North America Solar PV News Snippets

Six Flags' 12.37 MW project 'largest' PV facility allocated to a for-profit organization in US; Strata Clean raises financing for 17 GW portfolio; Michigan State House clears clean energy bills; SOLARCYCLE bags EDF Renewables NA as client; SB Energy to get AI capabilities under Stem JV. 

Solar carport for theme park: US theme park company Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has started construction on the 'largest' single-site commercial renewable energy project in California and the 'largest' solar project allocated towards a for-profit organization in the US. The 12.37 MW solar carport and 2 MW/8 MWh energy storage system is being built at the Six Flags Magic Mountain location to offset 100% of its energy use with solar power. Solar Optimum and DSD Renewables are partnering for the project. Spread over 637,000 sq. ft. space, the carport will be built over the main guest parking lot and team member parking lot. On completion, it will generate 20.8 million kWh/year. 

Six Flags said this is the 3rd solar installation for the company, having already commissioned more than 30 MW of solar power systems at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Northern California and Six Flags Great Adventure at New Jersey. Six Flags said, "These three sites will rank as the largest volume of onsite Solar PV systems for any US organization with a combined total of 42.37 MW." 

$300 million for 17 GW pipeline: Strata Clean Energy has raised $300 million in a new revolving loan and credit facility to support the commercialization of its 17 GW solar, storage and Power-to-X projects. It will enable the company to develop, construct and operate its upcoming projects, while also using the proceeds as working capital for its EPC and O&M divisions. Led by Nomura Securities International, the financing has First Citizens Bank and ING Capital as joint lead arrangers alongside 5 other participant banks. 

Michigan's clean energy goal: The State of Michigan in the US is on its way to setting itself an official target of switching to 100% clean energy by 2040. The Michigan State House recently passed the Clean Energy Future Bill package to this effect. The package includes Senate Bills 271, 273 and 502. According to local media reports, the package asks for the state to target 50% renewable energy by 2030, up to 60% by 2035 before eventually hitting 100% mark by 2040. The state will also target an energy storage capacity of 2.5 GW by 2030. Cap on rooftop solar is increased from 1% to 10% of the average peak load of each utility. 

The State Senate is now working on its reconciliation post which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer will need to sign it to become a law. 

Solar recycling for EDF Renewables: EDF Renewables North America has signed up SOLARCYCLE as its solar panel recycling partner. The latter will recycle solar panels damaged or broken during construction and operation from their grid-scale, distribution-scale and onsite solar sites. SOLARCYCLE claims to have technology that can enable 95% of the value from recycled panels to be extracted, including silver, silicon, copper, aluminum, and glass. 

AI for SB Energy: US-based artificial intelligence (AI) solutions provider for clean energy industry Stem has signed a multi-year technology and commercial alliance with utility-scale solar and storage projects developer SB Energy. The duo plans to set up a joint venture (JV) to develop, build and operate infrastructure assets using AI capabilities. Stem will be the solar developer's preferred partner for energy management system (EMS) for 10 GWh of energy storage pipeline across North America. Stem said the alliance will leverage its AI-driven software platform Athena and SB Energy's digital platform to deploy flexible, reliable and cost-effective clean energy at scale.