pv magazine Archives

Southern California Edison Wants its New, Huge 770 MW Battery Storage Procurement Online Fast

May 4, 2020/in California and the U.S., California and the West, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /pv magazineby Eric Wesoff

Southern California Edison signed seven contracts for a total of 770 megawatts of lithium-ion battery-based energy storage — to enhance the regional grid’s reliability and replace four large coastal once-through cooling plants.

It’s one of the nation’s largest energy storage procurements and an indication of utility acceptance of massive-scale battery storage. Late last year, the California Public Utilities Commission urged California’s power providers and community choice aggregators to procure 3.3 GW of storage and PV-plus-storage systems to solve grid congestion and to compensate for gas and coal plant retirements.

Remarkably, SCE wants these energy storage resources online by August 2021, an aggressive timeline unthinkable for any type of fossil fuel project of this size.

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106,000 American Clean Energy Jobs Were Lost in March

April 16, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /pv magazineby Tim Sylvia

The dramatic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have hit every sector of the U.S. economy hard, with renewable energy being no exception. Today, BW Research released an analysis of unemployment data that shows more than 106,000 clean energy workers lost their jobs in the month of March.

Those 106,000 job losses represent a 3% loss in employment across the clean energy industry. In 2019, the clean energy industry added more than 70,000 jobs for a 2.2% growth rate, one which outpaced the U.S. workforce as a whole. The renewable energy generation sector alone lost 16,500 jobs.

The analysis, coupled with forecasts from industry trade groups and companies, led BW Research to the conclusion that, if no actions are taken quickly to support the industry, up to 500,000 jobs could be lost — or almost 15% of the clean energy workforce.

Broken down by state, California experienced the largest number of layoffs, losing 19,900 jobs, which equates to more than 3.5% of its clean energy workforce.

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Opinion: Is California Trying to kill the Community-Scale Generation Market?

February 4, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /PV Magazine by Tam Hunt

The community-scale market segment has been plagued by ongoing policy neglect, and otherwise poor policy choices. Will policymakers heed the track record of demonstrated failure and finally create new programs that address previous problems?

California, long a progressive leader on renewable energy and climate change mitigation, has neglected a key market segment for renewable energy: the community-scale or wholesale distributed generation market.

The wholesale distributed generation segment consists of projects below 20 megawatts that connect to the distribution grid and export power to the grid for sale.

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OPINION: Choosing a Backup Battery System in the New Age of California’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs

December 16, 2019/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /PV Magazine USAby Eric Hill

In California this fall, utilities cut power to more than 3 million people to help prevent their power lines from causing wildfires. In the aftermath, the state has seen a rush on requests for battery systems, as many homeowners with solar have realized that their solar panels will not work when the grid is down.

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The Ecosystems Of Innovation

October 16, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /PV Magazine by Christian Roselund

There are few myths as enduring in American culture as the Great Man Theory, the idea that history is shaped primarily by exceptional individuals who rise, creating themselves like the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra out of primordial chaos, independent of social circumstances, family, collaborators, education, mentorship or overall context.

And there are few places where this fantasy is as prevalent as the worlds of technology and energy. If we haven’t actively participated in perpetuating the cult of Steve Jobs, the legend of Nikolai Tesla, and of course Elon Musk idolatry, then we’ve at least witnessed these.

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California’s New, $100 Million, Low-Income Solar Program

September 17, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /pv magazine by Tim Sylvia

DAC-SASH has been approved, and now GRID Alternatives will have $120 million to work with over the next decade to bring solar power and job training to disadvantaged communities across the state.

A new program expanding solar access to low-income families in California has been unanimously passed by state regulators.

Disadvantaged Communities – Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) aims to increase the adoption of solar power by low income households in disadvantaged communities by investing $120 million dollars into incentives annually through 2030. Specifically, the program will provide $8.5 million in annual total to customers who meet income qualifications and live in the top-25% most disadvantaged communities in the state.

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Los Angeles Says “Yes” To The Cheapest Solar Plus Storage In The USA

September 10, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /pv magazine by John Weaver

Yesterday, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a power purchase agreement (PPA) with 8minute Solar Energy for a solar power plus energy storage facility located in Kern County, California. Now that the LADWP commission has approved the project, it will move to a vote with the Los Angeles City Council before it can be delivered to the Mayor’s desk for a final signature. The project’s guaranteed commercial operation date is December 31, 2023 – about 12 years after it was initially filed in early 2012.

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San Diego Gas And Electric Looks To Quadruple Customers’ Minimum Monthly Bill

September 3, 2019/in Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Mike Lee /pv magazine by Tim Sylvia

The utility is looking to raise its monthly minimum utility charge from $10 to $38 under the premise that distributed solar customers represent a “cost shift” to other utility customers.

Customers of San Diego Gas and electric (SDG&E) could soon see a drastic increase in their monthly electric bills, as the utility has submitted to state regulators a proposal to raise the monthly minimum utility charge from $10 to $38.

The California Public Utilities Commission, is expected to make a decision on the proposal by spring of 2020.

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DEWA To Use Solar To Power New Pumped-Storage Project

August 19, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /pv magazine Internationalby Emiliano Bellini Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority will use energy from the gigawatt-scale Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to provide a new hydropower plant with pumped storage capacity. The state-owned utility has announced a number of innovations for the project in recent months, including plans for hydrogen and large-scale storage capacity. The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has revealed it will use output from its 5 GW Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum Solar Park to provide energy for a newly tendered 250 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric power station at Hatta, an inland exclave of the emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

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Is A California Solar+Storage Boom About To Happen?

August 14, 2019/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /pv magazine by John Weaver

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.

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