summer Advocacy Blitz. And solar is a bipartisan power source. After all, the representative with the most solar jobs in her district is none other than Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. And the representative with the most actual installed solar capacity in his district is Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Those two don’t agree … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing is one of the most successful mechanisms for funding clean energy improvements in commercial properties. It allows businesses and other commercial enterprises to make energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to their properties with no money up front. Instead, they pay off those investments through their property taxes. Currently 35 states have C-PACE enabling legislation, and 20 have full-blown functioning programs. What’s that? (Holds hand to ear.) I’m being told that number is now 36, after Delaware Governor John Carney signed Senate Bill 113 into law, enabling C-PACE … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent It’s easy to lose sight in today’s electricity market that energy storage isn’t only happening on an individual homeowner level. In fact, a recent study showed that utilities increased their battery storage capacity 68% to 1.3 GWh in 2017. That number comes from a utility survey conducted by the Smart Electric Power Alliance, an utility-focused trade organization. The survey itself is behind a paywall, but pv magazine has the goods. For example: [wds id=”3″] The use of longer-duration batteries, able to discharge for several hours, has enabled balancing of solar with widespread storage, as in … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Solar observers in Kansas are watching closely as two demand-charge proposals wend their way through the Kansas Corporation Commission. A decision on whether the fees will go into effect is expected on September 27. It’s always interesting to watch lesser solar states work out their solar policies, despite the fact they often fall into some of the same traps earlier states have. Kansas appears to be no exception. The state’s two largest utilities – Westar Energy and Kansas City Power & Light – currently have proposals before commission, which solar advocates say could bring the … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent One Colorado co-op has set the stage to defect from one wholesaler because they don’t believe it’s moving fast enough to incorporate renewables into its portfolio – and the long-term implications are potentially startling. As Western Energy News reports: The Delta-Montrose Electric Association will vote in October on rule changes that would allow another power supplier to help finance its exit from a contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission. The association is among Tri-State’s largest customers, and its defection could heighten the risk of a mass exodus as others are forced to cover a larger … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent While the United States seems hellbent on starting new trade wars with countries around the world, the European Union (EU) has determined that its own sanctions on Chinese solar modules should come to an end, according to reporting by Reuters. As Reuters reports: The EU first imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures for Chinese solar panels, wafers and cells in 2013 and extended them by 18 months in March 2017, signaling that they should then end. Chinese manufacturers have been allowed to sell solar products in Europe free of duties if they do so at or … Read More →

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon Solar panels last 30 years or more. Almost all of the old panels that I have tested still crank out close to their original power output. Unfortunately, old solar panels are not compatible with the electronics of new systems – inverters, optimizers and microinverters. Sort of like that old CD-ROM software that is still good…if you could just get a computer that has a CD-ROM drive and runs Windows XP. Some people want to upgrade their old 14% efficiency panels with new 20%+ efficiency panels equipped with a battery storage system. One big benefit … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent pv magazine reports that Canadian Solar might be ready to go private, thanks to a $250 million bid from venture capital firm Lions Point. If that latter name sounds familiar, it’s because it should be: SolarWakeup brought you the news earlier this year that Lions Point found itself embroiled in the Suniva bankruptcy, as fellow Suniva creditor SQN Financial accused it of trying to sell off parts of Suniva to eliminate the competition. What competition, you ask? Right. They were arguing that though Suniva had not produced a module in more than a year, Canadian … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The final days of the California legislative session have been big ones for clean energy. First, the Assembly passed a 100% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they moved on to extend the Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) for five years, as well as adding $700 million in additional funding. Now the bill will go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote and then on to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature. There are not expected to be any blips in that process. As the California Public Utilities Commission says on its … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The new battle lines are being drawn, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave consumers a victory yesterday as utilities struggle to come to grips with customer-sited energy storage. For years, utilities have tried, using various methods, to treat solar consumers as a separate class of customer, giving them the right to charge extra fees (among other mechanisms) that they charge to no other customer in their ratepayer base. These efforts, by and large, have been met with appropriate scorn by public utilities commissions around the country and have been rejected. Now, however, a … Read More →