Distributed Energy Resources, Solar, Sourcing Renewables, Wind  -  December 18, 2021

Weekend Reads: Speeding Development of Solar Cells; Dramatizing Solar Power Drinks

It's the weekend! Kick back and catch up with these don't-miss articles from around the web:

Seeking Space for Solar Farms, Cities Find Room at Their Airports (New York Times)  When city commissioners in Tallahassee, Fla., passed a resolution in early 2019 to rely exclusively on renewable energy by 2050, one cornerstone was already in place: a 120-acre, 20-megawatt solar farm at Tallahassee International Airport. The solar arrays had been installed just over a year earlier by a private developer in an effort to combat climate change and curtail emissions. An additional 330 acres producing 42 megawatts came online in late 2019, supplying solar power to more than 100 municipal buildings, including City Hall, the airport terminal and a sewage treatment plant.

A tool to speed development of new solar cells (MIT News)  In the ongoing race to develop ever-better materials and configurations for solar cells, there are many variables that can be adjusted to try to improve performance, including material type, thickness, and geometric arrangement. Developing new solar cells has generally been a tedious process of making small changes to one of these parameters at a time. While computational simulators have made it possible to evaluate such changes without having to actually build each new variation for testing, the process remains slow.

Stakeholder group recommends proactive approach to wind and solar development (Wyoming Public Media)  Wyoming needs to proactively plan for renewable energy development across Wyoming – that's the message from a broad group of stakeholders that includes conservationists, industry representatives, ranchers, utilities and others. Wind and solar developments can affect everything from an area's viewshed to its wildlife. But solar panels and wind turbines are growing more common across the state as the world seeks greener sources of energy, and as energy firms notice Wyoming’s wide open spaces.

CPower Launches EnerWise™ Site Optimization (CPower)  CPower Energy Management ("CPower"), a leading national energy solutions provider, today announced EnerWise^TM Site Optimization --- a new service powered by artificial intelligence that makes insight-driven decisions to enable Distributed Energy Resources' (DERs) participation across on-bill savings and available grid services programs. The service optimizes and automates behind-the-meter assets, helping energy users achieve resiliency and ESG goals while supporting a clean energy future.

Power Energy Drink with a Cheeky New Campaign (Branding in Asia)  Heineken-owned brand Solar Power has entered the energy drink market with a campaign via GOVT Singapore called “Good Energy Only”, a cheeky campaign that highlights the brand’s use of all-natural ingredients while poking fun at overdone portrayals of “good energy.” “We started off by listing down daily drainers, moments all of us have experienced, then figured out ways to dramatize them in outlandish and irreverent ways,” said Kevin Joseph, Associate Creative Director, GOVT.

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