Staubli plans to increase manufacturing of American-made connectors and wire harnesses in its California and North Carolina facilities. With high demand for domestically produced solar components, driven in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, Swiss-headquartered Staubli announced it is expanding its manufacturing and assembly operations in South Carolina and California. The company first began manufacturing in the U.S. in 1980 when it set up a facility in Duncan, South Carolina (shown above). The 103,000-square-foot facility houses manufacturing, logistics and personnel to operate and suppor ..read more

Sinovoltaics analyzed publicly traded inverter producers using a balance sheet-based model and publicly available financial information to track financial strength over the past three years. The top-five in the latest ranking are Hoymiles Power Electronics, Enphase, Kstar, Eaton, and Goodwe. From pv magazine Global Sinovoltaics, a Hong Kong-based technical compliance and quality assurance service firm, has released the second edition of its Sinovoltaics PV inverter manufacturer financial stability ranking. The company said the results, which are calculated since June 2020, provide insight ..read more

Also on the rise: U.S. solar manufacturing and the SEMA Coalition expansion. CATL presents EV battery with 1,000 km range. And more. U.S. solar manufacturing and the SEMA Coalition expansion Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition has a goal of rebuilding the solar supply chain in the U.S. Solar mounting system update K2 releases a new product, and Martin Roofing & Solar’s hidden-fastening solar mount achieves UL 2703 certification. California batteries dominate evening grid with 10 GW/40 GWh of capacity  The state is once again setting springtime output records from solar, w ..read more

Birch Creek, which has a portfolio of over 14.2 GW of utility-scale solar and storage projects in various stages of development, says it plans to deploy the First Solar modules in projects across its development pipeline in the United States. First Solar, Inc. announced an agreement to supply Birch Creek Energy with 547 MW of advanced Series 6 Plus bifacial thin film solar modules. Birch Creek Energy, based in St. Louis, Missouri, is a utility-scale solar developer that develops, finances and owns utility-scale solar and storage projects in the U.S. Operating since 2019, the company has develo ..read more

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) has shown its latest lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery at an auto show in Beijing. The Chinese company says it has an energy density of 205 Wh per kg, almost 8% higher than the current state of the art for such batteries. From pv magazine global Chinese battery manufacturer CATL presented its new Shenxing Plus LFP battery at the ongoing Auto China 2024 trade fair in Beijing. CATL said it used special “granular gradation” technology in the manufacturing process for the cathode. It optimized the placement of each cathode particle and enhan ..read more

In its first monthly column for pv magazine, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) explains how a team of its experts is currently working on the definition of new standards for VIPV systems. From pv magazine Global Replacing polluting fossil fuels with the light of the sun to fuel a car almost sounds too good to be true. Solar cars – electric vehicles that feature solar panels – promise to offer a low-carbon way to drive with less need for electric vehicle charging stations. Meanwhile, U.S. company Aptera recently announced it had raised over $33 million to fund the initial stag ..read more

The state is once again setting springtime output records from solar, while energy storage takes over the peak electricity demand period becoming the maximum output source. California announced that they’ve crossed the line of having 10 GW of energy storage installed on its power grid. As of the announcement, the state had noted that exactly 10.379 gigawatts of output was connected, which was an increase from 770 megawatts that was connected in 2019. The state projects that it’ll need 52 GW of batteries connected to its grid by 2045. Along with an additional 57.5 GW of solar, state models sug ..read more

K2 releases a new product, and Martin Roofing & Solar's hidden-fastening solar mount achieves UL 2703 certification. German mounting systems specialist, K2, announced the K2 Edge, which the company says integrates with both new and retrofit solar systems. The bracket attaches to the module frame using a 13 mm socket like the rest of K2’s components, then the remaining K2 Edge pieces use a tool-less installation process. K2 Edge The Corners are universal, and the K2 Edge can be easily customized, cut, and installed in various configurations, the company reports. K2 serves the U.S. market, w ..read more

Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition has a goal of rebuilding the solar supply chain in the U.S. Installing solar panels can save consumers money and reduce harmful emissions that pollute our air and fuel climate change. But in just about every case, customers who buy solar view all solar panels as being effectively the same. The way they see it, the particular brand doesn’t matter; they all achieve the same result. The problem here is that customers overlook a critical consideration: where the panels come from. I’ve been in this industry a long time, but I’ve never seen a crisis l ..read more

RTX, formerly Raytheon, signs an agreement with Engie North America to buy 1.5 million MWh of renewable energy over the next ten years, spurring further growth of Texas solar development. Tier 1 defense industry contractor RTX (formerly Raytheon) signed a deal with Engie North America to purchase 100% renewable energy in its quest to reduce emissions 46% by 2030 from 2019 levels. The deal involves buying a mix of wind and solar sources through renewable energy certificates as well as direct energy purchases, all originating in the state. The clean energy will reportedly power 12 of its facilit ..read more