EGEB: LONGi considering US plant, Mexico solar(?) at 2.057¢, Norway fund dumps fossils, more

Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.

Chinese Solar Maker LONGi Mulling U.S. Plant as Tariffs Loom – Longi began evaluating the move before a U.S. trade case was filed in April. The company is evaluating multiple sites for a cell and module plant, and potential state incentives would play an important role in any decision. “Our analysis has become more complex. We can’t make an investment decision without knowing the 201 tariff rate, and know how long it would be implemented for.” The tariffs have been suggested for last for four years. A solar panel manufacturing panel seems to be able to come online within a year once negotiations are complete (with an existing structure in place). Solar cell factories I’ve been told – but not seen direct analysis – take 2-4 years. The silicon would likely come from US manufacturers.

Bush school embraces solar power as students build panels for fish farm – Kids aiming for a fully solar-powered fish farm that feeds on locally sourced worms. Reminds me of the house built by the Swiss students for the Solar Decathlon.

Centrica preparing to roll out solar-plus-storage in Cornwall – The goal of the project, as with the rest of Centrica’s activities in Cornwall, is to harness renewables and smart energy technologies to free up capacity on the local grid and provide flexibility to the distribution network operator or the national grid. Would you allow your home to be part of the power grid in a more active manner? Would you prefer to be an island that pays for access as needed, but you have your own solar+storage setup? If I can make some money by strategically building my house to maximize solar generation, then I think might do it.

Mexico’s power auction pre-selects 16 bids with average price of $20.57/MWh and 2.56 GW of combined capacity – According to Cenace, the average price of the 16 pre-selected bids is just $20.57/MWh and their combined capacity is of 2.56 GW. Solar may account for around 55.35% of contracted power with 3.0 TWh and 58.31% of clean energy certificates, while wind would account for the remaining percentages for both contracted power and renewable energy certificates.  I don’t know the details yet – and wind being included could mean the wind prices are the cheapest numbers, however, solar power at 2.057¢/kWh lines up with Chile and Saudi Arabia. November 22nd we should get some great details.

Rietech Solar selects Heraeus’ new crucible barrier coating technology – The HeraGlaze technology acts as a barrier between the silicon and the walls of the crucible melted in DDS furnaces, preventing thermally-induced impurities, such as iron, from transferring from the crucible to the silicon ingot during the melting and crystallization processes. The lower levels of iron are said to improve energy harvest due to lower light induced degradation (LID). According to Heraeus, Rietech’s wafer output yield increased by 3% using its coating technology and its end customers’ cell efficiency increased by 0.05%. Little tiny, incremental improvements. 3% yield increase in usable solar cells is actually a lot more than incremental. Increased efficiency levels and lower degradation. Layers and layers of science in the production of solar technology.

Norway’s $1 Trillion Wealth Fund Wants Out of Oil and Gas Stocks – Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund proposed dumping about $35 billion in oil and gas stocks, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp., to protect the economy of western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer. “Our perspective here is to spread the risks for the state’s wealth,” Egil Matsen, the deputy governor at the central bank in charge of overseeing the fund, said in an interview in Oslo Thursday. “We can do that better by not adding oil price risk through the fund.” Technically, this position is not based upon protecting the climate directly, but a belief that climate views by broader society will add risk to the wealth fund if it owns oil stocks. An institutional belief that change is underway.

And you know what happens when a person with $1 trillion opens their mouth? Stocks react.

Not something you see every day: The whole Stoxx 600 energy index drops as Norway's sovereign wealth fund says it's selling oil and gas holdings, more on @TheTerminal pic.twitter.com/HxaIlzThn7

— Bloomberg Energy (@BloombergNRG) November 16, 2017

Featured image is part of the Department of Energy SunShot photogrpahy contest. Generating 5 megawatts of solar energy, the LES community solar facility in Lincoln, Nebraska is the largest and first utility-scale solar installation in the state, as well as one of the largest in the region. Photo by Randy Hampton.

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