Solar Energy NEWS

The Inflation Reduction Act, as well as local, state, lender and utility incentives have made residential solar energy systems more attractive improvement projects for homeowners.

State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation has won approval from the Chinese government to build three green energy production bases integrated with wind and solar energy facilities in China’s far flung Gobi Desert.

Solar stocks tumbled Friday after Sen. Joe Manchin said he will not support increased spending to address climate change, according to NBC News, citing a Democrat briefed on the conversations.The Invesco Solar ETF, which tracks the industry, fell more than 7% at one point. Some of those losses were recovered later in the day, with the fund ending Friday’s session about 2% lower. For the week, the fund is down more than 10%. Sunrun, Sunnova, First Solar and Maxeon Solar all fell more than 10% at one point.

For the past six years, energy companies and Maine residents have been in a fierce stand-off over the construction of a 53-mile power line extension that would deliver 1,200 megawatts of renewable hydroelectric power from Canada to Massachusetts, which is enough to power approximately 1.2 million homes. For two-thirds of the distance, the electricity would follow a transmission line corridor which already exists. But without the 53-mile, 54-foot-wide extension, the $1 billion construction project is a at an impasse. The power line has already received all of its state and federal permits. But in a state-wide vote in November, Maine voters rejected the project. Now, the constitutionality of that referendum vote is being battled out in court and will be decided this summer, according to Anthony W. Buxton, the lawyer representing the power companies that want to complete the transmission line. If the Maine court system rules that the referendum vote was unconstitutional, then the energy companies involved can continue construction.

President Joe Biden ordered emergency measures Monday to boost crucial supplies to U.S. solar manufacturers and declared a two-year tariff exemption on solar panels from Southeast Asia as he attempted to jumpstart progress toward his climate change-fighting goals.

The MoU aims to achieve 5 MW of solar deployment in rural and peri-urban areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a webinar on March 4 on the theme of "Energy for Sustainable Growth", which will see the participation of sectoral groups from the Ministries of Power.

India has used only 1.3 per cent of the total carbon space for 2 Degree Centigrade warming scenario, he said.

The Australian government has unveiled fresh funding to drive down the cost of solar technology as part of a wider goal of getting the cost of production of green hydrogen below A$2 (US$1.44) per kilogram. The government’s independently run Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) announced up to A$40 million in funding to support research and development into lowering the cost of solar photovoltaics. Arena said the funding would be directed towards projects that are aligned with the agency’s Solar 30 30 30 goal — targeting 30% module efficiency and reducing the total cost of construction of utility scale solar farms to 30 cents per installed watt by 2030.

Pondicherry University saves more than Rs one crore per annum on electricity bills after the commissioning of solar power plants with a total capacity of 2.4MW at a cost of Rs 13 crore.

Kumar disconnects the device from the machine to demonstrate how they used to spin ropes manually. Suddenly, clanking sounds echo through a yard that had been so quiet you could hear the bulbuls chirp on the moringa tree there. Earlier, he explains, one person would have to keep spinning a wheel behind the machine; today the solar-powered small motor does the job. Work that would require at least 10 hours of hard labour from a minimum of three individuals is now done by two persons in a little more than half the time.

In a big boost to the state’s energy sector, the Solar Energy Corporation of India has come forward to supply about 9,000 mw to meet the demand of agriculture pumpsets. SECI has promised to supply power at Rs 2.49 per unit, the lowest rate in the country. The state government had recently floated tenders to set up 6,400 mw plants for the agriculture sector. However, the finalisation of bids was delayed due to a pending litigation in the high court. The SECI offer comes at a time when the state government was contemplating to finalise the bids after getting the clearance from the high court. The state government has already identified the land to set up the mega solar parks. The SECI, however, wants the state government to purchase power from the plants to be launched by the agency. The government is expected to take a call on the issue soon.

The climate-crisis-fighting technology company unlocking nationwide access to energy data and renewables, today announced a $100 million Series D funding round led by Tiger Global Management and the Drawdown Fund with participation from new investors Wellington Management, Reimagined Ventures (the family office of Alec Litowitz, founder of Magnetar Capital), Camber Creek, MCJ Collective, and existing investors Energy Impact Partners, G2 Venture Partners, Inclusive Capital, and BoxGroup. Combined with the Company’s previously undisclosed $21 million Series C-1 in December 2020, Arcadia has now raised $180 million in total funding.

The Biden administration on Wednesday released a report showing the United States can get 40% of its electricity from solar energy by 2035, a significant jump. The Solar Futures Study outlines how solar energy can help decarbonize the U.S. power grid and help achieve a Biden administration goal of net zero emissions in the electricity sector by 2035. “The study illuminates the fact that solar, our cheapest and fastest-growing source of clean energy, could produce enough electricity to power all of the homes in the U.S. by 2035 and employ as many as 1.5 million people in the process,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

In a letter to managing director of the National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC), managing director of the Private Power & Infrastructure Board (PPIB) and chief executive officer of the Alternative Energy Development Board (ARDB), the regulator recalled that last year it had asked for inclusion of “hydropower in the scope and definition of renewable energy in various energy policies, rules and regulations”. “Furthermore, it was desired to make necessary amendments in all relevant documents and include hydropower in the scope of upcoming ARE (Alternate and Renewable Energy) Policy 2019,” said the letter. It said Nepra Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqi raised the issue at various forums and, therefore, a report on the latest status regarding regulator’s advisory issued in June 2020 be submitted at the earliest.

The Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR), North Canton, Ohio, said Monday that its decision to enter into the solar energy industry in 2018 has paid off as its solar energy revenue is expected to grow at a double-digit rate over the next three-to -five years. Bearings manufacturer Timken entered the solar energy market with its acquisition of Cone Drive in the third quarter of 2018. Under the auspices of Timken, Cone Drive has continued to build momentum with solar energy original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Cone Drive has tripled its solar revenue in the past three years, which Timken said outpaced “underlying market growth by a significant margin.”

Verizon has now allocated nearly $2 billion in green bonds, making it the only U.S. telecom operator to fully issue and allocate two green bonds. Green bonds are a way for enterprises to earmark funds for projects that positively impact the environment. The carrier issued its first green bond for $1 billion in 2019. Those funds were fully allocated in 2020 for renewable energy, green buildings, biodiversity, and conservation efforts. Verizon’s second green bond was issued last September, and its $994 million in net proceeds has been fully allocated toward virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) for renewable energy projects. In total, these projects are capable of generating a gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy across seven U.S. states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Solar energy will make up 83% of the renewable energy generating capacity, and wind energy will account for the remaining 17%.

The country’s renewable sector is poised to add about 65 gigawatts capacity over the next four to five years supported by strong project pipeline and government’s policy backing. The renewable energy (RE) sector is likely to see an investment of about ₹2.5 lakh crore to ₹3 lakh crore over the next few years, according to ICRA assessment. Impacted by two Covid waves, the renewable sector is likely to see installation of about 11 GW this fiscal. The economics of battery storage has become a key monitorable for the sector. The key challenges constraining the growth remain on the execution front, mainly associated with land and transmission infrastructure as well as the slow but improving progress in signing of power purchase agreements and power sale agreements by intermediate procurers with State distribution utilities.