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March 2017

  • Why Utility-Scale Developers Should Conduct A Phase I ESA Knowing when and how to complete a Phase I environmental site assessment can reduce risks from existing contamination.
    Why Utility-Scale Developers Should Conduct A Phase I ESA Knowing when and how to complete a Phase I environmental site assessment can reduce risks from existing contamination.
  • Gauging Distributed Solar’s True Impact On Utility Rates Berkeley Lab explores how solar affects rates and suggests other issues might warrant more attention instead.
    Gauging Distributed Solar’s True Impact On Utility Rates Berkeley Lab explores how solar affects rates and suggests other issues might warrant more attention instead.
  • New State Policies Pave The Way For Low-Income Solar Actions taken in several U.S. regions are poised to benefit consumers who need energy savings the most.
    New State Policies Pave The Way For Low-Income Solar Actions taken in several U.S. regions are poised to benefit consumers who need energy savings the most.
  • How Will The PV Module  Market Fare In 2017? Research firm IHS Markit provides and explains its latest  near-term global forecasts.
    How Will The PV Module Market Fare In 2017? Research firm IHS Markit provides and explains its latest near-term global forecasts.

Departments

New & Noteworthy

Policy Watch

Projects & Contracts

Products & Technology


All Articles

Sun Dial

Is The Sky Falling?
By Joseph Bebon
It seems like just about every other day, I come across a new report highlighting how great the solar industry is doing, both in the U.S. and globally. For example, the latest stats released by SEIA verify the U.S. market broke installation records by a wide margin in 2016 – a year during which the [...]

Sundown

Consumer Protections: Myth vs. Fact
By Tom Kimbis
The U.S. solar industry is made up of more than 9,000 companies, most of which interact with customers every day. Word-of-mouth recommendations are vital for our companies and their reputations, and the emphasis the industry places on consumer protection is one of the reasons solar has such strong approval ratings. The Solar Energy Industries Association [...]

Site Assessments

Why Utility-Scale Developers Should Conduct A Phase I ESA
By Kendra Kallevig-Childers & Ellen Crivella
As projections for utility-scale solar energy development continue to skyrocket, project developers have become more sophisticated in reducing environmental and regulatory risk, thereby making projects more attractive to potential financiers and buyers. In North America, Phase I environmental site assessments (ESAs) are conducted to identify contamination at a site and are a critical component of [...]

Rate Impacts

Gauging Distributed Solar’s True Impact On Utility Rates
By Galen Barbose
The rapid growth of distributed solar in a number of states has raised questions about its potential effects on retail electricity prices, prompting concerns about cost-shifting between solar and non-solar customers. These concerns have led to a proliferation of proposals to reform retail rate structures and net energy metering (NEM) rules for distributed solar customers, [...]

Low-Income Solar

New State Policies Pave The Way For Low-Income Solar
By Stan Greschner
2016 was a banner year for most aspects of the U.S. solar industry, perhaps none as meaningfully as for solar serving low-income communities. Multiple states enacted policies expanding solar access, but action in three states and the District of Columbia, in particular, could pave the way for new capacity, lower utility bills, and expand workforce [...]

PV Modules

How Will The PV Module Market Fare In 2017?
By Edurne Zoco
The second half of 2016 was a roller-coaster ride for the global solar PV industry. Although the third quarter of 2016 was marked by oversupply with slow demand, strong price decline, and high inventories throughout the module supply chain, the fourth quarter presented more balanced supply and demand with higher module shipments, stabilized pricing and [...]

Department

New & Noteworthy
By Joseph Bebon
It’s Official! U.S. Solar Market Shattered Records In 2016 It’s no surprise that the U.S. solar sector broke records in 2016 – analysts long expected it to be a boom year – but newly released data highlights just how wildly successful the market was. In its biggest year to date, the U.S. solar industry nearly [...]

Department

Policy Watch
By Joseph Bebon
Veto Override: Md. Lawmakers Enact Clean Energy Jobs Maryland state lawmakers have proven that even a governor’s veto can’t keep them from their desire to support solar and wind power. In late January, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 88-51 to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, legislation to increase [...]

Department

Projects & Contracts
By Joseph Bebon
NRG Revives SunEdison Solar Projects In Hawaii NRG Energy Inc. and utility Hawaiian Electric have reached agreements to revive solar projects that were originally proposed by now-bankrupt renewables firm SunEdison. NRG and Hawaiian Electric have signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the utility to buy electricity generated by two Oahu grid-scale solar facilities. The 14.7 [...]

Department

Products & Technology
By Joseph Bebon
Utility Tucson Electric Power Turns To Energy Storage Tucson Electric Power (TEP), a utility that provides electricity to approximately 417,000 customers in southern Arizona, says it is enhancing the resiliency of the local electric grid with new large-scale energy storage facilities. According to the utility, a subsidiary of Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources recently completed construction [...]
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