States can control the retail cost of electricity by promoting virtual power plants, consisting of distributed batteries and other resources. VPPs can reduce the need for costly new generating capacity and can be deployed “within months,” said industry veteran Jigar Shah and a co-author.
#EnergySky
“Direct transfer trip,” a costly approach to ensure that distributed generation shuts down during a power outage, can make solar projects uneconomical. A national lab report points to a combination of inverter-based approaches as a viable alternative.
#EnergySky
pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/02/26/n...
A study led by two energy lawyers documents the causes of “lagging” battery energy storage deployment in the Eastern U.S. and recommends 15 policy solutions that could help scale BESS deployment.
Study lead authors are Miles Farmer and Kim Smaczniak at Roselle LLP. (My latest story for PV Mag USA)
Adding 78 GW more solar and 54 GW more battery storage in the PJM grid region than projected in a status quo scenario would drive a 20% reduction in system costs and improve reliability through 2035, says a study for @advancedenergyunited.org conducted by @synapseenergy.bsky.social.
#EnergySky
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
New Jersey is now a “top ten” state for interconnecting distributed solar and storage, said nonprofit group IREC, as projects with an export capacity of up to 2 MW will now qualify for a more streamlined interconnection process.
#EnergySky
pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/02/03/n...
National lab projects enhanced geothermal cost could decline to $100/MWh by 2035. Declining costs could make the technology a stronger competitor to solar plus storage. A national lab atlas shows wide potential for enhanced geothermal deployment in the U.S. (My latest for PV Magazine USA)
#EnergySky
My statement on the funding deal.
Navajo Power’s 750 MW solar + storage project secures Navajo Nation land lease. Looking at development opportunities beyond the 750 MW project, Navajo Power’s CEO said that expanded transmission capacity in the region would better position the Navajo Nation as a regional energy player.
#EnergySky
Utah’s enactment of a plug-in solar law last year has prompted the safety certification body UL to begin developing a safety standard for the equipment, said the law’s sponsor. Legislators in twenty-two states are discussing plug-in solar legislation, a nonprofit co-founder said.
#EnergySky
"ICE will leave Minnesota if you hand over your voter rolls" tells you everything you need to know.
This was never about immigration or fraud. It was always about rigging elections.
Yale Divinity School selects LUMA Solar roofing shingles for a 200 kW roof. Company President Robert Allen explains the technology in my PV Mag story, with input from architectural firm Bruner/Cott.
#EnergySky
pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/01/19/y...
Given state-level interest in plug-in solar, the Clean Energy States Alliance has published an in-depth guidebook to help state policymakers working to allow households to use the systems.
#EnergySky
Grid-forming inverters significantly enhance grid stability, national lab finds.
This story quotes Anderson Hoke and Jin Tan with the National Laboratory of the Rockies and covers related work by the UNIFI Consortium and ESIG (Energy Systems Integration Group).
#EnergySky
China is outpacing the U.S. toward 100% renewables for all energy uses and is on pace to reach that standard by 2051, versus 2148 for the U.S., projects a study of 150 countries by Stanford professor Mark Jacobson.
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pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/01/09/u...
More than 25 GW of large-scale generating projects reached an interconnection agreement in the ERCOT grid region in 2024. Berkeley Lab said ERCOT’s “connect and manage” approach “is likely one reason” for the grid operator’s success.
@josephrand.bsky.social
@tnorris.bsky.social
#EnergySky
Up to 21 GW of solar in California: A water district serving the western San Joaquin Valley has established a blueprint for developing solar, storage and transmission on lands that “can no longer sustain irrigated agriculture.” (My latest story for PV Magazine USA)
#EnergySky
New York State’s Build-Ready program, designed to clear hurdles to solar or storage deployment on previously developed sites, has faced challenges well beyond the expiration of tax credits under the OBBBA tax and spending law, according to a program review. (My latest for PV Mag.)
#EnergySky
Flexible interconnection is one of the most impactful, cost-effective tools for enabling distributed energy resource deployment, said a joint filing by the Solar Energy Industries Association and others. (My latest for PV Mag.)
#EnergySky
Bonneville Power has been slow to upgrade transmission lines with advanced conductors--the quickest way to expand transmission capacity--said grid analysts in 2024: pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/05/29/g...
A solar + storage playbook for New York City Mayor-elect Mamdani: The New York Solar Energy Industries Association executive director joined Mamdani's transition team in November. The “partnership” with the mayoral administration “presents an historic opportunity,” says NYSEIA.
#EnergySky
The Rutgers University rural agrivoltaics program has advised New Jersey regulators on the design of a pilot agrivoltaics program. Projects receiving support will need to track data on agricultural production on fields with and without solar installations. My latest story for PV Mag USA.
#EnergySky
A New York Power Authority plan shows the financial challenges for building solar, saying the levelized cost of building a solar project far exceeds the expected revenue from selling power. Project success may depend on the price NYPA can get for the renewable energy credits it sells.
#EnergySky
Smart inverters enable more distributed solar to be added to the grid, and some rural co-ops are evaluating smart inverter standards as more co-op members become prosumers.
My latest for PV Mag USA.
#EnergySky
When a New Jersey gas unit’s air pollution permit is up for renewal, state law allows the public to recommend ways for the unit to reduce its emissions, such as adding batteries. That’s what @cleanenergygroup.bsky.social has done. My latest story for PV Magazine USA.
#EnergySky
Nothing's more than 100% efficient, not even a perpetual motion machine.
California study finds electrification can put downward pressure on electric rates: Wide adoption of electric vehicles can lower rates by about 3 cents per kWh, if the needed distribution grid upgrades are built efficiently and with cost constraints. My latest story for PV Magazine USA.
#EnergySky
Virginia expands access to community solar: A change to a utility’s proposed approach to minimum billing opens community solar to more Virginia customers, while a potential 150 MW increase in the amount of community solar capacity is within reach. My latest for PV Magazine USA.
#EnergySky
The Solar and Storage Industries Institute has endorsed grid operator SPP’s proposal to reform interconnection by building transmission, identifying promising areas for transmission interconnection, and inviting interconnection applications. My latest for PV Magazine USA.
#EnergySky
Two approaches to prevent queue-jumping by thermal generation: Grid Strategies LLC and American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) found evidence that priority transmission access offered by three grid operators has yielded generating portfolios “heavily weighted” to thermal resources.
#EnergySky
