Americas

The state of Minnesota has passed an US$80 million solar and energy storage incentive programme, including multiple programmes and policy changes.

Lightsource bp has reached commercial operation of its 152.5MWac Bellflower Solar project in Indiana, with a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) in place with communications company Verizon.

California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has approved a transmission plan consisting of 45 projects for system expansion and upgrades with a cost of US$7.3 billion, including a total of more than 17GW of solar generation.

Announced solar PV manufacturing capacity across the globe has met the deployment levels suggested by the International Energy Agency towards 2030, but only 25% of the announced projects could be considered as committed, according to IEA's recent study.

Renewables deployment in the US is at risk of stalling unless distributed interconnection policies are improved to make them more efficient. Fortunately, there are a host of well-developed solutions for many of the major interconnection challenges being seen in the country today, writes Gwen Brown of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

A total of 247 module types from 35 manufacturers have been named “Top Performers” by PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) in its 2023 Module Reliability Scorecard, more than doubling last year’s numbers and the highest ever.

Enel North America has confirmed Inola, Oklahoma as the location for its 3GW heterojunction technology (HJT) solar cell and module factory.

Japanese electronics company TDK Company’s subsidiary TDK Ventures has launched a US$150 million fund to invest in energy and climate technology startups.

US Residential solar company Suntuity Renewables has been acquired by special purpose acquisition company Beard Energy Transition Acquisition Corp (Beard) to become a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange.

The projects will be realised by the end of this decade and will represent around US$1 billion in investment, according to Founder & CEO of Edelen Renewables, Adam Edelen.