Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, signed a $103 million tax credit facilitation agreement with Bank of America for its North Fork Solar Project.

The tax equity agreement is Recurrent Energy’s first production tax credit (PTC) transaction and first tax credit transfer transaction. Recurrent reports that by transferring tax credits to Bank of America, it can access funding more quickly and efficiently.

In April the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final guidance for the transfer of clean energy tax credits, a provision within the Inflation Reduction Act and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) act that allow tax credit owners to sell their credits to other entities with a tax appetite.

Under a tax credit transfer transaction, renewable energy developers and owners can sell tax credits for cash, making financing easier for new clean energy projects. The transferability option is generally open to the entities that are not covered by the direct pay option. More information in the frequently asked questions section can be found here.

Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA), which serves 42 municipally owned electric systems in Oklahoma, will purchase 100% of the energy produced by North Fork Solar under a 15-year agreement. This marks the first solar project in OMPA’s energy mix. Recurrent Energy will continue to own and operate the project long-term.

“This addition will further diversify our energy sources and provide our member cities with more energy options to offer their customers,” said David Osburn, OMPA general manager. “We look forward to maintaining a long-term relationship with Recurrent Energy.”

The 120 MWac North Fork Solar project, which sits on 1,012 acres in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, will provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of 35,000 homes year.

This project greatly increases the amount of solar installed in the state of Oklahoma, which ranked 46^th for installed capacity in Q1 2024 with 189 MW, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. At that time the Covington Solar Farm at 13.2 MW, which came online in 2017, was a landmark project.

Construction by Blattner began in August 2023 and was compete in June  2024 with approximately 250 people employed during peak construction and three permanent jobs during operation.

According to Recurrent Energy’s website, the project used construction methods to minimize grading and removal of soil, and preserved topsoil was redistributed across the graded areas to assist in growing ground cover as quickly as possible.

Recurrent Energy reports that during the project’s development and construction, the company supported local initiatives, including the Snyder 4-H and FFA, Snyder Prom, and Cyclone Educational Foundation. Now that it’s operational, the solar project will contribute about $26 million to community services.

Recurrent Energy began developing North Fork Solar in 2018. NordLB and Rabobank provided project financing for North Fork Solar. CRC-IB and Latham & Watkins advised Recurrent Energy on the tax credit transfer transaction.

Norsun plans to invest $620 million in a new 5 GW silicon ingot and solar wafer manufacturing facility on a 60-acre greenfield site in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has motivated solar module manufacturers to build manufacturing facilities in the U.S; however, very few factories are planned for the production of ingots, wafers and cells. This shortage leaves U.S. solar module makers reliant on imports, mainly from China.

Production at the new Norsun plant is expected to begin in 2026, bringing much-needed U.S.-made silicon ingots and wafers to the supply chain, as well as 320 jobs to the Tulsa area. Norsun reports that production can be expanded up to 10 GW.

“Our business plan has an ambitious timeline, so we knew we needed a partner who can work fast and efficiently to meet the critical need for American-made energy,” said NorSun CEO Erik Løkke-Øwre. “Oklahoma impressed us even before our selection journey – its robust clean energy, manufacturing ecosystem and workforce development programs were already on our radar, and its competitive business offerings and site acceleration options solidified our decision.”

Norsun, founded in Norway in 2007, specializes in the production of monocrystalline ingots and wafers for ultra-high efficiency solar cells. The expansion was facilitated by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust.

“I’m proud to welcome Norsun to Oklahoma, and I’m thrilled that Oklahomans will benefit from hundreds of new jobs in the Tulsa area and a $620 million capital investment,” said Governor Kevin Stitt. “Our pro-growth policies, workforce development efforts, and ‘more of everything’ energy approach make us an incredible state to invest in, and I’m glad NorSun can be a part of it.”

We often shine the spotlight on states leading in solar energy deployment, lauding their significant contributions to renewable energy infrastructure. Nevertheless, there are states that seem to be lagging in the solar race, potentially sidetracked by other priorities or constrained by limited solar resources. In several cases, the sluggish pace can be directly traced to a combination of competing emission-free energy products, policy, economic, geographic, and political challenges.

Analysis based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, refined by the PV Intel 50 States of Solar data visualization tool on pv magazine USA, illustrates a different sort of competition: states contending for a dubious distinction as the ‘least enterprising’ in solar installations. Unraveling the intricacies of who is lagging in solar power adoption, and why, leads to a more complex discussion.

The five states that generated the lowest percentage of electricity generation from solar power in 2023 were North Dakota, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alaska, and South Dakota at 0.01%, 0.09%, 0.27%, 0.28% and 0.29%, respectively.

In fact, the bottom 14 states on the list get less than 1% of their electricity from solar power.

The disparity in solar power generation across states can often be attributed to several factors, including but not limited to:

• State and local policies on renewable energy
  
• Price of electricity
• Public awareness and education on the benefits of solar energy
• Geographic and climatic conditions that affect solar potential
• Availability of alternative emission-free electricity from wind, hydro, and nuclear

Several Midwestern states, abundant in wind power, have valid excuses for lower solar adoption. For example, number one on our list, North Dakota, generates 38% of its electricity from wind, similar to Oklahoma, which ranks third. Despite ranking fourth from the bottom in solar adoption, South Dakota boasts the third cleanest electricity in the nation, with nearly 70% of its electricity coming from carbon-free sources, primarily driven by wind power.

Of the bottom five, this then leaves West Virginia and Alaska as laggards.

Alaska’s lag in solar power is understandable, given its geographic location. As the northernmost state in the U.S., with parts of Alaska situated in the Arctic Circle, the state experiences extended periods of darkness during the winter months.

This leaves West Virginia as the remaining state among the bottom five solar power states, which is not surprising for several reasons. The state has been a significant part of the nation’s coal electricity generation infrastructure for over a century and remains one of the biggest coal producers and users today. Additionally, the state’s political landscape is heavily influenced by the coal industry, with Governor Jim Justice owning coal mines and nationally prominent Senator Joe Manchin’s family fortune also tied to coal.

However, there is hope for West Virginia, with hundreds of megawatts of solar power coming to the state, and a new long-duration battery factory under construction.

At the RE+ event in Las Vegas this past September, pv magazine USA connected with 3Sun’s Giovanni Bertolino. Topics ranged from 3Sun’s burgeoning product line, their expertise in heterojunction (HJT) technology, future endeavors in Oklahoma, to a sneak peek into their next-gen solar panels.

Historically, 3Sun has produced solar modules exclusively for its parent company, Enel. However, it is now advancing plans to expand its facility in Italy and establish a new manufacturing center in Oklahoma. The strategic decision in May 2023 to make Oklahoma its primary solar hub, with a potential capacity reaching up to 6 GW, has earned the company substantial tax benefits and praise from local officials.

A recurrent question in solar industry forums is the availability of 3Sun’s modules. At the moment, unless you’re an insider at Enel’s development team, purchasing these modules is off the table. However, that exclusivity is about to change. Bolstered by a grant from the European Commission, 3Sun’s 200 MW facility in Catania, Italy, is slated to ramp up production. By 2024, the facility aims to achieve a 3,000 MW annual production capacity, positioning it as Europe’s largest solar panel manufacturing facility.

The European Commission’s pivotal backing in 2011, which enabled Enel to launch a thin film manufacturing facility, underscores this venture as both strategic and promising for the European sector.

The solar efficiency revolution will be heterojunction

Tracing back to 3Sun’s evolution, Bertolino emphasized that the company’s proficiency in manufacturing the current HJT models is rooted in its original experience manufacturing thin film solar modules starting in 2011. HJT and thin film share manufacturing characteristics that differ substantially from silicon modules. The company initiated its shift to HJT panels in 2018, launching their first automated manufacturing line the following year. By early 2020, 3Sun had announced the creation of an HJT solar cell with an efficiency of 24.63%.

Expertise in HJT has empowered the company to announce a commercial solar module with a 25% efficiency earlier this year. Set for release in the coming year, this marvel was showcased at the RE+ event in Las Vegas. For now, it’s poised to be the highest efficiency solar module available in the market.

The residential offshoot from this range promises a peak 24.5% efficiency, while its utility-scale counterpart edges slightly higher at 24.6%. The solar cells based on this product line are G12 sized (210 mm) n-type products.

Bertolino noted that the utility-scale variant, employing a glass-glass encapsulation with 95% bifaciality, degrades at a rate of less than 0.25% per year. As a result, the module retains, under warranty, at least 91.8% of its initial efficiency after 30 years. This rate closely mirrors Meyer Burger’s module degradation rate of 0.2%, a figure confirmed by CEO, Dr. Gunter Erfurt, following 1,000 hours of accelerated testing.

When asked whether 3Sun’s module had a similar ‘near zero’ degradation value in testing, but settled on a reasonable 0.25% due to legal prudence, Bertolino confirmed as much.

Bertolino spoke very highly of his company’s capabilities with HJT technology and its prospective contributions to the future of the industry. This author’s longstanding admiration for HJT technology can be found in our previous article, “The solar efficiency revolution will be heterojunction.”

Coming to America!

In May, 3Sun was awarded up to $180 million in benefits to establish their U.S.-based solar manufacturing facility in Oklahoma. The funding, a surplus from the state’s 2022 budget, requires 3Sun to create a minimum of 1,400 jobs.

Groundbreaking for the HJT manufacturing lines is slated for early 2024. Initial module production is targeted for 2024, with general availability in mid-2025. The production line is anticipated to churn out 1.5 GW of modules in 2025, scaling to 3.0 GW in 2026. Given the right business demand, the facility has the potential to expand to 6 GW.

Bartolino highlighted the strategic importance of the industrial park’s infrastructure in Inola, Oklahoma. The planned factory site is the Tulsa Port of Inola, adjacent to the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation system, ensuring cost-effective and low carbon module transportation.

Questions regarding 3Sun’s perovskite ambitions were met with an intriguing answer: 3Sun aspires to build a perovskite-silicon tandem solar line during the Oklahoma facility’s second phase.

The company recently announced a 27.1% efficiency perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell.

3Sun said their experience with HJT solar panels has put them in a position to deliver perovskite-silicon modules. The HJT modules’ production process, especially its vapor deposition phase – a method 3Sun is familiar with from their thin film days – aligns closely with perovskite production. This deposition technique, along with HJT’s lower temperature manufacturing processes, closely resembles the method used to apply perovskite layers to standard silicon solar cells.

Bartolino stated that 3Sun’s perovskite-silicon manufacturing is “very well advanced”, noting that the company has full-sized perovskite-silicon cells. In contrast, other entities with higher efficiency records operate with smaller research cells. Bartolino informed pv magazine USA that 3Sun is currently fine-tuning its machine line, which seamlessly integrates with its extant HJT technology.

The company speculates that the perovskite + silicon production line and product might be operational in 2025, with full-scale production by the end of 2026. Deliveries are possible by 2027.

This article was amended on Oct. 23 to correctly identify the port in the U.S. as Inola.

Solar power accounted for the highest portion of new generating capacity additions to the United States’ electricity grid each of the last four years, a trend that has continued into 2023. Historically, solar capacity was increased by installing more panels, but this approach is unsustainable as land availability decreases and costs rise.

Instead, bringing more solar energy online will rely on improving generation efficiency. This is a challenge the industry has been slow to solve. Despite their generation limitations, single-junction solar cells are still commonly used in solar panels. However, US domestic solar production has a new contender.

3SUN USA announced its intention to build one of the largest solar PV module and cell manufacturing facilities in Inola, Oklahoma, earlier this year. This will be 3SUN’s second facility. Its first, in Catania, Italy – the birthplace of CORE-H technology – has produced solar cells and modules since 2011. The facility is expanding and increasing production from 200 to 3,000 MW annually to become Europe’s largest photovoltaic cell and module factory. Now the trusted solar manufacturer is bringing its decade-plus of global experience and its bifacial hetero-junction technology (HJT) to utility, commercial, and residential customers in the US.

HJT is a solar panel manufacturing technique that produces panels by overlapping layers of material with different characteristics. For example, one layer of crystalline silicon overlaps one of amorphous silicon, a combination 3SUN calls CORE-H.

The CORE-H arrangement of crystalline and amorphous silicon layers elevates solar energy production beyond the limits of more commonly used arrangements, like passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC), passivated emitter rear totally diffused (PERT), or tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells. Once constructed, 3SUN bifacial HJT CORE-H solar cells capture sunlight on two sides, ensuring a high performance that broke the world record for efficiency in 2020, converting 24.63%.

In addition to increased efficiency, 3SUN’s solar cells offer users lower degradation of performance over time and increased stability in wet environments and at high temperatures. These benefits will be particularly important as climate change spurs increasingly extreme weather across the country.

“Decarbonizing the energy sector is incredibly important to securing the future of our planet,” Giovanni Bertolino, Head of 3SUN USA said. “By producing efficient, reliable photovoltaic modules for both utility-scale and distributed generation installations, we enable a more sustainable solution to the decarbonization challenge. And we’re doing it with 100% renewable electricity in our 3SUN USA facility.”

3SUN’s technology is uniquely informed by its affiliation with Enel, the world’s largest private player in the renewable energy sector. Built with insight into the most pressing challenges facing renewable generation facilities, 3SUN has developed and finessed cutting-edge technology to drive innovation in the growing domestic solar industry. Panels produced in the Catania facility will be available to support the US market in early 2024 while the US facility is under construction.

“A more innovative, efficient solar industry benefits everyone,” Bertolino said. “I look forward to seeing its growth and opportunity as advancements like bifacial hetero-junction technology become the standard.”

With the utility-scale solar market experiencing a multi-gigawatt surge of development activity across America’s heartland states, insurers are now requiring solar developers to demonstrate mitigation strategies and protocols to address severe hail and extreme weather in new solar states from the Midwest through the Great Plains, and elsewhere.

A recent pv magazine USA webinar session revealed that hail risk mitigation is a common problem in the “Hail Alley,” a broad region encompassing around six states from the Dakotas to Texas, which often experience five or more days each year of catastrophic hail. Climate change has created patterns of irregularity as extreme weather increasingly crops up in regions bordering hail-prone regions.

Hail events have historically posed a considerable risk for utility solar, with weather instances creating up to $100 million in module damage at large projects located in states like Texas, where hail stones the size of baseballs can pummel skyward facing modules.

Indji Systems, a Los Angeles-based meteorological software, has just launched the Indji Watch, a hail detection software-as-a-service platform specifically for solar developers which allows end users to see and trace hail events using a predictive, real-time data framework.

The software system allows solar and utility siting stakeholders to operations and maintenance professionals to implement effective defensive measures and safeguard their investments for the long haul.

Indji Watch automatically detects early threats and delivers notifications through its dashboard. With updates on potential hail threats delivered up to the time of storm impacts, the weather watch allows companies to proactively prepare for significant events, fostering collaboration and coordinated decision-making across the enterprise. By prioritizing “early awareness,” Indji Systems can help mitigate risk by protecting solar sites.

The Indji Watch identifies storm paths and their proximity to solar asset footprints as threats become imminent, enabling customers to take defensive measures. The warning allows solar O&M and onsite operators time to “stow,” a term used to angle the solar panels away from oncoming hailstorms to lessen the direct impact and potential damage to the crystalline panels.

The system provides weather alerts within one hour of impact. Indji Watch’s customizable thresholds also allow for alerts tailored to the specific panel technology deployed at each site.

“This new release further solidifies our position as the go-to solution for effective risk mitigation, and demonstrates our commitment to delivering unparalleled value to our customers,” said Adam Hender, chief executive officer of Indji Systems.

Founded in 2004, Indji Systems is an independent software company with operations in California and Australia. The company has designed the Indji Watch and GeoSamba mapping software which helps asset owners make real-time decisions about power and infrastructure assets.

The company received its first patent for Indji Watch in October 2018 for environmental threat monitoring and alert software. This covered the company’s cloud-based service with dynamic modeling of assets and hazards from sensor networks, the algorithms for threat relationships between weather pattern and end users, and real-time monitoring alerts.

The company’s weather tracking dashboard is used by utilities Xcel Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and Southern California Edison, while the Indji Watch has been also tested at a Longroad Energy utility solar site, according to its website.

Solar glass provider to expand production by 6 GW to meet demand  Canadian Premium Sand will expand production to provide its solar panel glass to Qcells, Meyer Burger, and Heliene, each of which signed large supply agreements.

Community solar project coming to coal country  A Kentucky electric cooperative retained the services of Solar Energy Solutions to install a 187 kW community solar garden for Frankfort residents and local businesses.

Enel Green Power moves one step closer to solar cell and module factory in Oklahoma  If approved, the proposed U.S. factory will be Enel’s second solar manufacturing facility, as it previously announced the expansion of its 3Sun Gigafactory in Catania, Sicily. The U.S. factory will also be one of the few in the country manufacturing cells as well as modules.

PosiGen procures $250 million debt facility to fund energy communities projects  The new funding commitment will provide expansion into additional markets nationwide for PosiGen, with a direct focus on serving households with high energy burdens who stand to benefit the most from transitioning to clean energy.

Major U.S. solar asset owner agrees to panel recycling pilot  The AES Corporation signed an agreement to send damaged or retired panels to a Texas Solarcycle recycling center.

Bipartisan bill to promote use of industrial heat pumps in rural areas  Funding for the Heat Pump Energy Assistance and Training program would go toward technical assistance, education and training rural businesses in the benefits and use of heat pumps.

Last month Enel North America identified Oklahoma as the leading candidate for its new solar cell and module manufacturing facility, and that plan moved one step closer to fruition with a package voted on by the Oklahoma senate.

In a meeting of the joint appropriations committee, a package received initial approval that could give up to $180 million worth of taxpayer incentives. According to an article in The Oklahoman newspaper, the money would come out of leftover cash from its 2022 budget.

The facility, first announced in November 2022, will be operated through the company’s affiliate, 3Sun USA. Initial capacity of the solar cell and module factory is expected to be 3 GW, and Enel stated plans of doubling that capacity to 6 GW at the site. The facility is expected to bring millions of dollars of investment to the state and create more than 1,500 jobs, with production anticipated by late 2024. A stipulation in the bill is that at least 1,400 jobs must be created in order to receive the full amount of incentives.

The solar module factory would reportedly be built in the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, near the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation system. The port encompasses an area of 2,500 acres and is home to over 70 companies in its industrial park.

Enel Green Power North America is no newcomer to the state of Oklahoma. The company has twelve operating wind farms in the state, representing over 2 GW of operating capacity and $3 billion in investment in the state to date. Enel currently has a thirteenth wind farm, the Seven Cowboy Wind Project, under construction. Located in Washita and Kiowa counties, the wind project will have 107 wind turbines that will generate approximately 1.3 TWh of energy annually, equivalent to the electricity needs of over 120,000 U.S. households, and will avoid more than 758,000 tons of C02 emissions a year. The company also built a state-of-the-art training center in Oklahoma to train a workforce for the wind industry.

Senate Bill 1177 and two companion bills, reportedly in support of Enel’s solar factory, head next to the House and Senate floors for a final vote.

If approved, the proposed U.S. factory will be Enel’s second solar manufacturing facility, as it previously announced the expansion of its 3Sun Gigafactory in Catania, Sicily, increasing its production capacity from 200 MW to 3 GW. The U.S. factory will also be one of the few in the country manufacturing cells as well as modules.

Enel Green Power also manages more than 1,200 power plants on five continents with over 59 GW of installed renewable capacity from a mix of wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal.

Girls leadership academy adds rooftop solar  An estimated $1.1 million in savings will be provided by the 300 kW array that tops several roofs on a public charter school in Wilmington, North Carolina.

People on the move: ABC Supply, Kelsun, Luminia, Marathon Capital, and more  Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

South Georgia 106 MW regenerative agrivoltaic project at White Oak Pastures  Green Power EMC and Silicon Ranch partnered on the project, which will produce enough energy to power 17,000 homes annually.

Oregon’s largest solar farm at 205 MW comes online  The 162 MWac (205 MWdc) former Montague Solar Farm, developed by Avangrid, will power Portland General Electric’s (PGE) Green Future Impact customers.

Enphase posts lower Q1 23 earnings, comments on NEM 3.0 market adaptation  Management sees NEM 3.0 changes as a net positive for California and expects strong demand for solar-plus-storage in coming quarters, with installers likely taking another four months of training for integrated systems.

Enel finalizing site for 3 GW solar panel and cell factory in Oklahoma  The U.S. manufacturing site will start with 3 GW of production capacity, with plans to double to 6 GW.

50 states of solar incentives: Nevada  The state of Nevada is home to several of the largest utility-scale solar projects in the U.S., while coal retirements in the region have spurred additional solar-plus-storage developments in the Silver State in recent years.

Enel North America announced it has identified Oklahoma as the leading candidate for its new solar cell and manufacturing facility. The facility, first announced in November 2022, will be operated through the company’s affiliate, 3Sun USA. 

Initial capacity of the major cell and panel factory is expected to be 3 GW, and Enel stated plans of doubling that capacity to 6 GW at the site. The facility is expected to bring millions of dollars of investment in the state and create more than 1,500 jobs, with production anticipated by late 2024.

“We are currently finalizing our evaluation of prospective sites for the facility, considering factors such as land availability, the presence of a skilled workforce, connections to transportation networks, and tax and incentive structures in making our siting decision,” a spokesperson for Enel told pv magazine.

The U.S. has become increasingly attractive to solar component manufacturers as the $370 billion Inflation Reduction Act is rich with manufacturing incentives, including tax credits for the production of solar cells and panels.

Enel currently holds a $3 billion portfolio of wind power assets in the state and an office in Oklahoma City. “We are excited about the possibility to expand our presence in the state,” Enel said.

The factory would join the Qcells 3.3 GW vertically integrated solar manufacturing site in Georgia as one of the largest U.S. solar manufacturing announcements to date.

(Read: “Reviewing the U.S. solar panel value chain manufacturing capacity”)

“[Oklahoma is] on the one-yard line to land one of the largest economic development deals in our state’s history with Enel, a company that has been invested in our state for over a decade,” said Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.

Enel said it is considering the Tulsa area for its new facility. 

This article was amended on 4/27/2023 to indicate that Oklahome is the leading candidate, rather than the final choice.

50 states of solar incentives: Oklahoma  Oklahoma is a state with an abundance of sunlight, but limited solar incentives at the state level.

Virginia homeless shelter and recovery center adds 313 kW rooftop solar array  The Richmond, Virginia non-profit is estimated to save $224,358 per year in energy costs with the system from Secure Solar Futures.

PV windows cut energy use by 40% in glazed buildings, says NREL  The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has shown that perovskite-based thin-film PV, transparent PV, and dynamic PV glazing technologies can reduce the energy use of glazed buildings by around 40% across eight regions in the United States.

Longroad Energy acquires 98 MW Titan Solar Project from Sunpin  With the acquisition of the Titan Solar Project, Longroad enters the CAISO market and expands its California holdings to 340 MW.

Wisconsin utility decision could spur more rooftop solar development  The Wisconsin PSC voted 2-1 in favor of a residential contract between a utility customer and a solar provider, a move that could usher in more residential solar.

Enphase to add 4.8 GW to 7.2 GW of U.S. solar microinverter manufacturing capacity  In a ROTH Capital Partners webinar, Enphase CEO Badri Kothandaraman announced the company will be adding four to six new manufacturing lines in the states.

PNNL team proposes how storage as transmission could earn market compensation Pacific Northwest National Lab researchers have developed a framework for compensating energy storage as a dual-use asset, earning revenue both as a regulated transmission asset and as a competitive market participant, while reducing both system and customer costs.

Inside the IRA: Updated Energy Community maps and questions from Charles River Associates  Charles River Associates sees challenges in datasets and definitions across all three areas of the Energy Community clause. Pending guidance from the Treasury Department has the potential to affect up to 20% of all eligible areas.

Oklahoma is “where the wind goes sweeping down the plains,” with wind energy providing about 24% of the Public Service Company (PSC) of Oklahoma’s energy mix. However, despite strong levels of solar irradiance, the state has not yet matured its solar market, though recent procurement efforts may aid this.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reported that Oklahoma had 100 MW of solar installed through Q2 2022, ranking it in the bottom-five state in terms of capacity. To date, SEIA estimates that 868 people are employed in solar in the state across 26 companies, and $189 million has been invested in the technology.

SEIA’s forecast for Oklahoma’s solar future looks sunnier, as it expects nearly 3 GW of projects to come online in the next five years, ranking it 15th in the state deployment forecast. Prices have fallen 53% in the last 10 years, making solar an ever-more attractive investment in the Sooner State.

Much of Oklahoma’s solar-generated electricity is sourced from out-of-state facilities in the Southwest Power Pool. In 2021 PSC issued request for proposals to solicit bids to buy solar energy resources of up to 1,350 MW and wind energy resources of up to 2,800 MW. Proposals included a battery energy storage system as an option, with the optional storage no larger than 40% of the nameplate solar energy resource, and sized for 4 and/or 8 hours of capacity.

Incentives

There’s not much to be said about solar incentives for home and business owners in Oklahoma. The state does have a net metering requirement for utilities, but the requirement is loose.

Net metering involves the utility paying customers for their excess solar generation sent back to the grid. It helps the utility serve its customers and allows the homeowner to get a better return on investment for purchasing the clean technology.

However, SolarReviews said Oklahoma state law only requires systems 100 kW and below to be offered net metering, but the utility is not required to purchase the excess generation. Customers can request net metered payments, but the decision to pay rests with the utility.

When paid, net metering rates are the low “avoided cost” to the utility of about $0.02 per kWh to $0.03 per kWh, which solar advocates argue is an unfair rate that improperly evaluates the avoided cost to the utility.

Solar-interested Sooners can still benefit from the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which extended the 30% Investment Tax Credit for the next decade. The act allows for direct payment of 30% of eligible system costs, including any attached or standalone home battery systems.

EnergySage reports that Oklahoma’s average installation cost ranges from $11,305 to $15,295. On a cost per watt ($/W) basis, a solar panel installation in Oklahoma ranges in price from $2.26 to $3.06, said EnergySage. When compared to the state’s current electric rates, EnergySage estimates an average return on investment period of about 11 years.

Landmark project

Solar installer EightTwenty, launched in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, aims to bring more distributed solar to the state, which it views as a relatively untapped market.

Oklahoma is the sixth sunniest state in the nation, and OKC is a top-30 sunniest city, said EightTwenty. Even so, CEO Tony Capucille said there are only 2,500 solar homes, few commercial installations, and only one large-scale project.

EightTwenty created a charitable outreach, called Give Solar, which installed its first project for RestoreOKC, a non-profit restorative justice organization. The array powers a community center and farmer’s market that contains hydroponic facilities for urban vegetable farming, bringing fresh vegetables to a community that struggles with nutritional diversity as a food desert. The company said the solar array is large enough to meet 100% of its energy demand.

The company said it aims to be flexible in its installation techniques, expanding past rooftop solar to also provide ground mounts, pergolas, canopies and carports.

Up next 

The last installment of the series was a review of Mississippi, and next we will travel to Arkansas on our 50 states roundup of solar incentives.

The Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), a subsidiary of investor-owned utility American Electric Power (AEP), petitioned the state’s corporate commission for approval to purchase power from a 995.5 MW solar and wind project portfolio. 

PSO named the portfolio the “Fuel-Free Power Plan,” a large set of projects that involve a total investment of $2.47 billion. It includes the 103 MW Chisholm Trail solar facility and 150 MW Algodon solar facility in Texas, as well as the 189 MW Pixley solar facility in Kansas, expected to come online in April 2025. The portfolio also includes three large-scale wind facilities. 

The utility said the plan will lessen reliance on natural gas resources, shielding customers from volatile prices and cutting emissions. It is also designed to help meet increasing demand as required by the Southwest Power Pool. 

All facilities are expected to reach operation by the end of 2025. PSO said the massive buildout will lead to an average monthly bill cost increase of $3.48 per month, a modest increase and more stable than what is expected from volatile natural gas prices. 

Currently, PSO operates 3.8 GW of generation capacity, with aims to reach 50% renewable energy by 2032. 

“At PSO we understand the importance of providing affordable service and through this plan, we are excited to keep delivering on that commitment to our customers,” said Leigh Anne Strahler, president and chief operating officer of PSO . “This investment in fuel-free power is another step in our efforts to shield our customers against high costs while meeting their energy needs.” 

The projects are set to significantly boost Oklahoma’s total solar generation capacity, a welcome sign for a state with high solar irradiance. Through Q2 2022, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that Oklahoma has 100 MW of solar deployed, ranking it in the bottom five states in the nation.

The state houses 26 solar companies, including three manufacturers, 12 installers/developers, and 11 others, employing 868 people. SEIA reports that $189 million has been invested in solar in the state, so the Fuel-Free Power Plan may mark the birth of a new era of solar in Oklahoma.

Panasonic, which supplies its electric vehicle (EV) batteries to companies like Tesla, announced it plans another $4 billion factory, which is expected to be located in Oklahoma, reports sources close to the Wall Street Journal. The factory joins a Kansas City area facility that was announced last month.

The Kansas factory is expected to create up to 4,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs, and this location would effectively double the total. When complete, the Kansas plant would be the largest economic development in the state’s history and would be larger than the Nevada gigafactory Panasonic currently operates with Tesla.

The two new factories, representing $8 billion in investment, will be built to serve the sharply increasing demand for electric vehicles in the U.S. Automotive manufacturers and suppliers have publicly announced more than $38 billion in investment through 2026 to boost battery production in the U.S., said AlixPartners.

The factories are expected to produce Panasonic’s lithium-ion 4680 cells, of which the properties and exact chemistry has not yet been revealed. Elon Musk has described the Panasonic product as, “the world’s most advanced cell.”

“With the increased electrification of the automotive market, expanding battery production in the US is critical to help meet demand,” said Kazuo Tadanobu, president, CEO of Panasonic Energy. “Given our leading technology and depth of experience, we aim to continue driving growth of the lithium-ion battery industry and accelerating towards a net-zero emissions future.”

Demand is set to be supercharged by recent legislation at state and federal levels. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) contains a $4,000 consumer tax credit for low/middle income individuals to buy used clean vehicles, and up to $7500 for new clean vehicles, which includes electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

The IRA also provides incentives on the production side, with $40 billion in tax credits dedicated to domestic electric vehicle production. The incentives come as part of an effort to onshore and shorten supply chains, thereby lessening dependence on foreign nations to power the U.S. energy transition.

EVs will also be boosted by the recent California ruling to ban all new sales of gas-powered cars by 2035. Under the law, Californians can continue to drive gas-fueled vehicles and purchase used ones after 2035. The plan also allows for 20% of sales after 2035 to be plug-in hybrids that can run on batteries and gas.

The new law is set to spur demand for infrastructure to support an electric-powered transportation sector, including solar and electric vehicle charging stations. Currently, there are about 80,000 charging stations in California, well short of the goal of 250,000 by 2025.

Other states legislatures, including in Washington, New York, and Massachusetts, have publicly stated that the passage of the California combustion engine ban opens the door for similar laws to be enacted in their respective states soon.

“The climate crisis is solvable if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to stem the tide of carbon pollution,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.

More than 1 billion customers use Panasonic products every day, generating 86 million tons of CO2 emissions based on electricity consumption figures. This amounts to approximately 110 million tons of CO2 emissions across our entire value chain, a number that is equivalent to about 1% of total emissions from global electricity consumption. The company has entered an initiative to become net-zero in its business operations by 2030 and sets further goals for its sustainability by 2050.

LG Energy Solutions and Honda also announced an agreement to establish a joint venture company to produce lithium-ion EV batteries in the U.S. Under the agreement, the two will invest $4.4 billion to build and operate a plant with an annual production capacity of 40 GWh. Construction is slated for early 2023, with plans to begin mass production of the pouch-based battery cells by the end of 2025.

Better-performing solar cells are a key pathway to the acceleration of the active clean energy revolution. Most solar panels today are silicon-based and have a single junction. The upper theoretical limit of energy absorption efficiency for silicon solar cells, called the Shockley-Queisser limit, is about 33.7%.

Currently, Fraunhofer holds the record for commercial silicon single-junction solar cells at about 26%, so there is much room for improvement to hit the limit. But researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Oklahoma may have discovered a way to burst through the theoretical limit by taking advantage of excess heat.

As much as 50% of the energy absorbed by a solar cell is lost as heat. This excess energy comes as a result of the charged particles in the photovoltaic process taking in more energy than is needed to excite an electron and send it on its way as electricity. The teams are developing pathways to build what are called hot carrier solar cells (HCSC) to combat these thermal energy losses and improve efficiency.

HCSC was first conceived decades ago by R.T. Ross and A.J. Nozik. The two researchers theorized that particles carrying excess heat, or hot carriers, could be isolated and stored in a lattice structure that captures the energy. Experiments proved this was possible, but a functional HCSC cell has not yet been built.

New research in the Journal of Photonics for Energy outlines the many conditions that must be met to bring HCSC from theory to practice. The practice involves creating “satellite valleys” in the band structure of semiconductors, where hot carriers can temporarily be stored without energy loss. The satellite valley changes the kinetic energy of the excess heat particles into potential energy, changing the particle from a loss to one that is stored.

The researchers were able to successfully demonstrate storage of heat through the satellite valley effect by using a indium-gallium-arsenide and aluminum (InGaAs/InAlAs) structure.

The researchers noted that the concept is not a complete solution, and efficiently gathering the stored potential energy as electricity requires further testing. But the demonstration of storing this excess energy opens pathways for a technology that might finally overtake the Shockley-Quiesser limit.

Elsewhere, new technologies such as N-TOPCon and heterojunction (HJT) cells are working toward pushing the needle forward for PV efficiency.

Public Service Company of Oklahoma, a unit of American Electric Power, submitted Requests for Proposals (RFP) for renewable energy resources to supply the needs of its customers.

The RFPs solicit bids to buy solar energy resources of up to 1,350 MW and wind energy resources of up to 2,800 MW. Proposals may include a battery energy storage system as an option. The optional BESS must be no larger than 40% of the nameplate solar energy resource, and be sized for 4 and/or 8 hours of capacity.

In addition, the solar energy resources must be a minimum of 50 MW; wind energy resources must be a minimum of 100 MW. The resources must interconnect to the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), and the solar resources must be in Oklahoma.

Proposals will be due on Jan. 13, 2022. Proposals selected from the two RFPs are subject to appropriate regulatory approvals.

In this installment of Startup Sunday, three companies are scaling up in solar, energy storage, and transportation.

EightTwenty spotlights Oklahoma solar

Solar installer EightTwenty, which was founded in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, sets its sights on a relatively untapped solar market.

Oklahoma is the sixth sunniest state in the nation, and OKC is a top-30 sunniest city, said EightTwenty. Even so, CEO Tony Capucille said there are only 2,500 solar homes, few commercial installations, and only one large-scale project.

A region built on the back of oil and gas, the Sooner State sources one-third of its net generation from wind turbines when the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

But solar lags, thus far only achieving about 1.2% market penetration, said the company. EightTwenty plans to step in and provide residential, commercial, and institutional solar.

The company said it aims to be flexible in its installation techniques, expanding past rooftop solar to also provide ground mounts, pergolas, canopies and carports.

The company’s charitable outreach, known as Give Solar, recently installed its first project,  an array for RestoreOKC, a non-profit restorative justice organization.

Flight of the Skydweller

Spanish-American aerospace startup Skydweller, located in Oklahoma City, raised $32 million in Series A funding, led by Italian aerospace firm Leonardo.

In 2016, Skydweller flew a plane called the Solar Impulse 2, which became the first aircraft to circumnavigate the globe without liquid fuel. The solar-powered plane traveled 26,718 miles, stopped in 17 cities, and took nearly a year and a half to complete its voyage. While this journey was slow, it was a noteworthy proof-of-concept that solar planes can indeed fly.

Now a new craft called Skydweller aims for the skies, but this time with nobody in the cockpit. In fact, the autonomous plane doesn’t even have a cockpit, which opens space for other operations like carrying payloads of up to 800 pounds.

Recently, the company achieved its first public contract with Naval Air Systems Command at the Navy League of the United States’ annual Sea Air Space conference.

The plane’s mission: to fly continuously for 90 days. Co-founder John Parks said that flying for 90 days in a single aircraft means one takeoff and one landing, versus hundreds for a conventional aircraft with a pilot. He said this has implications for the U.S. government in national security.

The plane is topped with 2,900 sq. ft. of PV cells, generating up to 2 kW of electricity. An onboard hydrogen fuel cell is installed if several days of cloudy weather persist in a row. The craft has a wingspan of 236 feet, slightly more than a Boeing 747 (224 feet), and will fly at 30,000 to 45,000 feet altitude.

Watts Battery joins accelerator

Watts Battery, California-based producer of smart energy storage and management systems for residential and commercial purposes, joins Alchemist Accelerator, a leading business-to-business enterprise accelerator. Turning good ideas to gold, Alchemist is expected to help Watts Battery scale up through its six-month accelerator program.

The Watts Battery is a modular, portable system that the company said requires no extra components or devices and can be connected to solar panels or other generation source.

It features a demand-response platform that aggregates behind-the-meter data from every cloud-connected, registered Watts Battery module. It allows for smart load balancing and the switch to reserve power during blackouts.

The battery can be deployed virtually anywhere, weighing in at  30 lbs., with dimensions of 14”x18”x5.5”. A single unit has 1.5 kW of power, and delivers 3 kW of power in peak within seven seconds. The batteries are limited to 7.5 kW in phase.

Solar panels up to 1 kW in capacity with a voltage range of 30-95V are supported by one module, which has a built-in solar inverter.

The modular batteries can scale up to 10 modules, totaling 12 kWh per rack, and multiple racks allow for unlimited expansion. The lithium-ion battery takes about four hours to fully charge.

Deep in the heart of the Oil Patch, Getka Group said it plans to build up to a 40 MW solar generation facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, to power mobile data centers, terminal operations, and oil pipelines.

Cushing is home to one of the world’s largest oil-storage tank farms, with a working capacity of more than 10% of total U.S. storage. It is also the delivery and pricing point for West Texas Intermediate crude oil future contracts, a global benchmark.

The solar generation will initially power Plexus industrial data centers, which deliver off-grid power and data center services for the energy and technology sectors. The system will also supply power to Getka’s planned terminal expansion in Cushing, which the company said will include tank designs to minimize and capture emissions and will use solar power for terminal operations.

Getka said it plans to reduce so-called avoidable emissions through renewable energy and operational processes, working toward zero emissions for its oil and refined-products terminals.

Based in Tulsa, Getka Group is focused on upstream mineral production, acquisitions and operations, asset development, pipeline and terminal infrastructure, as well as alternative and renewable energy operations. Getka recently launched a solar division and said it is developing megawatt-scale solar facilities in the U.S. and Europe.

The non-profit Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is rolling out services that offer U.S. municipalities state-level legal road maps and direct legal assistance for transitioning to solar and renewable energy. “It will help cities understand the legal landscape and get into the market,” said Jillian Blanchard, program director for “It’s Up to Us”, L4GG’s climate change program.

Most local municipalities do not have the in-house expertise or resources to transition to renewable energy, but 200 U.S. cities and counties have achieved or have committed to achieving 100% clean energy.

“[For cities] the key is understanding the applicable state laws and understanding what they can do,” Blanchard said. To meet their renewable energy goals, municipalities need to know state energy, municipal and land use laws as well as existing local policies. They also often need guidance on franchise agreements, financing solutions and community choice solar options. “Our research memos offer a state-wide overview,” Blanchard said.

The state-level primers explain how the local utilities are regulated, and they offer municipalities guidance on how to get involved in a utility docket. The research memos can also help cities leverage their position with utilities. “Utilities often need franchise agreements from cities to use city streets, rights of way, etc… In return, cities can ask for clean energy provisions to be included in the franchise agreements to help increase renewable energy availability,” Blanchard explained.

L4GG has launched state reports for New York, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Profiles on Nevada, Virginia, Idaho, Arkansas, South Carolina, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois and Vermont will be released in the coming months. In its Ready for 100 Program, the Sierra Club flagged these 20 states as priority states.  Each of these states have cities that would benefit from additional legal information as they look to switch to renewable energy.

L4GG is also piloting an online legal forum that will let cities and non-governmental organizations reach out to L4GG’s 120,000 legal advocates to get answers to questions about renewable energy goals, targets, policies and utilities. Through the Climate Portal, municipalities will also be able to tap into direct legal assistance on how to increase renewable energy through a variety of methods, including power purchase agreements, she noted.

“Approximately one-third of greenhouse gases in the U.S. come from electricity generation. We want to help U.S. cities shift to renewable energy in the absence of good governance to directly address climate change,” Blanchard said.

***

Here are the state profiles.

• New York: https://bit.ly/2Tr2IjO

• Florida: https://bit.ly/2Te2sWD

• North Carolina: https://bit.ly/3aoVKmt

• Colorado https://bit.ly/2TbUvB2

• Minnesota: https://bit.ly/2PCEOk6

• Missouri: https://bit.ly/2I7231K

• Ohio: https://bit.ly/32EvmCg

• Oklahoma: https://bit.ly/32I5F3z

• Louisiana: https://bit.ly/3clBoMz

Kaua‘i achieves 55% renewable generation: Kauaʿi Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) announced that renewable energy generation reached 55% of all electricity in 2019. Getting more than halfway to the 100% mark was the cooperative’s goal throughout 2019. The company has easily surpassed its stated goal of 50% renewable generation by 2023. At the start of the decade, the KUIC’s renewable projects contributed just 8% of all generation. When the 20 MW hybrid solar-plus-storage and pumped storage hydro West Kauaʿi Energy Project is completed, KIUC will be around 80% renewable genration. Source: Kauaʿi Island Utility Cooperative | In November, KUIC generated enough renewable energy to run the island entirely over the course of 32 hours.

Dominion battery storage pilot projects approved: The Virginia State Corporation Commission has given Dominion Energy approval to move forward with four battery storage pilot projects totaling 16 MW. The pilot will consist of two battery systems totaling 12 MW at the Scott Solar facility in Powhatan County, a 2 MW battery at a substation in the Town of Ashland and a 2 MW battery at a substation in New Kent County. The projects are expected to cost $33 million to construct and are expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2021. Source: Dominion Energy

Engie and JLL develop energy program for State Fund: State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) and ENGIE North America have agreed to build solar installations, energy storage systems, and electric vehicle charging stations across seven different State Fund locations throughout California. ENGIE will install up to 11 MW of solar panels across six State Fund facilities, while the energy storage will check in at 4,240 kWh across four locations. The only type of development going up at all seveon of the chosen locations are the 150 Level II and Level III electric vehicle charging stations that will be used by State Fund fleet vehicles and available to employees. The entire project is currently planned to be completed by the end of 2020. Source: State Fund

Oklahoma Gas and Electric to develop solar projects for Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes: Oklahoma Gas and Electric will be developing two, 5 MW  solar energy projects in southeast Oklahoma, one to serve the renewable energy needs of the Chickasaw Nation, the other for the Choctaw Nation. The two tribes will each purchase approximately 50% of their corresponding farm’s generation through OG&E’s solar tariff. The projects are both expected to be operational by August. Source: Oklahoma Gas and Electric | pv magazine has noted that solar development on native lands is becoming more popular, with Salt River Project releasing an RFP for 200 MW on Navajo lands.

PG&E pays in January: “Consistent with the terms of its power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Topaz Solar Farms today received full contract payment for its January 2020 energy deliveries to PG&E. While monitoring PG&E’s financial situation, Topaz continues to perform its obligations under the parties’ power purchase agreement.” The bankrupt utility has made every payment since filing.

The ten states with the greatest solar resources added 1,872 MW of small-scale solar in the 12 months ending in November, 2019—slightly more than in 2018. California punched above its weight, adding two-thirds of the total, although it has only 40% of the region’s population.

Rooftop solar installations account for most small-scale solar, which is defined as smaller than 1 MW.

Hawaii extended its commanding lead in cumulative small-scale solar per capita, with California in second place and Arizona a close third. Overall, six of the ten states exceed the national average of 69 watts of small-scale solar per capita. A complete state scorecard is below.

Policy goals

Here are solar advocacy groups’ 2020 policy goals for distributed solar, starting with Hawaii and California.

Hawaii: Noting Hawaii’s renewables mandate, Will Giese, executive director of Hawaii Solar Energy Association, a SEIA state affiliate, presented this vision:

“Currently, there is a lack of proper value streams to allow customers [an] incentive to adopt energy storage or demand response technology. The battle to get to 100% by 2045 will be won or lost behind the meter, through distributed energy resources like PV-plus-storage. We know that distributed energy resources create value for all ratepayers, and we’ve seen that in average electric bill reduction from 2011 to 2018 in Hawaii, despite electric rates remaining the same. It’s time to put that value on paper, and get to building the distribution-up grid we’re always talking about.”

Turning to specifics, Giese said, “All of the functionality of advanced inverters and energy storage is lost if customers don’t have a price signal or incentive to turn it on or use it when it’s most needed.” He projected that “Hawaii will likely be one of the first states to develop a time-based rate structure with [compensation for] grid services.”

California: The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) will advocate for electricity rates that support the growth of rooftop solar and storage, said Rick Umoff, California senior director and counsel for SEIA, as the organization engages in six utility rate cases this year.

California will also review its net energy metering policy this year, and SEIA will advocate for “a fair rate structure that recognizes the various benefits that solar provides,” Umoff said, adding that SEIA wants to ensure that customers who add solar-plus-storage “are fully credited for the resilience benefits their systems provide.”

SEIA will also work “to ensure the industry continues to grow responsibly, by developing robust and balanced consumer protection regulations that allow more customers to go solar,” Umoff said.

Arizona: Noting that the utility Arizona Public Service has set a goal of 45% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2045, Vote Solar is asking the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to “turn one, voluntary commitment into a statewide mandate, with a minimum of 10% from local, customer-owned solar installations,” said Art Terrazas, the group’s Interior West director.

Similarly, Solar United Neighbors (SUN) is calling for the ACC to set a “binding 50% renewable energy standard” by 2030, with a 10% carve-out for distributed resources such as solar, said Bret Fanshaw, the group’s Arizona program director. Unlike other states, where the state legislature may set a renewable portfolio standard, Arizona’s constitution “empowers [the ACC] to regulate utilities,” and “the ability to set renewable energy targets is included in this mandate,” explained Ben Delman, communications director for SUN.

SEIA is “looking to see whether [Arizona Public Service’s] newfound commitment to renewable energy also applies to behind-the-meter solar systems,” said Sara Birmingham, SEIA’s senior director of state affairs, adding that SEIA will seek to “limit the decline of the solar export credit.”

New Mexico: Vote Solar is “supporting the Community Solar Act again this year,” said Marta Tomic, the group’s Interior West senior director. She notes that the bill would reserve 30% of new community solar capacity for projects serving low-income customers.

Utah: SEIA is “focused on maintaining an export rate for residential rooftop solar that will be sufficient to maintain the market,” in a proceeding before the Public Service Commission, said Sara Birmingham of SEIA.

1.6 GW more in other states

Last year, solar contractors in the Southeast added 427 MW of small-scale solar; those in the Northeast added 800 MW; and those in 19 Midwest and Northern Tier states added 400 MW.

State scorecard

Here’s the scorecard for the ten sunniest states, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Form EIA-861M data:

EIA does not collect data on all distributed solar installations, which are defined as those not directly connected to the bulk transmission system, and which can range much larger than 1 MW.

In a deal spanning 20 projects, seven states, two power markets and more solar than the entire state of Florida has installed to date, ACCIONA has agreed to a deal with Tenaska to acquire 3 GW of utility-scale solar and 1 GW of co-located solar and energy storage.

This represents one of the largest deals known to pv magazine. What’s more is that the projects aren’t all that far from going on-line, CEO of ACCIONA’s Energy Division in North America, Rafael Esteban boldly shared: “We will bring a significant portion of the portfolio into service between 2021 and 2023.”

Specially, ACCIONA envisions commissioning eight projects by the end of 2023, adding around 1.5 GW of peak capacity to its North American renewable energy portfolio.

And, if we want to play the exponential capacity game, it seems as if this deal will set the record. Prior to this acquisition, ACCIONA’s entire American solar portfolio was comprised of just the 64 MW Nevada Solar One concentrated solar plant, just outside of Las Vegas. On the global scale, however, the company owns over 10 GW of renewable generation assets.

And while 3 GW of solar is massive, 1 GW of battery storage is, quite literally, unlike anything we have ever seen in the United States. To date, the country has only 899 MW of operating batter storage. And while that figure is anticipated to reach 1 GW by year’s end, even then this is 1/67th of the total installed solar capacity and an even smaller percent of installed renewable energy capacity.

In July, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released a report predicting that the volume of battery storage will more than double to 2,500 MW by 2023. Considering both the above goal of having the majority of this project pipeline in operation by 2023 and the size of the pipeline, this deal alone could help the United States achieve or, moreover, surpass that figure.

Non-traditional markets

However, potentially the most impressive part about the deal is that none of the projects are locate in what would be considered strong, traditional, solar markets. The states included are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

In case anyone was wondering, this 3 GW purchase represents more solar capacity than all of those states currently have on-line combined, and it’s not particularly close, either. Remember that whole bit about the future of solar being driven by the midwest? Seems like it’s already starting to come true.

It will be interesting to see in which states the majority of these projects are located in, once more details become available. Will capacity be evenly distributed or will this agreement launch one state into American solar royalty?

What is for sure is that one of the above states will be launched into battery storage royalty. California is currently the only state in the U.S. with a battery storage capacity greater than 150 MW.

Yet who do we see on that list? Pennsylvania and Ohio. It will be interesting to see just how much capacity is brought to these states, and what kind  of impact that development has on their national storage status.

Honda makes auto industry’s largest solar purchase to date – Upping the company’s renewable energy profile considerably, Honda has announced that the company will be purchasing 482,000 MWh/year from a 200 MW Texas solar facility. This purchase, in addition to the 530,000 MWh/year Honda will be buying from the 120 MW Boiling Springs Wind Farm in Oklahoma will bring the company to 60% of its electricity needs being procured from renewable resources. Source: Honda

ENGIE North America acquires Massachusetts solar + storage portfolio – ENGIE North America has announced the acquisition of a four-project Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) portfolio. Said portfolio has a total capacity of 25 MW of solar and 22 MW of energy storage. The portfolio will be operated by ENGIE’s Distributed Solar team and ENGIE Storage and participate in ISO New England wholesale markets and is expected to be entirely operational in Q3 2020. Source: ENGIE North America

Complete Solar raises $9 million in funding – “Complete Solar, Inc., announced it has raised $9 million in equity funding led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund. Additional participating investment came from the Libra Foundation. This capital is supporting Complete Solar’s market expansion, which includes enabling non-solar sales channels to expand their respective product offerings through Complete Solar’s reseller program. Complete Solar is also set to expand its product offerings to include electric car chargers, battery back-up systems, electric heat pumps, roofing, and other home energy upgrades by cross promoting its partners’ energy products. Complete Solar has expanded its partnerships across California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Utah, and Arizona.” Source: Complete Solar 

Standard Solar acquires Lake Elsinore Unified School District projects – “Standard Solar, Inc. today announced it has acquired a 7 MW portfolio of distributed generation solar projects for the Lake Elsinore Unified School District (LEUSD) in Lake Elsinore, Calif. Standard Solar will finance, own and operate all eight projects which are currently planned for phased development with all systems expected to be online in 2020. The projects were developed by Riverside, Calif., Lamb Energy, Inc. Stronghold Engineering Inc., an award-winning design and construction firm with years of expertise in the solar industry, will perform the installation of the projects.” Source: Standard Solar 

174 Power Global Acquires OnForce Solar – “174 Power Global (“174 Power Global” or “the Company”), today announced that it has acquired OnForce Solar, a leading New York commercial solar development firm and community solar business, further advancing the Company’s presence in the retail energy and commercial and industrial (C&I) project development markets. OnForce Solar will become part of newly formed entity, 174 Power Global Northeast.Together, 174 Power Global and OnForce Solar will be able to provide more households with a community solar offering, giving consumers the option to purchase a “share” in a community solar project in order to adopt clean energy practices and reduce electricity costs. New York is among the four most active community solar states, with others quickly joining the coalition. Currently, OnForce Solar serves New York and New Jersey; 174 Power Global plans to scale the business across the Northeast and expand to other parts of the country as solar prices continue to drop and consumer demand increases.” Source: 174 Power Global

When you look at the transition to renewable energy usage with a legislative-based eye, you’d see it as a dauntingly slow process, with two steps forward and one back, and some regions being dragged along by others. The beautiful thing is, the energy transition is driven by more than just legislation, with large corporations frequently stepping up to lead the charge.

Look no further for rapid transition that to Ball Corporation, which has announced the signing of power contracts for a 161 MW wind farm and a 227 MW solar farm. Those agreements together mean that the company will procure 100% of its North American electric load through renewable sources by 2021. It’s also a 5000% growth in renewable commitment, as the company’s only previous renewable investment came via a six-turbine wind plant outside of its Findlay, Ohio, beverage packaging plant.

Not only is this procurement impressive for the electricity offset it it creating, but it instantly vaults Ball to a leading position among corporate renewable energy users in the country. Corporate renewable procurement is a wildly fluctuating market year-by-year, one which reached 6.4 GW in 2018 and is expected to grow in 2019.

And because most of this development is driven by massive tech companies like Microsoft, Facebook and Google, Ball’s commitment is made only more impressive. In 2018, Wal Mart and ExxonMobil led the way in procurement for non-tech companies, with ExxonMobil specifically signing contracts for 575 MW of wind and solar power in Texas. So, while not quite the top dog, 388 MW comfortably places Ball among the biggest non-tech players in buying power from renewables.

While these two power contracts represent the entirety of the company’s North American electrical needs, that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to come. In the release touting the contracts’ signing, John A. Hayes, chairman, president and CEO of Ball was quoted as saying “Utilizing renewable energy is an important lever to further enhance the sustainability credentials of our packaging and we’re exploring similar opportunities across our global footprint.”

Solar contractors put up 1.8 GW of PV systems smaller than 1 MW last year, in the nation’s sunniest territory—from California east to Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, plus Hawaii. That was just over half of the national total of 3.4 GW of small-scale PV.

California, with two-fifths of the region’s population, added the most small-scale PV, while Arizona placed second, ahead of the more populous Texas. Considering solar per capita, Hawaii remains far ahead, with California a distant second, followed closely by Arizona. In a national ranking, Massachusetts would take second place after Hawaii.

Although the ten states have comparable solar resources—as shown in a solar resource map from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory—the amount of small-scale solar per capita varies widely.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects that 3.9 GW of small-scale solar will come online nationwide this year—nearly as much as the 4.3 GW of utility-scale PV that the agency expects.

Here are the small-scale installation data for the 10 states, from EIA’s Form EIA-861M reports:

These totals do not reflect all distributed solar installations—which are defined as installations not directly connected to the bulk transmission grid. That’s because some distributed installations are substantially larger than the 1 MW cutoff that EIA uses to define small-scale solar. EIA does not separately report data on all distributed solar installations.

Policy goals

Policy experts in these states offered their goals for advancing distributed solar in the coming year:

Arizona

Vote Solar is working alongside partners “to ensure that Arizonians who choose solar aren’t surprised with new fees or changes to their rate structure,” said Briana Kobor, the organization’s regulatory director.

California

California’s proposed bipartisan Solar Bill of Rights would make it easier and more affordable for customers to “access clean energy and play a role in tackling climate change,” said Susannah Churchill, Vote Solar’s California director. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is working in California to enact “policies that ensure solar access for all communities and consumers, maintain fair compensation rates, and modernize the grid in a smart efficient way,” said Sean Gallagher, the group’s vice president of state affairs.

Kansas

“Kansas customers have the right to generate their own power without being forced onto discriminatory rates,” said Maddy Yozwiak, regulatory research manager at Vote Solar. Kansas utility Westar has just instituted a demand charge for residential solar customers, she said, and Vote Solar has teamed up with Earthjustice and the Sierra Club to challenge the decision in court.

Nevada

Vote Solar is pleased that state legislators are discussing the SB210 community solar bill, as it would “reduce barriers to access for low-income Nevadans and the nearly 500,000 renters in the state,” said Jessica Scott, the group’s senior director for the Interior West. SEIA’s Sean Gallagher said that “Nevada needs a legislative vehicle to enact the voters’ will of 50 percent renewable energy in the state by 2030.”

New Mexico

Noting the benefits of HB210, the Community Solar Act, Vote Solar’s Interior West Director Art Terrazas said that “Community solar means that every New Mexican, regardless of income, whether they rent, or where they live can access the cost-saving benefits of solar.”

Texas

SEIA is working in Texas to “maintain the market’s recent momentum by defending against potential tax policy changes,” said Mr. Gallagher.

Utah

“Utility attempts to punish solar customers with lower export credits is a tactic we’ve seen across the country,” said Ms. Kobor of Vote Solar, adding that the group is working with local allies to “expose those efforts and urge regulators to put the interests of citizens—not corporations—first.”

Snapshot stories

Here are “snapshot stories” provided by solar contractors, presenting projects from the past year:

This 160 kWdc dual-tilt SunPower Helix fully ballasted system with SMA Sunny Tripower inverters serves an industrial building in San Marcos, California. Built by Cosmic Solar. Image: Pey Shadzi, Cosmic Solar

This 100 kWac rooftop system powers a restaurant in Hilo, Hawaii. Built by ProSolar Hawaii. Image: ProSolar Hawaii.

This 15 kW installation powers a home in San Antonio, TX. Built by TriSMART Solar. Image: James Stone and TriSMART Solar

This 1 MW solar canopy superstructure keeps cars cool at a Fry’s Marketplace store in Goodyear, Arizona. Built by Affordable Solar Installation. Image: Travis Bailey, Park N Shade

This 12 kW installation powers a home in Lawrence, Kansas. Built by JSUNpv. Image: Jason Peterson, JSUNpv

The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has put in stark terms that we have 12 years to clean up our carbon emissions, or face dire consequences for our civilization and our species.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that an energy transition is underway in the electricity sector. When the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) put out full-year electricity generation numbers for 2017, we at pv magazine crunched these numbers and reported that solar now represents more than 10% of in-state generation in five states.

Today EIA topped that with their own analysis which shows that combined wind and solar represented more than 20% of generation in ten states in 2017.

This is mostly wind and is led by Midwestern and Plains States, which have very strong wind resources, and on a monthly basis wind has represented more than 50% of generation in Iowa and Kansas. However in both Vermont (24% wind and solar) and California (22%) solar represents at least half of the annual total.

It is also notable that many of these states have small populations and limited electricity demand, which may explain why EIA found that wind and solar made up only 8% of the total electricity production in the United States in 2017 – although this number had already jumped to 9% in the first half of 2018.

The interesting thing about the states leading this transition is that they mostly don’t have renewable energy mandates. National leader Iowa (37% wind) was the first state to pass a renewable portfolio standard in 1986; however this policy never really advanced and requires only 105 MW of renewables, which was reached long ago.

Likewise Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and North Dakota (#2-#5) have all blown through the voluntary renewable energy goals that were set at the state level for utilities.

However Vermont and California (#6,#7) are very different. These states have the some of the strongest goals for renewable and zero-carbon electricity in the United States, with California recently mandating 100% zero-carbon generation by 2045, and Vermont calling for 75% renewable energy by 2032 – a goal second only to Hawaii’s 100% by 2045 in its ambition.

As such, there are a number of other states that are likely to be joining the 20%+ club in the near future. These include not only Hawaii but Texas, which has already been getting a large portion of its electricity from wind, and is now undergoing a solar boom.

And while wind and solar are not the only resources allowed, they are likely to be most of the compliance with 50% by 2030 renewable energy mandates in New York and New Jersey, which means that these states are likely to pass the 20% mark within five years.

As such, between the market success of renewable energy in Texas, the Plains States and other regions and ambitious mandates in West Coast and Northeast states, the transition to wind and solar is likely to accelerate over the next decade, regardless of the policy actions of the Trump Administration.

A recent report issued by the Center for Biological Diversity shows how in many states, the rooftop solar market is suffering from death by a thousand cuts. Throwing Shade – 10 Sunny States Blocking Distributive Solar Development – 2018 Edition focuses primarily on “Sunbelt” states whose policies neglect or are hostile to distributed solar – that is, solar not owned or controlled by utility companies.

These states, plus Midwestern ones, have significant commonalities that stifle customer owned or negotiated solar, resulting in stunted or unbalanced PV markets. Distributed solar in this instance refers to rooftop residential or nonresidential installations, plus the nascent third party community solar market. The report did not include Alaska or Hawaii in the overall assessment.

The “sunny” states examined are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana (apparently an honorary “sunny” state), Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, with cloudier Michigan and Wisconsin tossed in for good measure. Throwing Shade estimates these states should technically account for about 1/3 of the rooftop solar market in the United States. Instead, this group accounts for only 7.5% of the national market.

In the still early stages of rooftop solar market development, these states are laggards, all under 1% of technical potential, ranging all the way down to .01%. By contrast, sunbelt states like Arizona are estimated to be at about 4% of technical rooftop potential, with overall leader California at 3.8%.

Commonalities identified in the report include all but two states (Michigan and Texas) having no mandatory renewable portfolio standard, and only one (Michigan) with a solar or distributive generation carve-out. Mandatory net metering policies were either non-existent or weak except for the Lone Star State. No state had a trifecta of solar rights explicitly stated plus strong net meter and interconnection policies.

While community solar is still getting off the ground across the United States, Virginia was the only state with even a pilot program. Only South Carolina had both solar leasing and power purchase agreements for non-utilities in place. Seven states either didn’t allow the practices, or were uncertain, essentially serving the same negative function. Another commonality is most of these states were served by “regulated” utility monopolies, making competition and customer choice weak or non-existent.

These wet blanket rooftop solar policy states have stunted or unbalanced solar markets. This can lead to PV resources not being used for their effective grid supporting value, as well as raising issues around customer equity. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, about 40% of the solar capacity in the United States in 2017 was non-utility rooftop installations, including both residential and nonresidential.

However, most of the states featured in the report had only about 15% or less of their solar as non-utility installations in 2017. In one case, Georgia, near zero. By contrast Louisiana’s solar market in 2017 was virtually all non-utility, Wisconsin’s about 75% non-utility and Indiana’s about 33%. But these are all small markets, with each reaching a capacity of only 10-60 MW.

Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. (OG&E) has commissioned a 10 MW-AC community solar PV power plant in Covington. The facility was sold out – with enough interest to also purchase the capacity of the prior 2.5 MW solar plant built by the utility.

“We’ve been tracking an increase in customer interest,” noted OG&E CEO Keith Mitchell.

The plant was built by Moss Construction Management’s solar arm, using SunPower’s Oasis modular solution , including single axis tracking and the company’s 16-17% efficiency shingle celled P-Series solar modules. The Oasis system also includes automatic cleaning by a low-water robotic system in the high dust area.

The construction process involved one tragedy. Davis Knox of Blanchard, Oklahoma – born in October 1961 – died on the site while building the project.

Solar in the wind belt

According to the latest estimates by Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Oklahoma had only 32 MW of installed solar before this plant, meaning that another 10 MW increases the state’s cumulative installed capacity by 31%.

But when your state is the second largest producer of electricity via wind power and has seen wind peak at 60% of instantaneous generation, it may be natural that solar power is an afterthought. According to the American Wind Energy Association:

Oklahoma had 7,495 megawatts of installed wind power capacity at the end of 2017, putting the state behind only Texas, which boasts 22,637 megawatts of capacity.

OG&E has made interesting comments that very clearly spelt out how solar power could fit into this state’s unique power grid. OG&E CEO Mitchell said solar power, during the times of year when the wind isn’t as strong – such as high summer – will be more predictable than wind

The utility found some customers chose solar because they were interested in renewable energy, while others wanted to lock in predictable power prices.

“What we do next needs to be done in an optimum way,” he continued. “We have several other ones we have mapped out, when we think about what might be next.”

The technical benefits of solar in balancing wind output, coupled with strong customer support, and a pragmatic development process suggests we’re in the rising phase of solar power in Oklahoma.

Following up on this week’s theme of utility-scale solar developments in unlikely states, today SunPower and Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) announced that construction will begin on a 10 MW solar project due north of Oklahoma City next month.

The project will utilize SunPower’s new P-Series modules, which feature an overlapping cell design, and its Oasis Power Plant modular system. SunPower has hired Florida-based contractor Moss to construct the plant on an 80-acre site in Covington, Oklahoma, a town of 527 inhabitants in the wheat fields of Garfield County.

OG&E will own the project, and SunPower will supply operations and maintenance (O&M) services.

This is not SunPower’s first plant in Oklahoma, and follows on a 2.5 MW project which SunPower built for OG&E in Mustang, Oklahoma in 2015. However, solar panels either on rooftops or in large projects are a rare sight in the Sooner State, which is among the bottom 11 state markets that GTM Research and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) do not even track in their quarterly reports.

According to U.S. Department of Energy filings, there is around 3.3 MW-AC of distributed solar in the state. Even assuming that this does not include the Mustang project, the Covington plant will more than double Oklahoma’s installed solar capacity.

More importantly, the project is a sign that solar is coming to all 50 U.S. states, and follows on news earlier this week that Duke has contracted for 6.8 MW of solar plants to be built in Kentucky – another “bottom 11” state.

Also, this does not mean that Oklahoma is not participating in the transition to renewable energy. In 2016 the state’s wind turbines met nearly 1/3 of Oklahoma’s electricity demand. This placed Oklahoma only slightly behind Iowa, which met 42% of electric demand with in-state wind during the year, in terms of penetration of wind.

For those in the solar industry, the news that clean energy attracts businesses to states may be “water is still wet, Pope is still Catholic” kind of story.

When the information comes from organizations outside the industry, however, it helps push the story into more mainstream, which is why a new report by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is so important.

The Corporate Clean Energy Procurement Index: State Leadership & Rankings, written by Clean Edge on behalf of RILA and ITI, confirms what the Solar Energy Industries Association has said for years in its Solar Means Business reports: Businesses, small and large, covet clean-energy choice. Among retailers and technology companies renewable energy deployment is expected to increase to 60 GW by 2025.

Most fascinating about the new report is the 50-state ranking, which is based on how easy it is for businesses to get the renewable energy they want. While California’s and New Jersey’s leadership comes as no surprise, three other top states – Iowa, Illinois and Texas – show that renewable energy is spreading to states beyond states with traditionally high insolation rates.

No one in the solar industry will be surprised by the report’s finding that clean-energy policy varies widely at the state level, but the report recommends deregulation – to give businesses choices in electricity procurement, arguing that the lack of competition with traditional utilities keeps electricity prices artificially high.

“Retailers are at the forefront of the growing trend to procure clean energy to power their operations,”  said Adam Siegel, Senior Vice President, Research, Innovation & Sustainability at RILA. “We urge state governments to look hard at steps they can take to promote customer choice for renewable energy so that they can open the doors to new investments.”

An agreement announced last week could protect Oklahoma’s solar customers from arbitrary demand charges if the state’s corporation commission approves it.

Under the auspices of Administrative Law Judge Ben Jackson, Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) reached a tentative agreement with 15 parties that would prevent the utility from including solar-specific charges in rate schedules for customers customers with solar arrays on their roofs until at least the next rate review.

“[I find] at this time that distributed generation (DG) has nominal impact on OG&E’s ability to provide the optimum price mix for its customers,” Jackson wrote. “In addition, it does not stress OG&E’s substations. [I believe] OG&E can recover its distribution costs without special rates and charges for DG customers.”

Homeowners with solar arrays will see no changes in their current pricing structures. The agreement also stipulates that before OG&E could impose tariffs on solar customers in the future, it would have to commission a third-party study to justify the charges.

The agreement in Oklahoma is just the latest discussion of solar-specific charges as utilities around the country grapple with the question of how to accommodate increased solar development on the grid. Fixed charges and demand charges are under consideration in multiple jurisdictions.

The proposed agreement now goes the three-member Corporation Commission, who will vote to accept or reject the tentative agreement.

OG&E is a investor-owned public utility that serves 821,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. The utility initiated the rate-review process in December 2015.