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.
Opinion
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
Opinion
Best, Yann
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
Opinion
Best, Yann
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
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.
Opinion
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
