Midsummer has announced its entry into the US solar market with the installation of its SLIM solar roof solution for a private residence in the 'playground of the rich and famous' The Hamptons, New York; Duke Energy is selling its commercial distributed generation business to ArcLight Capital Partners; First Solar to sell 1 GW of modules to Capital Power; SWEPCO gets green signal to acquire 999 MW of new wind and solar capacity.
Swedish panels for New York home: Swedish solar energy company Midsummer has ventured into the US market by installing its solar roof on a private residence in Water Mill, The Hamptons in New York, a residential area that it describes as the 'playground for the rich and famous', the likes of Jennifer Lopez, it touts. While it does not specify the owner of the house it has installed the solar roof, Midsummer says its SLIM product is now installed on 500 sq. mtr. roof space equaling 17 kW. It was delivered from the company's Swedish fab. A combination of thin solar panels and a classic folded metal roof, Midsummer describes its SLIM product installed for the Water Mill property as a discreet solar roof that looks like a regular roof and is sold as a complete roof replacement. The deal was made possible through Midsummer's exclusive area partner Because It's Swedish! and installed by New York Solar Solutions. The company has also announced another order for a solar roof, also in The Hamptons for a 400 sq. mtr. roof with 16 kW capacity to be installed for another private residence soon.
"Owners of this type of expensive real estate are often very environmentally conscious but do not want to stick thick silicon panels onto their mansions. Here we have an opportunity to become an attractive solution not only for villas but also golf estates, hotels and other buildings that want to be both sustainable and beautiful," said Midsummer CEO Sven Lindström.
Duke Energy selling more renewables: US utility Duke Energy is selling its commercial distributed generation business to middle market infrastructure investor ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC for $364 million. It expects to make close to $259 million of proceeds from the transaction. Management said this will help it streamline its portfolio. The announcement of this sale follows the deal it revealed in June 2023 to sell its utility scale renewables business platform to Brookfield (see North America PV News Snippets). Both the transactions will be finalized by 2023-end. Duke Energy says it will use the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet and avoid additional holding company debt issuances. It will now be able to focus on the growth of its regulated businesses, including investments to enhance grid reliability and incorporate more than 30 GW of regulated renewable energy onto to its system by 2035.
1 GW solar module deal: First Solar will supply 1 GW DC of its Series 6 Plus solar modules to Capital Power Corporation. Alberta, Canada headquartered Capital Power is a wholesale power producer for utility scale renewables and thermal power generation facilities. It aims to go net zero by 2045. The company says it focuses on solar energy growth across North America and has an active US solar pipeline of nearly 2.4 GW DC. First Solar will hand over the delivery of the modules under this order between 2026 and 2028.
999 MW new capacity in Louisiana: The Southwestern Electric Power Co (SWEPCO) has secured green light from the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) to acquire up to 999 MW of new renewable energy generation resources to its portfolio. It includes 200 MW Mooringsport Solar Facility in Caddo Parish in Louisiana and 2 wind energy facilities to be constructed by Invenergy and acquired by SWEPCO. The utility counts adding wind and solar resources as offering the lowest cost and best value option among all others. It says the permission from the LPSC will help it meet projected power needs while protecting customers from volatility in energy costs, especially since the retirement of its aging energy units has started to lead to a power capacity deficit that's likely to grow to 1.574 GW in 2028. It will be evaluating more low-cost generation capacity addition in the near future to align with the strategy to have more than 1/3rd of its Southwest Power Pool (SPP) accredited capacity to come from wind and solar resources.