As two US grid operators have flagged a shortage of qualified engineers to conduct interconnection studies, pv magazine USA recently spoke with Kalyan Chilukuri, vice president of Electric Power Engineers, about industry staffing challenges and measures that might help.

As several US states will soon require smart inverters for new distributed resources, and more are considering such a requirement, nearly all manufacturers will be delivering smart inverters that meet a new industry standard by August 2023, finds an analysis by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

Opt-in dynamic pricing of electricity, which could help to balance renewables generation while lowering electric bills for participants and non-participants, is now on deck for a decision in California.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) final report on the future of storage presents “key learnings” from a series of six in-depth studies.

To speed the interconnection of utility scale solar and storage, “maybe we want somebody running the show that has more of an interest in getting all these resources in the grid,” said law professor Shelley Welton in a webinar for “100% clean energy states.”

“Advanced conductors” can deliver more electricity than conventional transmission lines, using existing transmission towers. Renewables trade group ACORE calls for greater use of advanced conductors, “to accelerate low-cost decarbonization.”

For short-term storage in a 100% renewables grid, thermal energy storage located at concentrating solar power plants could compete with batteries, according to a new study using an idealized grid model. Seasonal storage needs could best be met with power-to-gas-to-power technology.

Some northern states added as much small-scale PV per capita as the top states in the Southwest, taking advantage of solar irradiance in northern states that’s about 70% as high as that in the desert Southwest.

The geothermal field beneath California’s Salton Sea contains brine that may hold from one to six million metric tons of lithium, an essential element for producing batteries. A Berkeley Lab study aims to evaluate the resource.

Puerto Rico has 40GW of solar potential, said national lab staff in a webinar. The 100% study will begin by modeling the renewables milestones set by Puerto Rico law.