Enphase Energy announced after trading hours Tuesday that it plans to acquire SunPower's microinverter business for $25 million in cash and $7.5 million in shares of Enphase common stock.

The five-year agreement is intended to "accelerate global adoption of AC modules as the de facto residential solution," according to a press release.

The deal adds more than 140 patents to Enphase's portfolio, while enhancing SunPower's Equinox Home Solar System with a custom line of Enphase IQ microinverters for use with SunPower AC modules.

LG launched an AC module manufactured with an integrated Enphase microinverter last July. At the time, Enphase leadership called

Records don't last long in the cleantech business. 

Just days ago, we were reporting that the Central Arizona Project had secured the lowest confirmed solar price in the U.S., when it approved a 20-year power purchase agreement at $24.99 per megawatt-hour. That's setting aside an Austin Energy PPA from December that could be lower, but has more ambiguous terms.

That Arizona record is already under threat from projects that utility NV Energy selected as part of its integrated resource planning. The portfolio of 1,001 megawatts solar capacity and 100 megawatts/400 megawatt-hours of energy storage still needs approval from

Members of the U.S. Senate’s energy committee may be split over the Trump administration’s plan to force Americans to buy power from uncompetitive coal and nuclear power plants — even if support is largely limited to senators representing coal states. 

But none of the five members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agree that the country’s power grid faces a dire enough emergency to justify a Trump Administration plan to invoke national security to save the plants.

On Tuesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee met to discuss FERC priorities. Much of the discussion was centered on an Energy Department proposal that doesn’t officially

Late last month, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) published the Notice regarding the 2018 Administrative Requirements of Wind Power Development. The Administrative Guidance for Competitive Allocation of Wind Power Projects was attached to the Notice, signaling the launch of the auction mechanism for future wind power awards.

In a new research note, MAKE Consulting, now part of Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, describes the potential impact of auctions on China's wind market. The free report is available for download here.

According to the report, the NEA has repeatedly emphasized its aim for wind power to reach grid parity by 2020. To this

New political leaders in Italy and Spain have brightened the outlook for renewables in two of Europe’s biggest energy markets. 

In Italy, the third-largest economy in Europe, new Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte said in his inaugural speech this month that “we will work to speed up the process, already in progress, of the ‘decarbonization’ of our production system.”

Conte was sworn in as a caretaker head of state after months of wrangling between the two coalition partners that emerged from Italy’s latest elections.

The center-right federation called League (Lega in Italian) and the populist Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle or M5S)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk told employees this week the company plans to make significant job cuts as part of a comprehensive restructuring effort.

"[W]e have made the difficult decision to let go of approximately 9% of our colleagues across the company," Musk wrote in an email to all staff. "These cuts were almost entirely made from our salaried population and no production associates were included, so this will not affect our ability to reach Model 3 production targets in the coming months."

Last month, Musk warned employees in a separate letter obtained by Electrek that Tesla is undertaking a "reorg" that would flatten the

New political leaders in Italy and Spain have brightened the outlook for renewables in two of Europe’s biggest energy markets. 

In Italy, the third-largest economy in Europe, new Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte said in his inaugural speech this month that “we will work to speed up the process, already in progress, of the ‘decarbonization’ of our production system.”

Conte was sworn in as a caretaker head of state after months of wrangling between the two coalition partners that emerged from Italy’s latest elections.

The center-right federation called League (Lega in Italian) and the populist Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle or M5S)