Author: solarenergy

Ameresco has completed a 157.8-kW solar installation at Northeastern University’s Boston campus. The project is atop the University’s landmark Snell Library building and was officially commissioned on March 13. Credit: Alex Gritsinin / Northeastern As Northeastern University embarks on environmentally responsible strategies to decarbonize its campus, the Snell Library Rooftop Solar Installation is an important milestone in a series of building and energy investments to support the University’s sustainability goals. Centered downtown, the University’s Boston campus serves as a thoroughfare for the city’s vibrant communities including the neighborhoods of Back Bay, Fenway, Roxbury, and the South End. In an ode…

For solar projects to function successfully beyond their guaranteed lifespan, they must be constructed correctly and maintained faithfully. Solar contractors who handle construction as well as operations and maintenance (O&M) stay with a solar project for the long term to ensure the array meets all milestones. Greenskies clean focus, a Connecticut-based commercial and large-scale developer recently completed a solar energy project that was seven years in the making. The company’s in-house O&M department maintains an 18.86 MW array in Waterford, Connecticut, which has some unique maintenance requirements. Credit: Greenskies Clean Focus “If you don’t have an active preventative maintenance program…

As the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ramps up clean energy efforts in the United States, the government has outlined a plan to expand transmission lines to accommodate more power. April 26, 2024 Anne FischerBy pv magazine USAAs part of the White House’s Earth Week announcements, US President Joe Biden has announced plans to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines over the next five years.Funding is available through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program, which recently closed applications for up to $2.7 billion in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) in a second round. The…

The Norwegian PV planning software company said it has added the new PV degradation maps to pinpoint site locations with favorable climatic conditions. April 15, 2024 Valerie ThompsonNorway’s Glint Solar, a developer of software for large-scale solar developers, has developed a new module that maps the variability of PV degradation across Europe and provides useful planning information to project developers.“The map module pinpoints regions with minimal PV degradation, revealing variations even within countries. End users can simply click on a point on the map and receive a numerical score of two decimal places between 0 and 10, corresponding to the…

CIP announces the share acquisition of Elgin Energy and its 15GW solar project portfolio. Image: Elgin Energy Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in British solar company Elgin Energy to deliver a 15 GW portfolio. As of 2024, Elgin has delivered almost 2GW of turnkey solar photovoltaic (PV) and storage projects, and has successfully secured more than 30 projects through UK government-backed auctions. The solar and storage developer’s current project pipeline of 15 GW is supported by development activities in the UK, Irish and Australian markets, including standalone solar, solar together with battery storage…

By Brad Kramer April 10, 2024 Nexamp enters a new phase of growth with a $520 million capital investment to expand its solar development program. Meanwhile, Excelsior Energy entered into a multi-year contract to purchase Heliene solar panels, and Origis Energy secured $317 million to build two utility-scale projects in this episode of the Solar financing spotlight.Nexamp secured $520 million in a capital raise led by Manulife investment management, alongside existing investors Diamond Generating Corp. and Generate Capital. The company will leverage the investment to accelerate the implementation of its national project pipeline, accelerate expansion and partnerships with developers in…

Tom Hunt Walmart is investing in 19 solar energy projects developed by Turn energy spanning Illinois, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware and California, including 15 community projects. The strategic fiscal equity investment will drive the construction, operation and maintenance of the 72 MW community solar project portfolio. These projects are expected to be completed next year. “We are excited to partner with Walmart to scale renewable energy in the U.S. and meet today’s corporate carbon emissions demands,” said Tom Hunt, CEO of Pivot Energy. “By leveraging our expertise in community solar development, we strive to deliver impactful…

Bangladesh, a country full of resilient people and fertile deltas, is facing a crisis. It is one of the most climate-sensitive countries in the world. Rising sea levels, erratic weather patterns and extreme weather events are not distant threats, but a lived experience for millions of people. Yet amid the looming crisis, a ray of hope emerges: carbon trading. It is the buying and selling of credits that allow a company or other entity to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. Once a remote concept, this innovative mechanism now offers Bangladesh the opportunity to transform…

New layered perovskite structure explored for improved optical properties Perovskites are of critical importance in the field of materials science due to their different and varied properties arising from their unique crystal structure. These properties have potentially revolutionary applications in advanced technology areas. One method to exploit these properties involves precise manipulation of defects within the perovskite structure, such as missing atoms or replacing one type of atom with another. In the field of oxide chemistry, it is well known that such defects in oxides can self-organize within the crystal structure when they reach a certain threshold, leading to improved…

The California Supreme Court has done that taken over a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Protect Our Communities Foundation, and the Environmental Working Group, challenging the state’s new NEM 3.0 rooftop solar policy. The petitioners ask the court to rule on whether the California Public Utilities Commission’s NEM 3.0 decision complies with state law require that net metering policies help grow the rooftop solar market, especially in underserved communities. NEM 3.0 went into effect on April 15, 2023 and reduced the reimbursement homeowners receive for feeding excess solar energy back into the grid by approximately 75%.…