Renewable Energy News

Surrounded by countries with significant hydrocarbon stores, Armenia's own fossil fuel reserves are limited to a small number of lignite or brown coal mines. Some oil reserves exist, but they are too deep to be economically viable. As a result, electricity generation depends on imported nuclear fuel (44%) for the country's Metsamor nuclear plant, due for decommissioning between 2017 and 2021, and natural gas (29%). Hydropower contributes around one third of the total power generation, with large hydro adding 24% and small hydro making up 3%.

A French proposal to allow GDF Suez SA and Electricite de France SA to extend their concessions to run hydropower plants by 25 years may contradict national laws on allotting contracts for public services, Vattenfall AB said.

This Solar Fred marketing post is inspired by a recent Seth Godin blog post. I really think Godin captures the spirit of how small but consistent efforts can make a difference — without having a million dollar ad budget. Below is my adaptation of Godin’s one-day-effort bullet points for solar marketing and innovation. Each of these 12 ideas can be

Iceland is named the land of fire and ice for a good reason. It is certainly icy: temperatures hover around 10-20°F (-12 to -6°C) in the winter. But underneath that frozen earth lies fiery hot rock and water — so much of it that 87 percent of the country’s heat and hot water demand is met with geothermal energy and 25 percent of its electricity dem

Large-scale deployment of renewable energies has so far been concentrated in Europe and in the U.S., but that is changing. Take wind energy, solar PV and CSP (Concentrated Solar Power), for instance: 44 percent, 35 percent and 23 percent, respectively, of new capacity for the next five years will be deployed in emerging markets (Exhibit 1). For Nor

Charities' early efforts to distribute clean energy technologies in Africa met with little success. Their use of donor funding to heavily subsidise products such as solar lighting kits would generally fulfil a programme's short-term targets, but in the long run the expertise and equipment needed to maintain the systems failed to be adequately developed or provided. Crucially, no new systems beyond a programme's target would appear in the area. But a new wave of investors and social enterprises has sprung up in the last decade, and they are increasing the availability of products tailored to off-grid domestic energy customers in Africa.

Romania will scale back renewable power subsidies to limit electricity-price increases for consumers, according to the minister-delegate for energy.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which coordinates California’s solar incentives programs through the California Solar Initiative, said earlier this week that residential solar incentives in an increasing number of utility service areas are reaching fulfillment. Many solar industry supporters, like the Vote Solar Initiative, say t

Our industry should rally behind anyone who knows how to spell "photovoltaic." Especially at the DOE, which is a large, complex, slow-moving, virtually radioactive bureaucracy. Not only can Dr. Moniz spell photovoltaic, he's demonstrated the engineering, policy and management skills that it takes to succeed at the head of the DOE. And if his track record is any indication, he'll be terrific for the next stage of the solar industry's growth.

Alta Devices, which engineers solar cells with more exotic materials, has achieved a new efficiency record of 30.8 percent, the Silicon Valley startup said Monday.

The Wall Street Journal published an alarmist piece yesterday depicting California's electrical grid as the victim of a 'looming crisis' brought on by the state's 'growing reliance' on wind and solar.

Today (March 1) at 8:00 am EST, Georgia Power Company began accepting applications for its Advanced Solar Initiative (GPASI), a program that will add 210 megawatts of solar capacity over the next three years. This first deadline is for small and medium-sized facilities (up to 100 kW and 100 kW - 1 MW, respectively), for which the utility is seeking a total of 45 MW in each of the next two years. An additional 60 MW of utility-scale projects will be solicited for 2013 (that RFP goes out next month) and 2014, to be brought online in 2015 and 2016.

A program tracking U.S. green jobs, faulted by Republican lawmakers, will be scrapped by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as part of automatic budget cuts set to take effect today, according to a person familiar with the decision.

President Barack Obama recently pushed for increased energy efficiency in his State of the Union address. His endorsement is a plus, no argument. But it may not be the federal government that drives the industry’s next growth spurt. Increasingly, the push for clean energy seems to be more grassroots, from the city and community. Consider these sign

In the next decade, over 300 gigawatts of unsubsidized solar energy could be deployed across the United States, generating electricity for the same or less than retail electricity prices.  But many utilities remain blissfully unaware of the coming solar storm or how to handle it, as evidenced by a Public Utility Commission hearing in Minnesota last

A novel fabrication technique developed by UConn engineering professor Brian Willis could provide the breakthrough technology scientists have been looking for to vastly improve today's solar energy systems.

A screening tool from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) eases and greatly quickens one of the thorniest tasks in the biofuels industry: determining cell wall chemistry to find plants with ideal genes.

Duke Energy Corp., the largest U.S. utility owner, may expand into rooftop solar as wider use of photovoltaic panels by customers cuts into demand for electricity in states including California, Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers said.

Our industry should rally behind anyone who knows how to spell "photovoltaic." Especially at the DOE, which is a large, complex, slow-moving, virtually radioactive bureaucracy. Not only can Dr. Moniz spell photovoltaic, he's demonstrated the engineering, policy and management skills that it takes to succeed at the head of the DOE. And if his track record is any indication, he'll be terrific for the next stage of the solar industry's growth.

The two current record-holders in concentrated solar PV (CPV) cell and module technology hope that combining efforts will boost performance, and lower costs, to finally fulfill CPV's promise of lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) compared with other solar technologies.