EGEB: California triple play, wind farms and mussels, solar panel reliability scorecard, more

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

California Senate Passes (three) Major Clean Energy Bills – California State Senate passed three major clean energy bills, including one that would establish a 100% renewable portfolio standard (RPS), one that would mandate solar on most new buildings in the state, and one that would create an energy storage rebate program. It’s a fitting day for California to vote on these three bills.

DNV GL releases 2017 PV Module Reliability Scorecard – Module manufacturers who were defined as ‘Top Performers’ (alphabetical order): Astronergy, BYD, Flextronics, GCL, Hanwha Q CElls, Hyundai, Jinko Solar, Kyocera, LONGi, NSP, REC, S-Energy, Seaphim, Silfab, Solaria, SolarWorld, SunPower, SunSpark, Talesun, Trina Solar Vikram and Yingli – A further quote from the conclusion: We see several factors having a strong impact on reliability test results, including bill of materials, factory, and the importance that the manufacturer places on quality and reliability.

Belgians Start Growing Mussels on Offshore Wind Farms – There is plenty of history showing that whenever we put structures in the ocean, fish and ocean life populations pick up around those structures. If we can add extra revenue generation to wind farms by adding some mussel farming from a stock that will not hurt natural populations, I suggest we invest and learn.

Intersolar Europe 2017 Day 1: New product introduction round-up – Big solar show going on, lots of new gear from manufacturers to show off. Inverters, lighting, sun trackers and – of course – lots of new solar panels.

Nicaragua’s Renewable Energy Revolution Picks Up Steam – Since everyone is talking Paris Agreement and how the US, Syria and Nicaragua are the only countries not to sign the document, I thought we ought to point out that Nicaragua isn’t in the agreement because it sees the Paris Agreement as too weak. Renewables now generate nearly half of Nicaragua’s electricity, a figure that government officials predict could rise to 80 percent within a few years. With a goal of 90% by 2020.

Italy Switches on Five New Subsidy-Free Solar Power Plants – The plants have a two-year fixed power price agreement in place with Italian power trader Green Trade SA, said Matt Setchell, head of renewable energy investments at Octopus, in a phone call. The plants are located in the Montalto di Castro region of Italy and have a combined capacity of 63 megawatts. – Two things that are very interesting about this news, 1. Of course, subsidy free solar power. But do take it with a slight grain of salt since Italy has some of the developed world’s most expensive electricity…nonetheless – subsidy free. 2. Two year fixed contract for electricity. Most solar developers don’t have the risk tolerance to deal with a two year contract – much of what I sign are 15-20 years deals.

A desert full of mirrors: 55,000 covering an area the size of 400 football pitches will project sunlight onto the world’s highest solar tower – Posted for the pictures, gorgeous images showing the scale in terms of land coverage and the size of the tower under construction. A solar thermal tower that is 240 meters tall, covers a million square meters of land, will supply 1% of the country’s electricity.

ERCOT (Texas power grid) real-time power prices spike above $1,000/MWh – Prices spiked across the footprint as Houston Hub real-time power averaged more than $1,000/MWh for the two-hour period that ended at 2:30 pm CDT (1930 GMT), topping $2,000/MWh for the 15-minute interval ending 2:30 pm CDT, while prices at other hubs averaged about $250/MWh over the same period. Houston Hub on-peak real-time futures price for balance-of-the-day traded in the low $90s/MWh on Intercontinental Exchange, more than double Monday’s settlement in the low $40s/MWh as 1,000 MW changed hands – $1,000/MWH equals $1/kWh. A lot of gas peaker plants will make all of their annual profits (not revenue) in one or two of these events annually.

Thinking about residential solar in New York State – make sure you get a solid price.

#NewYork City Shines in a Slowing #Residential New York #SolarMarket. #GreenBuilding By @OhmHomenow https://t.co/yWgVhv1g4H pic.twitter.com/l8i9DeDD41

— Energy Collective (@EnergyCollectiv) June 1, 2017

As we watch the Suniva case move its way into the courts – 39% of solar panels solar globally have political requirements that increase the price of these solar panels.

Key stat: 39% of expected 2017 global solar demand will be subject to either import tariffs or domestic content requirements.

— Shayle Kann (@shaylekann) June 1, 2017

Header image is a sculpture by street artist Isaac Cordal, titled “Politicians Debating Global Warming”

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