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by Nicolas Rinaldi
December 23, 2016

Below are the key takeaways from the week in solar, grid edge, storage, and other energy news.

Solar News

11 Cents per Kilowatt-hour
The new value-of-solar rate that solar customers in Arizona will now receive for energy sold back to the grid. This week, the Arizona Corporation Commission eliminated retail-rate net metering in the state and replaced it with the new value-of-solar rate that is expected to significantly reduce compensation to solar customers. (story)

3 Challenges
The number of challenges facing the U.S. solar market into 2017 and keeping solar executives up at night, according to GTM Research's Corey Honeyman. (story)

9.5 Gigawatts
The installed capacity for utility-scale solar in the U.S. in 2016, according to the EIA. 2016 marks the first time that solar was the country's most dominant new fuel source in a calendar year. (story)

800-Megawatt Queue
The community solar queue in Xcel Energy's community solar program in Minnesota. This week, Laura Hannah checks up on Xcel's 2-year-old community solar program. (story)

Top 10 Trends
It's been another wild year on the solar coaster, and Vote Solar breaks down the top trends from the past 12 months. (story)

Grid Edge News

6 Customers
The number that will participate in Vermont utility Green Mountain Power's off-grid pilot that will provide financing and technical assistance to customers who generate their own power independent of the grid. (story)

$11.5 Million
The value of Encycle's latest VC round, which the Toronto-based startup will use to expand its energy-saving SaaS offering. (story)

4 Factors
The number of factors that will affect wholesale power market reform in 2017, according to Sonia Aggarwal, the director of America's Power Plan. (story)

Energy Storage News

AC/DC
Homeowners will soon be able to get themselves a battery that can do both. Julian Spector looks at how Tesla will package two different products in the Powerwall 2, which is set to begin shipments in early 2017. (story)

$645 Million
The amount of behind-the-meter storage financing in the U.S. through the first three quarters of 2016. Jeff St. John examines the go-to-market strategies, financing options and integration challenges for the fast-growing C&I storage sector. (story)

$285 to $581 per Megawatt-hour
The levelized cost of energy storage for peaker plant replacement in the U.S., down 12 percent from last year. This week, Julian Spector examines a new report from Lazard that highlights cost gains made by lithium-ion battery storage over the past year. (story)

Other Energy News

Bye Bye, 2016
The Energy Gang says farewell to this crazy year. Read the transcript from their last episode of 2016. (story)

Our editors also sit down and invite you to look in on their review of the top energy stories and themes from 2016. (story)
Goodbye as well to Rick Thompson, GTM's President and Co-Founder. We'll miss you.
15% RPS
The new RPS target for 2021 that the Michigan legislature approved last week. This will raise the state's current RPS from 10 percent. (story)

$42.5 Million
The winning bid by Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil to build New York's first offshore wind farm. (story)

$1.1 Billion
The investment by French oil and gas super major Total in the battery maker Saft earlier this year. Last week, The Interchange looked at how oil and gas investment in cleantech has evolved. Read the transcript. (story)