For the third year in a row, the U.S. solar industry installed double-digit gigawatts (GW) of solar PV capacity, with 10.6 GW coming online in 2018, according to the latest statistics from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the Solar Energy Industri…
Tag: SolarFeatured
Hawaiian Electric Companies achieve 27 percent renewable energy in 2018 despite loss of geothermal
In late February, Hawaiian Electric Companies announced that they have achieved a consolidated 27 percent renewable portfolio standard in 2018, even with the loss of Hawaii Island’s geothermal resource for most of the year following the Kilauea volcani…
Why SEPA’s DERMS document is a time- and money-saver for all energy industry stakeholders
In early February, during DistribuTECH, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) hosted a workshop to discuss what requirements are necessary for successful distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) deployment.
Top 7 Ways To Make Sure Your Business Saves Money with Solar (Hint: Act Now)
The solar investment tax credit (ITC) is one of the most lucrative ways to reduce the investment costs of your solar installation, but in order to maximize this incentive, it’s important to include solar power in your 2019 planning. Follow this guide t…
Five Companies You’ve Definitely Heard of Join Up to Buy Solar Energy in Aggregation Deal
It’s hard to find a common thread between the business models of Gap, Bloomberg, Cox, Salesforce and Workday but today they are announcing that they all have one big thing in common: their desire to clean up their organizations’ energy supply by using …
Notes from the Solar Underground: Is China’s Domestic Solar Industry Too Big To Fail?
Mid-2018 China’s central government threw the entire PV industry, including observers and pundits, into a panic by making drastic changes to its PV deployment that included temporarily halting utility scale deployment, lowering the FiT, shifting econom…
Utilities Take Note: Flexible, Dispatchable Solar Generation Is Here
Up until now, solar generation on the electricity grid operated in most places in what is known as a “must-take” scenario. That means that all solar that is generated must be used on the grid. When renewable energy was a fledgling new technology, this …
Indiana Utility’s 50-MW Solar Project Splits Consumer Advocates
Indiana consumer advocates are split over a solar proposal that would boost clean energy in the state but at a high cost-per-kilowatt to customers.
US Residential and Commercial Installed Solar PV Prices Still Dropping
According to the latest edition of Lawrence Berkley National Lab’s (LBNL’s) “Tracking the Sun” report, the median installed price for a solar PV system in the first part of 2018 was $2.2/W for a large non-residential system (up to 5 MW in capacity), re…
India to Easily Achieve 100 GW Solar Target by 2022
India is all set to comfortably achieve 100 GW of solar energy capacity by 2022 and has already installed solar capacity of 23.12 GW till July this year, Parliament was informed today. The data regarding generation of power from various renewable energ…
Solar Developers May Be Able to Avoid Solar Tariffs Under New IRS Tax Credit Guidance
At the end of June, the U.S internal revenue service (IRS) clarified the rules surrounding when solar developers are allowed to take the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar projects. The 30 percent tax credit is available until the end of …
China’s Domination of the PV Industry: Veni, Vidi, Vici
There is no doubt that in terms of solar, China came, it saw, it conquered. Now, a hiccup in either China’s production of PV cells and modules or in its deployment of PV systems would ricochet around the global PV industry.
Why California’s Rooftop Mandate Isn’t Good Enough for Some Solar Enthusiasts
You might expect the debate over California’s new rooftop solar mandate to pit two well-defined camps against each other. But there are more than two sides.
California Says New Residential Buildings Must Have Solar
Energy efficiency building standards officially adopted by California yesterday will require new homes in the state to have solar PV systems starting in 2020.
Hawaii Takes Historic First Step Toward Creating ‘Utility of the Future’ Now
In what could be the beginning of the new way forward to utilities, on Tuesday, Hawaiian Gov. David Ige signed the Ratepayer Protection Act, a new law that directs utilities in Hawaii to change their business models and fully decouple revenue and capit…
7 Pro-Earth Actions You Can Take on Earth Day
Earth Day is Sunday, April 22, and while it’s easy to appreciate a day that celebrates the importance of environmental protection, it’s not as easy to figure out what actions you can take on Earth Day to show your support for the movement.
Notes from the Solar Underground: Marketing Basics Price, Place, Product, Promotion
Price, place, product, promotion — the three Ps of marketing are drummed into every marketing and business school student as the basics of market strategy. True…but everything is relative and as the energy industry remains subsidized, mandated and subj…
Notes from the Solar Underground: Marketing Basics Price, Place, Product, Promotion
Price, place, product, promotion — the four Ps of marketing are drummed into every marketing and business school student as the basics of market strategy. True…but everything is relative and as the energy industry remains subsidized, mandated and subje…
From Residential to Utility-Scale, Solar Wins in Recent State-Level Actions
A series of recent state-level actions have been lauded by industry advocates as positive steps for driving deployments of residential, community-scale and utility-scale solar.
From Residential to Utility-Scale, Solar Wins in Recent State-Level Actions
A series of recent state-level actions have been lauded by industry advocates as positive steps for driving deployments of residential, community-scale and utility-scale solar.