SunPower teams on modelling high-penetration PV on California energy network

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

Two grants totalling US$1.5 million have been awarded to SunPower from the California Solar Initiative Research, Development, Deployment and Demonstration (CSI RD&D) Program to explore the planning and modelling for high-penetration PV on the California transmission and distribution network. Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is also partnering with SunPower on a second project to research the required hardware and software tools needed for providing bi-directional communication and management between PV systems and utility controls using advanced metering infrastructure.

“Participating in research and development projects under the California Solar Initiative, and partnering with leading solar technologists, will be a benefit to SunPower’s business and broaden the success of solar programs in California,” noted Bill Mulligan, SunPower’s Vice President of Technology and Development.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The CSI RD&D Program is investing US$50 million to fund solar research and demonstration projects designed to reduce the cost and accelerate the installation of solar and other distributed technologies that could employ solar for generation, storage, or that could reduce the use of natural gas.

Read Next

November 13, 2026
Chinese solar cell producer Drinda New Energy Technology has cancelled plans to build a cell manufacturing plant in Oman.
November 13, 2026
Greek developer Metlen Energy and Metals and Greek maritime company Tsakos Group have started construction at a 251.9MW solar-plus-storage project in Greece.
November 13, 2026
Energy infrastructure contractor DS1 has been tasked with constructing a 300MW PV power plant in Lithuania, billed as the Baltic country’s largest.
Premium
November 13, 2026
As US voters backed data centre moratoriums in the midterms, this raises questions over solar PV's AI-linked growth in the years ahead.
November 13, 2026
Indian renewables company ReNew Energy Global has planned to invest INR800 billion (US$8.53 billion) in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh across solar manufacturing and a data centre.
November 13, 2026
Teraco has selected JA to deliver n-type solar PV modules to its 120MW Sediba solar PV project in Parys, Free State province, South Africa.

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
November 24, 2026
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
February 2, 2027
London, UK
Solar Media Events
April 20, 2027
Istanbul, Türkiye