Americas

Americas

Lessons From a Solar Bidding Platform: Higher Quality Beats Lowest Price

May 1, 2018 Anand Gupta

Homeowners are valuing high-quality products when investing in solar, writes Vikram Aggarwal Somesolarinstallers have voiced concerns about a “race to the bottom” since we started inviting them to sell through our Solar Marketplace in 2013. Their reasoning sounds something like this: If consumers have easy access to multiple competing bids with transparent pricing, installers will […]

Americas

Businesses Are Buying More Renewable Power Than Ever Before

May 1, 2018 Anand Gupta

Companies are buying renewable power at a record pace. AT&T Inc. and Walmart Inc. are among 36 businesses, government agencies and universities that have agreed to buy 3.3 gigawatts of wind and solar power so far this year. That’s on track to shatter the previous high of 4.8 gigawatts of disclosed deals last year, according […]

Americas

Rudolph Libbe Inc. to lead construction on First Solar’s new U.S. manufacturing plant

April 28, 2018 Anand Gupta

WALBRIDGE, Ohio: Rudolph Libbe Inc., of the Rudolph Libbe Group, will serve as design/build contractor for First Solar Inc.’s new $400 million solar module manufacturing facility in Lake Township, Ohio. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2018 on the 1 million-square-foot facility, which will manufacture Series 6 thin-film PV modules and triple First Solar’s U.S. […]

Americas

KWHCoin on the Ground in Puerto Rico to Launch Blockchain-Based Energy Solution

April 27, 2018 Anand Gupta

SAN JOSE, Calif.: KWHCoin, the blockchain-based renewable energy company, is heading to Puerto Rico to launch its genesis renewable energy project. The KWHCoin team is scheduled to conduct formal house selection and connection analysis while developing the scope of the project locations in Puerto Rico. The team has assigned 10 homes for immediate deployment to […]

Americas

McDonald Hopkins holds discussion to examine impact of tariffs on U.S. solar development

April 27, 2018 Anand Gupta

CLEVELAND: McDonald Hopkins, a business advisory and advocacy law firm, recently held a discussion examining the impact of tariffs on the development of U.S. solar energy and the challenges facing the industry. The event, U.S. Solar Development in a Tariff World, was moderated by Michael Wise, co-chair of McDonald Hopkins’ Energy Practice Group, with a […]

Americas

Unirac Expands Solutions Offering with Acquisition of Residential Attachments Specialist SolarHooks

April 27, 2018 Anand Gupta

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.: Unirac, Inc., North America’s leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic mounting systems, announced today that it has acquired certain assets of SolarHooks, a manufacturer of residential solar roof attachments. With this addition, Unirac now offers a comprehensive product line to the residential market, a large and growing segment of the solar PV industry. “We’re […]

Americas

Majority of US Voters Oppose Tariffs on Solar Panels, Survey Finds

April 26, 2018 Anand Gupta

Majority Also Opposed in Very Red Districts WASHINGTON: A new PPC survey finds that nearly six in ten voters oppose the new tariffs on solar panels imposed by the Trump administration, including a majority in very red districts. However, nearly six in ten Republicans favor the tariffs. On January 22, the Trump administration imposed a […]

Americas

TEP Ranks Among Nation’s Top Utilities for Expanding Energy Storage

April 26, 2018 Anand Gupta

TUCSON, Ariz.: Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has developed energy storage systems at a scale that ranks among the utility industry’s leaders, according to a report released today by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA). TEP was ranked second in the nation for per-capita additions to its energy storage resources in 2017 with 50 watts per […]

Americas

More Renewable Energy Helps Fight Climate Change

April 26, 2018 Anand Gupta

SCE named No. 1 energy storage utility and No. 2 solar utility in the U.S. ROSEMEAD, Calif.: Ninety-five degrees. That’s the temperature that registered on thermometers across Rosemead on April 9. According to the National Weather Service, cities across Southern California Edison’s service territory experienced similar record-breaking heat. Temperatures across the globe are rising due […]

Americas

Sea of solar panels turns Mexican desert green

April 25, 2018 Anand Gupta

From a distance, it looks like a deep-blue sea has formed in the middle of the Mexican desert. But this is no mirage — it’s the largest solar park in Latin America. With 2.3 million solar panels — covering the equivalent of 2,200 football fields in the arid northern state of Coahuila — the Villanueva […]