North America PV News Snippets

Over 1,000 shipments of solar reportedly detained by US CBP; Oya Renewables and OWS launch RE JV Chrysalis Energy; Minnesota Power's 700 MW RE plan approved; Sol Clarity closes $920 million funding round; DSD raises $40 million equity investment from the US Bank.

US ports detain over 1,000 solar shipments: The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has detailed 1,053 shipments of solar components at its ports between June 21, 2022 and October 25, 2022, complying with the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (UFLPA), according to a report by Reuters. It estimates this capacity of solar panels and cells as representing up to 1 GW of capacity and majorly comprise products of China's LONGi Green Energy Technology, Trina Solar and JinkoSolar Holding.  Recently, the American Clean Power Association (ACP) pointed at solar panel detentions preventing project completion threatening to disrupt the pace of future installations. Reuters quoted ACP as of saying that 'Solar installations in the United States slowed by 23% in the third quarter, and nearly 23 GW of solar projects are delayed, largely due to an inability to obtain panels,' adding "After more than 4 months of solar panels being reviewed under UFLPA, none have been rejected and instead they remain stuck in limbo with no end in sight," commented ACP according to Reuters. Several Chinese companies have stopped shipping solar modules to the US  for the moment.

3 GW renewables joint venture in the US: Oya Renewables and Oil Well Shares (OWS) have formed a joint venture (JV) called Chrysalis Energy to develop and construct community and utility scale solar, wind and energy storage projects across the PJM region. The target is to bring online over 3 GW capacity within Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Within the scope of the JV, both the partners will develop, jointly own and operate an extensive portfolio of renewable energy assets across OWS' current land inventory. Currently, Oya counts its pipeline comprising more than 1.44 GW DC developed assets and a pipeline of 9 GW distributed and utility scale solar projects across North America. OWS on the other hand, operates thousands of oil wells in Appalachia, US.

US utility's latest IRP approved: The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) has approved Minnesota Power's 15-year regulatory roadmap Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) called EnergyForward. Under the plan, the utility aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% by 2045, achieving more than 70% renewable energy in 2030, and provide 100% carbon free energy by 2050. The plan calls for adding up to 400 MW wind and 300 MW regional solar energy. It will also cease coal operations at the Boswell Energy Center Unit 3 by 2030 and Boswell Unit 4 by 2035. It will file the next IRP by March 1, 2025.

 Sol Clarity closes funding round to commercialize solar learning technology: Robotic, waterless solar panel cleaning technology firm from the US, Sol Clarity has closed a $920 million seed I funding round. It will enable the company bring its technology to the market. The money was raised from the corporate venture arm of Norway's Equinor, Equinor Ventures and Techstars among others. Sol Clarity uses its patented Electrodynamic Screen (EDS) technology comprising rows of conductive parallel electrodes that charge dust particles obstructing solar panels with static electricity. It then sweeps off the dust off the surface with a generated traveling electric wave. Equinor Ventures separately announced it has made a convertible note investment in Sol Clarity.

DSD raises $40 million equity from US Bank for solar projects: Distributed solar generation company DSD Renewables has secured $40 million tax equity investment from the US Bank to enable funding of a 45 MW portfolio of community solar, power purchase agreement (PPA), and feed-in-tariff (FIT) projects. Almost half of these facilities are located in New York, and remaining across Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Virginia. This will support the company's 2022 and 2023 build plans and enable the Blackrock backed firm to capture full tax attributes of its installed solar systems. By the end of 2022, DSD says it will have raised over $1.5 billion in funding to support its growth and accelerate solar project deployment in 22 US states. For the US Bank, this investment aligns with its aim to commit $1 billion annually to renewable energy investments to be able to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050.