This is your SolarWakeup for August 19th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
Clean energy groups challenge DOE grid reliability report
2 Bloomberg:
Wild Power Swings Are Driving Australia’s Battery Boom
3 Solar Builder:
Explainer - New ‘construction start’ definitions for solar project tax credit eligibility
4 Reuters:
USDA ends programs for solar, wind projects on farms
5 PV-Tech:
New Stonepeak Middle East renewables vehicle to be led by ex-Jinko executive
6 Energy Storage News:
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners acquires 1GWh BESS project from EDF Renewables North America
7 Canary Media:
A universal adapter for solar, batteries, EVs, and microgrids is here
Opinions:
8 PV-Magazine:
NERC 2026 regional compliance audits
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 18th 2025
Checking The Boxes. In the year that I’ve been at FTC Solar, we keep checking the boxes on bringing features to the 1P tracker and none of them more important for installers than being the fastest installed tracker available. If you and your team install trackers today, you know that increasing capacity is key to your success and I want to personally invite you to our training facility to get your hands on the tracker and see how its 25% faster than what you’re able to achieve.
News
1 PV-Tech:
FTC Solar launches tracker for extreme wind conditions
2 New York Times:
I.R.S. Makes It Harder for Wind and Solar Projects to Claim Tax Breaks
3 UTility Dive:
$3.1B annual cost estimated for fossil fuel plants DOE won’t allow to retire
4 Reuters:
Data center owners urge US Treasury to keep renewable energy subsidy rules
5 Solar Power World:
Arizona commissioners unanimously vote to repeal state renewable energy standard
6 Energy Storage News:
Fluence to hit lower end of 2025 guidance due to ‘typical’ ramping delays at US factories
7 Renewable Energy World:
American solar supply chain strengthened by T1 Energy, Corning deal
Opinions:
8 PV-Magazine:
The new chapter in energy storage
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 14th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Washington Post:
Home batteries are saving America from blackouts
2 UTility Dive:
Renewable power purchase agreement prices rising in wake of One Big Beautiful Bill Act
3 Energy Storage News:
FlexGen wants to uphold Powin’s ‘important and significant’ legacy, CEO says
4 Axios:
How gas and power prices have become political experiments
5 Reuter:
US clean energy capacity growth gets slower but wider in 2025
6 PV-Tech:
IPP Juniper Green Energy secures debt financing for renewables build-out
7 Canary Media:
States look to unleash wind and solar boom while tax credits still exist
Opinions:
8 PV-Magazine:
Rooftop solar, battery storage could offer a lifeline in energy insecurity
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 13th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
3 Arizona utilities set peak demand records last week
2 Bloomberg:
AI Powers Green-Tech Surge
3 PV-Magazine:
AI is transforming residential storage fleets. What does that look like in practice?
4 MIT:
Surprisingly diverse innovations led to dramatically cheaper solar panels
5 Reuters:
German solar industry warns against ending subsidies after minister proposes cuts
6 PV-Tech:
Indonesia new programme targets 100GW solar PV, 320GWh BESS
7 Solar Power World:
Robots step in to meet mounting labor demands in solar
8 Energy Storage News:
A win for Transatlantic relations’ but a ‘big loss’ for creditors
9 Canary Media:
This hydrogen microgrid is the first of its kind. Is it a good idea?
Opinions:
10 Axios:
Why Ford is doubling down on electric vehicles
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 12th 2025
Legacy Of Domestic Storage. Runs right through the software that make batteries run the way an operator intends it to. I’m incredibly proud of my former colleagues that have acquired the IP of Powin and are helping the GWh’s of customers make sure that those batteries keep running. I’ve been quoted in saying (from years ago now) that I think that every battery should be running on FlexGen software, especially as asset owners manage through FEOC and cybersecurity regulations. Now a global platform, FlexGen seems to be making sure that all batteries power on.
News
1 PV-Magazine:
FlexGen to acquire assets from bankrupt rival Powin Energy
2 NPR:
EPA plans to end a program that makes solar power available to low-income Americans
3 Politico:
Jellyfish invasion shuts down reactors at French nuclear power station
4 Financial Times:
The story behind Spain’s solar power meltdown
5 UTility Dive:
Oncor has 200 GW of interconnection requests, company officials say
6 BLoomberg:
Lithium Market Soars as CATL Shuts One of World’s Top Mines
7 PV-Tech:
Illuminate USA to acquire US-made solar glass from Solarcycle
8 Energy Storage News:
Caterpillar signs deal for CHP plant with 1.1GWh integrated BESS at data centre campus in Utah
Opinions:
9 Canary Media:
DOE is raising power bills by thwarting transmission line, Heinrich says
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 11th 2025
Sunrun Turns To Run. I think about the last 15 years in solar and the various bends and turns that rest solar has had to make. The headlines this week about Sunrun’s impressive financial maneuvers and their now 70% storage attachment rate makes me wonder how much longer it will be before Sunrun just thinks of itself as a power company. It’s a rhetorical question because I assume the answer is in the past, i.e. they already do.
News
1 Utility Dive:
Sunrun battery attachment rate hits 70%, up 54% from year ago
2 New York Times:
California Supreme Court Requires New Review of Rooftop Solar Policy
3 Rolling Stone:
Six Ways Trump Is Screwing Solar
4 Bloomberg:
Hedge Funds Flip on Green Energy and Start Betting Against Oil
5 Reuters:
US solar capacity slowed but not stopped by Trump policy u-turn
6 PV-Tech:
US market, slow residential demand impact SMA Solar H1 2025 results
7 Energy Storage News:
US ESS cell manufacturing to reach 50GWh by the end of 2026
8 Canary Media:
Chart - Rooftop solar set to struggle under GOP tax credit repeal
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Siting solar on federal land under NEPA’s double-edged sword
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 7th 2025
Opinion
News
1 E&E News:
Interior’s restrictions have ‘frozen’ Nevada solar projects, Republican governor tells Burgum
2 Utility Dive:
Solar and storage financing is down, but dealmaking is up
3 Bloomberg:
Brazil’s Green Ambitions Collide With Coming Oil Supply Shortage
4 Axios:
Electricity costs rise amid data center boom
5 Reuters:
On farmland and on rooftops, Iraqis turn to solar as power grid falters
6 PV-Tech:
Solar module prices in the US remain stable amid trade uncertainty
7 Energy Storage News:
UK councils approve 5GW/10GWh of BESS in July
8 PV-Magazine:
Minnesota court rules to cut community solar savings
Opinions:
9 Canary Media:
Used EV batteries could upend the race for long-duration storage
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 6th 2025
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
An ambitious proposal to quickly add 23 GW of renewables in California
2 PV-Tech:
US residential solar to see short-term pain, long-term growth
3 Canary Media:
EPA moves to defang its own regulatory power
4 UTility Dive:
MISO could save $27B in system costs by 2035 with 11 GW of batteries
5 BLoomberg:
Brookfield Buys Stake in Duke Energy’s Florida Utility for $6 Billion
6 Reuters:
US EPA could cancel $7 billion in grants for solar energy, sources say
7 Energy Storage News:
US ESS cell manufacturing to reach 50GWh by the end of 2026
Opinions:
8 Semafor:
Trump’s tax bill has triggered a solar gold rush
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 5th 2025
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Republican lawmakers slow Trump Treasury picks over wind, solar credits
2 Bloomberg:
Australia Activates Blackrock’s A$1B Super Battery Which Will Be World’s Most Powerful
3 Axios:
Electricity costs rise amid data center boom
4 The Hill:
Trump eyes additional barriers to solar and wind energy
5 PV-Tech:
Brookfield’s hydrogen projects drive over US$400 million in renewable generation in Q2 2025
6 Energy Storage News:
Georgia Power requests PSC permission to build and own 3GW of new battery storage projects
7 Canary Media:
LA has a plan to stop copper thieves
8 PV-Magazine:
Storage growth spreads as California and Texas lose market share
Opinions:
9 UTility Dive:
Move fast, adapt faster - A distributed generation playbook for turbulent times
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 4th 2025
Tracker Safe Harbor. Yesterday, FTC Solar announced an innovative way to expand the use of single axis trackers for safe harbor purposes. The unique technology architecture that FTC brought to the market last year allows for sites to leave many decisions for later in the development process while procuring tracker components that will be usable regardless of the final site design. The information is outline in FTC’s white paper that you can see here.
News
1 Utility Dive:
AEP expects to add 24 GW of load by 2030, mainly from data centers
2 PV-Tech:
The 2,000V transition - why utility solar is ready for its next leap
3 Axios:
No end in sight for rising energy bills in Pennsylvania
4 Reuters:
Democrats decry extra US scrutiny of solar, wind projects on public lands
5 Solar Builder:
The next phase of Massachusetts’ solar revolution
6 Solar Power World:
After almost a decade, rapid shutdown of solar arrays is still being debated
7 Energy Storage News:
Peak Energy launches first grid-scale sodium-ion BESS in US pilot
8 Canary Media:
EPA moves to defang its own regulatory power
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
Oregon takes aim at utility pushback against independent solar projects
Have a great day!
Yann
