Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Works Building and Safety Division has approved GAF Energy‘s Timberline Solar, a nailable solar shingle, for installation in the county.

The review confirmed that Timberline Solar meets or exceeds the county’s 2023 codes for electrical, residential, building, green building and existing building, as well as 2022 building energy efficiency standards. 

Timberline Solar, which launched in 2022, is a solar roof covering certified to UL 7103 as a building-integrated photovoltaic roof covering. Timberline Solar also meets a Class A fire rating under UL 790 and ASTM E108. GAF Energy, a Standard Industries company and a provider of solar roofing in North America, produces Timberline Solar at the company’s R&D and manufacturing facility.

“In designing Timberline Solar, we put safety and durability first,” says Martin DeBono, president of GAF Energy. “In the last year, Timberline Solar has been approved for tough standards in wind, snow and fire.”

The Timberline Solar Energy Shingle has a depth of less than a quarter inch and integrates with traditional shingles. Timberline Solar meets a host of third-party safety standards covering both roofing and solar, and has received more than 30 design and innovation awards and honors.

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The Alamo 2 solar farm

OCI Solar Power, a utility-scale solar developer, recently served as the EPC while upgrading its Alamo 2 solar farm.

The 4.4 MW AC project sits on 45 acres of land and began operating in March 2014. After eight years of maintaining the solar farm, responding to a steady number of mechanical failures, and witnessing new and emerging tracker technology in action, OCI Solar Power undertook a second upgrade in which it also performed the EPC scope of work.

“We found ourselves repairing trackers and then fixing them again days later because of mechanical issues. It was very similar to what our Alamo 1 solar farm located south of San Antonio was experiencing a few years ago,” says Jason Thompson, construction manager for OCI Solar Power. “Now both solar farms have state-of-the-art trackers from Array Technologies Inc. and increased production.”

OCI Solar Power finished a renovation to its 39.2 MW AC Alamo 1 solar facility in 2019 and completed its six-month upgrade at Alamo 2 in Q4 2022. Similar to the previous upgrade project at Alamo 1, the upgrade at Alamo 2 was done in sections. This allowed the solar farm to stay partially energized so that it could continue providing power to CPS Energy, a public power, natural gas and electric company.

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Franklin Whole Home (FranklinWH) battery storage units. The startup is among Sunnova’s battery partners. Image: FranklinWH via Twitter.

This edition of news in brief from around the world in energy storage focuses on virtual power plant action in the US.

Sunnova leverages virtual power plant to offer ‘lowest rate’ energy in ERCOT

Residential solar PV provider Sunnova has launched an “Adaptive Retail” energy plan in the Texas ERCOT market through a new partnership.

Pairing up with distributed energy resources (DERs) software platform company David Energy, the new plan promises that customers will get the lowest retail energy rates available.

It will do this by aggregating the capacity of customers’ home solar and battery storage systems into a virtual power plant (VPP), dispatching the stored energy into wholesale markets as well as accessing demand response opportunities and ERCOT’s ancillary services markets for grid balancing.

That means the fleet of home DERs can participate flexibly into those markets, adapting to the changing conditions of the network as required.

“By combining a retail energy plan with software that connects to a broad range of devices many customers already have, David Energy’s platform can turn Texans’ homes into power plants. The potential to bring hundreds of megawatts of much needed flexible capacity to ERCOT via these VPPs in the near future is very real,” David Energy CEO and co-founder James McGinniss said.

Sunverge, Evergy try out VPP in Missouri

VPP and DERs aggregation specialist Sunverge is taking part in a pilot with utility Evergy to explore the benefits of home storage systems in Missouri, US.

The pilot programme will look at both the utility and customer perspectives, exploring “new and innovative ways to manage energy effectively and efficiently,” according to Evergy manager of operations technology Chad Carsten Sr.

Evergy is an investor-owned utility (IOU) serving 1.7 million customers in Missouri and Kentucky. Its pilot with Sunverge will see 50 homes enrolled and is due to go live in the first half of this year.

Sunverge’s DERs control, dispatch and aggregation platform will be used to provide peak demand reduction, load levelling, whole home backup, distribution feeder management, ancillary services like frequency regulation and voltage support, and other services like renewable energy smoothing to the grid.

For customers, it could enable them to reduce their energy bills, add backup to their home loads and to generate energy for themselves using solar PV.

“The combination of real-time dynamic load flexibility and aggregated grid services is a powerful tool for utilities like Evergy that are planning for the grid of the future and integrating the growth of DERs. The result will be a more resilient, more flexible, and cleaner electric grid,” Sunverge CEO Martin Milani said.

Sunverge is considered something of a home energy storage VPP pioneer, delivering the first VPP to bid into the PJM wholesale market through a pilot in Maryland and partnering with EV charging providers. CEO Milani outlined many of the benefits and opportunities for VPPs, as well as the challenges and barriers to market entry, in a wide-ranging two-part interview with this site in 2020.

Winter Storm Elliott is evidence VPPs have a vital role to play, says Voltus

The capabilities of VPPs were in evidence during the recent Winter Storm Elliott, according to another distributed energy resource platform and virtual power plant provider.

Voltus, which has VPP programmes aggregating fleets of commercial and industrial (C&I) DERs, rather than residential, said that 11.6GWh of load relief to the grid in the US and Canada was delivered from its portfolios.

This included responding to the Emergency Load Response Program (ELRP) in the PJM Interconnection market that spans portions or all of 11 different Eastern US states. It was the first time ELRP has been called on since 2014.

Roughly 57GW of generation shortfall was registered against demand as it peaked on the morning of 24 December, as conventional thermal power plants struggled to cope with the harsh weather conditions.

Voltus urged the 12 US states that have effectively “banned” VPPs, as the company described it, to rethink their position, and noted that while the resources in the VPP portfolios come from C&I customers, ultimately all grid users, including households, benefit from their use.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

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The company said strong market demand for high-quality clean energy generation led to the increase in funding. Image: Origis Energy.

Renewable energy platform Origis Energy has obtained a US$750 million credit facility for its solar and energy storage development project pipeline in the US. 

The company said this financing round followed a US$375 million credit facility announced in May 2022, claiming it was the largest credit facility announced this year for a utility-scale solar and storage development project pipeline.

First Citizens Bank’s division CIT was the lead arranger, with other lenders including Santander, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Rabobank and Nomura, to name a few. 

“The offering upsized our 2022 facility by double and was also oversubscribed. The recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act invoking incentive stability, market demand for high-quality clean energy generation and the strong Origis track record drove high interest in this financing round,” said Jamie Edwards, managing director of finance and accounting at Origis Energy.

Meanwhile, Origis Energy signed a supply agreement for more than 700MW of bifacial PERC PV modules from manufacturer Boviet Solar Technology last year.

Origis Energy ordered Boviet Solar’s Vega Series 550W PERC monocrystalline bifacial PV modules for its US utility-scale solar projects, with delivery expected in 2023. It was the second agreement that Origis made last year after it signed a 400MW supply agreement with Maxeon Solar, again for utility-scale projects and with delivery starting in June 2023.

This story first appeared on PV Tech.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

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Chad Carsten

Evergy, an investor-owned utility serving customers in Kansas and Missouri, will be using Sunverge’s distributed energy resource (DER) control, orchestration and aggregation platform in its Missouri service territory.

A new pilot project centered around 50 residential customers is expected to be operational in the first half of 2023. It will includes intelligent, real-time dynamic control of energy storage combined with holistic load management. The energy storage assets will be aggregated as a multi-service and multi-asset virtual power plant system, creating value on both sides of the meter, according to Evergy.

Evergy will explore benefits to its customers including backup power, bill reduction, and self-generation. Value to the grid includes peak demand reduction and load leveling, whole home backup, distribution feeder demand management, frequency regulation and response, voltage support, and renewable energy smoothing.

“Evergy is committed to exploring new and innovative ways to manage energy effectively and efficiently,” says Chad Carsten, senior manager of operations technology. “The integration of intelligent real-time control and comprehensive load management will not only bring value to both the customers and Evergy, but it will also demonstrate the company’s dedication to advancing a responsible energy transition.”

“Utilities across the country are exploring ways to operationalize DERs into core distribution operations and unlock the value of distributed resources,” adds Martin Milani, CEO of Sunverge. “The combination of real-time dynamic load flexibility and aggregated grid services is a powerful tool for utilities like Evergy that are planning for the grid of the future and integrating the growth of DERs.”

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Brian Boulanger

Silfab Solar Inc., a solar photovoltaic module manufacturer, has closed a second investment round led by ARC Financial Corp. to help fund Silfab’s next expansion of manufacturing to include domestic PV cell and module production at a third facility to open in the United States.

The $125 million investment from ARC’s Energy Fund 9 includes co-investments by Manulife Financial Corp., Ontario Power Generation Inc. Pension Plan, CF Private Equity and BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice.

“Silfab is ideally situated to meet North America’s growing appetite for domestically manufactured cutting-edge solar products,” says Brian Boulanger, CEO of ARC. “ARC remains confident that Silfab will be a driver in cleantech manufacturing and U.S.-engineered product innovation. Silfab continues to implement an impressive growth plan built around its unwavering commitment to manufacture high-quality products and its decades of innovation and experience.”

Silfab’s third facility is anticipated to be fully operational in 2024 with an initial annual capability of 1 GW of cell production and an additional 1.2 GW of PV solar module assembly. The new facility is expected to generate more than 800 new jobs.

Other details of the new facility, including location, will be announced at a future date.

“Domestic production of solar cells represents a strategic effort to further manage our supply chain and to apply our technical prowess from the ground up for a comprehensive manufacturing process,” says Paolo Maccario, Silfab’s CEO. “Silfab has grown more than 40 percent since ARC’s initial support. We are thankful for our collaborative relationship with ARC and with the Biden administration and its Inflation Reduction Act, both enabling us to accelerate our U.S. manufacturing strategy.”

ARC’s first investment, announced in September 2021, enabled Silfab to make further enhancements to production lines at existing Washington facilities in order to deploy next-generation PV modules to North American consumer, business and institutional markets.

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Dan Siegel

Birch Creek Energy LLC, a St. Louis-based renewable energy company, has launched its independent power producer entity, Birch Creek Power, augmenting its development entity, Birch Creek Development.

The company says the move adds a significant component to the develop-to-own model that Birch Creek is employing in key markets, providing additional optionality for Birch Creek’s solar and storage development pipeline.

Birch Creek Power will focus on owning and operating renewable energy assets, building on Birch Creek’s expertise in developing and financing utility-scale solar and storage projects. The launch of this new entity will allow the company to take a more active role in the renewable energy market, enhancing the platform through participating directly as a long-term sponsor and renewable energy operator.

“Adding IPP capabilities to our platform is a natural evolution of our business,” says Dan Siegel, CEO of Birch Creek. “Over the last year, we have built a significant pipeline in key markets and have worked tirelessly to develop an independent development machine capable of yielding high quality and high value solar projects.”

Birch Creek has developed 36 utility-scale solar projects totaling 872 MW and has a portfolio of over 8 GW of utility-scale solar and storage projects in various stages of development across MISO, PJM, ERCOT and the Southeast.

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Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions (DESS), a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy, is now operating its largest solar power plant, the 250 MW Pisgah Ridge Solar project in Navarro County, Texas.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc., a leading provider of research tools and integrated support services for drug discovery and development, has a virtual power purchase agreement for 102 MW of the project over the next 15 years. This commitment will address the entirety of the company’s North American electric power load.

Midwest retailer Meijer signed a separate 15-year VPPA for 83 MW, and one other unnamed company has a third 15-year VPPA.

Together, the three agreements account for more than 90% of the facility’s output. All three VPPAs will settle on an as-generated basis tied to the project’s real-time energy output.

“We’re excited to continue to grow our Texas solar portfolio,” says Chris Fallon, president of Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions. “This project demonstrates how we can continue to expand our renewable energy resources while providing unique sustainability solutions for commercial customers.”

The engineering and construction for the project was performed by Moss, while Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions will own and operate the facility. The project employed around 300 workers at peak construction.

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Dr. Shawn Qu

 Canadian Solar Inc. says three of its Japanese solar power projects totaling 42 MW (Oita Kitsuki, Gunma Takasaki and Yamaguchi Hofu) have reached commercial operation.

The projects are powered by Canadian Solar bifacial BiHiKu modules. The expected generated energy was purchased under Japan’s feed-in-tariff program for approximately 19 years at the rates of JPY32 (US $0.24), JPY14.49 (US $0.11), and JPY14.25 (US $0.10) per kilowatt-hour. Together, these projects are set to produce about 53,000 MWh of renewable energy that will power approximately 15,000 households, avoiding an estimated 24,000 tons of annual carbon emissions.

“The Oita Kitsuki project was our first project where we installed a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), a more challenging power quality requirement that will meaningfully help improve the grid’s reliability given the growing number of interconnected solar farms,” says Dr. Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar’s chairman and CEO.

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Rendering of Powin’s Centipede modular BESS platform, which it will use for the projects. Image: Powin Energy.

Construction has started on two battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Idaho which will be delivered by Powin Energy.

The projects are an 80MW system at utility Idaho Power’s Hemingway substation and a 40MW project adjoining the Black Mesa solar PV plant. The company is the state’s transmission system operator (TSO) and also owns and operates a sizeable hydroelectric and natural gas power plant portfolio.

Both of the BESS projects are slightly over four-hour systems with the total combined energy storage capacity pegged at 524MWh by Portland-based Powin when it announced it had won the contract back in May last year.

The projects are expected to come online in summer 2023. The utility indicated they would be primarily providing renewable load shifting from production in the day to peak demand periods in the evening.

“These battery projects are an example of how we are using new technology to make sure our customers have reliable power while we adapt to the continued growth on our system,” said Mitch Colburn, Vice President of Planning, Engineering and Construction for Idaho Power.

“These systems – along with the solar projects coming online and future resources identified by our long-range plan – will also move us closer to our goal of providing 100% clean energy by 2045,” he added.

The utility is also planning to deploy a 60MW BESS project alongside a new 100MW PV plant which is going to be provided by Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions.

Powin Energy will supply its Stack750 product, part of its modular BESS platform Centipede, for the projects. Centipede uses LFP battery cells from battery OEMs CATL and EVE with a cycle life of 7,300 and a round trip efficiency (RTE) of 95%, according to a datasheet.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Reporter Cameron Murray will be attending both days.

Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

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