pvMB 1/30/19: Michigan regulators OK halt to utility political spending, NY cooperative signs 16 MW PPA, and more…
Hello to you on this fine Wednesday morning and thanks for checking out the pv magazine morning brief. Today we're taking a look at the violence caused by climate change, Kaco's new monitoring portal and Recycle PV Solar, COSEIA and AriSEIA getting in on a pv module recycling promotion partnership and much much more.
January 30, 2019 Tim Sylvia and Christian Roselund
Image: Ubiquitous Energy
Tri-County Energy Cooperative signs power contract with 16 MW of solar – The ink has dried and US Light Energy has been chose to construct 16 MW of solar projects for Tri-County Energy Cooperative in Upstate New York, who will buy the output through a 20-year power purchase agreement. Source: US Light Energy
The violence of climate change – A report published last week confirms the feared link between climate change, war and refugee migration. This is a conclusion that has been fearfully theorized for a while now. Source: Bloomberg
Michigan regulators approve halt to Consumers Energy's political spending – Buried in the utility's rate case, the Michigan Public Service Commission has approved a deal between Consumers Energy has agreed to halt spending on 501(c)4 political advocacy organizations through the end of its next rate case. "The deal with Consumers Energy follows a contentious election involving outsized spending from energy-focused nonprofit groups supporting regulated utilities. Sources say it was the commission's attempt to rein in the practice following complaints about one group's political spending in the 2018 election." Source: Energy News Network
Kaco unveils new monitoring portal, on the web and as an app – "KACO new energy has relaunched its Internet portal for the remote monitoring of solar PV systems: Since December 2018, the portal has appeared in a refreshed look under the name blueplanet web." Source: KACO
Three National Labs join Siemens in grid modernization work – "Siemens Corporation and three Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories are teaming up to conduct integrated experiments to strengthen and modernize the nation's electric grid. Their joint efforts would enhance the technological, scientific, educational, and industrial development of power electronics needed for a reliable and economic power supply in the 21st century." Source: Siemens Corporation
Ubiquitous Energy shows off 1 meter transparent solar window – "Ubiquitous Energy has produced the first demonstration commercial window façades using over 1 square meter of the company's truly transparent solar technology, ClearView Power™… Each façade is made of six insulated glass units (IGUs) that are each 14 inches by 20 inches in size, totalling over 1 square meter of ClearView Power glass… The windows produce solar electricity in sunlight that can provide power to buildings for a wide range of applications including lighting, while simultaneously maintaining the performance of standard commercial window glass: over 50% transparency, neutral in color, and low emissivity (low-E) for energy efficiency." Source: Ubiquitous Energy
Recycle PV Solar, COSEIA and AriSEIA team up to promote solar panel recycling – "Recycle PV Solar (RPVS) and the solar industry associations of Colorado (COSEIA) and Arizona (AriSEIA) have agreed to work together to promote solar panel recycling. The Associations will encourage their members to recycle and take advantage of the services provided by RPVS. RPVS will assist members of the Associations in the processing of end-of-life panels, and will offer discounted fees to those who contract with them." Source: Recycle PV Solar
Caterpillar unveils all-electric excavator – Featuring a 300 kWh battery pack, a 122 kW electric motor and a 26-ton body, Caterpillar has launched the company's first prototype all-electric excavator. The prototype was the first of eight to be developed for Norwegian construction company, Veidekke. Source: Elektrek
And finally, another cool and under-appreciated graph from NREL:
https://twitter.com/joe_jberry/status/1088124850877620224
Tim Sylvia is an associate editor at pv magazine USA. A recent graduate of Hood College, Tim has been with pv magazine since May 2018.
More articles from Tim Sylvia
Christian Roselund served as US editor at pv magazine from 2014 to 2019. Prior to this he covered global solar policy, markets and technology for Solar Server, and has written about renewable energy for CleanTechnica, German Energy Transition, Truthout, The Guardian (UK), and IEEE Spectrum.
More articles from Christian Roselund
Hmm, wasn't it Consumers Energy that was complaining that their PV connection queue is too full to actually get approvals done? Maybe they should use some of that political spending to service their connection queue.
And, thanks for the module efficiency link.