First Solar Panels to Power 118 MW of Small-Scale Utility Projects by Renewable Properties
Renewable Properties has purchased 118 MW of First Solar’s Series 7 thin‑film modules from the company’s U.S. plants. The panels will be deployed across 17 states, with 51 MW earmarked for nine California projects, 20 MW for four New York sites, and additional capacity in Illinois, Minnesota and other locations. First Solar’s domestic manufacturing footprint—currently in Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio and a new South Carolina plant—positions the modules as a fully American‑made solution. The deal underscores growing confidence in U.S. solar supply chains as demand accelerates.
Power Factors Loops AI Into Renewable Energy Portfolio Management Platform
Power Factors unveiled Unity REMI, an AI‑driven platform for renewable‑energy portfolio management. Trained on operational data from more than 310 GW of global assets, the system can sense, predict, act and automate across solar, wind, BESS and hybrid portfolios. REMI is already...
LONGi Exceeds 26% Efficiency on Solar Panel with HJT + IBC Cells
LONGi’s hybrid interdigitated‑back‑contact (HIBC) solar cell achieved a certified 28.13% photoelectric conversion efficiency, setting a new record for silicon‑based cells. The same technology delivered modules with 26.4% efficiency, the highest ever for silicon panels, certified by the U.S. National Laboratory...
How AI Helped Speed up Our AI
Aurora Solar creates AI tools that turn aerial imagery into 3D roof models for solar installers. By applying AI‑assisted development, the company accelerated its SmartRoof engine by roughly 30%, cutting processing time per roof. The speed boost stems from machine‑learning‑driven...
Why Solar Deals Stall at the Close — and How Top Reps Fix It
A new Aurora Solar survey of over 600 residential solar sales professionals reveals that closing deals and post‑appointment follow‑up now dominate the sales cycle, with half of reps naming it their most time‑consuming activity. The data comes as the market...
Selling Storage: The 2026 Pocket Guide
The 2026 Pocket Guide from Aurora Solar highlights a surge in solar‑plus‑storage installations, with Ohm Analytics reporting that nearly every new system in California and Puerto Rico, and about half nationwide, will include a battery. Policy incentives are accelerating this...
The 2026 Aurora Solar Snapshot
The U.S. solar market faces a pivotal shift after the One Big Beautiful Bill and the looming expiration of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for cash and loans. Aurora Solar’s 2026 Snapshot reports that traditional sales models are failing, prompting...
Fortress Power Launches eSpire Nano ESS for C&I Applications
Fortress Power unveiled the eSpire Nano, a modular energy storage system targeting small‑ to medium‑sized commercial and industrial (C&I) sites. The product ships with 30 kW or 60 kW inverters paired with 40 kWh or 60 kWh battery cabinets, supporting 208‑V to 480‑V configurations...
Ann Arbor Utility Deploying Solar + Storage Systems on Local Homes
Ann Arbor’s city‑owned Sustainable Energy Utility is piloting a residential solar‑plus‑storage program, the first of its kind for a U.S. municipality. The initiative will install rooftop solar and FranklinWH battery systems in about 150 homes in the Bryant neighborhood, where...
Report: Commercial Real Estate Companies Have Installed over 1 GW of Solar Across US
The U.S. commercial real‑estate sector has surpassed 1 GW of on‑site solar, reaching 1.086 GW across 2,157 projects from more than 65 owners. Prologis tops the industrial category with roughly 311 MW, while Public Storage leads self‑storage with 111 MW. Community solar accounts for...
Bila Solar Achieves ISO Certification at Indianapolis Panel Factory
Bila Solar, an Indianapolis‑based solar panel assembler, has secured ISO 9001:2015 certification for its quality management system. The company completed a two‑stage audit by American Certification Group, demonstrating documented procedures, internal audits, and effective day‑to‑day controls. Executives highlighted the accelerated timeline...
Indian Clean Energy Company Inox in Talks to Acquire Boviet Solar
Inox Solar Americas, the U.S. arm of India‑based Inox Clean Energy, agreed to acquire Boviet Solar from Chinese parent Boway Alloy for up to $254 million, with closing slated for May 6, 2026. The deal follows new U.S. rules that limit Chinese ownership...
Solesca Launches ‘Engineering Mode’ on Solar Design Platform
Solesca has introduced Engineering Mode, a new workflow that lets commercial solar teams generate a full, stamp‑ready interconnection plan in minutes instead of weeks. The feature consolidates design, bill of materials, single‑line diagram and DXF exports within the platform, eliminating...
Distributed Energy Infrastructure Installs Community Solar Projects Through Heavy Snowfall
Distributed Energy Infrastructure (DEI) has reached mechanical completion on two community‑solar farms near Lysander, New York—a 2.9‑MW West Genesee project and a 5‑MW Cold Springs project developed for Generate Capital. Construction proceeded through a record winter with over 100 inches of...
Advanced Green Technologies Installs 2.2-MW Solar Project on Orlando Convention Center
Advanced Green Technologies has completed a 2.2 MW DC rooftop solar array at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, more than doubling the venue’s previous solar output while using the same roof footprint. The project, built with Hanwha Q CELLS modules and SolarEdge...
Republican Lawmakers Propose Bill to Preserve Commercial Solar Tax Credits
Four Republican lawmakers introduced the American Energy Dominance Act to extend key clean‑energy tax credits, including the 45Y production tax credit and 48E investment tax credit for commercial and qualifying residential solar projects. The legislation seeks to lengthen credit terms...
Chaberton Energy Seeks Farmers for Agrivoltaic Projects in Maryland
Community solar developer Chaberton Energy is seeking Maryland farmers to co‑locate agricultural activities on two new agrivoltaic sites in Montgomery County. The company issued RFPs for 27 acres across the 5.23 MW Sugarloaf project and the 3.88 MW Ramiere project, offering free...
Sisters of Notre Dame Install Solar to Support Ohio Congregation
The Sisters of Notre Dame of the United States have completed a 188‑kilowatt ground‑mounted solar project at their Whitehouse, Ohio, campus. The system is expected to offset roughly 56% of the facility’s electricity consumption, dramatically reducing its carbon footprint. Designed...
UL Solutions Enhances Fire Testing for Large-Scale Battery Projects
UL Solutions announced an upgrade to its large‑scale fire testing for battery energy storage systems (BESS) using the sixth edition of ANSI/CAN/UL 9540A. The new protocol replicates thermal‑runaway events inside full‑size installations, both indoor and outdoor, to observe fire spread, gas...
FranklinWH Batteries Approved for Maine VPP
FranklinWH has been approved to join Maine’s Efficiency Maine Small Battery Program, a virtual power plant that pays homeowners up to $600 per battery each year for supplying stored energy during peak demand. The program, which also includes brands such as...
Commerce Releases Prelim Antidumping Tariffs in India, Indonesia, Laos Solar Case
The U.S. Department of Commerce released preliminary antidumping duties on solar cells from India (123.04%), Indonesia (35.17%) and Laos (22.46%). Combined with preliminary countervailing duties, India faces the steepest overall tariff burden. The Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade,...
Octopus Energy and Lunar Energy Launch Fixed-Rate Energy Storage Program in Texas
Octopus Energy and Lunar Energy have launched a fixed‑price electricity plan in Texas that bundles a 30‑kWh home battery with a 8¢/kWh electricity rate for three years. The offering requires no upfront payment, charging a $45 monthly subscription for the...
Headwater Energy Acquires DG Solar Developer Arena Renewables
Headwater Energy announced the completion of its acquisition of Arena Renewables, a developer of distributed‑generation solar and battery‑storage projects. Arena brings a near‑1 GW pipeline of solar and storage projects, while its leadership team will remain in place under Headwater’s ownership....
Pisgah Energy Installs Solar on 6 Buildings at North Carolina Airport
Pisgah Energy completed a 4.6 MWDC rooftop solar PV installation across six buildings at AAR’s Airframe facility in Piedmont Triad International Airport, North Carolina. The project uses 7,770 QCells 590‑W panels and 25 SolarEdge inverters, delivering over 5,900 MWh of renewable electricity...
5-MW Solar Project Largely Financed by Microsoft Suppliers Seeking Renewable Energy Certificates
Ever.green completed the 5‑MW Baron solar project in Anson County, North Carolina, owned by Headwater Energy. A coalition of Microsoft suppliers bought high‑impact renewable energy certificates, providing the revenue certainty needed for financing. The REC purchases align with Microsoft’s Supplier...
How Dual-Use Solar Gets Built: A Field Guide to Partnerships that Work
Dual‑use solar—integrating grazing, beekeeping, pollinator habitats, or shade‑grown crops—has moved from niche experiments to a mainstream practice for developers seeking land‑friendly projects. Early site assessments that match climate, vegetation and community priorities enable partnerships with service providers or mission‑driven nonprofits,...
Georgia Church Adds Solar, Storage and EV Chargers to Campus to Act as Community’s Resilience Hub
New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lithonia, Georgia, became one of the state’s first faith communities to install a combined 70‑kW solar array and 41‑kWh battery storage system, complemented by two Level II electric‑vehicle chargers. The project, financed through Georgia BRIGHT,...
270-MW Blevins Solar Project Comes Online in Texas
Geronimo Power announced that its 270‑MW Blevins Solar Project in Falls County, Texas, is now online. The facility fulfills two power purchase agreements with Fujifilm and Bristol Myers Squibb, marking the companies' shift toward renewable electricity. Over its 20‑year lifespan,...
Clean Earth E-Waste Processing Site in Texas Can Now Recycle Solar Panels
Clean Earth has secured Texas state permission to recycle solar panels at its Lancaster e‑waste facility. The site will handle up to 600,000 panels a year, roughly 20 million pounds of material, consolidating electronics and solar‑panel processing under one roof. Jeff...
Meta Calls on Noon Energy for 100 GWh of Ultra-Long Duration Energy Storage
Meta has committed to reserve 100 GWh of ultra‑long duration energy storage from Noon Energy, a developer of solid‑oxide fuel‑cell systems. The partnership will start with a 25‑MW/2.5‑GWh pilot slated for completion in 2028, after which Noon will scale to a...
7 Solar Maintenance Tips for Peak Summer Production Why Spring Solar Inspections Make or Break Your Summer
Spring is the critical reset point for commercial solar assets, as lingering winter damage can erode summer output. Arch O&M outlines a seven‑step checklist that covers structural inspections, electrical health, site access, vegetation control, soiling assessment, performance baseline reset, and...
SPI Energy, Solar4America Brand Start Bankruptcy Proceedings in US
SPI Energy, the owner of the Solar4America brand, has initiated Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings in the United States, complementing existing insolvency actions in the Cayman Islands. The company entered the U.S. market in 2021 by acquiring residential contracts and a Sacramento...
Caelux-Solx Relationship Starts Mass-Production of Perovskite-Silicon Solar Panels in US
Solx, a new solar panel assembler in Puerto Rico, has inked a five‑year, 3 GW deal with California perovskite specialist Caelux to mass‑produce hybrid Aurora modules that combine perovskite‑coated glass with Suniva silicon cells. The tandem design delivers an estimated 28%...
Fronius Releases Microgrid Interconnect Device EBLU
Fronius introduced the Essential Backup Load Unit (EBLU), a micro‑grid interconnect device that works with its GEN24 Plus hybrid inverter. The unit automatically disconnects the home from the utility grid during outages, allowing solar and battery storage to supply essential loads...
PowerUQ Extension Added to Terabase PlantPredict Modeling Platform
PowerUQ has partnered with Terabase Energy to embed its Monte Carlo‑based uncertainty engine into the PlantPredict solar‑energy modeling platform. The new extension lets owners, financiers, engineers and asset managers run millions of generation scenarios without leaving their cloud workflow. By quantifying...
Solar Inverter Advancements Stress Growing Need for Cybersecurity
The solar industry is moving to formalize cybersecurity for inverters as their connectivity expands. The Solar Energy Industries Association’s February report calls for a domestic manufacturing base and endorses UL 2941, a new multi‑layered security standard developed by NREL and UL...
19th Century San Francisco Church Gets Solar Upgrade
Trinity St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, a 19th‑century landmark in San Francisco, has installed a 19.74‑kW solar system. The project, executed by SunSource with support from RE‑volv and California Interfaith Power & Light, is expected to cut electricity costs by more...
PowerSecure to Build Solar and Storage Project for Wyoming Utility Co-Op
PowerSecure, a Southern Company subsidiary, will construct a 1.25‑MW solar farm paired with a 21.6‑MWh battery storage system for Wyoming cooperative Powder River Energy Corporation (PRECorp). The hybrid project is designed to alleviate peak‑demand stress, boost reliability, and lower wholesale...
Cincinnati to Turn an Old Landfill Site Into a Solar Power Producer
Cincinnati broke ground on the 10‑MW Center Hill Solar project, converting a 64‑acre, 30‑year‑old landfill into a renewable‑energy asset. The two 4.9‑MW arrays are expected to produce about 18.2 million kWh of electricity each year, feeding city facilities and stabilizing municipal power...
Portions of Trina Solar TOPCon Patents Deemed ‘Unpatentable’
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued final written decisions finding that key portions of Trina Solar’s two TOPCon patents are unpatentable. As a result, Runergy and Canadian Solar are cleared of infringement claims, while Adani...
Viridi RPSLinkIN Energy Storage System Receives UL 9540 Listing
Viridi’s RPSLinkIN 480‑V battery system earned UL 9540 listing after passing the rigorous UL 9540A indoor residential test conducted by TÜV Rheinland. The 50 kWh pack met five performance criteria with no smoke, gas or fire, proving it can operate safely without additional fire‑suppression equipment....
Lightshift Energy Lands BESS Portfolio for Virginia Electric Co-Ops
Lightshift Energy has secured a portfolio of five 5‑MW battery‑energy‑storage systems for Blue Ridge Power Agency and its member co‑ops in Virginia. The projects, located at three CVEC sites, one CBEC site and the City of Salem, are under construction...
Prepaid Leases Provide Pathway to Home-Owned Solar Projects
The residential solar market is reverting to third‑party ownership (TPO) after the 25D residential tax credit expired, but prepaid leases are emerging as a bridge to home ownership. Prepaid leases let homeowners pay the lease amount up front and buy...
Forge Software Platform Uses iPad LiDAR Scanning for Quick Solar Design Proposals
Dominus Foundry has launched Forge, a vertical SaaS platform that uses iPad and iPhone LiDAR to capture roof geometry and instantly generate design proposals. The system replaces fragmented workflows— aerial imagery, separate estimating tools, and office‑side software—with a single end‑to‑end...
Tigo’s Smallest Inverter Can Now Adjust Its AC Output to Repower Legacy Solar Systems
Tigo Energy has extended its Inverter Power Output Control (IPOC) software to the 3.8‑kW EI inverter, targeting smaller residential solar installations that face utility or permitting limits. The new capability lets installers derate the inverter’s AC output during commissioning, matching...
Residential Solar Installer Freedom Forever Files Bankruptcy
Freedom Forever, the top residential solar contractor by kilowatts installed, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware. The company listed assets between $100 million and $500 million and liabilities ranging from $500 million to $1 billion, with Mosaic Funding claiming nearly $120 million. Founded in 2011, Freedom...
Manufacturers Develop Non-Penetrative Alternatives to Ballasts for Rooftop Solar
Manufacturers SolarStack and SolarStrap are rolling out non‑penetrative mounting systems that replace traditional concrete ballasts on flat commercial rooftops. SolarStack uses spray‑applied polyurethane foam to bond block‑style racks, while SolarStrap heat‑welds a thin roofing membrane to create a sealed, load‑bearing...
California County Jail to Save $12 Million in Energy Costs with Solar Carport and Tesla Battery
Sunrock Distributed Generation has commissioned a 1.243‑MW solar carport and a 1.043‑MW/2.087‑MWh Tesla Megapack battery at the Monterey County Jail in Salinas, California. Funded through a power‑purchase agreement, the system is projected to generate over 2,000 MWh of clean electricity each...
Second-Life EV Battery Packs to Provide Energy Storage to Rivian Car Factory in Illinois
Rivian has teamed with battery recycler Redwood Materials to install more than 100 second‑life battery packs at its Normal, Illinois factory, providing roughly 10 MWh of on‑site energy storage. The partnership repurposes EV batteries that retain capacity after vehicle retirement, turning...
Suniva to Open Second Solar Cell Manufacturing Facility in the United States
Suniva announced a $350 million investment to build a 4.5‑GW monocrystalline silicon solar cell plant in Laurens, South Carolina, slated for a Q2 2027 opening. The new facility will join its existing 1‑GW Georgia site, raising total U.S. manufacturing capacity to 5.5 GW...