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.
Partial shading by solar panels delays bloom, increases floral abundance during the late-season for pollinators in a dryland, agrivoltaic ecosystem
By
Here we investigated the effects of solar arrays on plant composition, bloom timing and foraging behavior of pollinators from June to September (after peak bloom) in full shade plots and partial shade plots under solar panels as well as in full sun plots (controls) outside of the solar panels. We found that floral abundance increased and bloom timing was delayed in the partial shade plots, which has the potential to benefit late-season foragers in water-limited ecosystems.
China may deploy up to 75 GW of PV this year
By
Emiliano Bellini
According to new forecasts from AECEA, China may see strong development of large-scale solar plants this year, due to a massive pipeline of unsubsidized projects. Furthermore, the distributed generation segment will be boosted by incentives provided by the national and regional governments.
Germany’s solar power expansion reaches 8-year-high in 2020, adding nearly 5 GW
By
Edgar Meza
New photovoltaic capacity in Germany reached nearly five gigawatts (GW) last year, up nearly one GW from 2019, Sandra Enkhardt writes in pv magazine citing data from the country’s Federal Network Agency. Added PV capacity in 2020 reached 4.8 GW, the highest figure since 2012, according to data by research institute Fraunhofer ISE. Some 184,000 new solar power systems were installed last year, according to the German Solar Association.
Wind Power & Renewables Surge To New Record In China
By
Kurt Lowder
China has done it again! It has beat expectations on the amount of wind power added in 2020, with a staggering 72 gigawatts of wind power added last year.
FITs Drive 9,000 MW Boom in Vietnamese Solar Rooftops
By
Toby Couture
Vietnam has just witnessed a veritable solar tsunami, with installations jumping from about 400MW in 2019 to 9.500MW by the end of 2020. This is unprecedented for the rooftop solar PV market in any market I can think of – other markets like Japan, China, and Germany have each seen annual deployment levels between 7-15GW, but significant shares were made up of large ground-mounted systems.
SMART? – Solar In Massachusetts
By
Roy Morrison
Unless changed by DOER, or the legislature, the latest version of SMART erects strong barriers to moving effectively toward 100% renewable power in the long run, and will cost many renewable jobs, and millions of investment and tax revenue in covid-19 times. There are significant flaws cloaked within the regulations doubling the size of SMART.
Photon Energy breaks ground on 14.1-MWp Hungarian solar portfolio
By
Veselina Petrova
With these licences, five of the plants will get a feed-in tariff (FiT) of HUF 33,360 (USD 108.4/EUR 96.7) per MWh for 15 years and 5 months, while the other five will be entitled to the same tariff for 17 years and 11 months.
Bulgaria plans to introduce FITs for solar systems up to 30 kW
By
Emiliano Bellini
The government is considering a €0.12/kWh feed-in tariff for PV installations with a generation capacity of up to 5 kW and of €0.10 for 5-30 kW systems. If implemented, the scheme will come into force next month.
Germany installed 380 MW of solar in April
By
Sandra Enkhardt
Rooftop PV financed by a national feed-in tariff (FIT) program continued to be the driver of growth, with 318 MW of new capacity in April, indicating little impact from the public health crisis on demand for residential and commercial rooftop solar thus far.
Germany eliminates 52 GW cap for solar incentives
By
Sandra Enkhardt
The country’s coalition government reached an agreement on Monday to remove the limit from the national renewable energy law. However, economy minister Peter Altmaier has not said when the measure will be implemented.
