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News · page 3 of 4

Commercial Solar News, Page 3

What changed this week in incentives, utility rates, battery storage and solar technology, and what it means for a business in Georgia, Florida or the Carolinas. Reported by the people who build the systems.
  • Unmarked pallets of solar modules being unloaded by forklift beside a commercial building in Georgia, with racking already on the roof

    Solar Technology

    Section 232 solar module price floor: what it means for a 2027 project

    Minimum import prices of 38 cents per watt on modules and 22 cents on cells take effect on December 4, 2026. Spot prices sit near 46 cents, analysts see US-assembled modules near 30 cents in 2027, and the federal credit calendar decides how long a business can wait.

    4 min read

  • Two outdoor battery storage cabinets on a concrete pad behind a Georgia warehouse, with bollards and utility transformers nearby

    Battery Storage

    NFPA 855 2026 changes: what every commercial battery project must now document

    The 2026 edition of NFPA 855 removes the 600 kWh trigger, so a hazard mitigation analysis is required for any stationary battery in scope, along with a documented emergency response plan, an annual review and annual training. The paperwork moves to the front of the project.

    4 min read

  • Aerial view of battery storage containers beside a substation on the Puerto Rico coast at dawn, with hills and the sea behind

    Caribbean

    Puerto Rico battery storage loan: what federal backing says about island resilience

    The Department of Energy closed a $489.4 million loan on August 5 for 220 MW of battery storage in Arecibo and Santa Isabel, and put a number on what reliability is worth: about 13 million customer interruption hours avoided a year. A resort or a port on any island can do the same arithmetic on its own meter.

    4 min read

  • Aerial view of a rooftop solar array and battery storage cabinets on a commercial building in coastal Georgia at sunrise, with transmission lines beyond

    Utilities & Rates

    What the Georgia Power OpenAI data center deal means for business bills

    Regulators approved a 3.2 gigawatt data center contract on August 27 with a written promise of at least $15 a month off a typical residential bill from 2029. The promise is real, it is narrow, and the parts of a commercial bill it does not touch are the ones a business can control itself.

    5 min read

  • Aerial view of solar modules covering the roofs of a row of poultry houses on a farm in eastern North Carolina in late afternoon light

    Utilities & Rates

    Duke Energy Progress rate increase 2027: what the settlement means for your business

    A settlement in the Duke Energy Progress rate case would raise rates in two steps from January 1, 2027, if the North Carolina Utilities Commission approves it. The size is known, the date is known, and a business in eastern North Carolina or the Asheville area has four months to decide how much of it to pay.

    5 min read

  • Poultry houses on a south Georgia farm with new solar modules on their roofs, storm-damaged pines at the edge of the field

    Agriculture

    Hurricane Helene block grant: $531 million for Georgia farms this fall

    The Georgia Department of Agriculture expects to pay out $531.236 million in USDA block grant funds for uncompensated Hurricane Helene losses by the end of fall, prorated across more than 4,200 eligible applications. The money answers what was lost. What to rebuild differently is a separate question, with a deadline of its own.

    4 min read

  • Aerial view of a utility-scale solar farm and battery containers beside a substation on rolling farmland in the Carolinas

    Grid & Resilience

    Duke Energy Carolinas resource plan: 18.5 GW of solar and 13 GW of storage by 2041

    Duke Energy's 2026 Carolinas Resource Plan, filed with South Carolina regulators in August, asks to add about 18.5 GW of solar and 13 GW of battery storage by 2041. A utility planning that much storage has decided what flexibility is worth, and a Carolina facility can own the same thing at its own meter.

    5 min read

  • Ground-mounted solar array beside a row of long poultry houses on a farm in rural Georgia under a hazy summer sky

    Incentives

    REAP funding opportunity rescinded: what to prepare while USDA rewrites the rules

    USDA rescinded the 2025-2027 REAP notice of funding opportunity on April 15, 2026 and will accept new applications only after a revised regulation is published. Applications without a signed agreement must be refiled. The pause is time to get the technical report, the interconnection and the tax numbers in order.

    4 min read

  • Rooftop solar array over a car dealership service building in Georgia, with the vehicle lot and a canopy visible below

    Incentives

    Section 179 expensing limit for solar is now $2.5 million: the year-one math

    The IRS confirms the Section 179 expensing limit is $2.5 million for property placed in service in tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, with the phase-out starting at $4 million, and 100 percent bonus depreciation is permanent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. Here is what that does to the first year of a commercial solar project.

    4 min read

  • Utility meter bank and disconnect switches on the wall of a North Carolina warehouse with a rooftop solar array above

    Carolinas

    North Carolina interconnection fast track for commercial solar up to 2 MW

    North Carolina's interconnection procedures give a commercial solar or storage system three paths onto the grid: a simplified process for certified inverter systems up to 20 kW, a fast track with technical screens for certified systems up to 2 MW depending on the line, and a full study for everything else. Which path a project takes is decided at design.

    4 min read

Follow this section by RSS: news feed. For longer reading on costs, incentives and payback, see commercial solar insights.

Want to know what this week's news does to your power bill?

Send us twelve months of utility bills and we will tell you which incentives and rate changes apply to your facility, what a system would cost and what it would save.