North America

Enphase has released 208 V three-phase inverters for the small commercial market. The advancing hardware comes with a specialized support team and tailored design tools.

SMA Solar Technology AG says it will open a new 3.5 GW inverter factory at an unspecified location in the United States in 2025. The German manufacturer is currently talking with several US states and potential partners to select the best production site.

Wood Mackenzie says the fundamentals are slowly shifting in the US residential solar market, as interest rates are expected to cool and utility electricity rates are set to rise considerably.

Terravis Energy said its heat pump prototype uses difluoromethane (R32) as the refrigerant and has a seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) of approximately 3.0 under Ontario’s environmental conditions.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has looked at the frequency and duration of “energy droughts” across the United States, as solar and wind are intermittent energy sources.

GM and Autocar Industries have agreed to jointly develop hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicles using GM’s Hydrotec power cubes, while European lawmakers have reached a provisional agreement on common market rules for renewable gases and hydrogen.

The mass adoption of geothermal heat pumps could decarbonize buildings and reduce grid transmission needs, according to a report by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Fourth Power, backed by Bill Gates’ venture firm, has developed high-density thermal energy storage (TES) based on thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells. The tech, which is reportedly 10 times cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, is based on the US company’s patented liquid metal heat transfer system.

Oversupply is hitting some solar manufacturers hard but grid constraints and labor shortages are unlikely to hold the solar industry back in 2024.

Scientists in the United States has developed a new photovoltaic-thermal system design that utilizes parallel water pipes as a cooling system to reduce the operating temperature of photovoltaic panels. The waste heat generated by this process is then used to generate domestic hot water.