Accurately calculating – Avoided cost of solar from Energy Toolbase on Vimeo. A good starting point for identifying an advantageous solar market is to look at the average retail cost of electricity. For behind-the-meter (BTM) solar projects, high retail electricity prices enable solar project economics to look more attractive. TheRead More

At Intersolar North America 2017, we caught wind of a new fixed tilt ground-mount system developed by Nuance Energy, but at the booth there was no physical system on display. Instead, Founder and CEO Brian C. Boguess handed me VR goggles to look through, which now feels appropriate because itRead More

Much of our Attack the Tariff campaign is focused on market-based innovations that improve the upfront costs and long-term value for a variety of solar projects. But state-based solutions and local movements often make the biggest impact. In a series of white papers this year, the Solar Energy Industries AssociationRead More

On commercial rooftops, design trends are all about maximizing energy density. Module selection is a huge factor there, but so are the layout and tilt decisions — figuring out the perfect shape and tilt to mount as many modules as possible without compromising their performance. Pairing the right racking systemRead More

Installing or building the perfect site requires planning beyond the system itself. In ground-mount applications, for example, field drainage is an underrated attribute. Drainage Explained Typically, the energy dissipation methods on a solar site are aggregate, fabric cloth and perforated pipe. This requires excavation and removal of excess soil asRead More

Brad Hansen, president and CEO of EnSync Energy Systems, believes solar + storage for the home is still “in the dark ages.” EnSync Energy Systems has built a reputation for deploying high-value distributed energy resources (DERs) in the C&I segment. So why is Hansen discussing residential solar + storage? Well,Read More

In this uncertain #TrumpTariffs market, many investors have less appetite for newer, less proven systems, seeing that as another avenue of risk in projects where pennies and seconds count more than ever. This puts the spotlight on companies and products that can deliver the most certainty in terms of upfrontRead More

What is a supply chain? It is the flow of all components that go into a given product, and then the flow of that product from its manufacturing origin to its end destination. In a global economy (yes, there still is one, despite Trump’s best efforts) the path from cradleRead More

Remember the Seinfeld episode where the rental car company took Jerry’s reservation, but still didn’t have a car for him? “You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part: the holding. Anybody can just take them.” That’sRead More

“But whatever the reason [for the tariff], the consequences probably won’t be severe. The solar revolution is happening so fast that the tariff will make little difference.” — Noah Smith, Bloomberg. This quote from Bloomberg is certainly true, but the immediate effect has unquestionably caused some projects that were “onRead More