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.
REWIRE: Why California is Way Behind Germany In Solar Development
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In the meantime, the example of Germany is worth keeping in mind when you hear utilities laud their cooperation with California’s pilot feed-in tariff programs (while fighting their expansion in Sacramento). In California, we’re talking about 750 megawatts here, 190 megawatts there of feed-in tariff programs, and critics talk about the cost. As long as we trade in such penny-ante programs, Germany is far outracing us in solar development, even as it rethinks and retools its own programs, expensive precisely because they work. . .
Renewables International: The shift towards large systems
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Bernard Chabot
French expert Bernard Chabot analyzes and comments on the potential impacts on PV arrays size diversity of the PV installations in Germany from 2009 to the end of June 2012. . .
Cleantechnica: Japanese Home Improvement Co. Launches Billion-Dollar Solar Power Plant Program
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Solar and renewable energy market participants and observers have been expecting a boom in investment and demand in Japan in the wake of the Japanese government’s July introduction of a renewable energy feed-in tariff (FiT) program, which includes a higher than expected rate schedule for solar power installations. That boom’s beginning to materialize, as a growing roster of Japanese and overseas-headquartered businesses from within and outside the solar/renewable energy space announce plans to enter and ramp up their investments and activities. . .
CBC: Good year for farmers making solar power
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“When I installed that, it probably never crossed my mind that it was any sort of risk-management tool. But certainly I have commented this summer that if it’s not going to rain, at least the sun is shining and it’s making electricity,” Donohue said. . .
Renewables International: German wind and PV lower European market power prices
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Bernard Chabot
In countries with a large penetration rate of zero fuel cost renewables (wind power in Denmark and Spain, wind and PV in Germany), the “merit-order effect” (avoiding the most costly means of power production to cover peak loads) is already well documented. In this article, French expert Bernard Chabot shows how the penetration rate of combined wind and PV production in Germany already lowers the European Electricity Index (ELIX) for electricity markets in Germany/Austria, France and Switzerland. . .
Renewables International: The “softening effect” of wind and solar on Grid Integration
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Bernard Chabot
French expert Bernard Chabot explains another benefit from a balanced mix of wind and solar: their combined daily maximum outputs are lower than the addition of their installed capacity, allowing for a lower maximum carrying capability for electrical systems designed for the large penetration of renewables. Specifically, Germany’s targets turnout to be in line with maximum power demand. . .
PV-Magazine: Worldwide tabulation of solar PV feed-in tariffs
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pv magazine has compiled detailed information on photovoltaic feed-in tariffs (FITs) in different countries and regions. This is constantly updated with the latest developments from around the world, with links to sources and more detailed information. . .
John Farrell: Why We Pay Double for Solar in America (But Won’t Forever)
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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. . .
Giles Parkinson: How big utilities propose to kill solar PV
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RenewEconomy has written before that the proliferation of solar PV in the mass market – reducing household energy costs and offering negative cost emissions abatement – has the potential to redefine the energy price debate, if the politicians could seize the moment. But they are under intense pressure from the industry, and all along the value chain from retailers to state government-owned distributors. . .
Renewables International: How wind and PV complement each other
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Bernard Chabot and Craig Morris
From January to June 2012, data published on the EEX web site show that, if well balanced, PV and wind production can complement each other along the seasons, leading to an easier to manage increasing contribution of variable but predictable renewable energy sources. A guest article by French expert Bernard Chabot. . .
