Massive Georgia solar panel factory begins production

SOLAR: South Korean company Qcells launches production at a Georgia complex that it says will build enough solar panels to generate 5.1 gigawatts of power yearly — almost 40% of existing U.S. solar panel capacity. (ABC News)

ALSO:

• Nashville’s utility develops a program with the Tennessee Valley Authority to grow the number of households it pays for excess rooftop solar power to between 1,000 and 1,200. (WPLN)
• A Georgia nonprofit launches a pilot program to lease rooftop solar systems to more than 200 state homeowners making less than $100,000 a year. (Solar Power World)
• Florida Power & Light has now completed 66 solar farms in Florida, with another 22 under construction. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

GRID:

• Federal officials say wind and solar projects are outpacing the buildout of grid transmission capacity and storage, likely resulting in the growing curtailment of renewables in Texas and elsewhere. (Reuters)
• Texas regulators prepare to hold a ​“winter preparedness” workshop to discuss the reliability of the state power grid, which has been squeezed by population growth, soaring demand and extreme weather. (KXAS)
• U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granhom announces $249 million federal grant to add transmission lines, battery storage and grid improvements in Georgia, as part of an overall investment of $3.5 billion for 58 projects across the U.S. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Associated Press)
• A Chattanooga, Tennessee, utility receives federal funding to complete $65 million in grid improvements over five years for nearly 180,000 customers. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Virginia and West Virginia join a coalition of 26 states challenging a proposed transportation rule that would increase fuel economy standards to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph)
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk warns the company could face ​“enormous challenges” in ramping up production of its Cybertruck, including price reductions on other models that decreased its revenue by 44% last quarter. (Reuters, Associated Press)

CLIMATE:

• Economists warn Texas is twice as vulnerable to heat-related economic slowdowns as the rest of the country, with extreme heat likely costing the state $24 billion this year alone. (Texas Tribune)
• Worker advocates push for more protection against increasingly hotter temperatures even as they see setbacks, such as a Texas law that overruled local ordinances mandating water breaks for workers in Austin and Dallas. (Grist/​Guardian)

POLITICS:

• Former President Trump endorses coal baron and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice in his campaign for U.S. Senate. (NBC News)
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear visits striking auto workers at a Louisville Ford plant as he campaigns for re-election. (Forward Kentucky, Louisville Courier Journal)

TECHNOLOGY: The U.S. Navy is funding a North Carolina company’s effort to develop tethered airborne wind generators, which could be useful in remote areas. (Coastal Review)

COMMENTARY:

• A proposal to limit coal miners’ exposure to toxic silica dust still has loopholes that threaten its effectiveness in preventing advanced black lung disease, writes an Appalachian advocate. (Roanoke Times)
• A Virginia advocate says the state is falling behind on energy-efficient building codes, and suggests massive campaign donations from the construction industry are part of the reason. (Virginia Mercury)