SOLAR+STORAGE, ENERGY
Globenewswire | May 11, 2023
Polar Power Inc. a global provider of prime, backup and solar hybrid DC power solutions, announced it is now taking advance orders for its new line of mobile Combined Charging System (“CCS”) Electric Vehicle (“EV”) chargers, which are expected to be available before the end of the first quarter of 2024. Mobile EV chargers are used for emergency roadside service providing a fast-charging solution for EVs that have run out of charge before reaching a stationary charging facility. The goal is not to fully charge the vehicle but place a sufficient charge allowing the vehicle to proceed to the nearest charging station; this being analogous to the can of gasoline provided to stranded motorists.
Polar is currently upgrading its mobile CHAdeMO EV chargers to the universal CCS standard to meet the larger market opportunity. Because of the supply chain shortages and long delivery of engines and electronics, Polar is taking orders for shipments starting in the first quarter of 2024.
Since 2011 Polar has sold its CHAdeMO chargers to most of the major U.S. automakers for fast charging their EVs during field testing. The performance advantage Polar provided to mobile EV charging was a significant reduction in the charging system's size, weight, fuel consumption (for both the charger and vehicle transporting the charger), and system cost. Using the Polar system, a complete charging system can be deployed on the back of a small pickup truck relative to alternative solutions requiring a large trailer towed by a truck or tractor/trailer. The Polar mobile EV charger technology is DC based and is less than half the weight and size of an AC generator coupled to an AC to DC charger.
The other alternate solution to an EV running out of power on the road is a flatbed truck to transport the vehicle to the nearest charging station. This is a cumbersome solution requiring a considerable time to load the EV, transport it, and unload it at the charging station. In aggregate, this can take hours and to exacerbate the situation, in many cities, there is a long wait for flatbed truck availability. Using a mobile EV charger allows a small van or pickup truck to perform a 15-to-30-minute charge (about the same time required to only load the vehicle on to the flatbed truck) allowing the motorist to drive to a charging station, which is a substantially more elegant and cost-effective solution. In fact, the Polar EV chargers are small enough to be installed on tow trucks / wreckers or on a small pickup or van. Polar expects this will substantially accelerate the establishments of fleets to serve the fast-growing EV market.
The first sizes to ship will be 15 kW and 30 kW using either propane, natural gas, or diesel. Polar's next generation of DC alternators, its 9000 series, is in test with 50 kW charging output. These chargers are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2024.
Mr. Arthur D. Sams, CEO of the Company, comments, "There is a large number of gas stations in our cities and highways with short lines where it takes only minutes to refuel yet there are still a substantial number of drivers that run out of fuel," said Polar Power CEO Arthur Sams. "I am intimately familiar with the challenges as an EV owner myself for the past 8 years and I know that keeping a charge in your vehicle requires an extra effort. There have been many times that I arrived at the charging station with less than 5 miles of charge remaining in the vehicle and I expect this is a familiar comment from many EV owners".
"One factor causing EVs to run out of charge is commonly referred to as phantom discharge or vampire drain; EV owners can experience continued battery discharge while the vehicle is parked. My EV loses up to 10 miles a day while my car is parked at the airport, so I must make sure there is sufficient charge to manage the time away from the vehicle and the charge needed to get home. The factors causing phantom discharge vary from EV to EV, including preconditioning and temperature regulation of the battery and cabin interior, security cameras, charging the onboard 12 Vdc battery, and miscellaneous apps. As soon as I figure out the setting to reduce my phantom discharges, a software update comes along and seems to switch them on again. In addition to the EV owners’ needs for mobile charging there are the needs of EV manufacturers, transportation logistics, and dealer sales lots. When the automotive manufacturing plant ships an EV there can be problems with dead batteries due to long storage and transportation time, mobile chargers are needed at the docks, storage yards, and the dealerships. Fleet vehicle operators need mobile chargers to maintain and service their fleet.
Mr. Sams concluded, "Many EV owners are burdened with range anxiety, and we can provide a cost-effective and easily accessible solution to give owners greater comfort through emergency on-road charging solutions using our power technology platform. The incumbent solution frequently leads to bad experiences for EV owners who have faced very long waits for a flatbed truck to haul their EV to a charging station, keeping in mind that most EVs are not even towable with standard tow trucks. Overall, we see this as a substantial market opportunity for us by providing the enabling technology to solve this real-world problem that will only become more prevalent with the proliferation of EVs.
We believe supplying each city in the USA with just one mobile EV charger represents a huge market potential."
About Polar Power, Inc.
Gardena, California-based Polar Power, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells direct current, or DC, power systems, lithium battery powered hybrid solar systems for applications in the telecommunications market and, in other markets, including military, electric vehicle charging, cogeneration, distributed power, and uninterruptable power supply. Within the telecommunications market, Polar's systems provide reliable and low-cost energy for applications for off-grid and bad-grid applications with critical power needs that cannot be without power in the event of utility grid failure.
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ENERGY
Canadian Solar Inc. | March 16, 2023
Canadian Solar Inc., a solar technology and renewable energy company, has recently announced that its three solar power projects in Japan, particularly in Gunma Takasaki, Oita Kitsuki, and Yamaguchi Hofu, have reached their commercial operation in early 2023, totaling about 42 MWp.
Canadian Solar's bifacial BiHiKu modules powered these projects. The grid operators from the respective areas purchased the energy generated from the projects through Japan's feed-in-tariff program. This purchase would continue for about 19 years at the rates of JPY32 (US$0.24), JPY14.49 (US$0.11), and JPY14.25 (US$0.10) per kWh in approximation. The projects would produce about 53,000 MWh of renewable energy. This energy will power over 15,000 households and avoid approximately 24,000 tons of carbon emissions per year. It is delivering more clean, safe and affordable solar energy to the world. Of the total project pipeline, 2.9 GWp of projects are in late-stage development and have secured energy offtake agreements. In addition, it has a geographically diversified utility-scale solar power project pipeline of around 10 GWp.
Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar Inc., Dr. Shawn Qu said, "We are delighted to be part of the green transformation that Japan is going through with these additions to our portfolio. Our teams worked closely with the local communities and governments to bring these projects to fruition. Working closely with the local community to cultivate a sustainable long-term relationship is one of our ESG sustainable development goals. Canadian Solar's Sustainability Report provides a detailed discussion on our ESG goals, targets and approaches."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About Canadian Solar Inc.
Headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, Canadian Solar Inc., a renewable energy semiconductor manufacturing company, offers solutions for solar projects, solar panels, PV applications, bankability, solar modules, solar farms, renewable energy, and sustainability. It has been working as a global energy and solar energy solutions provider and solar PV modules manufacturer since 2001. It has conducted successful business subsidiaries in different countries and delivered about 55 GW of solar modules worldwide. It runs solar power projects and plants with the commercial operation, with a resale value of approximately US$1.2 billion. It was listed as Bloomberg New Energy Finance's Tier 1 Module Manufacturer in bankability for Q4 2018. GTM Research named it the Top 3 Global Utility-scale Solar PV Project Developer for 2017.
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ENERGY
prnewswire | April 17, 2023
Canadian Solar Inc. announced its majority-owned subsidiary CSI Solar Co., Ltd.'s 2024 capacity expansion plans. Namely, by the end of Q1 2024, CSI Solar intends to add 30 GW of ingot, 15 GW of wafer, 10 GW of cell and 25 GW of module capacity. Expected period-end capacities are updated as follows.
*Nameplate annualized capacities at said point in time. Capacity expansion plans are subject to change without notice based on market conditions and capital allocation plans.
Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, commented, "All our new capacity additions for 2023 and 2024 will be in the latest N-type technology, enabling us to better meet strong market demand and accelerate growth. In addition, by increasing the level of vertical integration, we continue to improve our control over technology, raw material sources and costs. These business plans will hep us further strengthen our long-term leadership position not just across our end markets but also throughout our supply chain positioning."
About Canadian Solar Inc
Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 22 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered around 88 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Likewise, since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built and connected around 8.8 GWp in over 20 countries across the world. Currently, the Company has approximately 574 MWp of projects in operation, 6.7 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 18 GWp of projects in advanced and early-stage pipeline. Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry, having been publicly listed on the NASDAQ since 2006.
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