April irradiance up for US and Mexico, down for Canada
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, presents the solar irradiance data it collected for North America in April. These data show that positive departures from normal April irradiation benefitted solar producers from California, Baja California and Sonora right across the continent to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maine.
Utility-scale solar installation goes automated
Powered by installation robots, on-site assembly line and digital twin software, the Terabase automated power plant construction system aims to boost productivity and cut construction costs.
US commercial PV can meet 35% of electricity demand of manufacturers
Northeastern University researchers have looked at energy use in manufacturing sectors and have found great potential for facilities to generate a portion of their own power with on-site rooftop solar installations.
Solar, renewables to reduce land use
A new Nature Conservancy report offers a land-use reduction scenario and framework to help energy planners and policymakers execute net-zero strategies.
US solar installers list Qcells, Enphase as top brands
A recent industry survey led by SolarReviews and the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) shows that two-thirds of all solar installers expect high electricity prices to drive demand.
U.S. court orders developer to pay $135.5 million in 100 MW solar property damage case
U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land issued a May 5 order ruling that Nashville-based Silicon Ranch and IEA are liable for more than $135 million in damages due to sediment erosion and lack of soil control.
Texas Senate approves tight permit restrictions on solar, wind
Under a new bill, existing projects could be retroactively removed if new permit requirements are not made. New solar and wind farms would need to win the approval of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, while undergoing yearly fees, tight siting requirements and more.
Fold-out NASA satellite solar array undergoes successful test deployment
The NASA/NOAA satellite, part of the GOES-R series, operated as expected in its terrestrial test, making it one step closer to launch.
The Hydrogen Stream: Electrolysis is cost-efficient in all climates, says Finnish team
Researchers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland said that chemical energy storages were needed for short and long-term balancing in every climate region, especially in the northern climates. Meanwhile, companies are moving forward with their plans to produce hydrogen in Namibia and Morocco.
Machine learning method to identify residential PV adopters, reduce soft costs
Researchers have defined a new machine learning-based methodology that reportedly reduces customer acquisition costs by about 15% or $0.07/Watt. It is based on an adapted version of the XGBoost algorithm and considers factors such as summer bills, household income, and homeowner’s age, among others.
