From pv magazine Global

Meyer Burger has canceled plans to open a 2 GW solar cell manufacturing facility in the United States. In a statement, the Swiss-German PV manufacturer said construction of the plant at Colorado Springs is no longer financially viable.

The board of directors has also instructed company management to draw up a comprehensive restructuring and cost-cutting program for the business. A planned 0.7 GW expansion of Meyer Burger’s 1.4 GW module production plant in Goodyear, Arizona, has also been put on hold.  

The decision means Meyer Burger’s existing cell production site in Thalheim, Germany, will continue to form the backbone of the company’s solar cell supply, according to the manufacturer – a reversal on previous plans. Meyer Burger said cells produced at Thalheim represent the most economical option in the current market conditions. 

The manufacturer had sought a debt financing package backed by the monetization of tax credits available through the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Regulations in the United States allow an additional 10% bonus investment tax for U.S. solar projects. Announcing the Colorado production facility in July 2023, Meyer Burger said it planned to monetize up to $1.4 billion in tax credits from the start of production in 2024 until the end of 2032.

In the restructuring announcement, it said it will continue to seek debt financing on a reduced scale by monetizing the tax credits available to its US module production facility. It added its financing requirements will be “significantly lower” due to halting the Colorado Springs plant.  

In addition to announcing a “comprehensive” restructuring and cost-cutting program, Meyer Burger has postponed publication of its half-year financial result, previously announced for Sept. 16, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2024. The company said it could potentially postpone to an even later date, subject to regulatory approval.

Personnel changes are also expected at board level. Mark Kerekes has stepped down from the board of directors, with the company stating that its realignment will require a “new composition” of the board of directors.  

“We would like to thank Mark Kerekes for his very constructive cooperation and significant contributions during his membership of the board of directors,” said Franz Richter, chairman of the board of directors of Meyer Burger. 

From pv magazine Global

Off-grid solar energy customers are currently facing several challenges, according to the Why Off Grid Energy Matters report released by US-based impact measurement company 60 Decibels.

The report analyzes issues such as product affordability, gender inequality, customer support, further investment in minigrids, and over-indebtedness, and proposes a series of recommendations to overcome them. The indebtedness recommendation, in particular, stems from reports from 5% of customers surveyed who said they find payments for their energy product or service to be a significant financial burden.

On customer support, Kat Harrison, director at 60 Decibels, told pv magazine there is room for improvement in the way some off-grid energy companies approach after-sale support. Issues ranging from technical faults, to a lack of customer education covering how to effectively use products, risk reputational damage for businesses and the off-grid technologies they sell.

“Some of these challenges prevent end users from unlocking the full benefits of energy access,” she stated. “So many of these markets rely on word of mouth. If your neighbor or friend is sharing their experience of their new solar product – and it doesn’t work or customer service is bad – then people won’t uptake these technologies.”

Despite these challenges, Harrison was positive about the role PV and other off-grid technologies can play in improving energy access globally. “Off-grid energy offers a real opportunity to get us closer to universal energy access, with benefits at a household level, and also a community and national level. We see real productivity, community, and economic impacts,” she added.

Solar lanterns

The report was compiled using survey data from more than 79,000 respondents in 31 countries. Field workers in each country contacted customers directly based on data supplied by 164 companies.

At a product level, the solar lantern offered the greatest return on investment in terms of quality of life improvement, according to the report. Of those surveyed, 64% of respondents with a solar lantern said it had “very much improved” their quality of life, while 62% of those with a residential PV installation said the same.

Around 88% of survey respondents live in Africa and East Africa was the largest region by number of customers surveyed, accounting for 68% of the total. A further 10% of respondents live in Asia and 1% were in Latin America.

Economic impact

The economic impact of off-grid energy was investigated as part of the survey fieldwork. It revealed that although 26% of off-grid energy customers had increased spending on energy, this was often accompanied by a higher level of service, such as longer-lasting or more reliable electricity access. And while 82% used off-grid energy products at home, 11% said they used off-grid energy in their business or farm, with 7% using energy products in both locations.

Economic gains were reported by those who did use off-grid energy products for business, with 58% stating they had experienced an increase in income due to the energy access.

Financing plays a significant role in off-grid solar deployment, according to the report. Of those surveyed, 74% said they bought energy products using some form of payment plan or loan. That figure rises to 92% when those who installed a PV system at home are considered in isolation.

Economic inclusivity was also examined and minigrids were revealed as the off-grid energy solution with the highest proportion of customers living in poverty. While 41% of all survey respondents were living below global poverty thresholds, 51% of minigrid customers were living in poverty. The survey also found users living in poverty tended to report higher impacts from gaining access to off-grid energy across a range of outcomes.

From pv magazine 02/24

In December 2020, the smokestacks of Navajo Generating Station (NGS) tumbled. The 2.25 GW coal-fired power plant had provided electricity to customers in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The closure caused hundreds of job losses.

For more than 40 years, NGS was fueled by coal mined on Navajo Nation – the largest Native American reservation in the United States. Despite this, it is estimated around 14,000 reservation homes have no electricity. When the White House issued guidance on the IRA flagship industrial policy, the text recognized tribal nations had been “left behind for too long.”

The IRA could change the game for Native American solar. Native American lands account for around 2% of the United States land mass but hold more than 5% of the nation’s solar potential. Tribes face barriers to installing solar, however. Before the IRA, tribal solar projects were a less attractive financial prospect. There was no easy way for Native American peoples to access investment tax credits (ITCs) for solar projects – worth around 30% of investment value. Native American tribes are treated as sovereign, meaning they are not subject to federal income tax. Accessing tax incentives, therefore, required creativity.

When the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) was developing its utility scale Kayenta solar plant, near the former Kayenta coalmine that supplied NGS, the tribal electric company set up a for-profit, limited-purpose company: NTUA Generation Inc. In this way, the utility was able to acquire tax credits and share the value with project finance partners.

Thanks to the IRA, things are more straightforward. Non-profit organizations can receive tax credits as a direct payment. That is one of many measures in the IRA providing incentives to develop renewable energy projects on tribal land. A key characteristic of the IRA’s investment tax incentives is that they can be stacked (see chart below). With these bonuses, known as adders, the credit value of the ITC could hit 70% of project cost. For example, a solar project on tribal land would benefit from the 30% base tax credit, plus a 10% tribal land bonus. If it met the requirements for domestic content and energy community bonuses, the ITC value would double to 60% of project cost. Guidance on the exact criteria for adders is still forthcoming.

Tribal ownership

Government backing for tribally owned energy is a break from precedent. There are strong feelings on this issue in Native American communities. Throughout the 20th century, Native American people and their land contributed a great deal to the United States energy mix. It is widely acknowledged Native Americans did not receive a fair share of the benefits.

“The reason the NTUA was first created is because we were ignored,” said Arash Moalemi, deputy general manager at NTUA Generation Inc. “We were ignored as far as the United States providing basic utilities on Navajo Nation and the leadership of Navajo Nation said, ‘you know, this is unacceptable. We’re going to have our own utility because outside entities are not protecting us’.”

Founded in 1959, the NTUA’s main goal is to provide electricity and other essentials such as water, internet, and cellphone service to Navajo Nation residents. In recent years, pursuing that goal has seen NTUA take ownership of utility scale solar plants on its land, starting with the Kayenta site.

Developed in two phases with local utility Salt River Project (SRP), Kayenta Solar Farm is a 55 MW project located in the El Capitan area of Navajo Nation. Phase one of the 148-hectare site was completed in 2017 and phase two came online in 2019. In addition to the $12.8 million in tax revenue that the NTUA claims Kayenta will generate for Navajo Nation over its lifetime, the project was also an economic engine during development, creating 434 construction jobs.

Those jobs were welcome but NTUA’s Moalemi knows they can’t replace the roles lost through the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants and the mines that supplied them. Solar manufacturing is a different story. There, the adders included in the IRA could really come into play.

“To alleviate that employment issue, we’re trying to create streams of opportunity related to solar manufacturing on the Navajo Nation,” said Moalemi. Discussions remain confidential but he confirmed the NTUA has spoken to PV manufacturers, and added, he has already identified buildings with conversion potential.

Solar manufacturing ambition may be in the early stages but utility scale PV development continues. In August 2023, the NTUA held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its 94 MW Red Mesa solar plant. Four months prior, NTUA had signed up to a memorandum of understanding with local generator Avangrid, part of Spanish multinational utility Iberdrola, which committed the two organizations to explore the development of 1 GW of green energy projects within Navajo Nation.

Navajo Nation’s tribal government signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and eight federal agencies on Dec. 6, 2023. That memorandum sets out the government’s intention to better facilitate tribal access to the funding available through the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act; the IRA; and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, along with programs offered annually by agencies.

Big money

Within the DOE, the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs is the body tasked with providing financial, technical, and educational assistance to the 574 recognized tribes in the United States. Between 2010 and 2021, the office invested $114 million in more than 200 tribal energy projects.

Wahleah Johns, director of the Office of Indian Energy, told pv magazine that she hopes to “get $100 million out the door” in 2024. Her department’s ambition has been matched by funding. Since Johns took on the director role, the budget for her office has increased from $22 million, in the 2020-21 fiscal year, to $75 million in 2022-23. On Jan. 17, 2024, the department released a notice of intent to launch a $25 million funding opportunity in the spring.

The funding comes as an increasing number of tribes pursue energy products, according to Johns. “There is a huge need,” she said. “Sixty per cent of the [grant funding] applications that came in were new applicants and so we are seeing a huge increase of applications coming in from tribes that haven’t participated before.”

It’s not just the government that sees the energy potential of tribal land. Solv Energy is an engineering, procurement, and construction and operations and maintenance services provider with experience developing and managing solar installations on Native American land. The company worked on NTUA’s Kayenta and Red Mesa projects and is currently building the 250 MW San Juan solar and storage project near the Navajo border in New Mexico.

Opportunity knocks

“The great opportunity of Navajo is that they’ve got significant coal generation [power plants] that they’re decommissioning,” said George Hershman, chief executive officer at Solv Energy. All that decommissioning work means there are grid connections to spare – a bonus that enhances the business case when developing utility scale solar projects.

“That’s the beauty of it,” said Hershman. “You have this stranded interconnection because you had a large coal-fired plant. That interconnection was essentially at the end of a major generating line.”

Decommissioned coal-fired plants don’t just provide grid connections; they are the kind of location where the tax credit adders in the IRA can stack up.

Due to the wait for more detailed IRA guidance, Hershman said the United States solar industry hasn’t experienced the type of growth that tax incentives could provide. He is, however, optimistic for the future. “I think we’ll really start to see that in 2024 and ’25, as these guidances come out,” he added. “That market will grow dramatically once we get some of these pieces in place. Industries work because people want your products and right now, people want our products. That will give me reason to come to work every day and be bullish on the market.”

Off-grid electrification

If the Solv Energy boss is correct, it could be great news for the economies of tribes like Navajo Nation. But as the Navajo know well, generation doesn’t mean electrification – there is still the problem of the reservation’s 14,000 homes without power.

Here, utility-scale projects can provide some assistance. Moalemi said that, unlike non-tribal entities, when NTUA develops a project it looks to see how it can connect nearby Navajo households.

But the heart of the problem is the rural nature of Navajo. Grid connection quotes for remote households can run to tens of thousands of dollars – that’s economically unfeasible and it is where off-grid solar can, and does, come into play.

The NTUA offers a range off-grid solar packages, reducing or removing dependency on diesel generators for households. The utility also engages in an annual charity drive that brings electricity to rural homes. “Light up Navajo” is now in its fifth year and had a record-breaking 2023 that saw 26 utility companies from 15 states reportedly electrify 159 homes.

Solv Energy has got in on the act. Its Skip the Grid campaign sees the company provide off grid solar to Navajo households. An outreach component of the program provides children with classroom resources and solar education.

The off-grid PV systems themselves are not too complex. Typically, Solv Energy and charity partners fit households with 400 W modules and battery energy storage systems. “It’s a pretty hefty system,” said Alyssa Grant, community relations manager at Solv Energy. “In fact, you can actually run a refrigerator or a small stove.”

Light up Navajo education packs consist of basic school supplies such as pencils and scissors as well as what Grant described as a “solar 101” coloring book and a DIY solar toy car kit.

“I think the point is that we really want to inspire these kids to understand what’s being built in their back yard but also maybe inspire them to think, ‘well, this could be something I could get into’,” added Grant.

From pv magazine 12/23-01/24

Water, power, and shelter. Whether earthquakes, extreme weather, or sudden refugee crises occur, all three are crucial when disaster strikes. Solar is playing an increasing role in providing all three for first responders.

While a mature technology, solar is a relative newcomer to emergency response. PV’s technological advances and affordable price mean non-profits and private companies are taking solar to places in desperate need of power.

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico causing destruction and almost 3,000 deaths. Energy infrastructure was wrecked and more than 90% of the island’s residents lost power. US-based non-profit Empowered by Light was one of the first groups on the ground.

Founded in 2011, Empowered by Light began as a charity providing solar to remote schools in Zambia. It has completed more than 80 solar and energy storage projects in nine countries. Developmental work still makes up the core of the non-profit’s activity but executive director and co-founder Moira Hanes told pv magazine that when Hurricane Maria hit, Empowered by Light had the chance to show how quickly solar can be deployed.

“We’re not normally an emergency response disaster relief organization,” she said. “But after the hurricane, we immediately went out to the island. We started putting solar energy [with] storage on fire stations so that they could continue to operate, or be operating again because a lot of them had been on these generators which had broken down. They couldn’t even receive 911 calls or effectively dispatch their personnel.”

Why solar?

Reliability was a main benefit of solar on Puerto Rico, Hanes said. Not only were some diesel backup generators failing, it was occurring at the worst possible time regarding replacement parts.

“Diesel generators break down and you can’t get the part in a timely manner because your supply chain and supply routes have been constrained because of the disaster,” said Hanes, “PV is reliable and renewable and it’s not polluting.”

Empowered by Light has installed solar arrays on 11 Puerto Rican fire stations, in partnership with other charitable groups and businesses. The charity has also provided PV support to communities on Maui, Hawaii, following the outbreak of wildfires on the U.S. island in early August 2023. In Maui, innovative approaches to disaster PV included the use of what Hanes described as “powerfield buckets,” made up of rows of solar modules connected to donated Tesla Powerwall batteries.

“That was immediately deployed to power the aid distribution site,” said Hanes. “It’s powering refrigeration, lighting. They’re cooking three meals a day there.”

Empowered by Light is not a manufacturer or installer. The charity works with local PV companies where possible, ensuring relief efforts provide new opportunities for a community’s solar industry.

“We will use a local [engineering, procurement and construction company] that is as close to that community as possible,” said Hanes. “That way, we’re helping build local capacity. We have advisers, our engineers can weigh in on the design but we’re trying to make certain everything is done on as local a level as possible. We’re also trying to procure hardware in the country, wherever possible. So you’re not shipping modules from the US, for example, to Africa, which is cost prohibitive.”

Cost is the other factor that comes up when discussing PV in a disaster context. A can of diesel is a lot cheaper than a PV module and cash is a precious resource in communities facing the cost of rebuilding. Empowered by Light has a diverse group of backers providing financial assistance. OpenSolar in particular has made a significant contribution to Empowered by Light, with the solar design software company pledging to donate 1% of its annual revenue to the charity’s projects.

Duck curve financing

Footprint Project is another charity supporting solar relief efforts on Maui. The organization has partnered with Empowered by Light in the past and the pair expect to collaborate on longer-term solar projects on the island.

When it comes to disaster funding, Footprint Project operations director and co-founder Will Heegaard said he would like to see greater investment ahead of time – although that can be a challenge for relief organizations. Much as with solar generation and grid capacity, there is a gap between the peak funding period for disaster relief and demand for finance. Most donations come in the wake of a disaster. The money is obviously welcome but a cash injection in the weeks and months before incidents occur could arguably go further. That way, more resources and infrastructure would be in place to react.

“We need to solve the duck curve of disaster financing,” said Heegaard. “If we’re going to be successful in expanding adoption of renewable technologies in disaster affected communities, we need the industry to pony up and invest in our work ahead of time. Otherwise, we will not be as successful as we could be.”

The resources deployed can vary at Footprint Project. Jamie Swezey, the organization’s program director, described his employer as technology agnostic.

Broadly, the non-profit seeks to replace the 2 kW to 10 kW diesel generator. Its microgrids, therefore, operate in and around that range. That can mean a 2 kW or smaller set-up handy for charging cell phones in a crisis or a converted shipping container fitted with 10 kW to 20 kW solar arrays and 100 kW of battery storage. Footprint Project’s biggest microgrid to date, with a capacity of around 80 kW, can be found in Napili Park, on Maui.

Those PV installations don’t just supply power for relief work, they improve quality of life for first responders, according to Footprint Project. Swezey said that the non-profit has considered finding a way to record decibel levels, as one of the most frequent benefits cited by first responders when PV is installed is the reduction in noise level.

Sound isn’t the only thing that can make diesel generators a pain. First responders working around generators often complain of headaches, which Heegaard described as a symptom of low-grade carbon monoxide poisoning. Things can get much worse depending on where and how fossil fuel generators are used.

“After Hurricane Laura hit the gulf [of Mexico], more people died from carbon monoxide poisoning from running their gas generators in their garage, to power their house, than died from the hurricane itself,” said Heegaard. “It’s a huge health risk for a number of reasons.”

Business case

Using solar in disaster response is more than a charitable endeavor. At Michigan-based start-up Sesame Solar, the potential to use mobile “nanogrids” in a crisis serves as the foundation of a business – one that’s been steadily expanding. Founded in 2017, the nanogrid manufacturer has picked up a diverse range of clients with an interest in disaster response.

US communications giant Comcast has used Sesame Solar nanogrids in the aftermath of hurricanes in both Louisiana and Florida. The U.S. Air Force makes use of the company’s nanogrids as a mobile medical base and for command and security. In Santa Barbara County, California, the local government has invested in Sesame Solar nanogrids that are towed to locations using all-electric Ford-150 trucks.

Now with financial backing from institutional investors such as Morgan Stanley, VSC Ventures, PAX Momentum, and Belle Capital, as well as endorsements from the likes of President Bill Clinton’s non-profit Clinton Foundation and “Time” magazine, Sesame Solar is well positioned to make the shift to a global business, as co-founder and chief executive officer Lauren Flanagan explained.

“We’re already international,” she said. “I would like to be global through our partnerships. We have a subsidiary in India already but we still make everything in the United States. But it’s a global set of problems with a global marketplace.”

At Sesame Solar, the focus has been on creating a turnkey solution that requires no installation and is simple to use. Flanagan said the company’s trailer-mounted nanogrids can be operated with a small amount of training. Once up and running, she said, Sesame Solar offers a continuous energy loop that allows for consistent power, from 5 kW to 20 kW, depending on system specification. The trailer which houses the nanogrid also provides shelter from the elements.

Consistency is key. The intermittent nature of solar is not ideal in a disaster relief context, if left unaddressed. Sesame Solar solves this problem through a combination of battery storage and hydrogen electrolyzing capability.

It is a straightforward concept. Solar power is generated during daylight hours and can be used to power disaster response and charge the nanogrid’s battery storage. Stored power can then be deployed and any excess can be used to power hydrogen generation on board. Nanogrids fitted with a green hydrogen system for backup power include a large tank of deionized water. When the tank gets low, there is an integrated atmospheric water generator that generates distilled water, which is then deionized for use in hydrogen production. The hydrogen itself is stored as a solid, at low pressure, which means transportation does not trigger permit requirements.

“We make the deionized water we need to make the hydrogen gas we need, and you don’t do it all at once,” said Flanagan. “It’s in a sequence. You start out with full tanks of hydrogen and water and then you’re topping them up as needed because you’re not running the fuel cell full time. The whole point is that it’s a continuous green energy loop that allows for consistent, continuous power draw.”

Potable water is also on the menu, thanks to a partnership between Sesame Solar and Watergen Ltd. The Israeli company manufactures atmospheric drinking water devices that create potable water from the air.

It’s a total solution, according to Flanagan, with further scope for innovation in areas such as electric vehicle charging.

“That’s the idea,” she added. “Trying to eliminate the supply chain of having to bring hydrogen or fossil fuel or water into an emergency zone.”