United States

The holy grail of energy storage has always been low-cost and long-duration. Form Energy plans to deploy a 1 MW/150 MWh system with a Minnesota utility before 2023 – an unprecedented energy storage duration, if successful.

In pv magazine’s second roundtable session, Advanced technologies, the U.S. storage market came under the spotlight – in particular, the lessons that can be learned from solar as the market moves towards greater maturity. Also under discussion was the trend among PV manufacturers to producing ever larger cells and modules in the continuous drive to bring down LCOE. But is big necessarily better?

The investment underscores the critical role of software in driving the mainstream adoption of solar.

Allume Energy’s SolShare technology equitably spreads the solar love among residents of community housing and apartment buildings that can install PV on top. It has just achieved the certification that will let residents of “multi-family units” across America enjoy the benefits of renewable energy.

Scientists in the United States demonstrated a lithium-air battery with improved energy and stability performance, thanks to the use of molybdenum triphosphide as a catalyst for both charge and discharge reactions.

The latest edition of the accountant’s renewables attractiveness index has placed the nation in top spot for photovoltaics, helping it to fourth spot for overall clean energy investment. Mexico has been hammered by the government’s attitude to clean power and France has also slipped, four places.

Stanford scientists have used a robotic device with two nozzles to quickly produce thin films of perovskite. With these films, they have manufactured perovskite cells and modules with efficiencies of 18% and 15.5%, respectively. According to them, this technique may enable the production of perovskite modules at a cost of around $0.25 per square foot.

This year’s pv magazine Quality Roundtable USA looked at extreme weather, and how resiliency can be built through modern O&M. Representatives from DuPont, Stäubli, Nextracker and RETC took to the virtual stage to discuss weather-related damages, and how to harness quality materials and workmanship to industry’s advantage, particularly when it comes to insurers. Ariel Re and NovaSource, meanwhile, looked at issues like risk management insurance solutions and asset stabilization. Case studies and presentations on the field performance of PV modules, and extreme hail and fire, were also included.

US giant AT&T has signed an agreement with Invenergy to purchase 500 MW from the upcoming 1.3 GW Samson Solar Energy Center in Texas. The deal will make AT&T one of the largest purchasers of corporate solar in the world.

As the U.S. economy continues to recover from its Covid-19-induced recession, it’s likely that Congress and the president will put together a multi-trillion dollar relief package, similar to the one that lifted the economy out of its doldrums following the 2008 economic crisis.