Australian blockchain software to track EV carbon offsets in Silicon Valley
Perth-based blockchain startup Power Ledger has announced its first carbon credit project as part of its partnership with Chicago-based startup Clean Energy Blockchain Network and in collaboration with California’s municipal utility Silicon Valley Power. The company’s platform will manage credits generated by the use of solar energy in electric vehicle charging.
Falling battery costs to push solar, wind to 50% electricity generation by 2050, but electricity still failing CO₂ reduction targets – BNEF
Solar PV capacity is set to grow 17-fold, and wind six-fold, by 2050, to account for nearly half of global electricity generation, predicts BNEF, while investments will reach US$11.5 trillion. Cost reductions will drive this charge, particularly in the battery market, which will benefit from the EV manufacturing ramp up. Despite this, the electricity sector is still failing to bring CO₂ emissions down to the required levels, with its continued dependence on gas.
SunPower and Enphase team up with microinverter acquisition
Through the deal SunPower gets US$25 million and stock; however the bigger deal may be Enphase’s right to be the company’s exclusive residential inverter supplier.
First Solar breaks ground on 1.2 GW factory in the U.S.
The plant is the second-largest planned in the Western Hemisphere, and will triple the thin film module maker’s manufacturing capacity in the United States.
Arizona delivers solar at half price of existing coal generation
Arizona’s largest power user has approved a 20-year power contract with a 30 MW solar project at US$2.49¢/kWh (AUD3.27c/kWh), the lowest price for a public solar power contract to date. The deal also involves shutting down a coal plant.
California generates more power from solar than gas in May
During May utility-scale solar provided 17% of generation on California’s grid, outpacing gas for the first time on a monthly basis.
The path to US$0.015/kWh solar power, and lower
GTM Research projects US$24 cent/w solar panels and utility scale fixed-tilt systems at US$70 cent/W by 2022, which opens up new possibilities for ultra-cheap power from solar.
Sonnen secures €60 million investment from Shell Ventures
Germany-based PV-storage provider sonnen has closed a new funding round from a group of investors led by Shell Ventures. Sonnen has already began to draw on the funds as it continues to expand market shares in the U.S. and in Australia. Shell Ventures is now a major sonnen investor and future cooperation agreement has been agreed to.
US: Rush to gas risks hundreds of billions in stranded assets
A new report by Rocky Mountain Institute finds that gas plants proposed across the United States over the next 15 years could be replaced by clean energy portfolios at a net savings, and that these projects are at risk of becoming stranded assets.
More U.S. jobs in solar than coal and nuclear combined
A new report from a think tank headed by former U.S. Energy Secretary Moniz reveals an additional 100,000 jobs with a part-time solar component, and hints at the political powerhouse that solar is becoming.
