Phoebe Skok

ERCOT BESS interconnection applications drop 50% in H2 2025 as faults in the boom emerge - Energy Storage New data out of Modo Energy suggests only about 85% of large batteries with signed interconnection agreements are likely to be built, as queue timelines stretch beyond four years.

Texas nearly doubled its battery fleet in 2025, with 6 GW of new capacity coming online to total 13.9 GW and 22.9 GWh of operational grid-scale BESS capacity in early 2026, according to Modo Energy’s ERCOT Annual Buildout Report. It’s a record.

More at ESS News:

A “sorting year” for solar and storage 2026 is emerging as a decisive moment as capital concentrates around projects that can demonstrate early procurement and execution certainty.

2026 is shaping up to be what Zoë Gamble of CleanChoice Energy calls a "sorting year for solar and storage," where capital's likely to be "concentrated in projects that can demonstrate early procurement, compliance-ready supply chains and execution certainty.”

“Made in the USA” batteries might still fail FEOC   - Energy Storage Even US-assembled storage systems can carry FEOC exposure via upstream ownership and materials processing, which is forcing developers to rethink diligence, serviceability and replacement strategies.

Plastering some stars, stripes and a “Made in the USA” label on a battery assembled in the States might not be enough to protect it from any current or future violations of foreign entity of concern (FEOC) regulations.

I'll walk you through some of the risks:

U.S. PPA volumes fell 22% in 2025 due to policy shocks Solar PPA prices rose 8% last year as tax credit uncertainty and FEOC compliance reduced the pool of bankable projects, according to a new report from Pexapark.

Per recently released data from Pexapark, power purchase agreements (PPA) in the U.S. were more expensive, more wanted, and less contracted in 2025 compared to 2024.

Take a look at the full analysis over at pv magazine USA:

What it’s like to build grid-scale batteries in Texas versus California While both markets face ancillary market saturation, it has very different consequences in CAISO than in ERCOT.

You want to build a grid-scale battery. Your final boss battle can go one of two ways: slow and bureaucratic or fast and chaotic. Welcome to ERCOT vs. CAISO, where your project either lives and dies by price signals or by large stacks of expensive paperwork.

How automation tools could level up storage interconnection  - Energy Storage As battery queues grow, standardized data workflows may matter more than new study rules or faster solvers.

Interconnection delays aren’t a math or tech stack problem. They’re a data issue.

What’s slowing battery projects down is manual data work: rebuilding models when queues shift, combing through violations, and untangling upgrade costs that can skyrocket overnight.

Certification hurdles inhibit growth of solar panel reuse market A new white paper from SPR argues that interconnection rules and unfavorable economics make large-scale, responsible reuse largely infeasible.

Solar panel reuse is often framed as the most sustainable end-of-life solution, but scaling it is much trickier than it sounds.

pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/01/20/c...

The contract-fab model is heading for batteries - Energy Storage Unigrid’s offshore contract manufacturing hints at a new playbook for storage startups that mirrors the chip industry’s evolution.

he battery industry has long chased the gigafactory model. Yet, many of the most successful technological innovations and industries have hit their stride by following in the footsteps of the semiconductor industry.

Storage in PJM is solving grid problems it can’t get paid for - Energy Storage As other ISOs surge ahead, PJM’s legacy rules and fragmented governance continue to slow battery deployment.

PJM is writing batteries checks that they can't cash.

The RTO's market was built around conventional generation's performance characteristics; it doesn't easily accommodate storage's attributes like fast response or bidirectional energy flow

> @miatretta.bsky.social

Universities are turning solar furniture into campus infrastructure As universities expand outdoor learning, off-grid solar furniture is emerging as a new class of campus infrastructure.

Solar furniture, which couples shaded tables, benches and outdoor workstations with solar PV panels, batteries and device charging, is springing up on college campuses around the country.

California’s new bill could usher in a “safe-by-design” era for battery storage  - Energy Storage Developers have less than two months to prepare for California’s new safety standards, where smart documentation -not system redesign - will be the key to smooth compliance.

Earlier this fall, California Governor Gavin Newsom enacted Senate Bill 283.The law requires developers to meet with local fire authorities before submitting project applications and after installation, aligning project design with safety standards.

Hello battery and climate folks!

Got any predictions for what's next for the storage industry in 2026? Send 'em my way here or at phoebe.skok@pv-magazine.com. 👀

Governance, not financing, is the next big hurdle for commercial solar Solar’s momentum in commercial real estate hinges less on policy roadblocks and more on navigating multi-tenant governance, shared infrastructure and risk allocation.

Governance, not financing, is the next big hurdle for commercial solar. While the outlook for commercial real estate (CRE) solar is rosy, the devil’s in the details: many projects find their biggest obstacles hidden in a contract’s fine print.

« Il faut un changement culturel profond face à la crise de la biodiversité » - Philippe Grandcolas - Reporters d'Espoirs Philippe Grandcolas nous livre sa vision sur la manière dont nous pourrions créer des ponts entre scientifiques et journalistes, le rôle ...

Philippe Grandcolas, directeur adjoint scientifique de CNRS Ecologie & Environnement, explique comment on pourrait créer des ponts entre scientifiques et journalistes et pourquoi on a besoin d’un changement culturel pour réduire la crise de biodiversité.

Solar sidewalks slash urban emissions 98%, study finds A Concordia model reveals how photovoltaic pavements can electrify urban food delivery and mobility, slashing emissions by 98% while freeing rooftops for agriculture.

A recent study out of Montreal's Concordia University found that photovoltaic pavements can slash urban emissions by 98% when used to electrify urban food delivery and mobility; the panels also free up rooftops.

Hello comms folks,

Trying to improve the gender balance in my reporting - I'm looking for female/nonbinary/trans solar and energy storage experts (markets, policy, tech) to serve as sources for future stories.

Drop me a line at phoebe.skok@pv-magazine.com or on LinkedIn if you have any recs!

The era of cookie cutter solar has come to a close. Did it ever start? Once shorthand for fast, uniform installs, “cookie-cutter solar” is giving way to site-specific, storage-integrated systems.

System design has long been a critical point of differentiation for many solar installers. By now, many solar experts agree that the era of cookie cutter solar has come to a close.

Question is: Did it ever start?

Why energy storage is increasingly dictating data center site selection   - Energy Storage Regulatory pressure, not technology limits, is driving the next wave of storage deployment across US data center hubs.

Energy storage is increasingly dictating data center site selection as regulatory pressure, not technology limits, drives the next wave of storage deployment across US data center hubs.

Telemetry could impact ERCOT’s rollout of real-time co-optimization with batteries - Energy Storage Projects that fail to upgrade their data infrastructure risk underperformance, delays, and lost trust with the network operator.

ERCOT will soon roll out its real-time co-optimization with batteries (RTC+B) program, which could open up new value streams for batteries. But the rollout hinges on something deceptively simple: telemetry.

How rooftop solar can complicate residential real estate transactions Many homeowners assume leased or loaned solar systems will boost their home’s value, but outstanding loans often drag down equity instead.

Unpacking the intricacies of real estate transactions and residential solar are both tricky. Slap the two fields together, and you'll likely find yourself dazed, confused, and trapped between a maze of misconceptions and a wall of red tape.

The “Kelley Blue Book” for energy assets could improve circularity in the solar sector Seattle-based urban mining startup Buckstop uses an AI-powered appraisal model to instantly value end-of-life solar panels.

The “Kelley Blue Book” for energy assets could improve circularity in the solar sector. Seattle-based urban mining startup Buckstop uses a proprietary, AI-powered appraisal model to instantly value end-of-life solar panels.

pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/10/15/t...

It’s easy to announce a battery gigafactory. It’s much harder to build one America’s battery factory buildout hinges on experienced operating teams.

On one hand, it’s (relatively) easy to announce a battery gigafactory. On the other, it’s much harder to build one, especially without experienced operating teams.

More over at pv magazine USA:

Performance contracts could be public solar’s silent financiers Energy savings performance contracts are helping schools, hospitals, and municipalities adopt solar without upfront costs.

Energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) have long enabled schools, hospitals and other public facilities to purchase efficiency upgrades without requiring new taxpayer money and staying budget neutral. Increasingly, they’re also being used for onsite solar.

Making sense of CAISO’s bid cost recovery mechanism and what it means for batteries - Energy Storage As California batteries increasingly depend on bid cost recovery to smooth out market deviations, the make-whole mechanism is being reshaped to balance flexibility and fairness.

Bid cost recovery is becoming an increasingly important settlement mechanism for energy storage systems in the CAISO.

Here's more about how BCR works:

Solar is reshaping California’s Central Valley. What happens to the rural farming communities next door? A democratically organized nonprofit is giving a seat at the clean energy table to 36 communities in Western Fresno County.

Tucked away in California’s Central Valley lies Fresno County, one of the nation’s top agricultural producers. Solar is reshaping the landscape, but what happens to the rural farming communities next door?

Polymer batteries could help protect the energy storage industry from copper tariffs As tariffs push copper costs higher, one startup thinks additive manufacturing could free batteries from the metal altogether.

Batteries rely heavily on copper, to where the average lithium-ion battery is up to 15% copper by weight.

But what if those batteries didn’t need copper at all? That’s what Sakuu, a Silicon Valley manufacturing startup, is betting on.

Here's how the tech works:

How batteries can change a data center application from a “no” to a “yes”  - Energy Storage Energy storage can be the final push a utility needs to accept a new large load application.

While the AI-fueled rise in energy demand has stolen the media spotlight, another just-as-critical but less discussed piece of the data center puzzle is waiting in the wings for its time in the limelight: utility approval.

Batteries could change the answer:

Dirty data can break a clean energy portfolio’s return on investment While AI can help renewable companies get ahead, it will only take them so far without quality, clean data.

As the AI revolution keeps on turning, it’s tempting for renewable energy companies to jump on the machine learning bandwagon. Still, what’s going to help companies scale isn’t advanced analytics, but something much less sexy: clean, normalized, site-level data.

AI is transforming residential storage fleets. What does that look like in practice? - Energy Storage Predictive diagnostics and self-testing can help residential battery systems reduce downtime and cut service costs.

When I sat down with Raghu Belur of Enphase Energy a few weeks ago, he walked me through some of the most concrete ways that AI is transforming residential storage fleets.

Here's what he told me: