Weekend reads - Smart Energy Decisions

Energy Storage, Microgrids, Regulation, Solar  -  November 28, 2020

Weekend reads: Inside a solar-powered tiny home; What John Kerry's new post means for the climate change struggle

It's a long holiday weekend! Kick back and catch up with these must-read articles from around the web.

Unpacking Joe Biden's decision to tap John Kerry as his climate envoy (Axios) President-elect Joe Biden is naming former Secretary of State John Kerry as a special presidential envoy for climate change. Why it matters: The transition team's announcement sought to show that it will be an influential role, noting that Kerry — a former Massachusetts senator and the Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee — will be on the National Security Council. "This marks the first time that the NSC will include an official dedicated to climate change, reflecting the president-elect’s commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue," the transition team said in a statement.

How PV-Plus-Storage Will Compete With Gas Generation in the U.S. (BloombergNEF) The combination of ever-cheaper energy storage systems and state and federal policy support has heightened utilities’ interest in hybrid projects combining solar photovoltaics and storage (known as PVS for short). There are now over 19GW of PVS projects in the pipeline in the U.S and expected to come online by 2023, and an additional 80GW of projects in the interconnection queue. Existing projects are designed to facilitate the integration of solar on the grid, by allowing a more stable output during regular generation hours, or by shifting solar energy to deliver peaking capacity. This second application increasingly puts PVS in competition with peaking gas capacity typically delivered by open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs).

Webinar: Opportunities for Energy Cost Savings & Independence with DERs (NRG) Wednesday, December 02, 2020, 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Distributed Energy Resources are helping large power users reduce energy cost, improve resiliency, and achieve sustainability goals. But an exclusive Smart Energy Decisions survey reveals that a significant percentage see DERs as out of reach because of capital costs. Others simply don’t know how to choose from among the proliferation of DER choices. Attend this important webinar to learn how to overcome these obstacles and realize the benefits of DERs. Scott Bargerstock, Senior Manager, Global Energy -Demand at Mohawk Industries and Doug Sansom, Managing Director, DER Sales at NRG Energy will share their direct experience with DERs and answer questions from the audience. REGISTER HERE

He’s bringing solar power to Puerto Rico — and political power to its people (Grist) Arturo Massol-Deyá believes solar panels will bring power to the people of Puerto Rico — in more ways than one. Massol-Deyá is associate director of Casa Pueblo, a nonprofit that, since 1991, has installed close to 1,000 solar panels on homes and businesses throughout Adjuntas, a small mountainside town southwest of San Juan. Beyond providing cheap, renewable energy, Massol-Deyá hopes a growing network of microgrids will help Puerto Ricans break their dependence on an unreliable electrical system and a colonial governing structure that has plunged the island into debt, cut social services, and denied residents a voice in federal politics.

EU says it could be self-sufficient in electric vehicle batteries by 2025 (Reuters) The European Union could produce enough batteries by 2025 to power its fast-growing fleet of electric vehicles without relying on imported cells, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday. As part of its plan to become climate neutral by 2050, the EU wants to boost local production of the building blocks for green industries - including hydrogen fuel to make low-carbon steel and batteries to power clean vehicles. “I am confident that by 2025, the EU will be able to produce enough battery cells to meet the needs of the European automotive industry, and even to build our export capacity,” Sefcovic told the online European Conference on Batteries.

Webinar: 2020 Energy Industry Review and 2021 Forecast (Bloom Energy) Wednesday, December 09, 2020, 2:00 PM EST/ 11:00 AM PST. 2020 has been a year riddled with challenges. As the world emerges from collective lockdown and slowly fights its way back to normalcy, US electric markets stand at a crossroads. Looking forward to 2021, the path to recovery and further progress will be shaped by the events of 2020. In this webinar, our expert analysts from Bloom Energy will discuss the trends they are watching after a year of unprecedented crises, and the steps businesses can take to prepare for the challenges ahead. REGISTER HERE

A solar-powered appliance startup built a $69,500 tiny home that can stay off grid for a month in a pivot to the tiny living trend — see inside 'Dream' (Business Insider) Solar-powered appliance maker GoSun has unveiled its first solar-powered tiny home on wheels: the off-grid capable GoSun Dream. The tiny home movement has become more popular during the coronavirus pandemic. However, according to GoSun founder and CEO Patrick Sherwin, this growing community and tiny homemakers have continuously missed out on prioritizing energy efficiency in these portable home builds. Enter GoSun, which pivoted from its traditional solar appliances product lineup to tiny homes on wheels in order to fill this power efficiency gap.

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