STRATEGY AND BEST PRACTICES
Maxeon Solar Technologies | March 16, 2022
Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: MAXN), a global leader in solar innovation and channels, today announced that leading solar company Cypress Creek Renewables ("CCR") placed a multi-year order for approximately 315 megawatts (MW) of Maxeon's high-efficiency shingled bifacial Performance line solar modules.
CCR has agreed to procure up to 315MW of Performance line modules to power multiple solar projects in both Washington and Texas. This new order follows an earlier purchase by CCR of 48MW of Maxeon's Performance line modules.
Sarah Slusser, CEO at Cypress Creek commented, "Cypress Creek Renewables is excited to be working with Maxeon Solar Technologies to fulfill this mission as we move forward with further development opportunities. Having a solid module partner at this time with a strong manufacturing presence provides our organization with the comfort needed to turn our focus to a seamless project execution strategy."
"We believe that the U.S. solar market is poised for continued strong growth, This deal validates Maxeon's strong position as a major module supplier into the large and growing U.S. utility scale market. We are pleased to be further strengthening our relationship with key strategic partners like Cypress Creek Renewables and we look forward to continuing help power their growth in the United States."
-Jeff Waters, CEO at Maxeon Solar Technologies.
CCR's power plant projects will be supplied from Maxeon's recently expanded Performance line module capacity designed to serve the U.S. solar power plant market with leading-edge high-efficiency bifacial products that optimize customer levelized cost of energy (LCOE).
About Maxeon Solar Technologies
Maxeon Solar Technologies is Powering Positive Change™. Headquartered in Singapore, Maxeon designs and manufactures Maxeon® and SunPower® brand solar panels, and has sales operations in more than 100 countries, operating under the SunPower brand in certain countries outside the United States. The company is a leader in solar innovation with access to over 1,000 patents and two best-in-class solar panel product lines. Maxeon products span the global rooftop and solar power plant markets through a network of more than 1,400 trusted partners and distributors. A pioneer in sustainable solar manufacturing, Maxeon leverages a 35-year history in the solar industry and numerous awards for its technology.
About Cypress Creek Renewables
Cypress Creek Renewables (CCR) is a leading renewables IPP. CCR develops, finances, owns and operates utility-scale and distributed solar and storage projects across the country. The mission is to power a sustainable future, one project at a time. Since inception, CCR has developed more than 11.5GW of solar projects. Today CCR owns 1.7GW of solar and through its O&M Services business, operates 4GW of solar projects.
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SOLAR+STORAGE
MCS Industries, Inc. | April 27, 2021
MCS Industries, Inc., the U.S. market leader for picture frames, poster frames, mirrors, wall décor, and architectural and decorative moldings for home construction and home improvement markets, is proud to announce the commissioning of an 894 kW roof mounted solar power generating system at their new and distribution facility in Easton, PA.
The 894 kW solar system is expected to generate approximately 1.1 MWhs of electricity annually, avoiding the emission of 828 metric tons of CO2, equivalent to removing 167 cars from Pennsylvania's roads per year. This project highlights MCS' pledge to manufacture products for retailers that embody a full product lifecycle approach to cleaner, more sustainable products for consumers. By using solar technology to reduce CO2 emissions and increase the adoption of renewable energy, MCS is promoting environmental conservation and an offset to traditional grid-supplied electricity.
"At MCS, sustainable corporate citizenry pulses through everything we do. Our incredible team members are really proud to be a part of a great business, but more importantly a great business that does what's right. We currently recycle over 10 million pounds of primarily Styrofoam waste, formerly destined for landfills, using advanced technology to clean and reconstitute into products that save consumers money while making their homes beautiful. MCS's latest multi-million dollar sustainability initiative is the construction of large-scale solar power plant in Easton, PA. This plant will provide most all of our power needs for our nearly 500,000 square feet of operations in the Lehigh Valley. When not using the power ourselves, the excess will be returned to the Northeast power grid. The payback on a project of this magnitude is measures in tens of years financially, but immediate socially and environmentally.
MCS could not have made this project happen without the partnership of Dynamic Energy, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the people and leadership of Palmer Township. Lastly, MCS would like to express our gratitude to Don Cunningham, President of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation for their vital role in helping make this dream become a reality." – MCS Industries, President, Josh MacNeel
Upholding an Environmentally Sustainable Focus:
MCS is committed to being a good global citizen. We recognize our responsibility to the world and generations to come. MCS is energized by the challenge of enhancing the lives of our customers through our products while preserving the environment. We have made major investments in renewable energy resources and have won multiple awards within our industry and among our retail partners. In addition to our solar initiative, we are committed to the recycling of EPS Styrofoam in our manufacturing operations; as well as the conversion from incandescent to LED lighting.
EPS Styrofoam Recycling
MCS recycles over 10,000,000 pounds of EPS Styrofoam per year. Annually, over 500,000 tons of garbage are sent to U.S. landfills daily. Styrofoam makes up approximately 1,300 tons by weight; which is less than one percent going into U.S. landfills. However, 20-30% of U.S. landfills are made up of Styrofoam due to its low density and light weight. Styrofoam takes approximately 500 years to decompose.
LED Lighting Initiative
MCS's comprehensive corporate investment in the conversion from incandescent to LED lighting saves 300K KWH, which is the equivalent of taking 46 cars of the road every year.
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SOLAR+STORAGE
Ubiquitous Energy | January 30, 2021
Ubiquitous Energy, the leader in transparent solar technology, has installed the world’s first truly transparent solar window façade at its company headquarters in Redwood City, CA.
Approximately 100 square feet of transparent solar windows have been installed as an exterior facing window façade replacing the previous single pane windows. This Ubiquitous Energy window façade installation demonstrates the ability to generate clean, renewable energy while maintaining aesthetic beauty, high transparency, and color neutrality.
Each double pane window has been glazed into a fiberglass frame, matching the existing aesthetic of the building’s windows. The windows produce electricity that is being used to power the LED lighting in the adjacent room, while simultaneously maintaining the performance of standard commercial window glass. The façade is also connected to an energy management system that monitors and logs its power generation.
“Not only did we improve the thermal insulation in the conference room by replacing the single pane windows, but also our Ubiquitous Energy windows generate enough electricity to power the lighting in the conference room. We are thrilled with the outcome of this installation and look forward to completing other installation projects in the near future,” said Ubiquitous Energy Co-founder and CTO Miles Barr. “I have been looking at BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) since 1999 and this is the best thing I have ever seen in BIPV,” said Scott Thomsen, former Guardian Industries President.
Applied directly on glass using standard glass coating equipment, Ubiquitous Energy’s coating is highly transparent and color neutral. The transparent solar coating selectively absorbs and converts non-visible light (ultraviolet and infrared) to electricity while maintaining visible transparency. It also doubles as a low-E and solar control coating in addition to its electricity generation by blocking infrared light that is commonly known as solar heat. The transparent solar coating can be applied to vertical surfaces of buildings turning traditional windows into aesthetically pleasing, highly energy efficient, and electricity generating windows that are desired by architects, designers, and occupants.
About Ubiquitous Energy
At Ubiquitous Energy, the world leader in transparent photovoltaics, we envision a world in which every pane of glass generates renewable electricity from sunlight, dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of buildings—among the world’s biggest energy consumers—without compromising the transparent, vibrant experience occupants expect from their windows. After nearly a decade of R&D, Ubiquitous Energy has developed an award-winning technology, the world’s first aesthetically acceptable, electricity-generating alternative to traditional windows. Ubiquitous Energy’s coating harvests solar energy and serves as an invisible, onboard source of electricity for a variety of end products. The thin coating can be applied to the surface of window glass to provide electricity generation and energy efficiency. Originally spun out of MIT, Ubiquitous Energy is producing its highly transparent, efficient solar cells in its production facility in Silicon Valley.
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SUSTAINABILITY
Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) | February 01, 2022
Consistent with its commitment to sustainable energy and to global climate science, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) is committing to reducing carbon at least 80% by 2030 as it works toward achieving net-zero carbon electricity by 2050. Under its Energy 2030 framework, announced in 2015, the company set a goal of 40% carbon reduction by 2030, one of the first such goals set by a utility and in alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Since then, the company has said it fully expects to achieve carbon reductions of at least 65% by 2030. In 2019, MGE established its goal of net-zero carbon electricity by mid-century, consistent with climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and analysis of the company's goal by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.
In 2019, MGE was one of the first utilities in the nation to commit to net-zero carbon by 2050. Since announcing our carbon reduction goals, we have said that if we can move further faster by working with our customers, we will. Today's announcement of our goal to reduce carbon at least 80% by 2030 reflects our commitment to working together to move further faster. We're committed to doing everything we can do today to advance our deep decarbonization strategies as quickly and as cost-effectively as we can while maintaining our top-ranked electric reliability and our responsibility to those we serve."
Jeff Keebler, MGE Chairman, President and CEO
Ongoing transition away from coal-fired generation
In the last year, we have announced the planned early retirement of the Columbia Energy Center by 2025, about 15 years ahead of schedule. MGE is a minority owner of Columbia, which currently provides MGE with about 200 megawatts (MW) of capacity. Columbia provides MGE customers with about one-third of their energy use.
While we are replacing much of the coal-fired generation to be retired from Columbia with investments in renewable generation, MGE also plans to purchase 25 MW from the West Riverside Energy Center, with an option to purchase an additional 25 MW. A 50-MW share of this new, state-of-the-art and highly efficient gas plant is expected to produce about 10% of the emissions of MGE's share of the Columbia plant.
The West Riverside facility has much lower emission rates compared to coal-fired generation and other older natural gas plants. Investment in West Riverside helps MGE meet the energy needs of our customers with the retirement of Columbia and to dramatically increase the amount of clean energy in our generating mix.
Natural gas is a bridge fuel on our path toward a net-zero carbon future. Natural gas plants are an especially efficient backup to renewable energy because they can be dispatched quickly and at times when it's more challenging for wind or solar generation.
Additionally, by working with our partners to transition to natural gas as the primary fuel source at the coal-fired Elm Road Generating Station, MGE expects to substantially reduce our use of coal by 2030 and to have no ownership of coal-fired generation by 2035.
Growing our use of cost-effective, clean energy
Investment in renewable generation will replace much of the capacity needed due to the early retirement of the Columbia plant. We continue to grow our use of renewable energy with the anticipated addition of nearly 400 MW of wind, solar and battery storage between 2015 and 2024. We expect to invest in additional renewable generation beyond what is currently planned.
MGE also purchases a portion of the energy it uses to serve our customers from the market. With the retirement of a significant amount of coal generation and the growth of utility-scale renewable projects in the Midwest, we expect market emissions to continue to decrease, which also will help to decrease MGE's overall carbon footprint.
Strategies to achieve net‐zero carbon electricity
MGE's net‐zero carbon goal is consistent with climate science from the IPCC October 2018 Special Report on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To achieve deep decarbonization, MGE is growing its use of renewable energy, engaging customers around energy efficiency and working to electrify transportation, all of which are key strategies identified by the IPCC.
About MGE
MGE generates and distributes electricity to 157,000 customers in Dane County, Wis., and purchases and distributes natural gas to 166,000 customers in seven south‐central and western Wisconsin counties. MGE's parent company is MGE Energy, Inc. The company's roots in the Madison area date back more than 150 years.
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