Birch Creek, which has a portfolio of over 14.2 GW of utility-scale solar and storage projects in various stages of development, says it plans to deploy the First Solar modules in projects across its development pipeline in the United States.

Also on the rise: Major defense company plans to cut emissions almost in half by investing in renewables. New green bank to support distributed solar and storage in the Appalachian region. And more.

RTX, formerly Raytheon, signs an agreement with Engie North America to buy 1.5 million MWh of renewable energy over the next ten years, spurring further growth of Texas solar development.

pv magazine USA spotlights news stories of the past week including market trends, project updates, policy changes and more.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has issued its first report on the importance of battery energy storage technology in the energy transition. It has found that tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 would require 1,500 GW of battery storage.

Staubli plans to increase manufacturing of American-made connectors and wire harnesses in its California and North Carolina facilities.

Also on the rise: Minnesota sues GoodLeap, Sunlight, Mosaic and Dividend over dealer fees. Improving transmission planning. And more.

Array Technologies broke ground on a factory in New Mexico, while Nextracker expanded operations with a contract manufacturer.

A report from Origami Solar and Wood Mackenzie advises that if the U.S. solar industry switched from aluminum to recycled steel frames, it would no longer need to import aluminum frames from Asia.

The company remains profitable, generating $41.8 million in free cash flow, despite a slumping market.

Two federal agencies that provide billions of dollars for energy-related projects should fund renewable energy, a number of groups have argued in two lawsuits and two rulemaking petitions.

The U.S.-based PV system provider for infrastructure and industrial equipment without grid access has launched a battery health monitoring software module for its flagship Core Solar Power Systems product line.

Also on the rise: Crux extends tax credit transfer discounts and support to ACP members. Schneider Electric launches new storage systems for microgrids. And more.

The U.S.-headquartered solar panel manufacturer delivered revenues of $794 million, beating consensus estimates by about 10%.

The company introduced two versions of the new BESS with enclosures of 7 feet and 20 feet with power ranges from 60 kW to 500 kW.

University of Michigan researchers have found that the value of rooftop solar will increase by between 5% and 15% by the mid-century across a range of U.S. cities under moderate climate change, and by up to 20% by the end of the century.

Researchers in Spain has found that combining PV power generation with fuel cells and battery storage may help homes considerably reduce their levelized cost of energy. Their simulation reportedly demonstrated homes may also become completely self-sufficient.

Scientists led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed a new PV-powered desalination system based on the time-variant electrodialysis reversal (EDR) technology. The proposed system reportedly achieves lower levelized cost of water than conventional solar-powered desalination techs.

Two Korean research institutes are designing the 2.2 km × 2.7 km Korean Space Solar Power Satellite project with the aim of providing approximately 1 TWh of electricity to the Earth per year. The proposed system should use 4,000 sub-solar arrays of 10 m × 270 m, made out of thin film roll-out, with a system power efficiency of 13.5%.

Federal regulators should consider specific reforms to improve transmission planning, lower interconnection costs and provide cost certainty, says a group affiliated with the Solar Energy Industries Association.