Solar Energy

In Nigeria, A Template For Solar-Powered Minigrids Emerges

February 22, 2018 Chris Warren, Greentechmedia.com Create! Nigeria, Solar Energy

How a unique partnership, innovative financing and stubborn persistence created a model for localized solar and batteries. On a humid November day in the small Nigerian village of Gbamu Gbamu (pronounced bomb-ou bomb-ou), Akinola Oduola clambers down a wooden ladder propped against a minaret that overlooks a tight cluster of adobe, wood and concrete homes. “This is my work,” Oduola says by way of introduction, gesturing toward the mosque that is taking shape nearby. This is not hyperbole. Oduola has spent the past three years single-handedly willing this mosque into existence. Hard work is important for those who call Gbamu Gbamu home. When he’s not building his mosque, Oduola is a welder and motorcycle repairman -- an in-demand profession in a town where the bulk of the population travels to and from Gbamu Gbamu along a deeply rutted 10-kilometer dirt road.

Three Canadian Solar Panel Companies Sue U.S. Over Tariffs

February 13, 2018 The Canadian Press, Thestar.com Resist! Canada, NAFTA, Solar Energy

The companies state that the International Trade Commission made no recommendation of tariffs on Canadian solar cells, and that the imposition of them goes against rules in NAFTA. Three Canadian solar panel manufacturers have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the 30 per cent tariff it set on solar cell imports last month. Ontario-based Silfab Solar Inc., Heliene Inc., and Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., along with U.S.-based distributor Canadian Solar (USA) Inc., filed the challenge at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday. The lawsuit claims that an investigation last year by the International Trade Commission found Canadian products don’t significantly hurt U.S. manufacturers and don’t account for much of the overall imports of solar cells to the country.

Congress Extends Tax Breaks for Clean Energy — and Carbon Capture

February 11, 2018 Georgina Gustin, Inside Climate News Create! Carbon Capture, Clean Energy, Solar Energy

Some of the tax breaks, like one that restores a tax credit for home geothermal heating and cooling, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars to install, should make a significant difference to individuals trying to lower their carbon footprints. The credit is 30 percent if the system is installed between 2017 and 2019, then drops to 26 percent in 2020 and 22 percent through 2021. Others, like the carbon capture and sequestration provision, offer complicated and uncertain benefits to costly technologies that might or might not pay off—and that are hotly debated in environmental circles. Senators with widely divergent views of climate policy, including Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, favored it. Bob Perciasepe, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), praised the tax cuts for promoting low-carbon sources of energy, which he called "critically necessary to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050."

Cities Could Create Massive Virtual Power Plants With Distributed Solar

February 6, 2018 By Fred Lambert, Electrek.co Create! Cities, New Economy, Power Plants, Solar Energy

It will function much like Tesla’s giant Powerpack system, which charges when demand and electricity rates are low and discharges when demand and prices are high. We reported last month the single battery system managed to make around $1 million in just a few days. The new project is going to be financed through power sales and it is being assisted by the government with a $2 million grant and $30 million loan from the Renewable Technology Fund. The government says that they already started installations for a trial in 1,100 Housing Trust properties, which is for lower-income households. Tesla plans to ramp up its deployment in the next few years and have all 50,000 systems installed by 2022.

Tax Bill To Preserve Critical Credits For Wind, Solar & Electric Vehicles

December 19, 2017 Georgina Gustin Educate! Clean Energy, New Economy, Solar Energy, Tax Reform, Taxes, Wind

The booming renewable energy industry is breathing a wary sigh of relief as Congress prepares to vote this week on a sweeping tax bill that preserves critical tax credits for wind energy, solar power and electric vehicles. As lawmakers were working over the past week to resolve issues between the House and Senate versions of the bill, the clean energy industry kept a keen eye out for details of the legislation, including provisions in the House bill that would have weakened or eliminated the tax credits for renewables. By rejecting that approach, Republicans sent a message that they won't back attempts to kneecap ongoing growth in renewables, despite pressure from the oil and gas industry to scale back incentives for clean energy.

Tax Bill Impact: What Happens To Renewable Energy?

December 6, 2017 Georgina Gustin, insideclimatenews.org Educate! New Economy, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Taxes

By Georgina Gustin for Inside Climate News - The Senate voted early Saturday to approve a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code that critics say would decimate clean energy investments while continuing to hand out tax breaks to the oil and gas industries. The sweeping tax system overhaul bill—which represents the biggest corporate tax cut in the country's history and would reach into many areas of American lives—also contains language that would open the door for oil and gas companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. While the Senate proposal preserves tax credits that have spurred huge growth in the wind and solar industries, it contains an obscure provision that could undercut investment in renewables. Larger challenges for clean energy lie in the House of Representatives' tax proposal, which passed in mid-November. That version takes a whack at a bundle of clean energy tax credits that were extended in 2015 in exchange for lifting a decades-old ban on crude oil exports. Now, as the two chambers begin work on reconciling their versions of the bill, the clean energy industry is bracing for a fight. Here's what the two tax bills, as currently written, would do. The Senate bill contains a provision that has raised alarm across the clean energy industry: The Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) provision would subject tax credits given to companies with operations overseas to a new, 100 percent tax. That provision, according to a letter sent to the Senate by clean energy groups this week, would send investors fleeing and put $12 billion in clean-energy investments at risk. It says the impact would be "devastating."

5,500 U.S. Schools Use Solar Power; Growing As Costs Fall

November 30, 2017 Lyndsey Gilpin, insideclimatenews.org Create! New Economy, Schools, Solar Energy

By Lyndsey Gilpin for Inside Climate News - In a field behind an elementary school in rural Middlesex County, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay, an ambitious plan has been taking shape: Schools Superintendent Peter Gretz and other local administrators are preparing to power their school district with solar energy. By next August, Virginia-based solar developer Sun Tribe Solar expects to have an array of solar panels in place in that field that can generate enough electricity to power the county's elementary school and middle school—at a price well below their current electricity costs—while offering students, teachers and the community a way to learn about clean energy. "We felt it was important work for our kids, and we wanted them to see the community leading in a way that was responsible and sustainable, as well as fiscally responsible and efficient," Gretz said. The number of schools powered by solar is growing quickly. About 5 percent of all K-12 U.S. schools are now powered by the sun, and their solar capacity has almost doubled in the last three years, according to a new study by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), The Solar Foundation, and Generation 180, a clean energy nonprofit. The nearly 5,500 schools using solar power today have a total of 910 megawatts of solar capacity, enough to power 190,000 homes, according to the study. The biggest reason for the surge is the economic benefits of solar energy. Drastic declines in price have made it financially viable for schools. Both public and private schools are reducing their electricity bills with solar, leaving them more money to spend on educational programs, according to the research.

100% Renewable Is Feasible And More Cost-Effective Now

November 11, 2017 Staff, www.energywatchgroup.org Create! Jobs, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind

By Staff for Energy Watch Group. A global transition to 100% renewable electricity is not a long-term vision, but already a tangible reality, a new groundbreaking study by the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) and the Energy Watch Group (EWG) shows. The study was presented on November 8, 2017 during the Global Renewable Energy Solutions Showcase event (GRESS) on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn. The results of the study are revealing: A global electricity system fully based on renewable energy is feasible at every hour throughout the year and is more cost effective than the existing system, which is largely based on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. A transition to 100% renewables would bring greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector down to zero and drastically reduce total losses in power generation. It would create 36 million jobs by 2050, 17 million more than today. ”There is no reason to invest one more Dollar in fossil or nuclear power production”, EWG President Hans-Josef Fell said. “Renewable energy provides cost-effective power supply.

Myths About Rooftop Solar Are Outshining The Reality

November 1, 2017 Jessica Herrera, hcn.org Educate! Fossil Fuels, New Economy, Profit, Solar Energy

By Jessica Herrera for High Country News - It’s undeniable that renewable energy is booming, changing the way we get our power and shifting us away from fossil fuels that damage the environment. Yet in my home town of Tucson, which gets nearly 300 sunny days every year, a lot of plentiful Arizona sunshine is going to waste. And it isn’t just happening in the Copper State. Across the West and throughout the U.S., in the face of this rapidly changing energy market, investor-owned utilities and some energy co-ops are impeding the transition. They’re trying to protect their profits and coal-fired power-plant investments at the expense of the wellbeing of people and the planet. These power companies support lobbying groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council and Edison Electric Institute, which spout myths about renewable energy. In Florida, a Koch brothers-funded consultant encouraged the use of “political jiu-jitsu” to mislead the public and policy makers about solar. Perhaps one of the most misleading claims is that solar energy customers don’t pay their fair share for grid services and that everyone else pays the price. This “cost shift” claim has been repeated over and over again.

California City Transforms Into ‘The Solar Capital Of The Universe’

October 27, 2017 Jeremy Deaton, www.thinkprogress.org Create! California, Cities, Electoral Politics, Solar Energy

By Jeremy Deaton for Think Progress - Parris isn’t just looking to attract installation jobs. He also wants to bring manufacturing jobs to Lancaster. Accordingly, he encouraged BYD to open two factories in Lancaster that will produce electric buses and large-scale batteries. The Antelope Valley Transit Authority, which manages public transit in and around Lancaster, is purchasing dozens of electric buses to replace its aging fleet of diesel buses. Lancaster is also replacing its street lights with LED bulbs produced by BYD. Next, Parris wants to require new homes to meet LEED energy efficiency standards, come with battery systems that can supply up to four days of power, and include systems that recycle wastewater from showers, sinks and washing machines to flush toilets and water plants. Even compared to other sunny California cities, Lancaster is exceptional, outstripping Los Angeles, San Diego and others in its deployment of clean energy. Asked why other California cities aren’t more bullish on renewables, Bozigian said they don’t have Mayor Parris or his “fantastically innovative” staff. “If other cities, or this state, had leaders like Mayor Parris and the Lancaster City Council, they would all be doing it,” said Bozigian. “You need to have guts, and you need to be decisive. You need to know what’s right, get the information you need, make a decision and do it.”

Solar Power Is Fastest-Growing Source Of New Energy

October 6, 2017 Adam Vaughan, www.theguardian.com Educate! Clean Energy, New Economy, Solar Energy

By Adam Vaughan for The Guardian - Solar power was the fastest-growing source of new energy worldwide last year, outstripping the growth in all other forms of power generation for the first time and leading experts to hail a “new era”. Renewable energy accounted for two-thirds of new power added to the world’s grids in 2016, the International Energy Agency said, but the group found solar was the technology that shone brightest. New solar capacity even overtook the net growth in coal, previously the biggest new source of power generation. The shift was driven by falling prices and government policies, particularly in China, which accounted for almost half the solar panels installed. The Paris-based IEA predicted that solar would dominate future growth, with global capacity in five years’ time expected to be greater than the current combined total power capacity of India and Japan. Dr Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA, said: “What we are witnessing is the birth of a new era in solar photovoltaics [PV]. We expect that solar PV capacity growth will be higher than any other renewable technology up to 2022.” The authority, which is funded by 28 member governments, admitted it had previously underestimated the speed at which green energy was growing.

Montana Quadruples Solar Energy Capacity In One Year

September 19, 2017 Erin Loranger, www.helenair.com Create! Montana, New Economy, Solar Energy

By Erin Loranger for Independent Record - The state quadrupled its solar energy production over the past year, according to an announcement by Lt. Gov Mike Cooney on Friday. Montana was producing 6.6 megawatts of installed capacity a year ago. The governor’s office released an energy plan, Montana Energy Future, with a goal to double solar capacity by 2025. Now the state has an installed capacity of 26 megawatts. “It’s an incredible honor to announce Montana has not only doubled our solar production much earlier than expected, we’ve quadrupled it in a single year,” he said. Cooney said the state hopes to continue increasing solar production, which creates jobs and promotes energy independence. “Done right, we can drive economic growth while sparking new clean technology,” he said. There are 373,807 solar jobs as of 2016 in the United States. The solar industry employs more people than coal, natural gas, wind or nuclear sources. The announcement was made at the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena, which installed a 50kW rooftop solar array earlier this year.

After The Hurricane, Solar Sped Recovery For Some

September 19, 2017 Lyndsey Gilpin, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Florida, Hurricane, New Economy, Solar Energy

By Lyndsey Gilpin for Inside Climate News - Just after midnight on Sept. 11, Eugenio Pereira awoke to the sound of tropical-storm-force winds slamming his Gainesville, Florida, home. Hurricane Irma had arrived. At 1:45 a.m., the power flickered out, and he was in total darkness. Unlike large swaths of Florida that were facing days if not weeks without electricity, Pereira knew he would have power when the sun rose. He had installed rooftop solar panels two weeks before the storm, along with an inverter that allows him to use power from the solar panels without being connected to the grid. The next morning, he plugged an extension cord into the inverter, flipped it on, and let his 7-kilowatt rooftop solar array do the rest. He was able to use his appliances and his Wi-Fi, so he could continue his work as a home-based IT consultant while the neighborhood waited for grid power to came back on. "We didn't have sun at all the day after the hurricane, but even with clouds, it was enough," he said. Hurricane Irma cut the power to about 6.7 million customers across Florida, as well as hundreds of thousands in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Only about two-thirds of those in Florida had power back by Thursday, and Florida Power & Light said the outages could last weeks in some areas.

DOE Officially Marks SunShot’s $1 Per Watt Goal For Utility-Scale Solar

September 14, 2017 Julia Pyper, www.greentechmedia.com Create! Energy, Kansas City, Missouri, New Economy, Solar Energy

By Julia Pyper for GTM - It's official. The solar industry has met the 2020 utility-scale solar cost target set by the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative -- three years early. The DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released new research today that shows the average price of utility-scale solar is now under $1 per watt and below 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. That’s higher than the record-breaking project bids we’ve seen in the U.S. and abroad in recent years. But that’s because DOE calculations for levelized cost of energy (LCOE) do not include subsidies -- such as the federal Investment Tax Credit -- and are based on the average climate in Kansas City, Missouri. (Note: GTM documented the sub-$1 per watt milestone earlier this year, but the department is using its own metrics.) “Our mission is to make solar affordable for all Americans, and so our goals are defined for average U.S. climates. We use Kansas City as that example,” said Becca Jones-Albertus, acting deputy director of the SunShot Initiative. “Hitting a 6 cents per kilowatt-hour target for Kansas is a more significant metric than hitting 6 cents in sunnier parts of the country.” GTM Research reported that U.S. utility-scale fixed-tilt system pricing fell below $1.00 per watt earlier this year using a different methodology.

After Generations In Coal, West Virginians Finding Jobs In Solar

September 14, 2017 www.blog.ucsusa.org Create! Coal, Jobs, New Economy, Solar Energy, West Virginia, Workers, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Jason Margolis for PRI - Nobody from his graduating class is working in coal, says Swiger. “[They’re] honestly working in fast food, or not working at all.” Not Swiger. He has a job installing rooftop solar panels. He says his family is delighted with it. "They’re excited that I’m actually doing something different,” says Swiger. “A lot of people ain’t doing this in West Virginia, a lot of people are against it actually. A lot of people want to go back to coal. “I ain’t against it, I love solar. It’s way better than coal, I think.” Solar panels can save people money on their electricity bills and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, which fuel climate change. With battery storage, found in some home set-ups, solar can also allow people to continue to power their homes off the grid during power outages. Swiger is working as an apprentice with Solar Holler, which was founded four years ago by 32-year-old Dan Conant. Conant doesn’t see solar energy and coal at odds with each other. “The way I think about it, as a West Virginian, is that West Virginia has always been an energy state, and this is just the next step. It’s the next iteration,” says Conant. West Virginia’s economy has long been reliant on coal. Metallurgical coal, which is found in the state, is used in the steel-making process.

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