The U.S. solar industry had the most growth of any quarter in its history in Q1 2023, as delayed projects from 2022 came online and supply chain constraints showed signs of loosening. According to a new report from Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association, 6.1 GW of solar were installed across the country in the first three months of the year. This represented a 47% year-on-year increase from Q1 2022 and a 19% decline from Q4. Utility-scale projects led the way with 3.8 GW installed, followed by 1.6 GW of residential PV, 391 MW of commercial and industrial, and 212 MW of community solar.
Microgrids have been hailed lately as a new path to resilient and sustainable communities. In a basic way, however, microgrids have been around for a long time in one particular sector: healthcare. Hospitals, long required to maintain backup power sources to keep critical services running during a grid outage, already have such systems in place. But thanks to a recent change in federal regulations, healthcare facilities in the U.S. are no longer required to power those backup generators with fossil fuels, opening the door to a new era of microgrids. The updated regulation came by way of new guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released at the end of March.
Unions hope a $30 million grant to electrify tractors in a Long Beach port terminal's final push to become the world's first zero-emissions facility will serve as a bulwark against lost jobs in an era of energy transition and increasing automation. The money from U.S. President Joe Biden's administration for Long Beach Container Terminal's purchase of 60 electric yard tractors that haul shipping containers from stacks to waiting trains comes with strings attached: the new equipment must be operated by humans. The drivers of those new tractors will labor alongside more than 100 automated vehicles and 70 driverless container-stacking cranes at America's most automated port terminal, which aims to be emissions free by 2030.
Concerns over a number of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Acton, a rural Los Angeles County community, drew a standing-room only crowd to the Acton Town Council meeting last Monday. L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the 5th District, said Tuesday she’ll keep a close eye on the situation, which includes a motion she successfully introduced, calling for county staff to report back to the board with information on: the current procedures for approval of such projects; all of the BESS projects seeking approval in L.A. County; Edison’s forecast for power needs; and how the county can bolster its position in terms of its jurisdictional authority.
Ground has broken for the Fresno Disadvantaged Community Solar Farm, slated to be the largest shared solar project for disadvantaged communities in the state and the first utility-scale solar farm within the City of Fresno. Once fully built out, the system will consist of more than 25,000 solar panels producing enough energy to power 2,700 homes.
Xcel Energy proposes to build three solar energy facilities in the Permian Basin area, in southeast New Mexico and Texas. The solar arrays will augment two existing power plants. Both sites primarily use natural gas to produce power sold to Xcel’s customers, but the company plans to retire the oldest units – some dating back to the 1950s and 1960s – at the sites and install solar power to supplement the loss.
Kore Power has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a $850 million loan for its Arizona gigafactory. Civil works on the site began late last year, and the facility will have an annual production capacity of 6 GWh with the potential to increase that to 12 GWh. It will serve both the EV and stationary battery energy storage system sectors, the latter of which Kore itself recently entered through the acquisition of a system integrator.
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