Happy Tuesday folks, this is Sarah with your weekly roundup of Commercial Solar Guy’s best industry reporting. In this week, Texas goes big (as always) extending tax support for solar power, and also allows for ownership of energy storage assets. SolarEdge reports significant growth in the first half of 2019, and expects the trajectory to continue into Q3. An Arizona regulator has filed a review of lithium-ion batteries in light of recent energy storage fires. And finally, UMass Amherst’s DeepRoof software can generate solar project designs using machine learning and publicly available data.
Read on for the week in solar news:
Texas extends tax support for solar power, increases transparency
Governor Abbott has signed 86(R) / HB 3143, which extends the Section 312 economic redevelopment tax abatement law, set to expire Sept 1, for ten years. The law allows local jurisdictions to establish redevelopment zones, where tax rates can be lower. Read the full article >
SolarEdge built it, the buyers followed
During the second quarter SolarEdge increased manufacturing capacity by 25% and shipped over 3.7 million optimizers, which totaled over 1.3 GWac. This upped revenue 43% year on year, and company officials say they are highly confident in their even larger projected ~70% Q3 revenue growth. They are expecting to launch a SolarEdge manufactured battery in early 2020. Read the full article >
Regulator says lithium-ion batteries create “unacceptable risks”
Arizona regulator Sandra D. Kennedy has filed a review of lithium ion technology’s drawbacks relative to other energy storage technologies, specifically noting hydrogen fluoride release and thermal runaway, in light of two Arizona energy storage battery fires. A report on several storage facility fires in South Korea suggests that the cause is more likely related to the energy storage management systems and contractor installation. Read the full article >
Texas confirms public power’s energy storage rights
Municipally owned utilities and electric cooperatives, as of September 1, will have legal affirmation that they’re allowed to own energy storage assets – and not have to register as power generators – within the state. Current state policy defines energy storage as a generation asset. Read the full article >
Using machine learning and cheap satellite data to design rooftop solar power
Researchers have built a tool to use cheap satellite imagery – like Google Maps – to automatically create solar designs with a 91% accuracy rate. UMass Amherst’s DeepRoof software uses existing data on terrain, surrounding structures, and solar insolation data to determine how many panels to install on a roof and where to place them. Read the full article >
Hardware brief: $1 million=Dynapower, Morningstar still Morningstar, SMA+BYD=<3 & more!
It’s always a good day to build something and be cool! Rainwise has launched a compact professional grade weather station, Sungrow has put out a whitepaper with design tips, and more! Read the full article here if geeking out on solar hardware is your thing. If you have any questions, ask the Commercial Solar Guy himself!