Renewable investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has launched a new solar-and-storage development arm headed by former executives from First Solar, Recurrent Energy and Engie Storage.

The new California-based venture, called Primergy, will develop, own and operate utility-scale and distributed solar and storage assets in the U.S., with Nevada’s Gemini Solar as the “marquee project,” said David Scaysbrook, a founder and managing partner at Quinbrook.

The 690-megawatt Gemini, which the investment manager is developing along with Arevia Power, secured its final federal approval last week. When complete Gemini is anticipated to be the largest solar project in the U.S.

Due to its significant 380-megawatt battery

Unlike many of its peers, Sunnova Energy is keeping its 2020 guidance in place. The Houston-based residential solar company expressed a “high level of confidence” that it would meet its goals for the year as it reported earnings for Q1 2020.

In the first part of the year, Sunnova added 6,800 customers — compared to 3,276 in Q1 2019 — and increased revenue by $3.1 million, to $29.8 million. Though Sunnova more than doubled its net loss over the same period last year, to $77 million, CEO John Berger doesn’t expect that to hold the company back in 2020.

“We’re prepared to weather any

In contrast to other U.S. residential solar companies, Sunnova Energy kept its 2020 guidance in place and expressed a “high level of confidence” that it will meet its goals for the year.

In the first quarter of 2020, Houston-based Sunnova added 6,800 customers — compared to 3,276 in Q1 2019 — and increased revenue by $3.1 million, to $29.8 million. Though Sunnova more than doubled its net loss over the same period last year, to $77 million, CEO John Berger doesn’t expect that to hold the company back in 2020.

“We’re prepared to weather any storm and we’re prepared to do that for at least the next two

Dramatic reductions in the cost of wind and solar have led to optimism that they can be primary contributors to low-carbon electricity grids. But there's an important obstacle to their profitability: revenue decline.

Adding wind and solar to the grid tends to reduce electricity prices during the times that they generate. On a sunny afternoon in California, solar generation can become so large that it brings the price of electricity down to zero. 

This wasn’t a problem when the first few solar plants were built, but it means that the value of new solar is lower than it used to be because it will generate during periods when

The U.S. solar sector has lost 65,000 jobs due to the COVID-19 crisis, erasing five years of job gains, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

According to a new SEIA analysis, the American solar industry now employs around 188,000 people, down from 250,000 at the beginning of the year. Many of those jobs could come back in an economic rebound. Still, it's a stark reversal for what had been one of the country’s fastest-growing industries, forecast by SEIA to reach more than 300,000 jobs by June of this year in the absence of coronavirus.

The solar industry is now losing jobs at a faster rate than

Swedish battery maker Northvolt and state-owned utility Vattenfall launched a new modular and fully mobile energy storage system on Friday, one they say will be able to patch up stressed grids during a period of rapid electrification.

While the system has a more obvious role to play in replacing diesel generators at mines, construction sites and live events, its size means the mobile battery can perform nonpermanent functions for grid-connected assets as well.

The Voltpack Mobile System comes in units of 250 kilowatt-hours, which can be packaged into hubs with about five times that capacity, complete with an inverter and other necessary equipment. Multiple hubs can be connected in parallel.

Northvolt, which counts Volkswagen, Siemens and

A major analysis of unemployment in the clean energy sector is showing steep job losses in April. According to E2 and BW Research, nearly 600,000 jobs were shed in energy efficiency, manufacturing, electric vehicles and clean power and fuels. 

We’ve seen a 17 percent drop in the green workforce since the start of the year. Those losses amount to double the employment growth in clean energy for the last three years. 

It’s likely to get worse before it gets better. How much should we worry? And what sectors will come back the fastest? We'll discuss on this week's episode of The Energy Gang