The United States now has enough installed solar power capacity to power 16.4 million average homes, according to the latest data from the Solar Energy Industries Association.
This year, installations bounced back to 14% higher during the third quarter as compared to the second, when shelter-in-place orders caused a historically low level of solar installations.
On the utility scale, a total of 9.5 GW (dc) came online with the completion of many photovoltaic solar power projects. The utility-scale solar power pipeline stands at 69 GW, according to SEIA’s Solar Market Insight Report.
“Solar accounted for 43% of all new electricity generating capacity added in the U.S. through the third quarter this year, beating out all other generation technologies,” according to the report’s executive summary.
SEIA also ranked the states of the union on how much solar they have build. Click our informative photo gallery to see whether your state made the list.
Swell will link batteries in 6,000 different homes to create a decentralized power plant for the local utility.
By Julian Spector, gtm
Hawaii’s largest utility enlisted a new tool in its quest for a carbon-free electricity system: thousands of batteries installed in people’s homes.
Hawaiian Electric won regulator approval for a $25 million plan to harness solar and batteries at 6,000 homes across the islands of Hawaii, Maui and Oahu. Venice Beach, Calif.-based startup Swell Energy will oversee customer outreach, installation and operation of the network, which will serve as a virtual power plant.
Once complete, the portfolio will supply 25 megawatts of solar power and 80 megawatts of battery capacity, which Hawaiian Electric can use as electricity during hours when grid demand surges, as well as delivering rapid-fire fast frequency grid response.
The virtual power plant model offers homeowners backup power and power bill savings from self-supplying electricity for more hours of the day. The battery capacity is also available to the utility to deal with the systemwide challenges associated with the transition to cleaner energy. This requires balancing grid needs with ensuring that customers are backed up and fairly compensated.
“What do homeowners think about this? Folks dig it,” CEO Suleman Khan told Greentech Media in a December interview. “The dual use case is quite efficacious for both parties.”
This is still an emerging asset class, but last month Swell revealed it had raised a $450 million project finance fund from Ares Management Corp. and Aligned Climate Capital. The fund provides the venture-backed startup with low-cost capital to build out battery networks, in anticipation of the long-term contracted revenue Swell will earn from utilities once the fleets are operational.
In a series of statements by Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade — Canada has requested consultations with the U.S. to be excluded from the list of countries hit with tariffs on the import of solar cells and modules.
“Canada is a trusted partner of the U.S. with long-established cross-border supply chains that enhance North American competitiveness,” the Minister said in the statement. “Canada has requested consultations with the U.S. on its continued tariffs on solar products, as first steps in the CUSMA dispute settlement process.”
The U.S. had imposed Section 201 tariffs on imports from Canada in 2018.
Since its introduction, the tariffs have caused an 82 percent decrease in Canada’s solar products export to the U.S.
According to Ng, the tariffs are unwarranted and clearly violate the provisions and the spirit of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
With a new progressive President due to take office later this month, there is a greater chance these tariffs on imported solar cells and modules may be lifted within the first 100 days.
Package of tax credits eyed for must-pass spending bill
Agreement reached among House and Senate tax committees
U.S. congressional leaders have tentatively agreed to a package of tax incentives including extension of credits for wind and solar projects that would be incorporated into a must pass-government funding bill if a deal on Covid stimulus can be reached, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be identified.
The package renewing tax breaks, which could also provide tax cuts for beer-brewers and the storage of carbon dioxide, has been the subject of bipartisan talks that have yielded agreement on the House and Senate tax writing committees, according to a congressional aide, who also asked not to be identified.
An extenders deal hinges on leaders in the House, Senate, and White House agreeing on a broad spectrum of largely unrelated issues and a breakthrough on an economic relief bill, which has eluded lawmakers for months.
An agreement to extend these tax breaks for multiple years last year fell apart after he White House balked at some of the clean energy incentives and Congress instead passed a narrow one-year extension of some non-controversial tax breaks.
There is support for the inclusion of a one-year extension of lucrative tax credits for the wind and solar industries at their current level as well as the multiyear extension and expansion of a tax credit for the underground storage of carbon dioxide backed by both environmental groups and oil companies. Also being pushed are credits for energy storage and offshore wind.
In all, more than 30 tax breaks for energy-efficient equipment, movie producers and race-car tracks and other targeted industries expire at the end of the year. Also among the expiring tax breaks is a special write-off for race horses, a favorite provision of the senior senator from Kentucky: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will have large say over whether extenders end up in a final version of the legislation.
Several solar stocks including SunPower Corp. and Sunrun Inc. were up sharply Tuesday, though it was unclear whether the bill was a catalyst.
Construction is set to start next spring on a solar battery project in the Northwest Arctic villages of Shungnak and Kobuk. It’s the latest renewable project for a region routinely struck by high energy costs.
It’s always been expensive to provide energy to rural Alaska. With most communities not falling on the road system, locals are forced to barge and fly in diesel fuel to power generators. There is a state program that reduces energy costs but with the state’s budget crisis, it’s unknown how long that program will be around.
Edwin Bifelt said even with state support, energy in rural Alaska remains pricey.
“Even with Power Cost Equalization, people see rates anywhere from 20 cents up to 40 to 50 cents a kilowatt-hour, which is four or five times the national average,” Bifelt said.
Bifelt, who grew up in the village of Huslia, is the founder and CEO of Alaska Native Renewable Industries. The company specializes in providing renewable energy to rural Alaska communities.
Now, ANRI is contracted with the Northwest Arctic Borough for just over $2.1 million to construct similar arrays in the villages of Shungnak and Kobuk, the easternmost communities in the borough. Bifelt said he expects the arrays to lower utility bills in the villages.
“Definitely see a decrease in the amount of diesel fuel that they have to fly in every year, but it’s tough to say right now what end effect it’s going to have for residents in the long run,” Bifelt said.
Kobuk and Shungnak combined have about an eighth the population of Kotzebue. Bifelt said the two new arrays will follow a similar design to the Kotzebue project, but they will be much smaller.
“The tentative design we have is for approximately a 38-kilowatt array in Kobuk and a 186-kilowatt array in Shungnak, I believe,” Bifelt said.
Bifelt said rural energy projects aren’t new to the region, though his company puts an emphasis on hiring locals to help with construction rather than fly up workers from larger cities.
“Just to provide some temporary jobs, provide some new skills for people within the community relating to renewable energy, and giving them education and experience with solar,” Bifelt said.
Construction of the solar arrays should wrap up by summer next year.
The New Jersey Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste committee will meet at 1 p.m. on Monday, December 7 to consider the following bills:
A4397– Allows installation of residential solar energy systems prior to obtaining construction permit or interconnection approval during COVID-19 emergency.
S2606 – Allows installation of residential solar energy systems prior to obtaining construction permit or interconnection approval during COVID-19 emergency.
A5053 – Amends list of environmental infrastructure projects approved for long-term funding for FY2021 to include new projects and modify estimated loan amounts for certain projects; modifies terms and conditions for certain loans utilizing federal funds.
A5054 – Authorizes NJ Infrastructure Bank to expend additional sums to make loans for environmental infrastructure projects for FY2021; modifies terms and conditions for certain loan utilizing federal funds.
