Americas

The first Tesla Powerwall home energy storage systems to go on sale in the US through a utility are being sold through Vermont’s Green Mountain Power which is including a “no upfront cost” option for its customers.

Thin-film manufacturer and developer First Solar is among the investors in a US$50 million funding round for grid-scale storage specialist Younicos, with the money raised set to fuel the latter’s expansion.

Brazil’s Development Bank (BNDES) has raised US$100 million from three Japanese banks in order to invest in clean energy projects.

Leading cell technologists from all of the big-six Silicon Module Super League (SMSL) suppliers (Canadian Solar, Hanwha Q-Cells, JA Solar, JinkoSolar, Trina Solar and Yingli Green) have now been confirmed as speakers at PV Tech’s inaugural solar cell conference, PVCellTech, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 16-17 March 2016.

The chairman and secretary-general of the new Global Solar Council speak exclusively to PV Tech ahead of its launch in Paris this weekend.

A 3MWp solar power plant connected to energy storage has been completed at Antigua’s VC Bird International airport, part of a wider 10MWp project for the island.

US PV provider SunPower has started construction on the 100MW Boulder solar energy plant in the Eldorado Valley of Boulder City, Nevada.

An extension to the US solar investment tax credit (ITC) is back in play, according to a research note issued by Credit Suisse.

Search engine and information tech giant Google has purchased the output of renewable energy generation facilities totalling 841MW across several global territories.

New York State has mandated a programme to have 50% of its electricity coming from renewable energy by 2030, after governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the State Department of Public Service to draw up a new Clean Energy Standard to support the target.