GTM: My Experience With Community Solar: Excessively Complicated and Frustrating

Creating successful community solar projects is a difficult proposition, virtually impossible in some areas, however it is growing at an incredible rate. From a customer perspective, this article explains some of the frustration and confusion that happens when companies inform about solar in your community. According to the writer, customers are already sold on the idea, they need to understand more of the details early on.  Read the article below to find out more:

GTM: My Experience With Community Solar: Excessively Complicated and Frustrating https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/my-experience-with-community-solar?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=GTMDaily#gs.Z163oWY



 JOSH GARRETT of GTM writes:

“If someone is considering subscribing to a community project, chances are they’re excited about “going solar” and realizing its environmental and climate benefits. What potential subscribers are not excited about is a 20-year contract and figuring out where exactly their money is going. That’s why marketers and salespeople should cut right to the chase on the less-feel-good aspects of community solar early in the process and be prepared to explain and answer questions about them over and over, in different ways.”

SPI 2018: Great Seeing Everyone!

SPI was a whirlwind! We visited with several clients over the span of the event, spent some time with industry leaders at the Future PV Roundtable, checked out some of the new technology on display, and even tried to have some fun! The venue was huge, but the weather was great, so we took advantage of the tables outside the event for some meetings. It was well-attended, and we had a hard time getting around to see everyone we wanted. Sorry if we missed you!

Some key takeaways were that module and tracker companies are more and more focused on bi-facial technology. We expect to see more of this trend as better certainty of bifacial production can be realized. First Solar series 6 modules were everywhere as well, it seemed, through their new Ecosystem initiative.

 We also are seeing more and more interesting software out there – some of these guys had booths as big as the module companies, and about half of startup alley was filled with various technologies we can use to make fields better, faster, and cheaper! Of course, storage was a big topic, but we’re still not seeing compelling commercial/utility-scale options. The primary strategy for now is to distribute the batteries at the load side, rather than build huge battery farms at utility fields.

 We’re sharing some photos of the show and us having some fun below. Greentech Media had a nice article featuring some of the newest tech, which you can read below as well, covering car chargers, modules, inverters, and batteries. Check it out!

“The scrappy industry has found a new fantastic point of view.” JULIAN SPECTOR, EMMA FOEHRINGER MERCHANT

GTM - A Whole New World of PV: Product Launch Roundup from Solar Power International:

 https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a-whole-new-world-of-solar-gtms-magical-spi-product-launch-roundup?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=GTMDaily#gs.al7mYi4 

Hurricane Florence vs. Solar: Plants Fare Well in Storm-Battered North Carolina

PV MAGAZINE: Solar Slowly Comes Back Online in North Carolina

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2018/09/20/solar-slowly-comes-back-online-in-north-carolina/

 “Failures of the electric grid have affected large solar plants after Hurricane Florence, just as they are affecting centralized generation.”

INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS: Solar Energy Largely Unscathed by Hurricane Florence’s Wind and Rain

 https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20092018/hurricane-florence-solar-panel-energy-resilience-extreme-weather-damage-wind-flooding

“In North Carolina, the #2 solar state, Florence was the first extreme weather test for much of its renewable energy.”

CBS NEWS: Hurricane Florence crippled electricity and coal -- solar and wind were back the next day https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-florence-crippled-electricity-and-coal-solar-and-wind-were-back-the-next-day/

 “Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Florence swamped North and South Carolina, thousands of residents who get power from coal-fired utilities remain without electricity. 

Yet solar installations, which provide less than 5 percent of North Carolina's energy, were up and running the day after the storm”

QUARTZ: Resiliency in the face of hurricanes makes the case for renewables even stronger

https://qz.com/1396099/solar-power-passed-the-hurricane-florence-resiliency-test/

“People of the Carolinas are picking up the pieces after Hurricane Florence, the wettest tropical cyclone on record. Among the news of dozens of deaths, overflowing pig-manure lagoons, and flooded coal-ash fields, there are some bright spots. Solar-power installations were largely able to escape without harm.”

North Carolina is home of the second largest capacity of solar in the US other then California. Find out how solar asset managers restored electricity after one of the most damaging hurricanes to ever hit the East Coast in the articles above, both giving different perspectives on the outcomes.

Solar has fared well compared to the coal ash disasters and nuclear shutdowns resulting from hurricane Florence. However, reports show flooded solar fields still down, but coming back online. Tracker projects can be particularly vulnerable to flooding if mechanical and electrical components are submerged, but are reporting good outcomes. Good job NC project engineers!

Kilonewton will be at Solar Power International next week September 25-27th!

Solar Power International (SPI) is North America's largest solar trade show. Over 18,000 attendees and 650 exhibitors travel from 110 countries. We will be there @SPIcon learning about new technology in #solar #energy to create a better future for our customers and we're definitely excited about what we can bring to NM!

LINKS -https://events.solar/

https://www.solarpowerinternational.com/

PV Magazine- Virginia approves largest solar power plant east of the Rockies

Virginia regulators have approved construction of the four part solar power plant, whose output is partially being sold to Microsoft. The 500 MW-AC facility is being developed by sPower.

Kilonewton is excited to be working with @sPower and @Array Technologies on this challenging project!

 “As the four plants are on one piece of land, this will be the largest solar project East of the Rocky Mountains when built, and one of the largest in the world.”

Read the full article here to learn more about this project:

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2018/08/10/virginia-approves-500-mw-of-solar-power-plant/

AUGUST 10, 2018 JOHN WEAVER

We are now a part of the Solar Energy Industries Association!

We are now proud members of The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA®) https://www.seia.org/ We are honored to work with the SEIA community, our shared goals of protecting and expanding the U.S. Solar industry is what KiloNewton is all about.

We are now proud members of The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA®) https://www.seia.org/ We are honored to work with the SEIA community, our shared goals of protecting and expanding the U.S. Solar industry is what KiloNewton is all about.

Exciting news for California!→

California Assembly has passed a bill that mandates the state move to 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2045. is great news for the future of the renewable energy mandate and sets a positive example for the rest if the country.

Read PV Magazine’s editor Christian Roselund’s article here:

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2018/08/28/100-clean-energy-passes-california-assembly/

We are starting several projects:

Just a quick update: Things are heating up here at KiloNewton! We have several projects starting up or on the horizon, from solar training classes to structural design projects. We are working to improve some of the information on the services we provide, and have created a short profile of our broad engineering services! You can find it on our services page at https://lnkd.in/gWj_8Tx. Inside you can find details on services like conceptual design, product development, manufacturing support, and technology management. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have about our specialties. We are pleased to announce that we have posted two new job openings on our website. You can find them via our contact page https://lnkd.in/geiPj9F. We are currently seeking a mechanical engineering intern, as well as a CAD/GIS technician to help with various projects we have underway. Please feel free to spread the word to anyone you know that may be interested!