Renewable Energy News

Each day, our industry sits down and whittles the unsightly knots off the tree we call solar energy. We, as a group, spend more time than we should pointing to one of a growing number of reasons why solar energy isn't taking hold in America: that perhaps our government incentives were cut too quickly, that our state's SREC program is broken, that the net metering requirements aren't strong enough.

Offshore wind could provide abundant electricity — but as with solar energy, this power supply can be intermittent and unpredictable. But a new approach from researchers at MIT could mitigate that problem, allowing the electricity generated by floating wind farms to be stored and then used, on demand, whenever it's needed.

It seems that just about every year in Colorado, Xcel Energy’s Public Service Company of Colorado’s Solar*Rewards program is too popular for its own good. The incentive program for small-sized solar installations in its service area is once again fully subscribed. In an attempt to make sure that more of Xcel’s residential and small business custome

Geodynamics Ltd., an explorer seeking to produce geothermal power from hot underground rocks, is starting a search for new partners to develop its project in central Australia after Origin Energy Ltd. decided to pull out.

Solar installations in Massachusetts topped 135 MW in 2012, and through April of this year another 30 MW was installed. This week, on May 1, the state achieved a milestone: 250 MW of installed solar capacity, fulfilling a goal set by Governor Deval Patrick's administration — a goal that was expected to be achieved four years from now.

After selling just 100 units of its product, electric car manufacturer Coda Holdings has filed for Chapter 11 in a Delaware bankruptcy court. Coda Automotive's only vehicle was its Coda Car, an all-electric sedan with four doors and a battery pack. The company has its headquarters in Los Angeles. Coda Cars have an EPA-rated battery range of about 8

Clariant AG said it's prepared to take on a partner and help fund a second-generation bioethanol plant to prove the effectiveness of its biotechnology and compete against Royal DSM NV and Novozymes A/S.

A pretty big wad of money — $40 billion — is hiding somewhere inside the lights, AC, thermostats, furnaces and fans of our offices, stores, hospitals and schools. That’s the amount of money the federal government estimates we can save annually by reducing energy use in commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020.  To achieve the goal, the Obama adminis

Solar and wind are excellent sources of clean, renewable energy, but as they contribute a larger share to the generation fleet, their integration will become increasingly challenging. The reason: solar and wind cannot be dispatched in the same way as other sources of energy, such as nuclear, hydro, and fossil fuels. Because the grid must operate “j

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.

2013 may well be remembered as the year that ushered in a new era for the development of renewable energy projects on tribal lands.

Funding for wind energy companies and investments accelerated in the first quarter of 2013, with most activity centered around some very large project transactions, according to Mercom Capital's latest quarterly analysis.

Virtually eliminating the carbon footprint from Latin America's power sector by 2050 would require $66 billion in annual investments, with spending on renewable energy making up half that amount, according to a new report analyzing full "climate stabilization" in the region.

Alan Shaw, the chemist and executive who led a six-year effort to turn inedible crops into fuels to displace gasoline, has renounced the industry he helped pioneer and decided the future instead lies with natural gas.

The Energy Department announced today up to $13 million in funding to develop and test advanced components and technologies to boost the performance of marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) energy systems. The Department plans to select up to 10 awards aimed at developing advanced controls, power systems, and device structures specifically for MHK applications, which harness energy from waves, tides, or currents.

The Financial Forum will address the rapidly changing state of renewable energy finance, and provide insight from industry experts about the future of this evolving industry. Although the potential for growth is great, renewable energy markets continue to struggle due to fallout from the credit crisis, a withdrawal of major lenders, a loss of tax equity capacity and uncertainty surrounding legislative support. New strategies for securing financing will emerge from the presentations and discussions at the POWER-GEN International Financial Forum.

IBM, which revolutionized the personal computer, is bringing its technological knowhow to solar through a new partnership with Airlight Energy, ETH Zurich and Interstate University of Applied Sciences Buchs NTB. The group recently won a three-year, $2.4 million grant from the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation to develop low-cost high-c

Tidal Energy Ltd., a U.K. maker of technology that uses ocean currents to generate electricity, received 1.6 million pounds ($2.5 million) from the Welsh government to test its device at sea.

Trends in the geography of solar development are determined by three primary drivers: solar insolation (the quantity of sunlight during the year), local electricity rates (the higher the rate the better) and local regulatory and incentive programs. Good projects are found where bountiful solar resources, costly electricity rates, and generous incen

Investors love Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). They trade like stocks, and are an easy way to diversify within a certain sector. Over the past year, though, alternative energy investors would have been much better off putting their money in regular mutual funds.