Solar Jobs Development Gets Infusion Of Government Cash

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

The Solar Foundation has received a $2 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office to expand its solar jobs training efforts, focusing particularly on veterans.

This new program will include an effort to support solar industry apprenticeships for hundreds of transitioning military veterans, preparing them for leadership roles in a rapidly growing industry. The program will also provide expert assistance to help the solar industry leverage workforce development resources and hire more workers from underserved communities.

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The Solar Foundation was selected as a part of the Energy Department’s FY2018 SETO funding program, an effort to invest in new projects that will lower solar electricity costs and support a growing solar workforce. The Solar Foundation will work alongside other projects in the funding program to develop training programs that prepare the solar workforce for a more digital electric power system and enable veterans and transitioning military personnel to join the solar workforce.

This new program will expand on The Solar Foundation’s current and previous efforts to help build a pipeline of qualified solar workers across the country, through initiatives such as the Solar Training Network, Solar Ready Vets, and the National Solar Jobs Census.

“We’re committed to building a solar workforce that can meet the urgent challenges of the 21st century,” said Andrea Luecke, President and Executive Director at The Solar Foundation. “This new program will help veterans and other job seekers develop advanced technical skills and become America’s future solar leaders.”

Working with industry partners, the new program will create solar industry apprenticeships for hundreds of veterans departing the armed forces, and develop a scalable model to train even more in the future. This effort will take advantage of the transferable skills that make service members outstanding candidates for careers in solar.

The new solar jobs effort will be led by The Solar Foundation with partnership from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), and Cypress Creek Renewables.

Deal Scoop: Energy Storage Giant FlexGen Is For Sale

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

FlexGen, the energy storage developer/integrator backed by GE and Caterpillar, is for sale.

The company, whose sale is being handled by Cascadia Capital, currently sports a $400 million pipeline of solar + storage and thermal generation + storage projects across North America. FlexGen was a first-mover in DC-coupled solar + storage technology and, as we have reported, is currently delivering the largest storage project in ERCOT for Vistra Energy. T

The prospectus suggests they are casting a wide net in search of a buyer, including utilities, infrastructure funds, oil and gas majors and renewable players.

FlexGen’s announcement continues what appears to be an ongoing trend of leading storage platforms being acquired by larger entities. For example, SolarEdge just bought Kokam, and earlier this year Engie followed up its 2016 acquisition of Green Charge by buying EPS. In 2017, Greensmith, Younicos, and Demand Energy, all sold to strategic buyers, and in 2016, Saft and 1Energy were sold as well.

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FlexGen’s specialty was DC-coupled energy storage, which means there are fewer components to install, meaning there are fewer parts to break down. In addition, you eliminate the unnecessary step of converting DC power to AC power (at the inverter) and then back to DC power (at the storage level) and then back to AC to deliver the electricity to the offtaker.

It lowers installation costs and stabilizes the entire project, including the power-output percentage. Such stability makes projects much easier to finance.

As a sign of its growing acceptance in the market, power producer and retailer Vistra Energy this week chose FlexGen to build its 10-megawatt/42-megawatt-hour storage system at the 180-megawatt Upton 2 solar plant in West Texas. At the time, it was the largest storage project in the Lone Star State.

“Adding storage to existing solar sites, particularly DC-coupled, is the lowest-cost way to deliver scaled storage attributes for their system,” FlexGen Founder Josh Prueher told Greentech Media at the time the deal was signed.

More:

How Vistra and FlexGen Made the Largest Battery in Texas Pencil Out

Is DC-Coupled Storage The Next Solar Boom Segment?

Department of Energy Unleashes $53 Milliion To Further Solar Research

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

One recent project of mine was to edit a book for a client on climate change. The book focuses on promoting the policies that historically help clean energy in the hopes of showing policymakers what they can do to mitigate climate change on a global scale.

One of the policies that continually came up was government investment in early-stage technologies designed to decarbonize different segments of the economy. In the Trump Administration, you would assume that such government investment would come to a screeching halt given their outsized disdain for technologies like solar and wind. And in fact, some of their actions (like their insane plan, now seemingly shelved, to bailout failing nuclear and coal plants) are in line with that disdain.

Still, when the Trump Administration looked over the budget, they missed a Department of Energy program that has now awarded millions of dollars to support early-stage solar technology development.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced selections for up to $53 million in new projects. Through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, the Department of Energy will fund 53 innovative research projects that will lower solar electricity costs and support a growing solar workforce.

“Innovation is key to solar’s continued growth in our nation’s energy portfolio. It increases our energy diversity and reinforces our ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “Developing new skills through workforce training is critical to expanding job opportunities in the renewable sector, which is why we are following through on our program to reach out to military veterans with new projects that will target this committed workforce.”

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These selections will advance research and development in photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP). While PV materials convert sunlight directly to electricity, CSP concentrates the incoming sunlight to heat that then generates electricity like a traditional power plant. The projects announced today span across 21 states plus the District of Columbia, and include PV research to increase grid resiliency in Puerto Rico. Selections are in the following areas:

Photovoltaics Research and Development: $27.7 million for 31 projects that will support early-stage research to advance new PV materials, like perovskites, which can essentially be painted on a surface to generate electricity. More innovation is needed to achieve high efficiency and stable performance over a long-time.
Concentrating Solar Power Research and Development: $12.4 million for 15 research projects that will advance the high-temperature components of CSP systems such as heat exchangers. These projects will develop materials and designs for collectors, power cycles, and thermal transport systems that can withstand temperatures greater than 700 °C while being corrosion-resistant. Next-generation CSP systems operating at higher temperatures will be able to store more heat and dispatch solar electricity at any time, day or night.
Improving and Expanding the Solar Industry through Workforce Initiatives: $12.7 million for 7 projects that will pursue initiatives to grow and train the solar workforce. These projects will support training and curriculum development at community colleges and advanced training for a more digital electric power system, which includes communications technology. This includes programs to prepare veterans and interested transitioning military personnel to join the solar workforce, building on Department of Energy’s pilot program, Solar Ready Vets.

Walmart, SunPower Sign Landmark Deal In Illinois

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As the Illinois market continues to unfurl, corporations in the state are starting to look for solar options to power their businesses. Now, one of the country’s largest retailers has partnered with a U.S.-based solar provider to add solar to the roofs and the ground surrounding its facilities in the state.

SunPower and Walmart announced an agreement with to have the commercial energy provider install solar systems at 19 stores and two distribution centers in Illinois.

As part of the project, a mix of rooftop and ground-mount solar systems are expected to account for 23 megawatts, with start of construction targeted for the first half of 2019.

This commitment moves Walmart closer to its 2025 goal of supplying its global operations with 50 percent renewable energy. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, the amount of anticipated annual carbon offset by this initiative will be equal to the amount of carbon sequestered by over 24,000 acres of U.S. forest in one year – the size of Elgin, Ill.

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“Solar is a vital component of Walmart’s expanding renewable energy portfolio,” said Mark Vanderhelm, vice president of energy for Walmart Inc. “Walmart plans to tirelessly pursue renewable energy projects that are right for our customers, our business and the environment. These planned projects with SunPower are moving us in the right direction toward our renewable energy goals.”

Walmart is financing the solar projects through a power purchase agreement (PPA) arranged by SunPower, allowing Walmart to buy power at competitive prices and hedge against future utility rate increases with no upfront capital costs. Walmart will own the renewable energy credits associated with the system.

“We commend Walmart for its leadership in driving corporate renewable energy adoption in the United States and for partnering with SunPower to deliver high-efficiency, high-quality solar to so many of its stores and facilities,” said Nam Nguyen, SunPower Executive Vice President, Commercial Americas. “As the top U.S. commercial solar provider and with over 30 years of experience, SunPower is well positioned to help Walmart increase its renewable energy investments in a cost-effective manner.”

In Illinois, smart state policy and rising utility rates make solar a smart investment for commercial customers. These installations will represent a 25 percent increase in Illinois’ current solar capacity and will generate enough electricity to power nearly 30,000 homes.

“Illinois Solar Energy Association is committed to advancing solar locally, enabling companies like Walmart – with stores and employees across our great state – to realize the economic and environmental value of renewable energy,” said Lesley McCain, Executive Director of the Illinois Solar Energy Association. “These projects will create hundreds of jobs for Illinois’ growing solar workforce while reducing pollution across the state.”