Articles by
John Farrell
Citizen Ownership Remains Foundation of German Renewable Energy Explosion
By
John Farrell
placeholderI’ve been posting updates on local ownership of renewable energy in Germany since early 2011, and it’s abundantly clear that the Germans have yet to back down from their commitment to democratic, locally owned power.
Grist: How to Phase Out Incentives and Grow Solar Energy in USA
By
John Farrell
The intersection of electricity and solar prices and the need for new policy provides an opportune moment to consider changing American solar policy to match what is used in the most advanced solar economies. Three of the top four solar nations and nearly 90% of the world’s solar capacity has been installed with a policy called a feed-in tariff.4
ILSR: An Enormous Question for ‘Solar Choice’
By
John Farrell
This week, a coalition of companies that provide leasing contracts for solar to home and business customers declared war on this “value of solar” policy, and pretty much every financial model for compensating solar energy producers that isn’t net metering. . . including feed-in tariffs.
ILSR: Natural Gas isn’t a Bridge Fuel, it’s a Gateway Drug
By
John Farrell
In his State of the Union, President Obama added to the conventional wisdom that supplanting coal with natural gas will act as a bridge toward a climate solution. Unfortunately, gas is more of a gateway drug than a bridge to a clean energy future.
ILSR: The High Cost of the Solar Middleman
By
John Farrell
In other words, we pay twice for bad solar policy in America. Complicated tax incentive, interconnection, and contract policy makes solar cost more to install than in mature markets like Germany. Solar leasing middlemen simplify the complications, but at a price premium to (complicated) individual ownership.
REW: Ontario Kills Coal, But Local Renewables Program Falters
By
John Farrell
It was one of the most ambitious renewable energy programs in the world when it launched in 2009, committing the Canadian province to buy power from thousands of new renewable energy systems. It was open and accessible to the average person, and it was committed to buying power only from projects that were "made in Ontario." And it was part of a plan to kill off coal-fired power generation by the end of 2014.
ILSR: Why Master Limited Partnerships are a Lousy Policy for Solar, Wind, and Taxpayers
By
John Farrell
There are many ways the federal government could improve its policy toward renewable energy. A CLEAN Contract or feed-in tariff could supplant tax credits that act as a barrier to production-based payment for energy and avoid paying for panels that don’t produce power. . .
ILSR: Summary of Expect Delays: Reviewing Ontario’s “Buy Local” Renewable Energy Program
By
John Farrell
The bottom line is that the FIT program and its predecessors (despite facing significant threats) have jumpstarted renewable energy development in Ontario: the province would rank #4 and #11 for solar and wind deployment, respectively, if it were a U.S. state. It has created 31,000 jobs. It has also enabled widespread participation in renewable energy generation: 1 in 7 Ontario farmers is participating, earning a return on their investment. Finally, it has enabled the province to shut down all of its coal-fired power plants by the end of 2014.
ILSR: Expect Delays Reviewing Ontario’s “Buy Local” Renewable Energy Program
By
John Farrell
A comprehensive report on the status of Ontario's groundbreaking FIT program. . . "A remarkable 1 out of 7 farmers in the province is generating energy via the feed-in tariff microFIT program. . . It’s no longer just a “buy local” FIT program, but also an “own local” one."
ILSR: Minnesota’s New (Standard Offer) Solar Energy Standard
By
John Farrell
But Minnesota’s new law is hardly the most ambitious standard, with a total requirement for the state’s investor-owned utilities that sums to less than 0.9% of electricity sales by 2020. It also fails to grow the pool of investment in clean energy, tapping existing conservation and renewable energy funds rather than using the proposed assessment to get a 3-to-1 return on public investment. Finally, it remains to be seen if the value of solar concept will result in a more fiscally sustainable strategy for utilities to accommodate more solar power or an opportunity for them to squash competition in the name of their shareholders.
U.S. CLEAN Programs: Where Are We Now? What Have We Learned?
By
John Farrell
Another useful report by ILSR on feed-in tariffs (CLEAN Programs) that I may have missed. As ILSR says, while late to the game, Americans are finally in the game. In 2012, all or part of fourteen American states have adopted CLEAN contracts for renewable energy. Many more are in development.
John Farrell: Why We Pay Double for Solar in America (But Won’t Forever)
By
John Farrell
There’s an article in the most recent issue of PHOTON describing a German family that got a 4.6 kW PV array installed and interconnected to their roof 8 days after calling a solar installer for the first time. The homeowner had a proposal from the installer within 8 hours. The installer called the utility the morning of the installation to request an interconnect that afternoon. The installer called at 10am, the utility came and installed 2 new meters and approved the interconnect at 2:37pm– the same day. The online registration of the PV system with Federal Grid agency and approval of the feed-in tariff took 5 minutes. . .
