Happy Tuesday! This is Sarah with your weekly solar roundup– the best of Commercial Solar Guy’s industry reporting on the interwebs. This week, we see Apple sign a big purchase agreement with Swinerton Renewable Energy, and California facing an energy capacity shortfall during peak hours as it moves aggressively towards renewables. In other California energy news, the state approved a project by SDG&E to install heavy vehicle charging stations and test school buses as grid assets. Finally, there is a growing consensus among researchers that the United States should be able to reach 80% renewable energy at a price similar to that of electricity today.
Last but not least, Commercial Solar Guy has your hardware brief, with the latest in hardware releases and other excitement.
Questions about anything you read here? Contact the Commercial Solar Guy himself. Have a great week.
Apple picks single axis trackers and bifacial solar panels (w/pictures!)
Swinerton Renewable Energy’s 200 MWac / 251 MWdc Techren II facility in Boulder, Nevada is moving to interconnection this week. The plant uses NEXTracker single-axis trackers and bifacial solar modules from Canadian Solar and LONGi. Swinerton has just signed a large purchase agreement with Apple, one of the largest corporate renewable energy purchasers in the United States. Read the full article >
80% renewables is cake – let the extremists argue over the rest
A general consensus among researchers is starting to arise, showing that reaching 80% wind plus solar across various markets in the United States can be done at pricing equal to or cheaper than the cost of electricity today. So what are we waiting for? Commercial Solar Guy urges contractors and developers, scientists, and regulators to work together and deploy. Read the full article >
Is a California solar+storage boom about to happen?
CAISO has warned state regulators that there could be a 4.7 GW capacity shortfall in 2022, in the early evening hours of the annual peak demand events of September. The grid operator has suggested alteration of water cooling laws, as well as increased procurement of resources. With aggressive goals of reaching 50% renewables and 100% clean energy by 2045, California needs a solid strategy to meet peak energy demands. Read the full article >
California approves solar+school buses
California regulators have approved an SDG&E proposal to install 3,000 to 6,000 medium and heavy vehicle charging stations, as well as a vehicle to grid pilot where 10 school buses will be tested for use as grid assets. This move will inch California towards its goal of 5 million plug-in electric cars by 2030. Read the full article >
Hardware Brief: LONGi shingled module, Soltec bifacial simulations, Campbell Scientific solar albedo, more!
Hardware! Hardware! Get your fresh hardware! Terrasmart’s new *fixed* racking takes into account bifacial solar panels, Quickmount releases 5 to 10 degree commercial rooftop racking system, “Lead Crystal” batteries with 18-20 year lifetimes, more! Read on for this week’s hardware releases and more. Read the full article >