As part of Mandalay Homes’ Discovery Home concept for production homes, the company will install sonnen’s energy storage systems at 2,900 homes at its Jasper planned community in Prescott Valley, AZ. The 23 megawatt hours of energy storage installed will serve as a hive of energy storage along with the rooftop solar installed on the homes that’s branded as sonnenCommunity, creating a virtual power plant (VPP).

More solar power companies and organizations are coming to aid in Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria. So, even as the Trump Administration has announced it will end the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan, solar power is proving its powers as more utilities choose it over fossil fuel-based power. 

Empowered by Light, a nonprofit partnered with actor Mark Ruffalo, Sunrun, Givepower and Zero Mass Water have come together to aid in disaster recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. The organizations announced today (Oct. 13) that they are installing solar-powered microgrids with water desalinization and purification systems at fire stations in Puerto Rico. 

The largest solar farm in Michigan, the 60 megawatt (MW) Lapeer solar park is now online and operational providing enough energy to power 11,000 homes for DTE Energy. With the new solar park the utility said that solar power now makes up 7 percent of its energy supply and that more than 10 percent of its energy, one gigawatt, comes from renewables.

Vermont’s Innovation Center in Burlington has launched a unique community solar project on its rooftop. The project, the first  initiated by Sun Shares, allows employees in its workplace to buy into the project to offset their power use at home. 

Yesterday (Oct. 9) Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced that the agency would end the Clean Power Plan to curb US carbon emissions, which was created by the Obama Administration. Clean energy and environmental advocates spoke out against the move strongly arguing that it’s the best plan to curb emissions from coal and fossil fuel power plants. 

Last week the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that solar power was the largest source of new energy in the world, a first for the technology. At the same time solar and energy storage are proving their mettle in Puerto Rico where multiple companies are bringing energy storage systems and solar power to aid in the recovery efforts. Meanwhile General Motors announced plans to launch a slew of new electric vehicles in the next few years.  

Puerto Rico’s electric grid was wiped out by Hurricane Maria and widespread power isn’t expected to be available on the island for at least six months. But solar power and energy storage systems are coming to the rescue as companies like Tesla, sonnen and Sunnova are sending systems to the US territory to help in bringing power back to the people in its islands. 

Solar outpaced all other new forms of electric generation coming online across the world in 2016, a first for photovoltaics (PV). According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) more than 74 gigawatts (GWs) of solar power came online in 2016, growing 50 percent over the previous year. 

This week one of the world’s largest car makers announced its plans to transform its fleet of vehicles to electric vehicles with at least 20 new all-electric vehicles that it will introduce by 2023. The company outlined the plans for the new vehicles as part of its efforts to move to vehicles with zero emissions, congestion and crashes.