Solar energy usage has increased across northwest Syria as the destruction of power stations has led to constant power cuts.

Solar power in Syria: The energy of choice in light of a wrecked electrical grid and fuel hikes

The outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011 saw the devastation of huge swathes of the country’s infrastructure. Power cuts became rampant in many different regions, which have struggled with the lack of a steady electricity supply – the backbone of modern life – ever since.

In addition to the widespread destruction, the Assad regime deliberately targeted power stations as a form of retaliation against civilians in areas which had escaped his control. This situation sparked the search for alternative options – and solar panels today are the preferred option of many.

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Source: The New Arab

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Solar activists protested at the California State Capitol as they await a decision to slash the rooftop incentive program to get solar panels

Solar activists protest at the California State Capitol ahead of looming decision on slashing solar incentives

Hundreds of people protested on the steps of the Capitol today as they await a decision to slash the rooftop incentive program to get solar panels.

The proposal from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) was released back in December, but pushback from those as high up as Gov. Gavin Newsom is likely delaying a final decision.

Their message painted on the street in front of the Capitol was hard to miss: “Gove, keep solar Growing.”

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Source: abc10

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To deal with blackouts in Gaza, many switch on diesel generators, but more and more people are now turning to solar power to keep the lights on.

Tired of power cuts, blockaded Gaza turns to solar panels

Blockaded by Israel since 2007, the Gaza Strip only has electricity for 12 hours per day on average – less when the conflict escalates.

So, in recent years, people across the Palestinian enclave have been turning to solar energy to power their businesses and homes.

Yasser al-Hajj, who owns a seaside fish farm and restaurant, installed solar panels six years ago.

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Source: Euronews

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At the eastern edge of England, a small community whose size oscillates with the seasons lives without any connection to the National Grid.

Small communities in England are using solar panels and turbines to reduce bills

At the eastern edge of England, where the River Blackwater meets the North Sea, a small community whose size oscillates with the seasons lives without any connection to the National Grid.

The Othona Community at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex has just four permanent residents, including wardens Richard Sanders and his wife, Debbie.

Mr Sanders describes the 20-acre (8-hectare) Othona site as a “Christian community that is open to all faiths and none”.

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Source: BBC

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The record 99.4 TW hours the EU generated in solar electricity this summer meant it didn’t need to buy 20 billion cubic metres of fossil gas.

Here’s how solar energy saved Europeans $29 billion this summer

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Solar power is helping Europe navigate an energy crisis of “unprecedented proportions” and save billions of euros in avoided gas imports, a new report finds.

Record solar power generation in the European Union this summer helped the 27-country grouping save around $29 billion in fossil gas imports, according to Ember, an energy think tank.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine severely threatening gas supplies to Europe, and both gas and electricity prices at record highs, the figures show the critical importance of solar power as part of Europe’s energy mix, the organization says.

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Source: World Economic Forum

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Babcock Ranch has nearby solar array that generates more electricity than the 2,000-home neighborhood uses.

This 100% solar community endured Hurricane Ian with no loss of power and minimal damage

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Anthony Grande moved away from Fort Myers three years ago in large part because of the hurricane risk. He has lived in southwest Florida for nearly 19 years, had experienced Hurricanes Charley in 2004 and Irma in 2017 and saw what stronger storms could do to the coast.

Grande told CNN he wanted to find a new home where developers prioritized climate resiliency in a state that is increasingly vulnerable to record-breaking storm surge, catastrophic wind and historic rainfall.

What he found was Babcock Ranch — only 12 miles northeast of Fort Myers, yet seemingly light years away.

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Source: News Channel 3 KESQ

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At the end of 2021, the US had 1,144 gigawatts of utility-scale electricity generation capacity.

There’s a mind-bending amount of solar in the US pipeline

At the end of 2021, the US had 1,144 gigawatts of utility-scale electricity generation capacity. That includes everything from 130-year-old hydro dams to brand-new wind farms and solar projects with batteries attached. It took over a century to install all of it, and today, companies want to build almost that much capacity, all over again.

In its annual review of utility-scale solar, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory  analyzed data from seven independent system operators and 35 utilities, which together represent about 85% of the nation’s electricity load, to see what’s awaiting connection. It found more than 1 terawatt of potential new power generation or storage capacity that has requested connection to transmission networks. To put that in perspective, the whole world hit 1 terawatt of installed solar capacity earlier this year.

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Source: Bloomberg

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ESS and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District announced that ESS would supply SMUD with flow batteries with total capacity of 200 MW/2GWh

ESS flow battery to supply 200MW/2GWh of energy storage to California utility

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ESS is an Oregon-based company that manufactures flow batteries that rely on simple, abundant, and inexpensive materials — iron, salt, and water. The secret sauce is the membrane that separates the positively charged liquid from the negatively charged liquid. Last year, ESS entered into an agreement to supply SB Energy, a division of SoftBank, with 2 GWh of flow batteries by 2026. That was a big deal for the fledgling company, but because SoftBank is also an investor in the company, it wasn’t really a sign of full-fledged acceptance from the utility industry.

Last week, that changed when ESS and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District announced that ESS would supply SMUD with flow batteries with a total capacity of 200 MW/2 GWh beginning next year. The utility plans to be a zero emissions energy supplier by 2030 — one of the most aggressive carbon reduction plans in the industry and 15 years ahead of the target set by the state of California.

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Source: Clean Technica

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US community solar is projected to grow substantially and represents a means of expanding access to underserved communities

Drivers of community solar in the US

In the race to deploy terawatts of solar power capacity across the US as a means to achieve the country’s clean energy targets, an often neglected area of deployment is community solar. There is at present around 4GW of community solar deployed in the country but the potential market size is more than ten times that when accounting for the various project pipelines that currently exist. And the speed of deployment is increasing.

Last year saw 1,154MW of community solar deployed in the US, up 29% year-on-year. And experts have commentated on a ‘paradigm shift’ when it comes to how the technology is viewed, with simpler, streamlined business models emerging and increasing financier appetite coupled with greater consumer appreciation driving the sector forward.

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Source: PV Tech

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Electricity-generating rooftop solar cells not only save on planet-warming carbon emissions, they also save a significant amount of water

Rooftop solar cells can be a boon for water conservation too

Electricity-generating rooftop solar cells not only save on planet-warming carbon emissions, they also save a significant amount of water, say a pair of Duke University researchers who have done the math.

A given household may save an average 16,200 gallons of water per year by installing rooftop solar, they found. In some states, like California, this saving can increase to 53,000 gallons, which is equivalent to 60 percent of the average household water use in the U.S.

You won’t see the savings on your home water bill, but they’re still important.

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Source: Duke Today

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