Solar Bill of Rights introduced by California senators
The legislation would enshrine a customer’s right to generate and store electricity as well as to connect to the grid without undue burden and would provide freedom from discriminatory fees and set compensation for battery power exports.
Understanding why cesium and rubidium salt improve the yield of perovskite solar cells
The addition of either salt enables more even distribution of halide atoms within the perovskite material – key to increasing cell conversion efficiency. The explanation should speed up the process of identifying the best perovskite mixes.
America’s Green New Deal is going to happen at state, not federal level
While U.S. senators Ed Markey and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduce a resolution for a clean energy package, legislation has been tabled in six states aiming to implement 80-100% clean energy by 2050 or earlier.
Canadian Solar revises up estimates while giving PG&E update
The Ontario firm has revised figures for shipments, net revenue and gross margin after seeing better-than-expected trading in the final three months of 2018.
Tesla acquires storage specialist Maxwell Technologies
The target company, which specializes in supercapacitors, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elon Musk’s business.
California rooftop legislation lifts order book for Swedish equipment supplier
CIGS thin-film production equipment company Midsummer posted record orders in 2018. With a U.S. partner, the company noted uptake was partly due to Californian requirements to integrate PV into all new (low-rise) buildings from next year.
American utility PG&E set to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company, founded 114 years ago, is filing for bankruptcy and may be broken up by regulators. None of which is good news for solar project owners holding contracts with the utility.
NantEnergy acquires Sharp’s US energy systems & services
Zinc battery specialist NantEnergy has acquired the U.S. energy systems and services business from Japanese electronics giant Sharp. The acquisition, according to NantEnergy, will provide the company with an important foothold in the U.S. market and allow it to provide “energy as a service” business models, using its Zinc-air battery, in multiple markets.
Centrica moves into California solar with Vista acquisition
The British energy and services company’s acquisition of the C&I solar contractor is the latest among a number of moves it has made into solar and batteries.
New efficiency record for perovskite-CIGS tandem
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, have set a new record 22.4% conversion efficiency for a tandem cell combining a lead-based perovskite layer with CIGS technology. The record has been confirmed by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
