Titan goes bust

THE ESSENTIALS

Titan files for bankruptcy

• Titan Solar, one of the largest residential solar installers in the U.S. with 100,000+ households served, has filed for bankruptcy.

• The company’s website has been shut down and it reportedly told employees it was “closing its doors” after failing to find a buyer.

• Titan has faced a slew of lawsuits from customers who claim the company used aggressive sales tactics, made false promises to close deals, and forged customers’ signatures

Why this matters: Titan is hardly alone in its struggles. 16 major solar installers have shut down since the start of 2023. SunRun’s share price is down 87% from its peak; Sunnova is down 18%. Installers are facing a downturn driven by a combination of higher interest rates that make financing less affordable and pared-back incentive programs in big states like California.

Longi claims new efficiency record

• The world’s largest solar manufacturer, Longi, claims its researchers have created a tandem perovskite-silicon cell that achieved a 34.6% power conversion efficiency.

• That is 0.7% higher than the previous record and 7% better than the most efficient standard silicon cell.

• Perovskite-silicon cells have a maximum theoretical efficiency of 43%, but still suffer from durability issues that have blocked commercialization.

Why this matters: Longi has proven it can make increasingly efficient tandem cells, breaking the world record 16 times in the past three years.

Utility solar falls to half the cost of coal

• Investment bank Lazard’s latest Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) analysis shows the cost of utility-scale solar in 2024 hit an average LCOE of $61/MWh compared to $118/MWh for coal and $76/MWh for natural gas.

• Rooftop residential solar was significantly more expensive, with an LCOE ranging from $122/MWh to $284/MWh.

• The LCOE for solar has been driven up over the past two years because of higher interest rates.

Why this matters: Despite a difficult macro environment that’s made financing solar installations more expensive, Lazard’s analysis shows it’s still cost-competitive with every other energy source (and significantly cheaper than coal and nuclear).

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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

➡️ Solar capacity up 87% last year, expected to surge more this year. Global solar capacity rose by 447GW last year, up from 239GW added in 2022. Total solar capacity reached 1.6TW, and is expected to grow by 660GW this year based on the shipment targets of major manufacturers. (More)

➡️ Octopus Energy enters U.S. market. Britain’s largest electricity supplier is entering the American market with the acquisition of two solar farms in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The projects have a combined capacity of 100MW. (More)

➡️ Planted Solar raises $20M Series A. The California-based startup designs solar arrays for terrain that’s traditionally been too difficult to install solar on and uses robots to install the panels, cutting down on costs. It raised the round from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Khosla Ventures. (More)

➡️ Michigan legislation aims to create community solar market. Two bills working their way through Michigan’s legislature would allow customers to buy into off-site solar projects, receiving offsets on their utility bills in exchange for paying a monthly rate for the electricity generated by the projects. (More)

➡️ 5GW plant coming to Tenneessee. The new manufacturing plant will be a joint venture between Europe’s Recom and Create Energy at the latter’s existing facilities in Portland, Tennessee. No timeline for production was given. (More)

AROUND THE WORLD

🇩🇪 Germany installs 5GW of new solar to start 2024. The new capacity added in the first four months of the year is a record for the country and a 35% jump from the same period last year. Germany is aiming to meet 25% of its energy demand with solar by 2030. (More)

🇪🇸 Spain faces energy surplus challenges. Having doubled its wind capacity and increased solar capacity by 8x since 2008, Spain is finding electricity prices often plunge to zero or near-zero. It’s now looking for ways to speed up electrification over concerns a lack of demand could discourage capital investment. (More)

🇦🇺 Record-breaking PPA agreement signed in Australia. Two of Australia’s largest investment funds have struck a deal as part of the Australian Infrastructure Renewable Energy Program to supply 500GWh of renewable energy per year. The power purchase agreement is valued at $463 million (AUD$700 million). (More)

A MESSAGE FROM SOLAR DISPATCH

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Partnering with Solar Dispatch gets your message in front of thousands of solar industry pros — and in a format they’ll actually read.

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

Just reply to this email to learn more about how Solar Dispatch can give you a powerful new marketing channel at a reasonable price.

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