The urgent need to accelerate solar installations across the United States stands at the forefront of the nation's commitment to significantly decarbonize the energy grid in the fight against climate change. Achieving this ambitious target necessitates a concerted effort to overcome the existing barriers to rapid expansion. Streamlining the installation process, improving regulatory frameworks, and standardizing product names and specifications a....
As the world rapidly electrifies, the demand for clean, scalable, and cost-effective energy storage is skyrocketing. While renewable energy sources like solar and wind offer an abundant and sustainable supply of power, much of their potential remains untapped due to one major challenge: storage. The inability to store and distribute renewable energy efficiently results in enormous daily losses. The good news is that this problem has a solution: c....
Despite generally widespread support for clean, renewable energy, a growing number of solar, wind, and battery storage projects are being met with resistance at the local level. In fact, community opposition has become a leading cause of delays and cancellations, with a recent study revealing that roughly one-third of wind and solar projects are scrapped due to pushback — and nearly half experience delays of six months or mor....
The energy industry is in the midst of massive change, exacerbated by a new administration and an alarming increase in demand that has characterized the past few years. Many industry experts are closely watching the Trump administration’s rhetoric, policies, and legislation to understand what the future energy landscape may look like. However, even during this transitionary period, there are several new opportunities for battery energy stora....
Wind
William “Bud” Frabell
Solar
Jonathan Lwowski
Solar
Robert J. Munnelly, Jr.
Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG (Kautex), a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced it has received an order from a leading automotive OEM for a full-BEV thermoplastic composite lower battery housing unit. The lower housing is part of the company’s Pentatonic battery enclosure portfolio, facilitating battery electric and hybrid electric vehicle production.
The Kautex Pentatonic product line offers lightweight, customizable EV solutions made from thermoplastic composite or composite metal hybrids. These solutions include products which not only enhance the thermal management of the battery pack but also contribute to the overall lightweight design, boosting vehicle performance and extending driving range.
The lower housing seals and protects the vehicle battery while meeting extensive structural and stringent thermal requirements, such as crush and bottom impact testing, and external and internal fire tests. It will be produced for a major BEV platform, spanning across multiple vehicle brands. This Kautex Pentatonic solution offers advantages over its conventional metal counterparts, with lower cost through a reduction in components due to its high functional integration and thus a leaner bill of material. The thermoplastic composite material helps to lower the carbon footprint of the part, while the lightweight housing contributes to reducing carbon emissions while driving. This multi-material approach provides corrosion resistance with no compromise in performance throughout the lifespan of the vehicle.
“We are thrilled to announce our latest order from a leading automotive OEM, marking a significant milestone for Kautex,” says Joerg Rautenstrauch, President & CEO, Kautex. “Our innovative BEV lower housing is a testament to our dedication to providing cutting-edge solutions that meet the highest standards of safety, performance, and sustainability. This Pentatonic win is a reflection of our team's hard work and creativity, and our unwavering focus on delivering value to our customers.”
This order marks Kautex’s second Pentatonic business win, following its initial success in January 2023 with a full-BEV underbody protection skid plate that entered serial production in 2024. Pentatonic has garnered numerous awards, including the SPE Grand Innovation Award in Europe, as well as the Lingxuan and Gasgoo Innovation Awards in China. Additionally, Kautex has deployed three on-road test vehicles in the US, Japan and Europe, validating the performance of full-BEV and hybrid Pentatonic enclosures across various terrains and weather conditions. Collectively, these vehicles have been road-tested for over 100,000 miles.
Textron I www.textron.com
The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) invites you to join SOLAR 2025, happening in one week on August 4-6 at the University of Colorado Boulder. This is your opportunity to connect with leading experts, innovators, and advocates driving the future of renewable energy.
With the theme "Innovation for Universal Renewable Energy Access," the conference will highlight:
Conference content will be presented via technical sessions, plenary panels, forums, posters, workshops, tours, networking opportunities, and more. Don't miss the renewable energy career fair and hands-on workshops built to equip attendees for the rapidly evolving renewable energy industry.
Conference highlights:
SOLAR 2025 | ases.org/conference
Electric utilities face mounting challenges from electrification, climate resilience, and affordability concerns. U.S. investor-owned utilities’ capital expenditures have increased from $136.6 billion in 2021 to $167.8 billion, projected for 2023, with 36% of those capital expenditures allocated towards adaptation, hardening, and resilience, on average. Despite this, storm-related outages still cost the U.S. $64.8 billion annually, and a projected $500 billion gap remains in capital to fully harden generation, transmission, and distribution systems against climate threats through 2050.
Utilities are evolving their distribution system planning (DSP) processes to include resilience, decarbonization, and affordability due to extreme weather threats to the grid. However, resilience is not yet fully integrated into many utilities’ DSP. Requirements vary across states, with some focusing only on wildfire mitigation plans. SEPA and Rhizome analyzed utility resilience plans, offering best practices and insights to help utilities better incorporate resilience and guide regulators in refining planning policies and frameworks. Get the report here: https://sepapower.org/resource/resilient-by-design/
SEPA | https://sepapower.org/
Rhizome | https://www.rhizomedata.com/
In what should be a model across the U.S., Nexamp has successfully completed construction on three projects, including the scope of work typically performed by the electric utility, marking a significant advancement in clean energy deployment. The concept, known as self-performance, allows developers to perform certain grid modifications and infrastructure upgrades to reduce both the time and cost required to connect their projects to the grid.
Working with Central Maine Power (CMP) in Maine and National Grid in Massachusetts, Nexamp took responsibility for procuring the necessary equipment and performing the requisite construction to get three recent projects completed and operating faster. Nexamp and its contractors worked closely with engineers and project managers from CMP and National Grid on each project, ensuring that all technical specs and requirements were met to maintain the utmost attention to safety and reliability.
The first three projects that were part of the self-performance initiative are:
“Self-performance allows us to take much greater control over the interconnection procurement and construction, enabling us to bring projects online faster and closer to budget,” notes Daniel Passarello, Lead Consulting Engineer, Grid Integration, Nexamp. “By leveraging our construction contractor relationships, we can move much of the interconnection work along in parallel to the build-out of the solar farm rather than having to treat them as separate processes. This ultimately creates opportunities to reduce the number of mobilizations.”
During the self-performance process, Nexamp is able to directly negotiate better pricing and delivery times with its long-standing supplier relationships. Passarello notes that the company orders much of the same utility-required hardware for its own facility in bulk, and if an expedited shipment is needed, the company can go to the supplier directly. “The results are greater visibility, control, and certainty to drive shorter interconnection timelines, create opportunities to save costs, and reduce burden on utilities. This kind of forward thinking makes the continued deployment of clean energy more efficient, leading to lower costs for consumers and increased energy supply to meet our nation’s growing demand,” he says.
Utilities have historically maintained responsibility for construction required to connect a distributed solar project to the grid. With the rapid increase in solar generating capacity, sharing some of that work with private developers is proving to be a benefit.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) estimates that nearly 8 Gigawatts of community solar have been installed in the U.S. through the end of 2024, and that number is increasing rapidly, expected to almost double in the next five years. Finding ways to ensure that these projects are deployed quickly and efficiently is critical, and the organization notes that self-performance is critical to future success.
“We must modernize and streamline the interconnection process to keep pace with fast-growing demand for energy,” said SEIA’s Vice President of State Affairs, Sara Birmingham. “Self-performance is one of several innovative approaches that can accelerate project timelines and lower costs, which benefits all ratepayers. SEIA congratulates Nexamp for taking this leap and looks forward to collaborating across the industry on solutions to deploy solar faster, strengthen grid reliability, and improve energy affordability for all Americans.”
In addition to demonstrating the promise of a self-performance program, Nexamp also recently worked with the Solar and Storage Industries Institute (SI2) on a report detailing the important role flexible interconnection plays in getting projects connected more quickly and with fewer required grid upgrades. Flexible interconnection allows distributed solar projects to interconnect to the grid and perform to accommodate grid capacity dynamics, rather than requiring the developer to spend significant sums of money to build additional capacity. Together, these two shifts can significantly improve two of the biggest hurdles to swift deployment: interconnection timelines and costs. This initiative shows that some of today’s challenges for distributed solar, such as cost and deployment times, can be addressed with innovative and collaborative solutions.
“The opportunity to lead some of the very first self-performance projects is significant and we’re proud to see the results. CMP and National Grid are each showing the market how adaptability and process improvements make a difference in getting more renewable energy resources onto the grid. Customers in Maine and Massachusetts are the real beneficiaries of these three projects today, as they now are able to join tens of thousands of other Nexamp community solar subscribers in saving money and supporting the expansion of clean energy,” added Nicholas Burica, Sr. Director of Grid Planning, Nexamp.
Nexamp | www.nexamp.com
Boston-based Electrified Thermal Solutions, a leader in electrified heating and thermal energy storage solutions, and HWI, A member of Calderys, one of the leading suppliers of refractory products and services in the United States, announced a strategic manufacturing partnership. The collaboration will develop and produce electrically conductive firebricks (E-bricks) which will be used in Electrified Thermal's Joule Hive Thermal Battery.
The Joule Hive Thermal Battery takes in electricity, then converts and stores it as heat through the E-bricks at temperatures up to 1,800°C (3,275°F), hot enough to power even the most demanding industrial processes. This capability allows customers to deliver consistent, high-temperature heat using renewable electricity at lower cost than traditional fossil fuels.
The E-bricks will be manufactured at HWI's production facilities, combining Electrified Thermal's technology, developed at MIT, with HWI's 160 years of refractory expertise. By leveraging this strategic collaboration, Electrified Thermal and HWI will demonstrate a viable pathway to reduce costs and mitigate emissions across energy-intensive industries. Electrified Thermal's first commercial-scale demonstration is expected to be operational in 2025, with the goal of deploying 2 gigawatts of electrified thermal power by 2030.
"Industrial heat represents one of the most challenging frontiers in the world's effort to address climate change. The majority of energy used annually for industrial heating worldwide comes from burning fossil fuels," said Daniel Stack, Co-Founder and CEO of Electrified Thermal Solutions. "To make a meaningful impact at global scale, we needed a solution that could be produced rapidly through existing supply chains. Our partnership with HWI transforms what could have been a manufacturing bottleneck into a powerful scaling advantage, allowing us to meet the multi-gigawatt demand we're seeing from industrial customers worldwide."
Ben Stanton, Director, Applications Technology for Thermal Markets, EEC and C/I Network, at HWI, highlighted the technical synergy behind the partnership: "For generations, HWI has been developing advanced refractory solutions for the most demanding applications in industry. Electrified Thermal's E-Brick material is a breakthrough in refractory technology that maintains the high-temperature durability required by customers, while also generating the heat to run their processes. This partnership aligns perfectly with our Group's commitment to supporting our customers through their energy transition journey."
The industrial sectors increasingly seek viable pathways to reduce emissions while maintaining reliable performance, and this collaboration offers both benefits while providing opportunities to expand production throughput.
Bruno Touzo, Global Vice President of Innovation & Technology for Calderys Group, concluded: "Leveraging our extensive global network, deep expertise in refractory materials, and established supply chains, we are well-positioned to support the design and rapid scale-up of E-brick manufacturing. This collaboration aligns closely with our broader innovation strategy and enables us to respond effectively to the growing demand from industries transitioning to cleaner energy solutions."
Electrified Thermal Solutions | www.electrifiedthermal.com
HWI | www.thinkhwi.com
NEMA President and CEO Debra Phillips issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s release of a comprehensive strategy to ensure the U.S. achieves AI supremacy through American energy dominance, support for next-generation manufacturing, and other tactics:
“In an era when artificial intelligence, manufacturing, electrification, and everyday demand for energy are testing the limits of America’s electric grid, federal policy that affects our nation’s power generation, transmission, and distribution capabilities must keep pace. President Trump’s new blueprint – America’s AI Action Plan – is a welcome development for the electroindustry.
“The Plan underscores the criticality of a modernized and resilient power grid, determining that the United States must explore solutions like advanced grid management technologies. Electrical manufacturers are at the forefront of this transformation – deploying reconductoring solutions, digital substations, and data center strategies that optimize grid capacity and enhance reliability.
“As electricity demand is projected to increase 50% by 2050, NEMA members are ready to meet the moment and deliver innovative technology solutions manufactured here in the United States. NEMA welcomes the Plan’s vision for a more robust domestic manufacturing base and a skilled workforce. These priorities reflect NEMA’s efforts to scale production of manufactured goods that meet federal Build America, Buy America (BABA) domestic content requirements.”
National Electrical Manufacturers Association | makeitelectric.org
With the introduction of a new 16 port ECO Unmanaged Switch and Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) media converter, WAGO is making connecting and communicating more cost effective.
Ideal for small to medium-sized networks, the 16 port ECO Unmanaged Switch features a slim design and speeds of 1 GB/s per port. Its DIN-rail adaptor for any cabinet simplifies installation and delivers high vibration and shock resistance. Automatic transmission rate detection and identification of the transmit and receive lines provides plug-and-play operation to help save time during commissioning.
Fiber optic communication over long distances may not always be available, so WAGO is introducing their Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) media converter as a viable alternative. This converter enables Ethernet communication with a bandwidth of 10 Mbit/s with shielded twisted pair cabling over a range of 3280 feet. Connect the converter simply and quickly to a levered CAGE CLAMP® connector using new or existing cables. With high heat, shock, and vibration resistance, this converter can be operated with a supply voltage of 12 to 48 VDC and only consuming 3 watts.
WAGO | www.wago.us
Alternative Energies Jul 15, 2025
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The energy industry is in the midst of massive change, exacerbated by a new administration and an alarming increase in demand that has characterized the past few years. Many industry experts are closely watching the Trump administration’s rhetoric,....
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