Renewable Energy News

Solar photovoltaic (PV) demand for 2012 reached just 29.0 GW, an increase of only 5 percent year-over-year compared to 27.7 GW in 2011, according to findings within the upcoming NPD Solarbuzz Marketbuzz report. This is the first time in a decade that year-over-year market growth in the PV industry has been less than 10 percent.

What will solar energy finance in the U.S. look like in 2013?

Royal Dutch Shell Plc says solar power, a business it abandoned four years ago, may expand into the world's biggest source of energy in the next half century.

In Washington, the US Energy Information Administration released a map and commentary on its website this week — indicating the spread of commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels, while cautioning that "EIA's forecasts and projections to date have proven to be too optimistic, as volumes have been below expectations."

In 2001, Jim Gordon, a well-heeled developer of natural gas plants in New England, took up a long-discussed but never-pursued idea that advocates said would usher in a new era of clean energy in America: an ocean-based wind farm off the shores of Cape Cod.

India today reintroduced a subsidy for wind farms and announced low-cost loans for clean energy generators in its budget for the year starting April 1.

Roughly one month ago GE leapfrogged First Solar in thin-film cadmium-telluride (CdTe) solar photovoltaic (PV) conversion efficiency, with an 18.3 percent efficient champion cell -- a full percentage point higher than First Solar's 17.3 percent mark set last year.

According to the latest issue of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) "Electric Power Monthly," with preliminary data through to December 31, 2012, non-hydro renewable sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) increased by 12.8 percent last year compared to 2011 and provided 5.4 percent of net U.S. electrical generation.

A couple of new items from the battered solar sector hint that the situation may be improving for the largest companies, even as smaller players continue to struggle and face the very real danger of collapse. Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that I've predicted a rebound for this embattled sector once or twice before based on optimisti

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the market leader for wind turbines in Japan, said the country needs to improve access to the electricity grid and allow power sales across regions to boost renewable energy use, including wind.

Renewables funding has a bright future, according to analysis firm Frost & Sullivan. Its latest report estimates that the venture capital funding market for renewable energy will triple by 2020 due to positive regulatory policies, public support for lowering carbon footprints and technological innovation.

Yesterday, I wrote about how my annual green stock trading advice had worked out for my sister and readers (well) and the two stocks where I thought she should take profits: LSB Industries (NYSE:LXU) and Potlatch Corp (NYSE:PCH).

The U.S. geothermal energy industry ended 2012 with a growth of 5 percent, which is modest but nevertheless a good progress for an industry that feels a bit left out of the renewable energy boom.

Key technical components of a solar PV system go through the rigors of testing, evaluation, and certification — but what about when they're all assembled and running as a full PV plant? VDE and Fraunhofer ISE think they've found a new way to ensure the performance, reliability — and "technical bankability" — of solar PV plants with a new system-level certification spanning quality, safety, and performance of the plant as a whole and its components.

As India prepares to enter Phase II of its National Solar Mission (NSM), one of the world's more promising solar markets finds itself at a critical juncture. Much uncertainty lingers in this young market: financing is still challenging, a trade dispute looms, and policy decisions now being hashed out at both national and state levels could swell the country's market to its lofty goals — or just as easily undercut that momentum, according to a report from Mercom Capital Group's Raj Prabhu.

An expansion project at the Aluto-Langano geothermal power plant is set to begin this month.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., the Chinese solar-panel maker with $541 million in convertible bonds due next month, is talking with the government of Wuxi about the possibility of financial support.

Anti-wind power lobbyists have long contested claims by the wind industry that wind power is competitive with fossil fuels. But technological advances, making wind turbines bigger, smarter, and more competitive in all situations, mean the wind is fast being taken out of the naysayers’ sails. Both EWEA and GWEC, the Global Wind Energy Council, agree

Once a year, I give my sister stock trading advice. Managing money is not her thing, so any more often and she'd likely lose interest, and not do anything. With that constraint, I wait until there are a large number of stocks I think she should trade, and send he a list of trades, along with quantities and limit prices for her to enter "good 'til canceled."

The geothermal industry has been struggling with the same barriers to development for years. It's a frustrating situation: while geothermal is a reliable, steady baseload form of renewable energy, its development expenses overshadow its obvious long-term benefits. Meanwhile, other intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar are able to take advantage – and control – of state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies and other incentives due to their lower costs of deployment.