News
DOE makes $3.1B available for battery manufacturing incentives
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to provide nearly $3 billion to a pair of programs designed to spur domestic production of advanced batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.…
Amazon set to reach 100% renewable goal 5 years ahead of target with 3.5 GW of new energy projects
Amazon has secured 37 new renewable energy projects totaling 3.5 GW, expanding the company's renewable energy portfolio by 30%, the e-commerce giant said Wednesday.…
No More Rooftop Solar? Utilities Want to Pay Homeowners Less for Generating Power
There’s a battle brewing right now in our state over who owns the sun. Is it the sole property of California’s major utilities, or do each of us have the right to capture its energy to electrify our homes if we wish?…
This electric car can go 520 miles on a charge but the CEO says that’s not important
The Lucid Air Dream Edition was recently rated by the Environmental Protection Agency with an estimated driving range of 520 miles on a full charge. That's the longest range of any purely battery-powered car yet rated by the …
Advocates push for clean energy tax credits to help low-income households in federal budget bill
A new coalition of more than 350 environmental groups, renewable energy companies and minority advocates is pushing for House Democrats to maintain tax language increasing clean energy access for low-income communities in the…
Our approach to expanding electricity infrastructure isn’t working. It’s time for a different conversation.
Most analyses find that to decarbonize U.S. energy and achieve our climate goals we'll need to double or triple the size of our electricity transmission system by 2050. That means building new power lines and electricity infr…
Generator manufacturer Briggs & Stratton acquires energy storage firm SimpliPhi Power
Under the acquisition, SimpliPhi will continue to produce and offer its own products through existing distribution channels and partnerships as well as working through Briggs & Stratton's distribution. SimpliPhi CEO Catherine…
LA approves 100% clean energy by 2035 target, a decade ahead of prior goal
The LA100 plan would see the city replace its natural gas electricity generation with wind, solar and battery storage, while also improving energy efficiency and transmission. It was approved by the city council in a 12-0 vot…
Solar could be 40% of US generation by 2035, but it needs more investment, White House report finds
Citing an as-yet unreleased analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the report indicates that deployment of solar must accelerate to three to four times its current rate by 2030 in order to decarbonize the elect…
PG&E equipment may be linked with another Northern California wildfire, utility reports
Pacific Gas & Electric's (PG&E) equipment may have been involved with a new Northern California wildfire that had burned more than 40,000 acres as of Monday, according to a report that the utility filed with the California Pu…
As utilities risk missing carbon reduction targets, analysts stress need for organizational change
"Duke Energy reduced coal use in part because of activist customers and stakeholders. But regulations and legislation are also needed because utilities with strong profit motives have perverse incentives to obtain guaranteed …
California approves 11.5 GW of new clean resources in largest-ever single procurement order
The new resources are intended to prepare the state for more extreme weather and help replace the 2.2 GW Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, which will be shuttered by 2025, as well as 3.7 GW of natural gas plants that also are slat…
PG&E, BMW smart-charging pilot highlights potential for electric vehicles as grid resource
An electric vehicle (EV) charging pilot Pacific Gas & Electric and BMW managed in Northern California helped drivers use an additional 1,200 kWh of renewable energy annually, provided other grid benefits and cut greenhouse ga…
Exposing the utility playbook: Ratepayers are stuck paying the bill for utility corruption
We've long known that unregulated monopolies necessarily lead to higher costs, less efficiency and limited innovation. The very nature of our monopoly electric utility model leads to companies who are beholden to their shareh…
Installing solar panels over California’s canals could yield water, land, air and climate payoffs
Shading California’s canals with solar panels would generate substantial amounts of electricity. Our estimates show that it could provide some 13 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, which is about half of the new sources …
California’s dilemma: How to control skyrocketing electric rates while building the grid of the future
Protecting ratepayers as California transitions to distributed energy resources (DER) and economy-wide electrification "will require aggressive actions," according to a report released by CPUC Staff in February.…
Washington OKs bill setting path to 100% EVs by 2030, prods utilities to prep for grid impacts
The legislation would also create a mapping tool to help utilities predict EV adoption and load impacts in their service territory, said Matthew Metz, co-executive director of Coltura, a non-profit that led a coalition of org…
Solar Power That Led to Teacher Bonuses in Arkansas Exemplify Green New Deal
Michael Hester, who some years ago became the superintendent of the Batesville School district in Independence County, Arkansas. He faced the problem that his district was underfunded and the teacher pay was in the bottom qua…
SCE turns to 400 MWh AES storage facility, facing summer reliability concerns
AES Corporation's Alamitos battery energy storage system, a 400 MWh standalone storage facility that came online in Southern California Edison's (SCE) footprint last month, will play a role in bolstering grid reliability duri…
With 10-Point Declaration, Global Coalition of Top Energy Experts Says: ‘100% Renewables Is Possible’
Setting out to rebut defeatist and cynical claims that transitioning the entire global energy system to 100% renewables by 2035 is infeasible, a group of dozens of leading scientists from around the world unveiled a joint dec…
The unexpected ingredients that improve solar cells
A number of kitchen-cupboard ingredients have found unlikely employment in making solar panels more efficient. Solar cell scientist Jon Major explains why.…
‘Not slowing down’: Solar will be cheapest power resource in US by 2030: WoodMac
Based on developing technology already in the pipeline, a new report by Wood Mackenzie projects that solar costs will fall another 15-25% over the next decade, potentially making solar the lowest-cost power resource in all…
California approves PG&E, SDG&E, SCE microgrid tariffs with eye to upcoming fire season
The tariffs with PG&E, SCE and SDG&E have new rules in place to reduce barriers to microgrid development. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ordered the utilities last summer to submit reports and plans on new …
Last-minute stimulus deal in US extends clean energy tax credits
Just before the group broke for the Christmas holiday, US Congress struck a last minute bipartisan deal on a major energy bill as part of the omnibus package to fund the federal government. The energy bill includes increased …
California federal legislators press SoCalGas on reported efforts to ‘undermine’ California’s climate goals
Cal Advocates says its investigation has found that SoCalGas was involved in numerous campaigns to promote natural gas use in California, "often using surrogates to obscure the fact that SoCalGas was responsible for these cam…
SCE to buy energy capacity from Sunrun’s 5-MW VPP to boost resilience
Sunrun announced that it has contracted with Southern California Edison (SCE) in a deal that it says will increase grid resilience and lower power costs. SCE will send signals to Sunrun during high-demand events such as extre…
100% solar, wind and batteries is just the start — the ‘super’ power they produce will change the world
Imagine having an energy system that generates three times more electricity we use today for a fraction of the cost (even free!) while generating no greenhouse gases or toxic waste. Imagine repatriating and growing energy-hun…
South Australia to Go 100% Solar as Sun Power Offers World’s Cheapest Energy
The state of South Australia is the future. For one hour, on October 11, all of its electricity was generated by solar power, the first time this feat was achieved by any major jurisdiction in the world. …
Carbon capture and storage could reduce California emissions 15%, save $750M a year: report
California’s geological structure, which includes thick layers of sand and shale, as well as other factors, offer the potential to store 60 million tons of carbon dioxide — equal to total emissions from the state's electricit…
‘What the Future Can Look Like’: Study Shows US Switch to 100% Renewables Would Save Hundreds of Billions Each Year
The report shows that a complete switch to clean energy sources like solar and wind would not only put the U.S. on a path toward zero emissions, but would also save each household $1,050 to $2,585 yearly on utility bills.…
Volvo wins $21.7M in grants to deploy electric trucks in California
Volvo Trucks North America is set to deploy 70 Class 8 VNR Electric trucks in Southern California for regional freight distribution and drayage. These deployments will be funded by a $20 million grant from the Environmental P…
Honda, GM-led group develops global blockchain standard for EV grid integration
The standard includes vehicle-to-grid integration, tokenized carbon credits and peer-to-peer applications enabling vehicles to share power with each other.…
Amazon to deploy 10K electric last-mile vans en route to net-zero carbon
Amazon will put 10,000 custom Rivian electric delivery vans on the road "as early as 2022," the company said in a blog post last week revealing the design. …
Tesla unveils new EV battery design, but Musk downplays vehicle-to-grid application
Tesla on Tuesday unveiled a new electric vehicle (EV) battery design featuring improvements to density, cost per kilowatt-hour and manufacturing efficiency, but the company also cautioned that at-scale production of the new b…
Lucid Motors looks to challenge Tesla in residential, utility-scale storage markets
Lucid Motors, which unveiled its luxury electric sedan, the Lucid Air, on Wednesday, is developing home energy storage systems as well as utility-scale energy storage, CEO Peter Rawlinson…
FBI warns Russia is probing energy sector cyber systems as threat to industrial control technology grows
Russian hackers have been probing the internet systems of critical infrastructure providers and the energy sector in particular has seen an increase in distributed denial of service attacks this summer, according to business …
Federal judge orders PG&E to recruit inspectors as CPUC considers future of safety investigation
The federal judge supervising Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) criminal probation on Friday ordered the utility to recruit in-house inspectors to oversee its vegetation management processes, along with other requirements aimed…
Citi, Bank of America join Morgan Stanley in carbon disclosure group
Bank of America and Citi have joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), a consortium that intends to standardize the way banks measure and reduce their climate impact, the banks announced separately Wedn…
New Analysis Details How Electrifying the US Economy by 2035 Could Create 25 Million Green Jobs
Mobilizing for a Zero Carbon America envisions a dramatic transformation of the nation's power, transportation, building, and industrial sectors by 2035 to meet the global heating goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement …
New California regulation could jump-start solar panel recycling sector
A long-awaited change to California’s regulations on the handling of solar panel waste is expected to take effect later this year, with implications that could shape the developing U.S. solar panel recycling industry.…
California regulators consider proposal to incorporate climate planning into utility rate cases
If the proposed decision is approved, utilities would need to submit reports on their exposure to temperature, sea level, wildfire and other climate risks, as well as measures to mitigate them, to the California Public Utilit…
PG&E exits bankruptcy, but long-term wildfire risk could put it ‘back in the soup’
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and its parent company PG&E Corp. emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, after a 17-month long reorganization process — but experts say the utility is still exposed to the wildfire risks t…
California approves landmark zero emission truck rule amid push to meet state environmental goals
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) unanimously passed its Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Regulation, following a public hearing Thursday. "By 2045, every new truck sold in California will be zero-emission," CARB said in a…
DC to LA: Electrify America completes nation’s first cross-country EV fast charging corridor
EV drivers looking to go cross country will have two options by the end of summer, according to Electrify America. The company, which runs the largest open DC fast charging network in the U.S., says it is in the process of bu…
House Democrats release sweeping climate proposal calling for net-zero US emissions by 2050
The 547-page staff report from the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis outlines a plan for the U.S. power sector to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, allowing an economy-wide reduction through building, transp…
‘A critical milestone’: PG&E first gas-electric IOU to publicly support California’s all-electric construction
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) supports efforts to promote all-electric new construction, when feasible and cost-effective, as part of a 2022 update to California's energy code, the utility said in a letter filed with the Cali…
Battery makers face looming shortages of high-quality lithium
Shortages of lithium specialty chemicals are expected by the mid-2020's, "given the current pace of supply development," Vivas Kumar, a principal consultant with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and former senior manager for Te…
Utilities propose West Coast charging stations for electric trucks
Nine West Coast utilities and two agencies representing 24 municipal utilities have proposed electric-charging stations for trucks every 50 miles along Interstate 5 and connecting highways, according to their report issued th…
Lyft pledges all-EV fleet by 2030
The move to electric vehicles (EVs) will apply to drivers' personal cars, the company's Express Drive rental car partner program for drivers, the rental car program for riders and its autonomous vehicle (AV) program.…
California utilities, regulators aim to hasten microgrid deployment ahead of wildfire season
California utilities have their work cut out for them this summer in light of several new requirements and deadlines issued by the CPUC. But the new orders could also open opportunities for community and residential storage p…
Utility ransomware attacks becoming more sophisticated, new ‘honeypot’ operation finds
Boston-based security firm Cybereason created a fake industrial control network designed to look like an electricity company with operations in North America and Europe and watched as hackers broke in within three days by com…
Falling renewable, storage costs make 90% carbon-free US grid feasible by 2035, UC Berkeley finds
Building out renewables to achieve this target will add more than 500,000 jobs per year as well as $1.7 trillion in investments into the economy, without raising customer bills, the report found. …
Renewables Consumption Surpasses Coal for the First Time in 130 Years
According to the EIA’s estimates, the last time a renewable source of power accounted for the majority of U.S. energy consumption was in 1880, when wood slightly surpassed coal. At the time, biomass exceeded the fossil fuel, …
Amidst Pandemic, Global Energy Demand Projected to Fall But Renewable Energy Experiences Growth
Unforeseen side effects of lockdowns and social distancing methods to combat the spread of the coronavirus include decreased energy demand and drops in pollution levels around the world. This year, the world may experience a …
Executive Order Has Major Ramifications for Utilities
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on May 1 has sweeping implications for electric utilities across the nation. Namely placing restrictions on the foreign-supplied components installed on the nation’s electri…
A sneak peek at San Francisco’s new low-carbon neighborhood
The city unanimously approved plans to build a 29-acre sustainable, transportation-efficient community on the site of a former century-old fossil fuel power plant.…
Powering EVs is cheaper than diesel, gas in the largest US cities — Atlanta and Boston are exceptions
In 21 of the 25 largest U.S. cities, running electric vehicles saves on energy costs, but in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and San Antonio, running EVs is more expensive than fleets with internal combustion engines, according to a…
Landfills emerge as promising battery storage sites to back up renewable energy
Solar panel installations have been one of the fastest-growing types of energy infrastructure in recent years and landfills have become fitting sites due to the sheer amount of land required. Now, for many of the same reasons…
Developer plans to build hydrogen plant that runs on waste in Southern California
SGH2 and the city of Lancaster have signed a memorandum of understanding according to which the city will co-own the hydrogen facility and provide it with a guaranteed feedstock of recyclable waste. The city is estimated to s…
Glancing Into the Future
Lithium-ion batteries have been the go-to option for electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary storage systems since both markets began to grow over the last decade. Cobalt is expensive, and it’s primarily mined from the Democra…
California utility SCE awards 770MW of battery contracts to help replace ageing natural gas plants
The projects will help solve reliability issues anticipated to impact on the California grid when a number of aging natural gas power plants reach their retirement, as well as helping to integrate larger shares of renewable …
California eyes expedited microgrid deployment to help with fire season power shut-offs
California's upcoming wildfire season is likely to bring more power shut-offs during the fall, CPUC Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma said in a statement. "Microgrids using independent energy supply can provide essential backup …
Judge calls PG&E vegetation work ‘sloppy and unreliable,’ imposes new conditions on the utility
Alsup said the utility's practice of outsourcing vegetation management work "remains sloppy and unreliable" and required PG&E to employ its own inspectors to identify tree branches that are too close to its power lines. PG&E …
California Virus War Slams Into Its Other Crisis: Wildfires
With wildfire season on the horizon, state officials have ordered prevention efforts to proceed after rains have tapered off and before the heat of summer. But work is progressing slower than usual as firefighting agencies an…
Google redefines what it means to be ‘100% renewable’
This week, Google announced the launch of a new technology designed to shift the electricity demands of its largest data centers to match clean energy supply. Never one to shy away from buzzwords, Google is calling this a "ca…
Community-scale renewables poised for boost as California nears PURPA compliance again
Community-scale renewable energy projects in California could get a much needed boost as the state’s energy regulator updates its compliance with the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) and considers restarti…
Secretive group’s petition to FERC could ‘end net metering as we know it,’ lawyers say
A recent filing submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could "end net metering as we know it," according to legal experts. The petition from the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) asks FERC to "declare …
The coronavirus crisis means we may have already reached peak carbon
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a research note that they expect energy-related carbon emissions (which account for two-thirds of total greenhouse gas emissions) to fall by at least 5.4% this year alone.…
Oil prices collapse below zero, scrambling the clean energy transition
The stunning collapse of oil prices Monday was the latest shock to an economy roiled by the coronavirus outbreak — and yet another jolt to an energy sector already grappling with a challenging transition from fossil fuels to…
In New York, a New Way for Stay-at-Home Customers to Get Paid for Shaving Peak Energy
New York is struggling with the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak, but it’s also pushing ahead on its ambitious clean energy goals. Those include programs that can turn utility customers from passive consumers into active …
Resiliency: An earning opportunity for the greater good of customers and utilities
When it comes to resiliency, climate change and the resulting fluctuations in weather events are changing the game for utilities. In 2018, six U.S. states broke wildfire records and California saw its deadliest and most destr…
COVID-19 hits clean energy jobs, but storage companies could be ‘bucking the trend’
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing industry-wide job losses, but many storage developers are optimistic they won't have to reduce their workforce, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA).…
Post-coronavirus economic recovery requires EV adoption
Infrastructure investment is often cited as a necessary component of any fiscal stimulus plan. Critically, infrastructure spending can directly address some of the root causes of a pandemic. Additionally, research is clear th…
Los Angeles County will construct 400-MWh lithium battery to aid in closing gas-powered plants
Southern California electricity provider Clean Power Alliance (CPA) inked its first Energy Storage Agreement (ESA) this week. Approved by the CPA Board of Directors on April 2, the 100-MW Luna Storage standalone battery stora…
Will the Clean Peak Standard spark America’s fabled battery boom?
Roger Lin, VP of marketing with NEC Solutions sat down with pv magazine to discuss the larger national impact of the Massachusetts Clean Peak Standard, including how the policy can be modeled for other states, regardless of t…
PG&E reaches deal with Newsom, pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter as bankruptcy reorganization deadline nears
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has reached an agreement with California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his concerns about the utility's bankruptcy exit plan, a development that is "the final component of [PG&E's] comprehensive restruc…
Lead batteries make innovation push to better compete for energy storage projects
The Consortium for Battery Innovation is requesting bids for research projects from universities, companies and other institutions into ways to increase the efficiency of lead batteries to make them a more economic storage te…
The utility service model is under attack
The utility industry has never lacked complexity or dynamism. Reliably generating, transmitting and distributing the electricity society requires to function is enough of a feat that the National Academy of Engineering ranked…
10 Predictions for the Solar and Storage Market in the 2020s
The solar-plus-storage market is evolving rapidly and will look completely different a decade down the road. What can we expect on the way to 2030? Here are 10 predictions.…
Are Electric Vehicles Really Better for the Climate? Yes. Here’s Why
One of the questions I’m most frequently asked about electric vehicles (EV) is: “Are they really a cleaner option?” While it’s obvious that a fully-electric vehicle eliminates tailpipe emissions, people often wonder about the…
Largest EV charging study pinpoints grid risks, solutions for utilities
FleetCarma launched its Charge the North study in 2017 to capture and analyze real world charging data from 10 electric utilities and a thousand EV owners across Canada, covering residential, public and workplace charging.…
This is no Hollywood tale: SimpliPhi CEO Catherine Von Burg is taking on storage’s 800-pound gorilla
One of the most significant reasons that cobalt is still being used, despite its toxicity and safety-related concerns, is entrenched supply chains and companies, along with its cost advantage, she told Utility Dive in an inte…
CPUC proposes guidelines for safety shut-offs, finds ‘serious deficiencies’ with PG&E reporting
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last Thursday proposed additional guidelines for utilities deploying wildfire-related public safety power shut-offs (PSPS) — including requiring them to re-energize affected a…
At a crossroads: The connected future of EVs, solar, energy storage and software
As a new decade dawns, there's cause for optimism that the 2020s will see the transition to clean energy accelerate. Prices of renewable energy and battery technologies are at an all-time low, and the number of electric vehic…
Los Angeles commits to 100% electric sanitation fleet by 2035. Other cities aren’t ready to follow
The Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation (LASAN) committed last week to transitioning to a zero-emissions fleet by 2035, a major goal for the country's second-biggest city. Director Enrique Zaldivar made the announcement during a…
PG&E is betting heavily on microgrids. But can it move away from fossil fuels?
In December, PG&E issued a request for offers for distributed generation-enabled microgrid services that could power targeted locations during future safety shut-offs, as well as provide broader reliability to its electric sy…
California moves to boost storage to combat safety-driven power shutoffs
The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved $830 million in new funding for the Self-Generation Incentive Program, bringing the program’s total budget to $1.2 billion over the next five years. …
Wind + solar expected to add 61 GW over next two years: EIA
Wind and solar will make up the majority of new electric generation capacity in 2020 and 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's latest short-term energy outlook.…
DOE unveils plan to make US global storage leader by 2030
The Energy Storage Grand Challenge is aimed at ensuring the U.S. is a global leader in storage with a domestic manufacturing supply chain by 2030. This would involve shedding dependence on foreign storage raw materials by add…
California’s 2020 legislative session: The ‘wild, Wild West’ of bills targeting PG&E
California lawmakers are kicking off the 2020 legislative session with plans to introduce bills targeting the operations and deployment of public safety power shut-offs by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and other utilities.…
PJM: Electric vehicles could boost load 1.5 GW by 2035
PJM Interconnection on Dec. 30 published its 2020 annual long-term load forecast, concluding summer and winter loads will each grow 0.6% annually over the next decade. …
California has big clean energy ambitions, and is looking for better energy storage to realize them
The California Energy Commission (CEC) is putting up to $11 million on the table for developers of energy storage technologies other than lithium-ion batteries, according to a solicitation launched last month.…
Storage will replace 3 California gas plants as PG&E nabs approval for world’s largest batteries
The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved four energy storage projects for Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to replace retiring gas generators, including two batteries that would be the largest in the world…
Solar + wind + storage developers ‘gearing up’ as hybrid projects edge to market
Though no full-scale hybrid projects co-locating both resources and energy storage have been built in the U.S. and few are online around the world, the U.S. renewables industries are taking on barriers such as interconnection…
Following Blackouts, California and PG&E Battle it Out
Following the unprecedented power blackout by PG&E during the week of Oct. 7 that affected almost 800,000 homes and businesses, up to a total of 2 million people in the state, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)…
Airport Solar Farms Improve Air Quality, Reduce Emissions
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is conducting a study with Dominion Energy Virginia on the feasibility of building a large-scale, 100-megawatt solar energy project at the airport, according to a press release…
‘Simple Laws of Economics’ Doom Remaining US Coal Plants as Solar and Wind Are Now Cheaper for American Households
In propping up the coal industry, the Trump administration is not only contributing to dangerous pollution, fossil fuel emissions, and the climate crisis, it is also now clinging to a far more expensive energy production mode…
Getting Closer to 100% National Renewable Portfolio Standards
To date, 29 states have legally binding renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) or policies that require electricity suppliers to source a certain portion of their electricity from renewable resources or related eligible technol…
New Solar + Battery Price Crushes Fossil Fuels, Buries Nuclear
Los Angeles Power and Water officials have struck a deal on the largest and cheapest solar + battery-storage project in the world, at prices that leave fossil fuels in the dust and may relegate nuclear power to the dustbin.…
Largest Clean Energy Storage Project in World Announced
In many parts of the western United States, there are times of the day when demand for electricity is lower than the production of renewable energy, which leads to curtailment of renewable generation and negative electricity …
Los Angeles Launches Its Own Green New Deal
The plan includes a commitment to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement; promises to deliver environmental justice through an inclusive green economy; proposes to create good paying, green jobs; and expresses a determination to …
ACEEE Report Says Prioritize Energy Efficiency Over Solar PV
The best way to promote the growth of energy efficiency is to focus on effective building codes and standards. "For the U.S. residential sector, building codes like the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and volunt…
Virtual Power Plant Breaks Records in Southern California
In March, the online energy software firm, Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) announced in a press release its virtual power plant in Southern California had broken a new record for power delivered by this type of system.…
Montecito Fire Protection District Solar Microgrid to Be a National Model
In February, the Montecito Fire Protection District agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding to proceed with a unique community microgrid project. The project represents the first building block in the Montecito Com…
How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient, and Smart
The average US home uses around 867 kilowatt hours per month, with the greatest share of that energy being spent on basic utilities like heating and lighting. Luckily, new smart home tech makes it possible to trim that usage.…
Lithium-ion chemistry: What solar + storage installers should know
When it comes to lithium-ion batteries, reports of spontaneous fires in phones, cars and laptops have become all too common. But not all lithium-ion batteries pose a fire danger.…