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Solis ranked Top 3 among Asian brands

By
Varun Gulati
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Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) recently released its Solar Module & Inverter Bankability 2019 report. For the first time, the company made investigations into solar inverters, surveying the bankability of several inverter brands.

BloombergNEF's inverter bankability survey results

‘Bankability’ means banks are more willing to offer non-recourse loans to photovoltaic power generation projects that opt to use a particular inverter brand.

Solis’ inverters ranked third for Asian brands: a testament to the brand’s products being well-recognised by global technical experts and respondents. This incredible result also means project developers are more likely to receive bank financing if they use Solis’ products over those of other brands.

With a team of experts spread across six continents, BNEF analyses complex data from around the globe to procure in-depth forecasts which highlight the financial, economic and political implications of industry-transforming trends and technologies.

For this survey, BNEF sought information from banks, developers and technical due diligence firms about which brands, out of 48 module manufacturers and 17 inverter manufacturers, they considered to be bankable.

Interestingly, regional differences are far starker when considering the bankability of inverters compared to modules. Unlike panels, inverters are less of a commodity as modules have only one function — producing energy — while inverters have multiple purposes. Aside from converting direct current into alternating current, inverters interact directly with the grid and aggregate power output data. As such, there are different types of inverters for different project requirements (for example, some projects require central inverters while string inverters are more suitable for others).

Helios Completes First Solar Energy Asset Portfolio

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Editorial Desk
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Helios Infrastructure fund projects produce enough power for nearly 4,000 homes

Today, Sol Systems announced that Helios Infrastructure fund, its joint venture with Nationwide, has completed the financing and construction of its first solar portfolio. The entire portfolio is now in service and includes eight projects in North Carolina totaling 48.4 MW, which is enough to power 3,890 homes per year.

These projects are part of a larger 135 MW acquisition announced last September that is currently under development. The acquisition itself is part of a broader set of portfolios the infrastructure fund plans to develop.

Launched in February 2018, Helios invests in utility-scale solar energy assets throughout the United States, combining tax-efficient sponsor capital, highly sophisticated financial structuring and environmental and electricity commodity expertise. Helios works closely with developers throughout the United States to co-develop, finance, and construct early-stage solar portfolios.

“This is a key first step in our efforts to develop a multi-state solar infrastructure portfolio,” said Jessie Robbins, Senior Director of Structured Finance at Sol Systems. “This portfolio was delivered on time and on budget, despite the inevitable challenges along the way. We greatly appreciate our finance and development partners, who worked collaboratively with us to navigate a complex portfolio in an ever-changing market.”

“Live Oak Bank is dedicated to lending to projects that bring jobs, economic benefits and low cost renewable energy generation to America’s rural communities,” said Jennifer Williams, SVP of Renewable Energy at the bank, “and we are excited to be part of this innovative portfolio with Sol Systems, Nationwide, Seminole Financial Services, Cypress Creek Renewables, and U.S. Bank.”

Seminole Financial Services was the construction lender for the projects, U.S. Bank was the tax equity provider, and Live Oak Bank was the permanent lender for the portfolio. Cypress Creek developed and built the eight projects and will provide operations and maintenance support going forward.

“U.S. Bank has a long relationship with Sol Systems and we are excited to partner with Helios on this first portfolio,” said Jon Peeples, vice president with U.S. Bank and business development officer with the U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp. “Environmental stewardship is important to us and these projects are a great addition to our growing solar portfolio around the United States.”

These solar developments represent a $74.1 million capital investment into rural North Carolina communities. Nearly 400 jobs were created throughout project construction, including 70 local jobs.

JinkoSolar Joins the RE100 and EP100 Green Initiatives

By
Varun Gulati
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JinkoSolar, one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world, today announced that it has committed to the RE100 and EP100 initiatives. These global campaigns are led by The Climate Group, an international non-profit organization working closely with powerful business networks and governments to bring innovative solutions to scale.

The RE100 initiative brings together the world’s most influential companies committed to 100% renewable power. To reach this global climate goal and drive a low carbon economy, each company has committed to source 100% of the electricity used across their global operations from renewable sources. The EP100 initiative brings together a growing group of energy-smart companies committed to doing more with less

As part of the pledge, JinkoSolar will power all of its solar plants and global operations with 100% renewable power by 2025. By 2030, the Company will deploy an energy management system across its operations and improve its energy productivity by 30% when compared to 2016. To work towards these goals, JinkoSolar has also signed up for the EP100 Cooling Challenge to increase the energy efficiency of its cooling operations.

Mr. Kangping Chen, Chief Executive Officer of JinkoSolar, commented, “We care about long-term sustainability just as much as we care about the quality of our products. We continuously encourage our suppliers to source renewable electricity and support green practices. As one of the leading companies in the renewable energy sector, it is important to be responsible role models for a sustainable future. The core of our business is to be green and we are thrilled to be the first global solar manufacturer becoming a member of the RE100 and EP100 initiatives.”

Yuming Hui, China Director, The Climate Group, said, “It’s fantastic to see JinkoSolar leading by example on cleaner, smarter energy use and investing in solar power and energy efficient cooling. By joining RE100 and EP100, JinkoSolar is putting itself on the map in a busy week for global climate action and demonstrating what can be done. The private sector has a vital role to play in accelerating China’s clean economy, and we hope many more companies will follow suit.

Ampt Achieves Rapid Adoption in Large-Scale Solar+Storage Projects Totaling 1 GWh

By
Varun Gulati
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0
Representational image. Credit: Canva

Ampt LLC, the world’s #1 DC optimizer company for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems, today reported the rapid adoption of their String Optimizer products in large-scale PV solar+storage projects totaling one gigawatt-hour (GWh). Ampt String Optimizers are DC/DC converters that uniquely deliver higher performing solar+storage systems that cost less than solutions without Ampt.

Ampt attributes this recent series of projects to the adaptive technology in its String Optimizers which delivers value in a wide range of system sizes and storage applications. These projects combine solar PV with DC-coupled energy storage. The mix of projects include several PV systems ranging from 50 to 100 megawatts (MW), multiple projects between 10 and 30MW, and numerous 10MW and under projects. The PV-to-battery-to-inverter ratio on these systems range up to 2:1:1 with two- to five-hour charge durations being most common. Project locations in the U.S. include California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.

Today’s announced project momentum follows another milestone reported earlier this year. In January, Ampt String Optimizers were deployed on a record-breaking PV peaker power plant that has 28MW of solar PV and 100 megawatt-hours (MWh) of DC-coupled energy storage.

“These projects are a testament to the industry’s recognition of the value that both Ampt optimizers and DC-coupled energy storage bring to solar,” said Darryl Parker, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Ampt.

Including energy storage allows PV systems to provide energy on demand and supports grid stability. DC-coupled energy storage systems charge batteries directly from the DC solar array to achieve a lower cost per megawatt-hour compared to AC-coupled approaches.

“Innovations in energy storage are driving its rapid growth in large-scale PV systems around the world and Ampt’s technology is an example of what can be done to improve economics,” said Levent Gun, CEO of Ampt. “We look forward to continuing to build strong relationships with our partners and customers to increase global renewable energy capacity.”

Ampt String Optimizers harmonize the operation of the PV array and power components with a fixed and high DC bus voltage. This lowers the cost of both the DC/DC battery converters and DC/AC inverters while reducing the amount of wire and other BOS components. Performing string-level maximum power point tracking (MPPT) captures energy from variable module degradation and other sources of mismatch to increase lifetime system performance. This unique feature set delivers lower cost systems that perform better.

Additionally, Ampt optimizers use wireless communications to provide high-accuracy synchronous string-level data to enhance operations and maintenance (O&M) effectiveness.

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