The Transatlantic Sun&Wind Belt presents a U.S.-German Roundtable

Innovation comes in waves. You need to catch the right one at the right time, and now is the time for the artificial intelligence (AI). Energy sector investments in big data and AI have ballooned by a factor of 10 in 2017. The energy market is facing completely new challenges, and many of them can be tackled with AI.

Renewable energy operators face enormous challenges to remain profitable in an increasingly competitive market. Facing tightening margins, operators are looking to extract maximum value by leveraging the flood of data collected from their renewable assets. As grid changes lead to increasing curtailment, forecasting becomes more challenging. And as the global supply chain is constrained, unforeseen equipment failures can lead to a costly and lengthy downtime. Operators leveraging AI have seen an increased performance, reduced costs, and optimal efficiencies.

Through the Sustainable Solar Education Project, CESA conducted a full-day, in-person workshop on solar consumer protection. The workshop helped state officials identify and implement solar consumer protection strategies. The workshop explored a variety of solar consumer protection issues from improper solar system installation to misleading solar savings projections. Participants engaged leading experts and peers from across the country in discussions on state strategies to promote solar consumer protection. Discussions examined community solar consumer protection, solar contract disclosure requirements, the incorporation of quality assurances into program design, and more.

With many various pressures on the solar supply chain, it has become of increasing interest to U.S. solar developers to consider alternatives to dominant crystalline silicon solar module manufacturers. One such alternative that has been extensively deployed is First Solar’s thin film modules. In this webinar, DNV, Leeward Renewable Energy, and Silicon Ranch discussed technical and commercial considerations when developing or financing solar power plants with First Solar modules.