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.
SolarServer: California Governor Brown signs multiple bills to advance solar policies
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California Governor “Jerry” Brown has recently approved a number of bills to support the adoption of more solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and other sources of renewable energy, including a bill to require the state’s large private utilities to implement feed-in tariff programs by July 1st, 2013. . .
Renewables International: German PV market shrinks in August
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Energy expert Bernard Chabot takes a look at the PV installation data released on Friday by Germany’s Network Agency for August, which shows that both the market volume and average system size decreased considerably. . .
Solar Power Portal: Solar-generated electricity in the UK increases by 840 percent in one year
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Official statistics released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that the UK’s 1.38GW of installed solar capacity generated 0.5TWh of electricity in the second quarter of 2012 – an astonishing 840 percent increase from last year when solar contributed just 0.05TWh in the same period. . .
Grist: Why is rooftop solar cheaper in Germany than in the U.S.?
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Most of those differences can be attributed to policy, either directly or indirectly. PV installations don’t pay sales tax in Germany. Rules governing permitting and interconnection are much simpler. And of course there’s the biggie, which is German feed-in tariffs, whereby customers who install rooftop solar are guaranteed a high rate of return for the lifetime of the system. . .
Solar Server: Bulgaria retroactively cuts PV feed-in tariff rates up to 39%
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The nation of Bulgaria has introduced new, temporary feed-in tariff rates, including cutting the rates for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants above 200 kW by 5-39%. These rate reductions were decided at a closed session of the Bulgarian Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SWERC). The new rates went into effect on September 18th, 2012, and will apply to previously commissioned plants. . .
Denmark Reaches 2020 Goal for Solar Energy before Time
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Huge interest for solar energy solutions has made the amount of solar cells multiply much faster than expected. This is made possible by favourable framework conditions. In fact the solar cell capacity will be a hundred times bigger this year compared with 2010. Currently 36 MW capacity are being mounted every month. . .
PV-Tech: Solar power provides 8.4% of Italian electricity demand in August, report shows
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According to a monthly report from Italian grid operator Terna SpA, solar power provided 8.4% of total Italian electricity demand in August. It also revealed that electricity generated from PV during that month grew by 49.2%, from 1,501 GWh in August 2011 to 2,240 GWh in August 2012. . .
Renewables International: More onshore wind needed
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Bernard Chabot
French energy expert Bernard Chabot takes a look at German power production over the past 12 months and finds that an increase in onshore wind would make the supply of renewable power more reliable. . .
Italian Solar Generation Surpasses Wind for First Time
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Paul Gipe
Renewables Now Meet One-Quarter of Italy’s Electricity Supply–Solar Produces Nearly Twice Italy’s Famed Geothermal Power Plants–Italy’s Per Capita Solar Five Times that of California . . .
