This cool tech will turn existing fiber optics into smart sensors on Minnesota’s grid - Related to solar, save, tech, us, module

Clean energy companies are blitzing Capitol Hill to save IRA tax credits

A coalition of clean energy groups – representing over 2,000 companies and hundreds of billions in private investment – is holding more than 100 meetings today with bipartisan members of Congress to underscore the critical role of IRA clean energy tax credits.

As part of the lobbying blitz, more than 1,850 clean energy companies are also sending letters to Congress emphasizing the economic importance of clean energy tax credits and urging lawmakers to preserve these incentives. The solar industry letter can be found here, and the business leaders’ letter can be found here.

Organizations with member companies participating in the lobbying blitz include the Solar Energy Industries Association, National Hydropower Association, Oceantic Network, Climate Power, US Green Building Council, Clean Energy for America, E2, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Impact Capital Managers, and dozens of utilities and businesses across the energy sector.

Federal energy incentives are supercharging domestic clean energy manufacturing, cutting reliance on foreign adversaries, and creating jobs for American workers. These policies are driving hundreds of billions in investments into energy projects that are keeping the grid stocked with low-cost, reliable power – just as the US sees its biggest energy demand spike since World War II.

Without federal clean energy tax credits, clean energy deployment would fall by 237 gigawatts (GW) over the next 15 years, . That’s enough power to supply 36 million homes. In the last two years, 70-80% of all federal clean energy investments have been in red states, and 90% of those investments are in the manufacturing sector.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), stated, “With support from federal clean energy policies, American solar manufacturers can now produce enough modules to meet all demand for solar in the United States. It’s critical that our elected leaders understand the impact of these policies and the jobs and investments they bring to their constituents.”.

“Businesses across America right now are just breaking ground or finalizing plans for hundreds of factories and projects that will manufacture the solar panels, batteries and other Made-in-America equipment and deploy the energy we need to meet the exploding demand for electricity across the economy,” introduced Bob Keefe, executive director of the national nonpartisan business group E2. “Now’s not the time to undermine the federal policies driving this economic boom and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it’s creating. Now’s the time for Congress to keep the investments and opportunities flowing to the folks back home, while also making America competitive again in the global marketplace.”.

“Energy tax credits are helping enable more than $25 billion in American offshore wind supply chain investments and thousands of American manufacturing and shipbuilding jobs,” noted Liz Burdock, president and CEO of Oceantic Network. “We must act to secure these jobs and investments in our Gulf shipyards, Midwestern steel mills, and ports along our coastlines, advance our energy security and independence, and unleash the full portfolio of American-made energy.”.

Now is a great time to begin your solar journey so your system is installed in time for those sunny spring days. If you want to make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20 to 30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate partner.

Elon Musk has poached a long-time Tesla engineer to help with his work at the Department of Governme...

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, we look at a group of $TSLA shareholders on Reddit who want Elon...

The [website] EV charging network Ionna is picking up speed in its infrastructure build-out as the nascen...

This cool tech will turn existing fiber optics into smart sensors on Minnesota’s grid

Not-for-profit power cooperative Great River Energy, which serves [website] million people across Minnesota and Wisconsin, has partnered with Prisma Photonics to roll out real-time monitoring technology across 90 miles of transmission lines in northern Minnesota. Prisma Photonics will provide its PrismaPower system to track threats like wildfires, ice, wind, and physical damage to the Minnesota grid.

The multi-year project will install PrismaCircuit and PrismaClimate across five key transmission lines connected to four substations using existing fiber optic lines. The goal is to strengthen the grid ahead of Minnesota’s next winter season. These lines, spread across central and northern Minnesota, will now be under constant surveillance without the need for traditional sensors.

“We’re leveraging innovative new technologies that maximize our existing infrastructure investments,” noted Priti Patel, vice president and chief transmission officer at Great River Energy. “This solution allows us to utilize our current fiber optic network in a new way to increase resilience in areas of northern and central Minnesota.”.

Instead of installing physical sensors on power lines, Prisma Photonics’ technology taps into fiber optic cables already in place, transforming them into an advanced sensing system. Here’s how the enterprise’s works:

Prisma Photonics Fiber Sensing works by connecting an optical interrogator unit into a standard single-mode optical fiber. It is one fiber, part of a cable laid alongside the monitored asset, probably for communications purposes. The Interrogator transmits optical pulses that propagate down the fiber. A minute fraction of the light is reflected from each point along the fiber. The Interrogator measures the reflected light to determine the strain, temperature, pressure, and other quantities over hundreds of kilometers of fiber with sub-meter resolution. The fiber is turned into a continuous acoustic sensor – as if there were tens of thousands of microphones spanning hundreds of kilometers.

Prisma Photonics says this means faster deployment, no service interruptions, and no need for specialized crews in all weather conditions.

Dr. Eran Inbar, CEO of Prisma Photonics, noted, “Our partnership with Great River Energy demonstrates how utilities can extract additional value from their existing infrastructure to enhance grid resilience while avoiding traditional sensor-based solutions’ complexity and maintenance requirements.”.

If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*.

The new Renault Filante Record 2025 concept is a racy, aerodynamically-sculpted piece of rolling electric lab equipment designed to push the envelope ......

Tesla has opened up Cybertruck leases in the US, and it is now offering free wraps, worth $6,000, on Foundation Series Cybertrucks, whic......

Kia confirmed it will launch the EV4 this year as it fills out “a full lineup of popular EVs.” , the EV4 is “an entirely new type of E......

US solar module production capacity reaches 50+ GW

The US solar manufacturing industry just hit a historic milestone: Domestic solar module production capacity has surpassed 50 gigawatts (GW). If all these factories ran at full capacity, they could produce enough modules to meet the country’s entire solar demand.

This achievement signals a shift in the US solar industry, which has historically depended on imports for key components.

’s (SEIA) Supply Chain Dashboard, companies have revealed plans for 56 GW of new solar cell production in the US, 24 GW of wafer production, and 13 GW of ingots. Meanwhile, domestic solar tracker manufacturing capacity has now topped 80 GW.

SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper stated:

Reaching 50 GW of domestic solar manufacturing capacity is a testament to what we can achieve with smart, business-friendly public policies in place. The US is now the third-largest module producer in the world because of these policy actions. This milestone marks progress for the solar industry and reinforces the essential role energy policies play in building up the domestic manufacturing industry that American workers and their families rely on.

SEIA first set a goal in 2020 to reach 50 GW of US solar module production capacity by 2030 – enough power output to match 27 Hoover Dams. That goal spans the entire solar supply chain, from modules and cells to ingots, wafers, polysilicon, trackers, and inverters.

At the time, the US had only 7 GW of domestic module production and no manufacturing for critical upstream components like ingots and wafers. Fast forward to today, and the industry looks a lot different. Two new US solar cell factories – one in Georgia and another in South Carolina – have already come online in the past few months, helping to fill in the gaps.

SEIA’s strategy has focused on building out domestic module production first to create demand for upstream components. Thanks to policy incentives that SEIA helped advocate for such as the advanced manufacturing production tax credit, companies are now investing in every part of the solar supply chain.

Another win came when SEIA pushed for solar ingot and wafer production to qualify for a 25% investment tax credit under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. That move is helping build out the US solar supply chain even further. Since the passage of key federal energy policies, US solar module manufacturing has grown five-fold.

Kevin G. Hostetler, CEO of utility-scale solar tracking systems manufacturer ARRAY Technologies, mentioned:

Thanks to the manufacturing production tax credits, we have accelerated our domestic expansion, enabling us to onshore components and double our Albuquerque manufacturing capacity. ARRAY is committed to providing our end-people with 100% domestic content trackers by mid-2025.

If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*.

The world’s largest EV maker is quickly making a name for itself on a global scale. With overseas sales surging 83% last month, BYD is looking for eve...

Several automakers, including Honda, Hyundai, Ford, and Kia, reported higher EV sales in the US in January. Here’s a look at some of the top-selling E...

After launching its first electric SUV in December, Lucid’s (LCID) US sales climbed 51% last month from a year ago. , Lucid s...