Renewable Energy News

The key to further wind sector success may be the ability to provide baseload power. New solutions based on lithium batteries can deliver convincing foundations to balance wind's variability.

Alion Energy has officially transformed from its origins in thin-film manufacturing, to now offering a way to significantly streamline utility-scale solar plant construction, using robots.

As more and more solar is installed and some countries, like Germany, are seeing consumers get an increasing amount of their electricity from intermittent sources, grid storage and batteries are sure to be hot topics at this year’s Intersolar Europe in Munich. Tobias Rothacher, senior manager of renewable energies at Germany Trade and Invest, will

Are traditional solar photovoltaic (PV) financing models dead? Are solar utilities dinosaurs, about to become extinct? For utilities, says Dirk Morbitzer, general manager of analysis firm Renewable Analytics, “the old times are gone. Utilities must embrace renewables or suffer the consequences.”

Japan's solar market is soaring. Spurred by a generous incentive, developers are announcing mega-scale projects, investors are closing deals and manufacturers are placing orders. The nation is fast becoming the industry champion of 2013.

Demand for solar residential systems is at an all time high. In 2013, residential solar photovoltaic (PV) installations are expected to grow by 40 percent due to lower pricing and alternative solar financing options, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight: Year-in-Review 2012 research report conducted by Solar Energy Industries and GTM Research.

Small wind turbines (SWTs) less than 50 kW are playing a growing role in electricity generation, and are now being deployed in domestic, commercial and agricultural scenarios. The World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) predicts that the global SWT market will increase from 95 MW in 2011 to 700 MW in 2020, growth of approximately 25 percent per year. But market share has remained small when compared to domestic-scale photovoltaics (PV).

How strange that the development of many solar array fields has largely become an exercise in massive excavation, grading and stormwater management. This is ironic when we consider that such projects carry the “sustainable” tag. Yet there is a better way. Such terrains can be developed with minimal disturbance to the site footprint, within an existing regulatory framework and with less impact to sensitive environmental features.

Officially launched in January after years of development, a new CLEAN (feed-in tariff) program from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (the city’s municipal electric utility) promises 100 MW of new local renewable energy by 2016.  In absolute size, the program will be among the largest CLEAN programs in the U.S., but compared to the siz

Myanmar is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and a youthful workforce, but with many of its people living in extreme poverty, the newly opening economy is attracting the interest of investors and aid workers alike. In the middle of the fastest growing region in the world, East Asia, Myanmar holds great promise as the next big market. Growth rates have exceeded 5 percent since 2010 when the country released human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi and held elections, and 8 percent growth rates are within reach. McKinsey analysts estimate that Myanmar could quadruple its GDP by 2030 to US$200 billion.

Women in power — it’s not just a play on words. With all the talk about ‘leaning in’ it’s time to recognize all the women that leaned in, reached back, pulled forward, marched and continued marching for themselves, their families, their industries and their peers. Women in high-profile positions are honored (though the fickle limelight that can shine or glare), and the scrutiny that comes with this honor can be uncomfortable. Brave women march through this fickle limelight because it is important to them to make a difference.

Massachusetts officials are preparing to take a number of steps to shore up one of the state’s key solar power subsidies, including spending millions of dollars to buy up the credits developers use to help finance their projects.

SolarWorld AG (SWV), Germany’s biggest maker of solar panels, rose the most in four months after newspapers reported that Qatar Solar Technologies will help finance a restructuring by acquiring a 30 percent stake.

  The lack of access to comprehensive, accurate and reliable information on the renewable energy regulatory landscape in Kenya has been a significant barrier to private sector participation. Types and number of licenses/clearances, application procedures, associated costs, contacts of related government agencies, expected turn-around time and the s

Siemens AG will close its solar power unit after struggling to find a buyer following losses of at least 784 million euros ($1 billion) euros since 2011 amid Chief Executive Officer Peter Loescher’s failed push into that business to expand renewable energy offerings.

International Finance Corporation has released a new report called “Success of Geothermal Wells: A global study” with data taken from both public and private sources.

Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd. started Asia’s biggest CSP plant as India limps toward clean energy targets with prices almost half the global average.

The summer solar selling season may be upon us, and as your sales heat up, I hope you’ll take some time to contribute to the organizations that have supported our industry and our businesses. While there are many worthy solar charities, I’d like to focus on four that have been of great value to me, and probably to you too. The American Solar Energy

By 2020, swapping aging wind turbines with more powerful modern units will have raised annual electricity generation at refurbished sites from 1524 GWh to 8221 GWh. A 2 MW wind turbine coming off the production line with a rotor diameter of 80 metres can generate four to six times as much electricity as the 1 GWh annual yield of a 500 kW wind turbine with a 40 metre rotor built in 1995. This is the fundamental thinking behind wind repowering.

As SunPower prepares to install its 10,000th residential system, the company says that it anticipates that solar will be on 20 percent of all new homes built in California this year. That’s based on recent trends, like the doubling of solar on new homes between 2011 and 2012, renewed efforts through the California Solar Initiative (CSI) under the N