Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 6h

So a ‘4-meter probe will be a disc of aerographene or similar material’ floating in the sky and sending out blinks signals eh?

IEEE Spectrum @spectrum.ieee.org · 11h

Researchers have found a way to get close-up images of nearby #stars and #exoplanets within 25 years. These new probes would be tiny disks with optical sensors, accelerated into space by lasers, travelling at 0.2 times the speed of light. spectrum.ieee.org/high-speed-i...

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Reposted by Commercial Solar Guy

Justin Gerdes @justingerdes.bsky.social · 8h

@calenergy.bsky.social approved $42.75m in grants to support floating offshore wind projects at state ports - including $20m for Pier Wind at the Port of Long Beach, $18.25m for the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Terminal: www.offshorewindca.org/s/OWC-Statem... via Offshore Wind California 🔌💡

www.offshorewindca.org

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Reposted by Commercial Solar Guy

Christian Breyer @christianonre.bsky.social · 10h

Germany wraps up solar-plus-storage tender with average price of €0.0531/kWh www.pv-magazine.com/2025/10/08/g...

Germany wraps up solar-plus-storage tender with average price of €0.0531/kWh

Germany has concluded a new renewables tender for innovative projects, securing 485 MW of capacity at final prices ranging from €0.0479 ($0.0557)/kWh to €0.0559/kWh

www.pv-magazine.com

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 10h

????

Seriously? This is now us.

Are we safe. I mean the guns were always an issue, but rule of law for business folks we at least had some strength on.

Now add in currency devaluation…

IEEE Spectrum @spectrum.ieee.org · 10h

$7.6B investment and then...disaster.
The Hyundai Metaplant in Georgia—meant to be the US EV manufacturing showpiece—was raided by ICE, leading to the arrest and deportation of 475 workers. Foreign investors are asking: "Is America a safe place to work?"
#EVMobility #Hyundai #Georgia #ICEraid

Hyundai Factory ICE Raid Sends Chills Through EV industry

Hyundai's Metaplant faces turmoil after a massive ICE raid disrupts its ambitious EV plans. What does this mean for the future of U.S. auto manufacturing?

spectrum.ieee.org

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 13h

Infinity Clock always right and always wrong for all times forever. You just need work harder at collecting the rocks.

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 19h

Silver nearing $50/oz. from <$20 less than two years ago.

A year old, but a standard commercial module uses 8,400 mg/<0.3 oz of silver, so ~$14.80/module.

Makes recycling viable, and older module used more silver per module.

It does increase silver per watt to 2.5-3¢/W if buying on open market.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-vaults-over-4000-rush-safety-fed-easing-bets-2025-10-08/

https://www.pv-tech.org/silver-bullet-for-precious-metal-n-type-solar-cells/

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 19h

Gold is up 54% this year in the US, but a lot less wvwrywhere else because the dollar is down 11%.

With an administration pumping money and international deflation though, expect more.

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Commercial Solar Guy

Auke Hoekstra @aukehoekstra.bsky.social · 20h

New study looks into stabilizing 100% renewable energy systems over multiple bad weather years.

It concludes that the best approach is a little more overcapacity (e.g. 3.5% extra) as that is much cheaper than excess seasonal storage.

Christian Breyer @christianonre.bsky.social · 1d

1/ New research @lut.fi presents the first global analysis of inter-annual storage for #100RE systems in 145 regions doi.org/10.1016/j.ap.... Strategic generation overcapacity is a significantly more cost-effective solution than building massive storage.

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

Order
of
Magnitude

Tyler Norris @tnorris.bsky.social · 1d

NextEra SVP Petter Skantze says battery storage is now “the cheapest form of new capacity” in the US w/ “order of magnitude” faster deployment than gas w/ more modularity & flexible siting to enable higher system utilization & large load integration — #GridFWD in Monterey, CA 🔌💡

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

What applications does thin film have vs standard silicon?

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

And fyi this is really just a @firstsolar.com press release.

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

No, because we don’t use critical minerals in 98% of solar panels.

Tor "SolarFred" Valenza @torsolarfred.bsky.social · 1d

Could we run out of critical minerals for solar panel production? #energysky -- via Solar Power World:

Could we run out of critical minerals for solar panel production?

The topic of critical minerals is common in the news lately, especially when parsing the latest escalations in the U.S.-China trade war. When the U.S.

www.solarpowerworldonline.com

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

…but of us.

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

We will become something different.

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 1d

MIT researchers have re-engineered CRISPR’s “prime editors” to slash one of their biggest problems: random DNA errors. The result is a new family of editors that keep efficiency while cutting indel errors up to 60-fold. buff.ly/5zaa88B
#ShareGoodNewsToo

Engineered prime editors with minimal genomic errors - Nature

Engineered prime editor systems with reduced occurrences of unwanted insertions or deletions during genome editing are developed.

buff.ly

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

'with module production levels above annual deployment volumes -owing to increased warranty replacements from larger installed base & growing repowering of existing solar farms, glass production & shipment is now the best leading indicator for PV market analysts.'

terawatt-pv.com/glass-supply...

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

'Grid’s vulnerability was exposed by a shortage of thermal power plants connected to provide essential voltage control services at the time of the incident. This lack of voltage regulation capability created the conditions for the eventual cascading failure.'

Over-voltage triggered Iberian blackout – report

A series of grid failures led to April's unprecedented power outage in Spain and Portugal, ruling out renewables as the leading cause.

www.pv-tech.org

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

'The report noted that solar and wind generation levels on 28 April remained consistent with preceding days and seasonal averages'

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

'In half-hour preceding the blackout, the Iberian grid experienced two periods of dangerous oscillations that required immediate intervention. System operators implemented corrective measures to address these fluctuations, but these actions inadvertently increased voltage levels across the network.'

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

Brookfield: 'closed Global Transition Fund II w/$20bn in commitments...>$5bn has already been deployed through investments in renewable energy and transition technologies...include the public-to-private acquisition of Neoen...purchase of Geronimo Power, a US-based large-scale energy developer'

renews.biz

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

btw - that's about 1/3 of a cent per watt, so not a huge amount of money, but if you consider modules might cost a slight 8 cents/watt that's about a 4% drop in the cost of a module

Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

Don't fully grasp, but always thought carbon nanotubes would do more in life. They just sound cool, shaped cool, move electricity cool, etc etc - annnd:

'for each gigawatt of solar module production, technique saves ~CNY 25 million ($3.5m), single-cell production costs fall ~25%.'

DAS Solar developing 23%-efficient silicon solar cell based on carbon nanotubes

The Chinese module maker said the solar cell was developed with the support of Hebei University. The device uses a carbon nanotube-based hole transport layer that could be used in TOPCon and HJT struc...

www.pv-magazine.com

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

Transmission: 'acceleration covers three project types: 220 kV/380 kV connections & high-voltage stations, expected to impact 10 to 20 projects by 2032...110 kV/150 kV connections & HV stations, 100 to 125 projects...regional grid operator projects with voltage 21 kV or higher, 300 to 450 projects'

Netherlands to accelerate permitting procedures for electricity projects

The Netherlands has proposed amendments to its Environmental Decree to fast-track permitting for electricity transmission and distribution projects above 21 kV, aiming to expand grid capacity and ease...

www.pv-magazine.com

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

#moonsolar

'self-leveling system capable of sun tracking...developing 10 kW VSAT system & 50 kW Extra-Large Vertical Solar Array Technology...energy storage system stores solar power as hydrogen...now simulating one-year solar illumination profiles at various lunar South Pole site'

Astrobotic, Honda developing vertical solar, storage solution for lunar missions

Pittsburgh-based aerospace company Astrobotic and Honda’s North American subsidiary are working on integrating Astrobotic’s vertical solar array technology with Honda’s regenerative fuel cell system t...

www.pv-magazine.com

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

'photoluminescence emitted from singlet fission linked to underlying molecular process...light emitted used to monitor process...diagnostic for materials development & quality control in PV manufacturing.'

'singlet fission molecules on silicon solar cells can increase efficiencies from 29% to 42%'

Singlet fission research breakthrough unlocks high solar cell efficiency

University of New South Wales researchers have filed patent protection and are working to scale production of a new class of photostable organic molecules proven to boost silicon solar cell efficiency...

www.pv-magazine-australia.com

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 1d

Don't fully grasp, but always thought carbon nanotubes would do more in life. They just sound cool, shaped cool, move electricity cool, etc etc - annnd:

'for each gigawatt of solar module production, technique saves ~CNY 25 million ($3.5m), single-cell production costs fall ~25%.'

DAS Solar developing 23%-efficient silicon solar cell based on carbon nanotubes

The Chinese module maker said the solar cell was developed with the support of Hebei University. The device uses a carbon nanotube-based hole transport layer that could be used in TOPCon and HJT struc...

www.pv-magazine.com

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Commercial Solar Guy @commercialsolarguy.com · 2d

'Battery Surge Driven by Capacity Shortages: significant cost advantage over gas peakers across all ISOs; growth vectors - colocation w/75 GW renewable portfolio, standalone, grid solutions integrated w/transmission business; tax credits through 2039 w/o permitting restrictions' - Shanu Mathew

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