This is your SolarWakeup for March 11th
UNC Climate Summit. Some conferences may lack industry notoriety but are full of solar celebrities. I spent the last two days networking in the halls of UNC’s conference center hearing about lots of AI and ideas around solar’s future but also stories from the past from folks like Markus Wilhelm (Strata Solar CEO), Ahmad Chatila and Jigar Shah. I even made my first appearance on the infamous SunCast video stream. Hats off to the organizers for the summit. It was made extra special for us at FTC as we announced our first expansion of our MSA with Strata Solar, adding 1GW of trackers to the agreement.
News
1 Solar Power World:
Strata Clean Energy signs 1-GW FTC Solar tracker supply agreement
2 Politico:
‘We’ve got to pay attention’
3 Utility Dive:
Utilities are spending billions on the data center boom. What are the risks?
4 Bloomberg:
Jefferies Makes the Case to Double Down on Clean Tech Investments
5 New York Times:
‘The Old Game Is Back’
6 Reuters:
US utilities scale up grid-boosting tech to meet surging demand
7 PV-Tech:
Polysilicon prices plunge, with maximum decline exceeding 12%
8 PV-Magazine:
Eaton invests $75 million in SPAN to scale smart home electrical panels
Opinions:
9 Energy Storage News:
EU ‘Made in Europe’ regulation welcomed but ‘will not remove dependency on China’
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 9th
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
Why the Iran crisis is a mixed bag for clean energy
2 Bloomberg:
Oracle and OpenAI End Plans to Expand Flagship Data Center
3 Utility Dive:
2026 fire season off to ominous start after relatively mild 2025
4 Politico:
Senator mocked ‘green energy crap.’ His house runs on it.
5 Reuters:
Asia has limited options to diversify from Mideast energy reliance
6 PV-Tech:
Europe’s ‘Made in EU’ plans draw mixed reactions from solar industry
7 Solar Power World:
Bankable solar now depends on better irradiance data
8 Energy Storage News:
Fluence completes ahead-of-schedule delivery of all enclosures to 600MWh BESS in Australia
9 PV_Magazine:
Setting the stage for U.S. energy storage
Opinions:
10 Canary M:
Trump asks tech titans to sign an energy pledge, but is it just PR?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 6th
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
Trump, tech giants say AI pledge will contain power costs
2 Reuters:
Cuba hit by widespread power blackout amid US oil chokehold
3 Utility Dive:
Tariff refunds
4 Herald Online:
SC orders Silfab Solar to stop work after second Fort Mill chemical spill this week
5 Solar Power World:
New Jersey expands state community solar program by 3 GW
6 Bloomberg:
Mexico Gets $500 Million EV Charging Boost as Investment Rises
7 PV-Tech:
Maxwell develops perovskite/HJT cell with 32.5% conversion efficiency
8 Energy Storage News:
Jupiter Power receives approval for 2.8GWh Massachusetts BESS
9 PV-Magazine:
Artemis raises $6 million to scale distributed solar software
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
An oil company quietly dug a surprisingly deep geothermal well
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 3rd
Bipartisan Solar Love. The sudden MAGA love isn’t so sudden, it’s more of a return to the reason everyone loved solar to begin with. It’s affordable, has a giant pipeline and doesn’t have any fuel costs. It’s certainly been a path to get here but over and over again, polls have shown, that folks on all sides of the aisle and all socio-economic spectrums believe that the government should do more to build solar everywhere and that they would like to have more access to solar.
News
1 Washington Post:
Why MAGA suddenly loves solar power
2 Utility Dive:
PJM proposes fast-track interconnection plan, capacity auction price collar
4 Bloomberg:
What the War With Iran Means for Renewable Energy Deployment
5 Reuters:
Power developers adapt gas turbine strategies to mitigate tight supply
6 PV-Tech:
US residential solar enters post-incentive era after ITC expiry surge
7 Solar Power World:
First Solar asks US to review alleged TOPCon patent infringement by 10 competitors
8 Energy Storage News:
Energy Storage Summit 2026 Day Two
9 PV-Magazine:
Solar-plus-storage M&A heats up as AI data centers drive demand
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
AI - Does not compute
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 2nd
A Lot Going On. We’re looking at the entire supply stack of the solar market as the demand seems to be pushing for speed and more value in reliability, curve shaping, and interconnection flexibility. Data centers seem to be heading down the path of looking for incredibly large behind-the-meter systems that also do the work to back up the energy generation from the grid through large BESS systems. All of that infrastructure is putting strain on the demand for commodities in copper and steel or ancillary systems like transformers.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Global energy transition hits a hardware bottleneck
2 Canary Media:
Politicians wake up to the data center dilemma
3 Axios:
Tech giants to sign AI electricity pledge next week
4 Politico:
Solar power’s newest friends
5 Utility Dive:
California orders utilities to add 6 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2032
6 Bloomberg:
China’s Solar Power Generation Overtakes Wind for First Time
7 Reuters:
Portugal's EDP 2025 profit rises 44% on renewables gains
8 Solar Power World:
Senators propose to bring back 5% safe harbor to utility-scale solar projects
9 Energy Storage News:
Recurrent Energy sells 200MWh Texas BESS to Hunt Energy Network
Opinions:
10 PV-Tech:
Where next for the US solar tariff whack-a-mole game?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 25th
Opinion
News
1 PV-Tech:
FTC Solar signs 840MW PV tracker supply agreement in South Africa
2 Bloomberg:
French Power Prices Drop to Lowest Since June as Solar Surges
3 Solar Power World:
Commerce suggests 100%+ tariffs for solar panels from India, Indonesia, Laos
4 Reuters:
First Solar slides as outlook falls short on Trump-era permitting delays
5 PV-Magazine:
Republicans pushing for clean energy tax credit
6 Utility Dive:
PJM proposes behind-the-meter reforms in data center colocation effort
7 Energy Storage News:
BESS continues to be an attractive market for M&A
8 Canary Media:
New Orleans’ latest bid for a better grid
Opinions:
9 Axios:
Local opposition creates roadblocks for AI boom
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 24th
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
Utilities, data centers drive growth in battery storage
2 Bloomberg:
Data Center Rush Spurs Earnings Windfall for Power-Gear Makers
3 New York Times:
Supreme Court to Weigh Oil-Industry Effort to End a Major Climate Suit
4 Utility Dive:
New Jersey regulators take first step to reform electric utility business model
5 Reuters:
Power drought tips Ukraine's economy into worst crisis since war's first year
6 PV-Tech:
FRV to hybridise Spanish PV fleet with batteries
7 Energy Storage News:
Redefining BESS bankability in 2026
8 Canary Media:
Can a big battery help Boston save billions on the power grid? Maybe.
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Beyond rectangles
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 20th
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
GM announces lease program for powering your home with your EV
2 Utility Dive:
Corporate clean energy buying fell globally in 2025, reversing trend
3 Bloomberg:
India’s Solar Manufacturing Excesses Turn a Boom Into a Glut
4 Reuters:
US states sue Trump administration to unlock funding for clean energy projects
5 PV-Magazine:
Navigating the OBBBA cliff for solar tax credits
6 PV-Tech:
Octopus acquires California solar-plus-storage project as part of US$1 billion investment
7 Energy Storage News:
Interim FEOC guidance from US Treasury refers back to existing safe harbour guidelines
8 Canary Media:
New England’s biggest grid battery is up and running in Maine
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
As Trump Obliterates Climate Efforts, States Try to Fill the Gap
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 17th
Opinion
News
1 Solar Power World:
ITC makes initial determination in latest Shoals vs. Voltage patent drama
2 Politico:
Newsom signs California-UK clean energy pact
3 Utility Dive:
Data centers pursue on-site power as affordability tops utility concerns
4 Reuters:
Solar on the rise in gas-rich Pennsylvania
5 PV-Tech:
US Treasury’s first interim FEOC guidance met with some relief
6 Energy Storage News:
NeoVolta raises US$23 million for Georgia battery pack and BESS manufacturing facility
7 Canary Media:
The EPA’s biggest emissions-fighting tool is dead — at least for now
8 PV-Magazine:
Trump signals rollback on 50% steel and aluminum tariffs
Opinions:
9 Bloomberg:
EDF Warns Solar, Wind Surge Straining Nuclear Fleet Costs
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for February 13th
TVA Our Way. I don’t know why we didn’t do exactly this over the past 15 years. TVA has the potential to be the postcard from the future if we aligned our political strength to put solar advocates on the board. I’ve been saying this for the better part of two decades, but always got some political answer about how TVA Senators handle the board appointment. I guess this administration didn’t get that memo.
News
1 Utility Dive:
TVA board, remade by Trump, votes to keep coal plants open
2 CNN:
Trump delivers a deadly blow to EPA’s ability to regulate climate pollution
3 Reuters:
US publishes interim tax credit rules meant to restrict China clean energy influence
4 Bloomberg:
Singapore Boosts Modest 2030 Solar Power Installation Target
5 New York Times:
Stuck With an Empty Factory, Ford Seeks a New Market
6 PV-Tech:
UK awards 4.9GW solar PV in latest CfD round
7 Energy Storage News:
Tesla set to launch vehicle-to-grid programme in the US
8 PV-Magazine:
Solar for Women announces spring 2026 webinar series on workforce development
Opinions:
9 Canary Media:
A new Ohio bill could be a de facto statewide ban on solar and wind
Have a great day!
Yann
