North America PV News Snippets

• Sono Motors has filed its IPO in the US seeking a listing on the Nasdaq Global Market
• Facebook signed PPA for 160 MW AC solar power project in Virginia, US with DESRI
• Pivot Energy and Clean Footprint partner for 42 MW solar capacity through 11 projects in the US
• DOE has awarded $40 million to support 40 clean energy projects; for solar PV focus is on enhancing system life from 30 years to 50 years

Sono Motors files for US listing: Sono Group, the name behind Sono Motors GmbH that's building fully electric cars with integrated solar cells from Valoe Oyj, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) for common shares with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (see European Solar Car To Use Finnish Solar Panels). The German company wants to get listed on Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker SEV. It claims to have secured over 14,000 orders for the car called Sion already with advance payments. The car itself is currently in the making with commercial availability planned for H1/2023 and will be produced through contract manufacturing. Sono Group will license its solar technology to other manufacturers for applications in vehicles as buses, trailers, trucks, camper vans, trains and boats.

According to Reuters, the company may be looking at raising over $1 billion through the US stock listing, anticipating demand due to global efforts for greener transport.

160 MW AC solar PPA for Facebook: D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) has secured a power purchase agreement (PPA) with social media company Facebook for a 160 MW AC solar project in Virginia, US. The Chester Solar Project will be built in Chesterfield County and will supply clean energy to Facebook's data centers in the region, including Henrico Data Center. Renewable energy and battery storage developer Torch Clean Energy is co-developing the facility with DESRI. This isn't the 1^st collaboration between Facebook and DESRI. In October 2019, DESRI purchased 180 MW solar capacity, contracted to supply power to Facebook, from First Solar (see DESRI Identified As Buyer For 180 MW From First Solar).

DOE support for clean energy technologies: The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded close to $40 million to 40 solar PV, concentrating solar-thermal power research, storage and industrial technologies projects with an aim to reduce the cost of solar technologies by increasing lifespan of PV systems from 30 years to 50 years. The funding will support the projects to enable solar to be used to produce fuel and chemicals. For solar PV, project lifespan can be increased by better monitoring, and also enabling modular components to be easily replaced. Details about the same are available on SETO's website.

Partnership for 42 MW solar in Virginia: A portfolio of 11 solar energy projects with 42 MW combined capacity across Virginia, US will be realized by a partnership between Pivot Energy and Clean Footprint. They plan to set up these facilities to cater to homes, municipal buildings and local businesses with clean, renewable energy. Initial 8 facilities will be realized in the towns of Hurt and Altavista. While Clean Footprint will lead early-stage development of the projects, Pivot Energy will finance, own, and operate the portfolio over the long term.