Below are the key takeaways from the week in solar, grid edge, energy storage, politics and other energy news.
Solar News
13.2 Gigawatts
The forecasted solar PV capacity that will be installed in the U.S. in 2017, according to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight report from GTM Research and SEIA. Check out the findings from the latest report this week. (story)
201 Megawatts
The capacity that SolarCity installed in 2016, down from guidance of 250 megawatts. This week, Eric Wesoff pores through SolarCity's 10-K statement and asks, what is Tesla’s vision for the solar installer? (story)
47%
The percentage of U.S. residential solar installed in Q4 2016 that was third-party owned, down from a peak of 72 percent in 2014. Our resident residential expert Nicole Litvak looks at why the majority of U.S. customers are buying systems outright these days. (story)
400 Jobs Lost
Two weeks ago we reported on a round of layoffs at the struggling solar installer Sungevity. This week, things got worse for the company as it laid off two-thirds of its workforce, roughly 400 employees. (story)
$2.5 Billion
The price for SunEdison's two YieldCo units that Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management will acquire from the bankrupt solar firm. (story)
Grid Edge News
15 to 55 Megawatts
The DER capacity that Southern California Edison is seeking to keep the lights on in Santa Barbara with upcoming capacity shortfalls from the Aliso Canyon closure and the shuttering of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. (story)
36 Gigawatts
The cleantech capacity that Italian utility Enel's green power division has installed globally across 24 countries. This week, the energy giant announced that the company will launch an Innovation Hub at UC Berkeley to tap into energy entrepreneurship in Northern California. (story)
New York State's VDER Rate
The New York Public Service Commission approved Phase 1 of the state's efforts to revalue DERs. Jeff St. John gives us a detailed update on what this means for company's activity in the market. (story)
136,000 Customers in Haiti
The number of customers in a remote seaside town in northwest Haiti that U.S.-based Sigora International will serve with its micro-utility platform. Julia Pyper looks at how technology and business model innovation is helping companies bring power to the developing world. (story)
Energy Storage News
336 Megawatt-Hours
The generating capacity of energy storage deployed in the U.S. in 2016, according to GTM Research. That was more than double the market's 2015 deployments. (story)
1-Month Duration
GTM's intrepid storage reporter, Julian Spector, recently made a trip to Argonne National Lab to uncover the next big innovations in storage technology, including long-duration batteries that can store energy for one month. (story)
40% Price Reduction
The amount that Chinese lithium-ion suppliers will reduce domestic prices in response to subsidy changes in China. Experts forecast the domestic price cuts will not have an impact on the global benchmark for lithium-ion. (story)
$190 Million
The VC and debt investment in long-duration saltwater battery startup Aquion, which went under this week. Investors included Bill Gates and Kleiner Perkins. Eric Wesoff pens the company's obit. (story)
Energy & Politics News
Week 7
The Energy Gang makes sense of the first seven weeks of Trump's energy policy convulsions in this week's podcast. (story)
25 Percent of Trump Voters
Don't believe in climate change. So why is a Trump administration mouthpiece making a case for clean energy development in the U.S.? Must be the economy, stupid. (story)
Speaking of climate politics, this year's CERAWeek in Houston gave a platform to the Skeptic-in-Chief's advisers Scott Pruitt and Peter Thiel, who both questioned climate science at the event. Katie Fehrenbacher examines Thiel's comments and his history in cleantech investing this week. (story)
Other Energy News
800 Terawatt-Hours
The generation provided by nuclear reactors in the U.S. This week, Eric Gimon of America's Power Plan debates how the U.S. should deal with its aging nuclear infrastructure. (story)
$200 Billion
The revenue generated by the U.S. advanced energy economy in 2016, nearly double U.S. beer sales and on par with pharmaceutical manufacturing, according to a new report from Advanced Energy Economy and Navigant Research. (story)
