News & Articles on Solar Energy
While I have primarily worked with wind energy, I have long been a proponent of renewable energy in the broadest sense. This includes solar energy. My work in Canada, especially Ontario, stressed inclusion of solar energy because it had been previously overlooked. At one time Ontario was one of the leading jurisdictions in North America developing solar photovoltaics due in part to the programs I and others pushed. The political winds changed and these policies were abandoned and with it Ontario’s progress toward a renewable energy future.
Carbon Brief: Wind and solar are ‘fastest-growing electricity sources in history’
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External Source
Wind and solar are growing faster than any other sources of electricity in history, according to new analysis from thinktank Ember. It says they are now growing fast enough to exceed rising demand, meaning there will be a peak in fossil fuel electricity generation – and emissions – from this year. As a result, Ember says in its latest annual review of global electricity data that a “new era of falling fossil fuel generation is imminent”. Renewables met a record 30% of global electricity demand in 2023 and emissions from the sector would already have peaked if not for a record fall in hydropower, the analysis says.
Ember: It took 8 years for solar to go from 100 TWh to 1,000 TWh of power–and then just 3 years to pass 2,000 TWh
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External Source
Solar power is transforming the world — and at record speed. Solar electricity generation needed just eight years to grow from 100 TWh to 1,000 TWh. Then it took only three more years to double that — reaching 2,000 TWh in 2024. In each of those last three years, solar was the largest source of new electricity globally. No other electricity source has scaled this quickly.
Balcony Solar Tops 1.5 Million Systems in Germany
By
Paul Gipe
Alexander Jacob reports in an annual analysis of Germany’s burgeoning balcony solar market that the total number of systems registered …
Renewable Energy Nears 60% of German Electricity
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Paul Gipe
In what was once unthinkable, renewable energy from sun, wind, water, and biomass has generated 59.1 percent of German electricity …
Balcony Solar May Become a Reality in California
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Paul Gipe
Balcony solar, or plug-in solar for us Yankees, may actually become a thing in California. The state legislature passed plug-in …
EVs and the Grid: Supporting Resilience, or Driving Defection?
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External Source
EVs are giant batteries on wheels. They could smooth out the daily and seasonal variations of energy flows on the electric grid, making the grid more reliable and everyone’s electricity cheaper. But a self-serving alliance of disparate interests is working hard to discourage EV adoption. One front of their many attacks involves apocalyptic tales of grid collapse.
How British solar farms are returning shedloads of money to consumers
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David Toke
Solar farms given contracts by the British government to supply electricity to the grid are paying larger and larger sums to electricity consumers. Far from being given subsidies by consumers, they are subsidising the consumers. They will also act to depress electricity prices in general.
CA governor candidate Xavier Becerra proposes free ‘power hour’ electricity plan
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External Source
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra is proposing free electricity for millions of California households during part of the day, arguing the plan could help lower-income residents save money while encouraging energy use when solar power is most abundant. Becerra unveiled the proposal Tuesday at POLITICO’s Sacramento Summit, saying his plan would offer free electricity during a designated midday window. The Democrat said he would work with the regulators, energy providers and other stakeholders to determine how this would be paid, but didn’t outline a funding plan.
The ‘Guerrilla Solar’ Era Has Arrived, and Here’s What to Know
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External Source
Morris explained that the main benefit he sees with plug-in solar is that consumers are taking greater control of their energy costs and becoming participants in the transition to clean energy. He views this as part of creating and maintaining a political consensus that supports the transition, which is good for everyone. He also sees land-use benefits, with plug-in solar occupying otherwise unused spaces in yards and on roofs and balconies. His organization has calculated that widespread adoption of plug-in solar would meet about 2 percent of Germany’s electricity demand, which would reduce the need to build new power plants on undeveloped land.
Donald Trump, Champion of Renewable Energy
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External Source
The whole world now knows that relying on imported fossil fuels is a major economic and security risk. By contrast, the sun will shine and the wind blow whatever may be happening overseas. Renewables were already rapidly becoming cheaper than fossil fuels. Now it’s clear that they are also far safer. Thus Donald Trump has in practice become the world’s green energy champion.
