Renewable Energy News

When the U.S. Department of Energy held its first Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in 2002, Americans were growing nervous about energy issues for the first time in decades. Natural gas prices had skyrocketed, California had just recovered from rolling blackouts, and the events of 9/11 and our continued dependence on foreign energy sources were

Recently published guidelines that the UK Solar Trade Association (STA) says its members will follow in building and managing solar farms have set out best practices for siting, land use and community engagement.

Indonesia and Malaysia are to be linked by a new transmission line.

The Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) loaned $16 billion to the renewable energy projects with 85 percent going to solar projects as part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Guess how much it lost during the nation’s worst recession since the Great Depression? Less then $1 billion. Overall, the LPO has about $34 billion in funds t

Many a demand/supply PV industry participant has met their Waterloo/Alamo — choose your dramatic historical analogy — on the issue of pricing strategy. Figure 1(below) is a snapshot of PV industry average selling prices (ASP) for modules and demand for module products (as well as systems) from 2002 through 2012.

The UK is continuing to keep renewable energy investors at arms’ length by publishing key legislation in a piecemeal manner and backing shale gas at the expense of developing biomass.

To deliver the maximum amount of power from solar panels or arrays, standalone inverters and grid-tie inverters use a sophisticated strategy to find the maximum power point, or MPP, for given conditions. They do this by varying the load on the solar panel or array until it finds the point on the panel’s or array’s I-V curve that will deliver the most power. The inverter then converts this DC power to AC power, which is then used locally or fed into the power grid.

Big changes are on the way for China’s power sector, new analysis predicts, with renewables set to play a central role.

After two months of diligently reviewing comments submitted following the June 7th Solar Stakeholder meeting, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) released its most recent version of the proposed program design for the next phase of the solar carve-out program (SREC-II) at a meeting held at the Massachusetts State House in Boston

A couple of interesting news bits are coming from the new energy vehicle sector, including a potential roadblock into the China market for up-and-coming US player Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) and new results from struggling domestic electric car maker BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594) that look encouraging but not too exciting. The main common theme in th

Chinese solar-panel makers received subsidies, a European Union investigation showed, increasing the likelihood of EU tariffs on imports of the renewable-energy technology from China to counter trade-distorting state aid.

According to the latest issue of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) "Electric Power Monthly," with preliminary data through to June 30, 2013, renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) provided 14.20 percent of the nation's net electric power generation during the first half of the year. For the same period in 2012, renewables accounted for 13.57 percent of net electrical generation.

Resembling an underwater kite and comprised of a carbon-fibre wing with a turbine slung underneath rather like a gondola, the so-called Deep Green device is secured to the seabed with a tether and moves in a figure of eight-shaped path in the tidal or ocean current.

In 2011, I wrote about the CdTe Horse Race in which the three U.S. companies making cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) modules, First Solar (FSLR), Abound Solar and General Electric (GE Solar, stock ticker GE) jostled for position. Abound and GE were challenging the reigning champion First Solar to build the largest PV manufacturing facility in the world.

Last week’s graphic on the impact of local permitting on the cost of solar power was a big hit, so here’s a follow-up on “soft costs,” the expenses in a solar installation (including permitting) that are not the solar module.  The chart compares the soft costs in the U.S. to Germany (thanks to LBNL’s analysis), where these cost are much lower.  The

Norway has awarded concessions to build eight new onshore wind farms for about 20 billion kroner ($3.3 billion) in a bid to triple the country’s capacity to more than 2 gigawatts by 2020.

Kalahari GeoEnergy Ltd. plans to produce power from steam resources in Zambia to help end a shortfall of electricity in Africa’s biggest copper producer, Chief Executive Officer Peter Vivian-Neal said.

Uncovering a fraud is uniquely satisfying, which is perhaps why news outlets continue to provide electric car deniers with a platform to proclaim they aren’t as green as they appear. But close examination reveals the latest round of skeptics to be lacking in substance. Numerous peer-reviewed articles have reached the same conclusion — from cradle to grave, electric cars are the cleanest vehicles on the road today. And unlike cars that rely on oil, the production of which is only getting dirtier over time, the environmental benefits of electric cars will continue to improve as old coal plants are replaced with cleaner sources and manufacturing becomes more efficient as it scales up to meet growing consumer demand.

The fight is on to save net metering in many states, but SEIA, Vote Solar, and other solar organizations can’t win these multi-front battles alone. They need the support of everyone in the solar industry, especially solar marketers and sales people who have the communication skills to get the word out that net metering needs to be preserved. I’m no

With aging infrastructure and renewable energy generation on the rise, there has never been a more urgent need for a modern electricity grid. Many envision this modernized smart grid based on its capacity to integrate renewable energy sources, being virtually carbon neutral, and featuring improved voltage control, demand response and supply flexibi