SunPower

Solar Shines As Regulatory Battles Abound

A tough legal and financial terrain is confronting producers, utilities and regulators.

State commissions are challenged to find the sweet spot whereby utilities can afford to maintain their systems and homeowners are motivated to go green.

Rooftop Solar 2.0

Hawaii and California grapple over net energy metering.

While the underlying questions in each state regarding net energy metering are much the same, the two PUC's will approach the issue from different perspectives.

Digest (August 2014)

Florida Power & Light Company partners with PetroQuest Energy to develop natural gas production wells in southeastern Oklahoma; First Solar receives financing approval to build a 141-MW solar power plant in Chile; DTE Energy will deploy Tollgrade’s LightHouse MV smart grid sensors and predictive grid analytics platform within its distribution network in Detroit; US DOE chooses Abengoa, together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines, to develop a new solar storage technology for thermoelectric plants.

Transactions (August 2014)

Wisconsin Energy to acquire Integrys in a transaction valued at $9.1 billion; Dominion to acquire the CID Solar Project from EDF Renewable Energy; Landis+Gyr to acquire GRIDiant Corp.; PPL Corporation and Riverstone Holdings LLC to merge merchant power generation businesses into a new company Talen Energy Corporation; plus debt offerings totaling $1.5 billion.

People (August 2014)

Chairmen were elected to the Edison Electric Institute, including Theodore Craver (Edison International), Nicholas Akins (American Electric Power) and Thomas Fanning (Southern Co.); ISO New England changed its wholesale market management; Bechtel’s nuclear business line president, Greg Ashley, was elected to the Nuclear Energy Institute’s board of directors and executive committee. And others...

Digest (July 2014)

Austin Energy awards Recurrent Energy a contract for Texas' largest solar power plant; Indianapolis Power & Light receives approval from IURC to invest $600 million in gas turbine power station; Tucson Electric Power to purchase solar power from Avalon Solar Project; Xcel Energy and SunPower sign a PPA for a 50-MW solar plant in Colorado; American Electric Power plans to replace existing wire on transmission line running from Ohio to West Virginia; Midcontinent ISO amends its tariff to allow for short-term variations in net load requirements; FERC approves ISO New England's "Pay-for-Performance" plan.

Vista Solar Installs 118-kW SunPower Solar System for DPR Construction

Vista Solar completed a 118-kW high efficiency SunPower solar power system for national builder DPR Construction. The system, which was designed, engineered and installed by Vista Solar, is expected to generate at least 158,000 kW hours of energy each year. To generate the maximum amount of power within limited roof space, Vista Solar installed high-efficiency SunPower X21/345 solar panels.

SunPower, AE-AMD Renewable Energy Complete Two Solar Projects in South Africa

SunPower and AE-AMD Renewable Energy, a joint venture between the Spanish AMDA energía and the South African Alt-E Technologies, as well as its partners have completed two South African ground-mounted solar projects and are now feeding 33 MW into the grid. Both projects, which were constructed by SunPower, are located near Douglas, South Africa in the Northern Cape Province. Herbert, a 22-MW project, and the 11-MW Greefspan project, were both part of the South African government's Independent Power Producers Procurement Program.

One Millionth Solar Module Installed at Solar Star Projects

MidAmerican Solar and SunPower installed the one millionth photovoltaic module at the Solar Star projects, co-located in Kern and Los Angeles counties in California. When complete, the 579-MW projects will have more than 1.7 million modules installed. The first solar module was installed in March 2013. The Solar Star projects are owned by MidAmerican Solar and are being constructed by SunPower, which also will provide operations and maintenance services. Construction on the projects began in 2013 and is expected to be complete by year-end 2015.

Xcel Energy and SunPower to Build 50-MW Solar Power Plant in Colorado

Xcel Energy and SunPower signed a PPA to build a 50-MW solar power plant in Colorado's San Luis Valley. Construction of the solar power plant is contingent on the project securing all required permits, interconnection rights and financing. SunPower expects to start construction in 2015, and to achieve full commercial operation by the end of 2016. At the 320-acre site, SunPower will design and build a SunPower Oasis Power Plant system.