Hello and happy Tuesday! Here’s your weekly roundup of the best in Commercial Solar Guy’s industry reporting. In this week, we see North Carolina taking an important step to green its electric grid by releasing a draft clean energy plan. Moving further north, Wisconsin regulators approved the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line, which would run from Wisco to Iowa. Over in California, new data shows that residential markets opt for solar + storage projects, while commercial buyers opt for solar alone. Business development professionals should take note that renewable portfolio standards in 29 states provide a roadmap for exact amounts of energy needed state by state over the next decade. Finally, should the National Fire Data Center start tracking rooftop solar power system fires more carefully?
Read on for more details on the week in solar news:
North Carolina looks nationwide for its “Clean Energy Plan” guidance
As required by Governor Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 80, the state has released a draft report of policy and action recommendations to help clean the electric grid – including a recommendation to decarbonize power by 2050. North Carolina is currently the nation’s largest utility emitter of greenhouse gases, so they will have a long road ahead, and this first step is significant. Read the full article >
Powerline for $4 billion of wind+solar approved
Wisconsin regulators have approved a powerline that would cross three states, bringing wind from Iowa east, and helping solar under development across the Midwest.The Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line would run from Wisconsin to Iowa and could directly enable up to 4 GW of solar and wind power. Read the full article >
There are –data missing– solar power fires per year
International data suggests that fires caused by rooftop solar power systems are rare; however, the United States doesn’t centrally track this information – with the National Fire Data Center classifying them in the “other” category. Is it time to start tracking solar power system fires more carefully? Read the full article >
California solar plus storage shows consistent installs, residential growth
CALSSA has obtained the interconnection data for California solar and solar plus storage for the first six months of 2019, showing significant volume of solar+storage in residential markets while commercial buyers are considering solar alone. One reason for this could be the substantial amount of time it takes for large storage installation projects to get approval. Read the full article >
The ten-year, 73 gigawatt renewable energy business plan
Renewable portfolio standards across 29 US states represent significant, legally required additions of wind and solar – including 15 states whose requirements will drive more than 11 GWac of solar power. This means that we can access exact amounts of energy needed state by state, on an annual basis, over the next ten years. Read the full article >
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