California

Dismissed by many in the solar industry as an overly-complex, outdated technology, concentrated solar power (CSP) is set for a comeback thanks to a scaled-down, modular approach.

California’s highest court granted review to a lawsuit challenging a “regressive” rooftop solar policy called NEM 3.0.

US-based Sunstall has deployed a vertical agrivoltaic facility based on its racking solution in the United States. The system features 18 rows of 21 panels and has a total capacity of 170 kW.

The monthly charge would be assessed regardless of any energy conservation efforts or solar production at home. Eighteen California Congressional representatives wrote a letter to the Public Utilities Commission warning the proposed charge would harm low- and middle income residents and “undercut investments in renewable energy.”

There may be a global solar boom but a drastic revision of California’s net metering program has ruptured the industry overnight and is affecting everyone from installers to financiers to makers of power electronics.

The German government has confirmed the suitability of Hyphen’s hydrogen project in Namibia for potential investment, while Topsoe has completed a 2,000-hour demonstration of 12 solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) stacks.

By agreeing to limit exports to the grid at peak generation hours, distributed energy resources like rooftop solar and energy storage can now avoid delays and costly infrastructure upgrades.

The transition to California’s new net metering, ‘NEM 3.0,’ regime was justified, in part, as a way to support residential energy storage installations but the state policy has pushed rooftop solar off a cliff.

Egypt has clinched hydrogen deals with seven international developers, while the European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to support commercial production of Germany-based Sunfire’s solid oxide electrolyzers.

Arevon Energy secured the funds for a 374 MW solar project with 150 MW / 600 MWh of co-located energy storage.