California’s Visalia Unified School District to Install 1.6 MWh of Green Charge Energy Storage

SANTA CLARA, CA--(eSolarEnergyNews)--Green Charge, an ENGIE Company, today announced that the Visalia Unified School District will install 1.6-megawatt hours of energy storage at five schools in the district. The energy storage system, coupled with solar, is expected to save the school district more than $1,000,000 over the 10-year contract. The Visalia school district invested in the energy storage system, which will become the largest installation of energy storage systems in a Tulare County school district. Green Charge’s energy storage solution will be on display at the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) Fall Central Section Fall Conference on Friday, September 29 at the Wyndham Hotel in Visalia, CA.

Pacifico Energy Commences Construction of 42 MW Mega Solar Power Plant in Iwaki, Fukushima

TOKYO, JAPAN--(eSolarEnergyNews)-- Pacifico Energy is pleased to announce the commencement of construction of its second solar power plant in the Tohoku region, the 42 MW (DC) Iwaki Mega Solar Power Plant, located in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture.

The plant will be constructed on approximately 50 hectares of land in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture. Operations are expected to start in August 2019, following a 23 month construction period. Once commissioned, the plant will generate approximately 48 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, representing an annual reduction of approximately 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Tohoku Electric Power Company will purchase all electricity generated by the plant. Toyo Engineering Corporation is appointed as EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) provider. Trina Solar will provide PV module.

Tigo Provides PV System Owners With Voice-Controlled Energy Monitoring Through Amazon Alexa

LOS GATOS, CA--(eSolarEnergyNews)--Tigo®, pioneer of the smart modular Flex MLPE platform, today announced it now offers its customers the benefits of Amazon® Alexa™ technology via the new Tigo Skill, available on Alexa-enabled products. The Tigo Skill integration allows English- and German-speaking Tigo customers to use their voice to inquire about their PV production or other information collected by Tigo's SMART website.

OG&E and SunPower Announce 10-Megawatt Solar Plant in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK & SAN JOSE, CA --(eSolarEnergyNews)-- OGE Energy and SunPower  today announced the two companies have signed a contract to build a 10-megawatt (AC) solar photovoltaic power plant in Covington, Okla. Construction on the plant is anticipated to commence next month.

"The Covington project is a continuation of our successful pilot initiative, which launched with 2.5-megawatt solar facility in Mustang, Oklahoma, in 2015," said OG&E Chief Operating Officer Keith Mitchell.

EDF Renewable Energy Announces Acquisition of Solar Projects from First Solar

SAN DIEGO, CA--(eSolarEnergyNews)--EDF Renewable Energy today announced the acquisition of the 179 megawatt AC (MWac) Switch Station 1 and Switch Station 2 Solar Projects from First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) in late June. The projects, currently under construction, will sell their combined output and environmental attributes under three Power Purchase Agreements to subsidiaries of NV Energy, Inc. (Nevada Power Company d/b/a NV Energy and Sierra Pacific Power Company d/b/a NV Energy); Commercial Operation Dates (COD) for the two projects are scheduled for late July 2017 and late September 2017, respectively.

Located in Clark County, Nevada on land managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone (SEZ), the projects are comprised of First Solar modules on horizontal single-axis trackers. The expected electricity generated at full capacity is enough to meet the consumption of approximately 46,000 Nevada homes. This is equivalent to avoiding more than 265,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually1 which represents the greenhouse gas emissions from 52,000 passenger vehicles driven over the course of one year.

Nevada Governor Signs Revised Solar Bill

RENO, NV--(eSolarEnergyNews)--Sunwork, a leading provider of solar power solutions for agriculture, commercial, industrial (ACI), and residential markets, praised the signing of Nevada Assembly Bill 405 (AB405) by Governor Brian Sandoval.

The new AB405 includes a “Solar Bill of Rights” provision, which reinstates net metering with a new system that uses a tiered approach for calculating the export rate of electricity based on the overall penetration of rooftop solar installations throughout the state. The bill restores net metering rates starting at 95% of the full retail rate for excess electricity produced by consumers.

Altus Power Energizes 10 MW New Jersey Solar Farm

GREENWICH, CT--(eSolarEnergyNews)-- Altus Power is pleased to announce the completion of construction and grid interconnection of a 10 megawatt ground-mounted solar energy system, known as the Spartan solar project, in North Hanover Township, NJ. Commencement of construction occurred in September 2016 and involved hundreds of local jobs.

Comprised of over 30,000 solar panels, Spartan is one of the largest solar systems recently developed in the State of New Jersey. Spartan will generate approximately 13,700 megawatt-hours in its first year of operation, enough electricity to offset the CO2 emissions equivalent from burning over 10 million pounds of coal.