John Fitzgerald Weaver, Author at Electrek | Page 21 of 21

AT&T and SunPower bring IoT solar monitoring partnership to residential customers

John Fitzgerald Weaver Apr 26 2016 - 2:12 pm PT

infographic-sunpower-equinoxtm-benefits-3-HR
AT&T and SunPower are announcing the start of a new relationship – AT&T’s IoT (Internet of Things) expertise combined with the SunPower Equinox home solar and monitoring system. The intertwining of these two companies means AT&T will be able to show off its real time information communication skills while the SunPower Equinox system gets access to a redundant wired and wireless network infrastructure. Meanwhile, both companies get to market their products to the other’s residential customers…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tesla will install more energy storage with Solarcity in 2016 than the USA installed in 2015

John Fitzgerald Weaver Apr 25 2016 - 11:12 am PT

13 Comments

solarcity powerwall

It looks like Tesla is about to change the battery game – this time by installing more energy storage capacity in 2016 with SolarCity alone than all of the USA installed in 2015. In a recent filing with the SEC, it was found that Tesla foresees an almost 10X increase in sales to SolarCity for behind the meter storage.

We recognized approximately $4.9 million in revenue from SolarCity during fiscal year 2015 for sales of energy storage products governed by this master supply agreement, and anticipate recognizing approximately $44.0 million in such revenues during fiscal year 2016.

Source

According to an analysis by GTM’s Ravi Manghan this revenue projection means Tesla expects to install approximately 116 MWh of behind the meter storage. In all of 2015, the United States installed about 76 MWh of behind the meter. Starting from a very low base, SolarCity and Tesla Energy doubled their battery installation volume last year. These were small installations at test locations for special customers, but that wall of ‘start up’ is already starting to fall.
Expand
Expanding
Close

The 25 Year Solar Module Warranty is only 19 Years old

John Fitzgerald Weaver Apr 24 2016 - 7:23 am PT

1 Comment

Solar panel on a red roof reflecting the sun and the cloudless blue sky

A recent report (PDF) reminded us that the solar power industry is still in its youth. While we have been installing solar power since the 1950’s – 85% of the world’s 230GW+ has been installed in the last 5 years, and during the next five years that front end concentration will increase. The suite of tests developed in the 1970s for measuring solar module longevity is showing us that while most modules perform well, at or above their warranted levels, there are enough that don’t, and that the industry need continue to improve quality control if we are to depend on solar power in the long term.

Figure 1.1 - Cumulative Global Solar PV Installations

When a large scale solar power plant is built out, the financiers of those solar plants are going to ask if your solar modules are ‘bankable.’ Bankability generally follows a few guidelines, the first being – What are the odds that the solar module will perform like the production models say? $100 billion of solar power was installed last year – and every installation believes their solar modules are going to last long enough to cover their costs.

Expand
Expanding
Close

SunEdison (SUNE) officially files for bankruptcy – Wall Street couldn’t wait

John Fitzgerald Weaver Apr 21 2016 - 11:26 am PT

0 Comments

SunEdison-water-pumps

SunEdison has officially filed for bankruptcy. This has been expected by some players as far back as the 3rd quarter of 2015. SUNE has been a big player in the solar industry for a long time as they’ve strived to become the biggest global developer. By aggressively going after growing markets around the world and innovating with Solar Power YieldCos it looked like SunEdison might make it as well. Now, both SunEdison and their YeildCo is being sued. Alas…this party has come to an end.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Kurzweil predicts solar industry dominance in 12 years – that’s a lot closer than you think

John Fitzgerald Weaver Apr 21 2016 - 8:46 am PT

11 Comments

Nellis_AFB_Solar_panels

Ray Kurzweil is known for inventing things, wanting to live forever, The Singularity and – of relevance in this article – Exponential Growth of technology, like solar power. Recently, during a medical device presentation, Kurzweil reiterated his predictions that solar power will continue to double its global capacity every two years and six more times in the next twelve years. Some charts look suspiciously like they’re shooting upward just ahead of his predicted pace. Personally, being in the field day to day, as a Project Developer, it is hard to believe that solar power might install such volumes in the next twelve years – but ten years ago, when I got into the industry, I never thought it’d grow like it has.
Expand
Expanding
Close