APS, First Solar to install Arizona’s largest battery system
The Arizona-based module manufacturer will install a 50 MW battery system charged by a 65 MW solar farm under a 15-year power contract with the U.S. state’s largest utility.
Enphase and Panasonic announce AC module partnership
Company confirms Panasonic’s HIT modules to be fitted with Enphase Energy’s new IQ7X Microinverter as part of the partnership, while Enphase’s new IQ7X microinverter due to be released in May in North America, Enphase confirms.
Wacker Chemie boosts 2017 sales volume by 6% Y-O-Y
German-headquartered polysilicon producer attains 2017 sales and earnings target, posting €4.92 billion in sales and net income of €885 million.
Kann, Shiao: No US “manufacturing renaissance” due to solar tariffs
The latest analysis by current and former GTM Research executives argues that there is insufficient economic reason to manufacture solar in the United States.
Tesla solar deployments slide further in Q4
With only 87 MW deployed, Tesla/SolarCity may no longer be the largest distributed solar company in the United States, but its energy storage business is growing.
US solar jobs fell 3.8% in 2017
The hangover from the ITC-driven boom in 2016 in the U.S. is the biggest factor in the relative decline, and a rebound is expected in 2019.
The unexpected benefits of replacing tobacco plantations with solar farms
Although tobacco consumption is the key cause of avoidable deaths worldwide, its cultivation remains the main source of income for many farmers. Now, two researchers from the Michigan Technological University claim that converting tobacco fields to solar farms could be beneficial for two purposes: reducing deaths and helping solar energy fight climate change.
US installs nearly 4 GW of solar in Q4 2017
GTM Research has given its preliminary estimate for installations over the full year 2017 at 11.8 GW, a 22% decline from 2016 levels.
Mission Solar to double US solar module manufacturing
The expansion to 400 MW will make Mission the fourth-largest PV module maker in the U.S.
Researchers develop approach to identify best organic solar cell mixtures
The new temperature-dependent parameter can say “it’s a match“ even before manufacturing organic solar cells, saving time and resources, find scientists at the North Carolina State University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
