Robots installing solar

THE ESSENTIALS

FirstSolar says election creating uncertainty in sector

• FirstSolar reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings this week but warned that the presidential election was creating uncertainty in the sector.

• CEO Mark Widmar expressed concern about the future of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits and incentives for solar projects.

• That’s causing investors (and FirstSolar itself) to become much more picky about what projects they undertake until the election is decided, Widmar said.

Why this matters: Expect some big investment decisions to come once the election is settled and the industry has more clarity on where policy is headed.

New robot will automate solar panel installation

• Virginia-based energy company AES is launching a robot, dubbed Maximo, that it claims can install solar panels in utility-scale projects in half the time and at half the cost of human crews.

• The company expects to use the robots to install 100MW by 2025, starting in August at its 2GW project in Kern County, California.

• AES told The New York Times labour shortages have become a bottleneck for its solar projects, with recruiting construction workers in hot, remote desert areas often challenging.

Why this matters: The International Energy Agency projects the solar sector workforce will need to double by 2035 to meet demand. Improving automation will be key to keeping costs down.

States push local governments to automate solar permitting

• Five states are offering grants to local governments to adopt automated permitting software for solar installations.

• Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, and Maryland are all now offering grants and support to implement automated permitting. California began offering support in 2022.

• The most widely used software is SolarAPP+, which is free for governments (and charges installers a fee).

Why this matters: Permitting can take months right now. Automated permitting removes a major friction point for installers by making that an instant process.

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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

➡️ Anecdotal reports that SunPower isn’t paying repair techs. Some Reddit users are claiming that SunPower isn’t paying the contractors they’ve subcontracted repairs to, leaving customers with broken equipment leased from SunPower. (More)

➡️ Department of Energy commits $44 million for concentrating solar-thermal. CST systems use mirrors to concentrate sunlight to generate energy for making fuel and heat that can be used in industrial production. (More)

➡️ Another Chinese solar manufacturer goes under. Zhejiang Akcome Photoelectric Technology declared bankruptcy after failing to pay its debts. It was forced to suspend production four months ago. The failure comes amid a price war that’s crushing smaller players. (More)

➡️ ArcLight launches $500 million renewables fund. The new fund will buy solar and wind projects. ArcLight aims to deploy the fund by the end of 2025, and began with the purchase of a wind farm in Texas. (More)

➡️ Wind and solar surpass fossil fuels in E.U. 30% of electricity in the bloc is now provided by solar and wind, surpassing fossil fuels for the first time. Despite electricity demand growing, the E.U. used 24% less coal and 14% less gas. (More)

AROUND THE WORLD

🇪🇸 Spain authorizes 25GW of new solar capacity. The 239 newly approved projects will have three years to be commissioned and require an estimated investment of $18.4 billion. (More)

🇩🇪 German solar output hits new record. Energy production hit 48,861MW at one point on Monday. Solar output is expected to rise 34% this summer from last year. (More)

🇴🇲 Q-Sun to build 10GW plant in Oman. The Chinese manufacturer will produce solar modules and cells at the Oman facility. Chinese manufacturers have been expanding aggressively into the Middle East. (More)

WHAT WE’RE READING

• How halide perovskites could revolutionize solar.

• Why the clean energy race between the U.S. and China is benefitting the Gulf states.

• Ember’s report on EU energy generation in the first half of the year.

A MESSAGE FROM SOLAR DISPATCH

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• Along with native newsletter placements, we’re now offering lead-gen ads — only pay for the leads you get.

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