Two firms to build a highly secure virtual power plant platform

May 20, 2024

Distributed computing solutions provider Intertrust and distributed energy resource management company EIPGRID announced a partnership to deliver a highly secure and efficient digital energy platform. The platform aims to provide trusted distributed energy resource management (DERM) and virtual power plant (VPP) capabilities to energy companies and end users worldwide.

Distributed energy resources, including battery energy storage systems (BESS) and solar projects of different scales, play an indispensable role in energy transition and enhancing energy resilience. However, many DERM and VPP platforms that are established to manage and optimize energy supply and demand today lack sufficient security capabilities.

"Without robust security and authentication, VPPs are ripe for malicious attacks and data breaches," said Tony Lee, CEO of EIPGRID.

"VPPs are only effective if they're able to work securely with the largest number of distributed energy generation sources and endpoint IoT devices," said Talal G. Shamoon, CEO of Intertrust.

Through highly secure authentication and data management capabilities, Intertrust's Intertrust Platform can enable DERM/VPP platforms to securely support devices and integrate data from multiple vendors and sources while complying with global regulatory requirements.

The Intertrust Platform authenticates and secures devices and data sets using hyper-scale IoT authentication technology, XPN technology for end-to-end communications, continuous data protection and advanced data governance. When coupled with EIPGRID's AI-powered distributed energy management platform, the two companies will build a world-leading, robust, secure VPP/DERM system for the modern energy industry.

"With Intertrust Platform, we can seamlessly support a large number of secure, distributed, endpoint devices and data sets in their implementations. The result is best-in-class trust, security, and energy efficiency for our customers," added Lee.

A distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) is generally owned and operated by a utility that enables the monitoring, management, coordination and optimization of various distributed energy resources. A VPP is a cloud-based, commercial platform with similar functionalities as a DERMS; however, the resources it manages can be operated by a utility, a vendor, a customer, or a 3rd-party aggregator. In reality, the difference between them is somewhat vague.

Maxeon included on the 2023 Corporate Knights Global 100 Index

May 20, 2024

Singapore-based global solar innovation and technology company Maxeon Solar announced it has been included on the 2023 Corporate Knights Global 100 Index, earning a place in the top 1% of the world's most sustainable companies.

"Sustainability for Maxeon is a 360° commitment and at the core of everything we do. We are honored to be acknowledged as one of the most responsible corporations in the world," said Mark Babcock, Interim CEO of Maxeon Solar.

The Global 100 is an annual ranking by Canada-based international sustainable business research firm Corporate Knights, renowned for evaluating the corporate and environmental sustainability performance of the world's largest publicly listed companies. The ranking factors into 25 quantitative indicators, ranging from sustainability and natural resource management to employee management, financial metrics and supplier performance.

According to Corporate Knights, the main criteria that ensured the inclusion of Maxeon in the 2023 ranking were, among others, the company's total revenue generation from clean power and sustainable investments, sustainability of its supply chain, respect for human and labor rights at its factories, its circular economy practices and its female representation in the executive management team.

"With renewables set to take the stage as global power capacity increases in the coming years, solar panels are becoming an increasingly important player in the world's energy mix," said Toby Heaps, CEO and co-founder of Corporate Knights.

"We are pleased to see companies like Maxeon lead with 100% sustainable investment and revenue, joining the Global 100 ranks alongside other leading sustainability performers."

After SunPower's spin-off, Maxeon Solar made its debut as a brand-new company in 2020. Its Maxeon series solar modules are integrated with IBC and other high-efficiency cell manufacturing techniques and positioned in premium applications and markets. Today, Maxeon solar modules are supplied to solar projects around the globe. Early this month, Maxeon extended its supply relationship with SunPower through 2025, further enhancing its footprint in the U.S. market.

JA Solar awarded Top Brand PV MENA 2023

May 20, 2024

Leading high-performance solar modules manufacturer JA Solar received the award of Top Brand PV MENA 2023 from the energy research institute EuPD Research during the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) hosted in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 2023 is the third consecutive year that JA Solar has received the Top Brand PV award, one of the most prestigious in the global PV industry.

The Middle East region owns abundant sunlight resources for solar project development. But the particular climate conditions in this region call for strict requirements for the quality and performance of solar modules.

From DeepBlue 3.0 to DeepBlue 3.0 Pro and the latest DeepBlue 4.0 X launched in May last year, JA Solar has adopted half-cut, PERC, bi-facial, n-type and other leading technologies and manufacturing techniques in its DeepBlue series solar modules. They have been well-proven for high conversion efficiency, high power output and robust reliability in many solar projects in the Middle East region and beyond, with shipments ranking at the top of the industry.

In recent years, JA Solar has also been recognized as the Top Brand PV in several European markets, including Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as in countries on other continents, including Asia, Oceania and South America.

The awarding of the Top Brand PV MENA 2023 further demonstrates JA Solar's product quality and performance and further strengthens JA Solar's long-term leading position in the global PV market.

Hoymiles launches smart, cost-effective solar microinverters

May 20, 2024 EST

Microinverter manufacturer Hoymiles rolled out new microinverter series HMS-C and HMS-D. They are the cost-effective versions added to Hoymiles' classic HMS series and are expected to lower the upfront cost of solar projects while not comprising overall performance.

Both series come with 1,600 VA, 1,800 VA and 2,000 VA output power options and are compatible with most mainstream high-powered solar modules.

• HMS-1600C/D-4T: Used with 320 to 540+ W PV modules

  HMS-1800C/D-4T: Used with 360 to 600+ W PV modules

  HMS-2000C/D-4T: Used with 400 to 670+ W PV modules

They are 4-in-1 microinverters and each inverter can accept connections to four solar panels simultaneously, meaning the conversion capacity is four times that of a regular one. According to Hoymiles, these microinverters have an industry-leading peak efficiency of up to 96.7% and an IP67 enclosure rating.

It is worth noting that the C and D series have two 99.8% MPPTs rather than four, offering a great balance between efficient performance and affordability. Both series feature Sub-1G wireless connectivity with a channel to Hoymiles' data transfer units (DTU) and can be connected to Hoymiles' smart remote monitoring platform S-Miles Cloud. Solar project operators can access visual data on the system's energy production, usage and performance history, as well as receive alert messages for abnormal events.

The HMS-C microinverters are available in Europe, North America and Oceania, while the HMS-D microinverters are available in Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Africa Carbon Markets Initiative announces 13 action programs

May 20, 2024

The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) announced 13 action programs. Steering committee members, made up of African leaders, CEOs and carbon credit experts, met at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week to build on early momentum and set out further ambitions.

The Initiative was launched in November 2022 at COP27 in collaboration with The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, with the support of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions.

ACMI holds a bold, long-term ambition for the African continent—to reach 300 million credits retired annually by 2030, which would unlock $6 billion in income and support 30 million jobs. By 2050, ACMI is targeting over 1.5 billion credits annually, leveraging over $120 billion and supporting over 110 million jobs.

"The world has no shortage of financial resources, scientific ingenuity, and technological wherewithal to deal with the climate crisis. What has been lacking is leadership that will marshal the resources and solutions for the parts of the world that desperately need them for the sake of the protection of nature assets and actioning a just transition that will help us all attain our 1.5 degrees ambition. ACMI is designed to create space for the public & private sectors to marshal assets to financial flows," said Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion COP 27 Presidency.

Ahead of COP28, ACMI's action programs aim to accelerate Africa's participation in the global carbon market by:

• Launching activation plans for multiple countries.

  Advancing market commitments with an ambition of up to $1 billion for the purchase of high-integrity African credits.

  Developing projects based on new methodologies and the realities of Africa such as diesel replacement credits and biodiversity credits.

  Increasing a significant volume of credits on the continent.

At COP 27, $200 million was secured in advanced market commitments from global corporates. In addition, seven African nations signed up to develop country carbon activation plans, including Burundi, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Togo. A further seven corporate buyers and seven countries will participate in the program.

San Francisco uses app to accelerate rooftop solar permitting

May 20, 2024 (USA)

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection announced the launch of a pilot program with the web-based SolarAPP+ application developed by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to accelerate residential rooftop solar deployment.

Using the application, California licensed contractors can bypass upfront plan review and obtain an instant online electrical permit for qualifying rooftop solar installations of 10 kWdc or less on single or two-family homes.

The new process will help to reduce the issuance time for these electrical permits from two weeks to one day. Contractors are not needed to participate in an in-person plan review meeting at the Permit Center.

Acquiring the electrical permit for rooftop solar constitute part of the overall project costs. "By bypassing plan review and shaving two weeks off the electrical permit process, San Francisco is making it faster, easier and less expensive for homeowners to install residential rooftop solar," said Rafael Mandelman, who serves on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

"We turned on the SolarAPP+ pilot program to make it easier for San Franciscans to install rooftop solar power on their homes," said Patrick O'Riordan, Director of the Department of Building Inspection. "We believe this new tool will really shine in the City and help illuminate how easy it is for residents to transition to sustainable power."

Currently, the SolarAPP+ application is only open to rooftop solar projects. And due to safety concerns, permits for energy storage using onsite batteries continue to require submission and Fire Department review of written plans detailing fire protection and other safety features.

Below are other requirements solar projects should meet to acquire an instant permit via SolarAPP+:

• Generating 10kWdc or less

  No existing onsite photovoltaic solar array

  Installation limited to one solar module type

  Single phase 240V services

  Maximum of two DC strings in parallel

SolarAPP+ is a free tool to help local governments streamline and automate solar installation permitting. It will support the 2021 San Francisco Climate Action Plan (CAP) and the City's goal to transition to 100% renewable electricity citywide by 2025 and 100% by 2040.