California

As more states adopt ambitious renewable power and storage targets, hopes increase for continued market opportunities beyond the ITC. In the mid-term, the overall market opportunity is clear. At IHS Markit, we project 73 GW of solar PV systems will be installed in the United States from 2018 to 2022.

A new study from University of California, Riverside, uses electric dipoles to accelerate electron in one direction, whilst completely stopping it in the other. The discovery, according to researchers, could lead to improvements in solar cell and other energy conversion technologies.

With 34 of the 38 key technologies needed to hit the Paris Agreement’s best-case scenario falling short, PV and electric vehicles are keeping hopes alive

In this op-ed for pv magazine, Clean Coalition’s Frank Wasco explores how microgrid projects by Solar Saves Lives and other organizations show that communities can build back right and prepare for natural disasters.

California has set a new record for peak output of utility-scale solar at more than 10.5 GW, as well as for renewable energy overall. However, the state’s grid operator is still curtailing solar and wind while hydro and the last nuclear plant run full-steam.

A team of researchers the United States Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has discovered a method of coating particles with organic dye, which can capture near infrared light, a breakthrough which, according to the researchers, could greatly boost solar cell efficiency by capturing a larger section of the light spectrum.

Scientists from the University of California, Riverside, have developed thermoelectric devices, which can transform low-level waste heat into electricity. The scientists theorize that these devices could be used to boost a solar PV system’s output, harnessing heat as well as light from the sun.

As the conclusion of a 15-month rule-making, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will require grid operators to value the contributions of energy storage, and begins a process to look at how aggregated distributed energy resources can compete in wholesale markets.

The energy storage company will receive the money from three different investors, including the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Scientists from the renowned U.S. Berkeley Laboratory have discovered a perovskite material, which can be used in photovoltaic glass applications, and can be switched between transparent and non-transparent without diminishing its electronic properties.