Tag Archive for: solar

The estimated US electric power sector by June is 65 GW of utility-scale solar-generating capacity and 138 GW of wind capacity.

EIA expects solar & wind to be larger sources of US electricity generation this summer

From Clean Technica:

In our Summer Electricity Outlook, a supplement to our May 2022 Short-Term Energy Outlook, we expect the largest increases in U.S. electric power sector generation this summer will come from renewable energy sources. These increases are the result of new capacity additions. We forecast utility-scale solar generation between June and August 2022 will grow by 10 million megawatt-hours (MWh) compared with the same period last summer, and wind generation will grow by 8 million MWh. Forecast generation from coal and natural gas declines by 26 million MWh this summer, although natural gas generation could increase in some electricity markets where coal supplies are constrained.

Wind and solar power electric-generating capacity has been growing steadily in recent years. By the start of June, we estimate the U.S. electric power sector will have 65 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar-generating capacity, a 31% increase in solar capacity since June 2021. Almost one-third of this new solar capacity will be built in the Texas electricity market. The electric power sector will also have an estimated 138 GW of wind capacity online this June, which is a 12% increase from last June.

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Source: Clean Technica

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Amazon agrees to 450 MW solar purchase in California with AES

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) has committed to buying electricity from 450 MW of solar parks to power its data centers in California under a deal with power distributor AES Corp (NYSE:AES).

The US e-commerce giant has sealed two power purchase agreements (PPAs) that will see it get renewable energy in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market. The power will be sourced from solar photovoltaic (PV) plants and 225 MW of battery storage projects with a four-hour duration.

The off-take deals were announced by AES on Thursday.

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Source: Renewables Now

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Solar growth is spreading into new U.S. markets as developers tackle grid challenges and new demand pockets open up in central states.Panel The Planet

US Senators urge Biden administration to expedite solar tariff investigation decision

Washington–Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and a bipartisan group of their colleagues to urge President Joe Biden to expedite and bring to a swift conclusion the administration’s investigation into solar panels and cells imported from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailanda and Cambodia. This investigation could expand harmful, job-killing tariffs on solar imports, raising costs on consumers, and has already caused widespread cancellations and delays in the U.S. solar industry.

The solar industry employs over 230,000 American workers. According to a new report issued by the Solar Energy Industries Association, 70 percent of U.S. companies say at least half of their solar workforce is at risk as a result of this investigation.

This bipartisan letter was also signed by Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Warner (D-VA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), John W. Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Angus King (I-Maine).

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Source: Feinstein

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Meet the power plant of the future: solar + battery hybrids are poised for explosive growth

America’s electric power system is undergoing radical change as it transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy. While the first decade of the 2000s saw huge growth in natural gas generation, and the 2010s were the decade of wind and solar, early signs suggest the innovation of the 2020s may be a boom in “hybrid” power plants.

A typical hybrid power plant combines electricity generation with battery storage at the same location. That often means a solar or wind farm paired with large-scale batteries. Working together, solar panels and battery storage can generate renewable power when solar energy is at its peak during the day and then release it as needed after the sun goes down.

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Source: The Conversation

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Working out the details of a circular solar economy

As solar grows rapidly as an energy source, the number of photovoltaic (PV) modules that are manufactured and installed each year will continue to expand. By 2050, the United States may have installed 1,600 gigawatts of PV (or more) to decarbonize its electricity system, about 20 times the amount installed today. Even before 2050, many of these PV modules may start retiring from service. What happens to those modules?

Many researchers and members of the PV industry, including researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), have begun to consider solutions to the end-of-life question for PV modules. Most envision a circular economy for PV materials in which modules (or the glass, silicon, aluminum, and other materials that compose them) are recaptured at the end of their life for reuse or recycling.

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Source: Clean Technica

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California utility SDG&E sees utility scale solar growing greater than 10x by 2045

California utility San Diego Gas & Electricity (SDG&E) has released new projections for meeting California’s decarbonization goals. The study, The Path to Net Zero: A Decarbonization Roadmap for California, predicts that in order to reach the mandated carbon neutrality by 2045, the state will need to quadruple its electricity generating capacity from 85 GW to 365 GW, add 40 GW of energy storage, and integrate 20 GW of green hydrogen – while also adding 4 GW of fossil gas with carbon capture and sequestration technology.

The utility said that they believe a mix of resources will be needed to “maintain electricity system reliability in the SDG&E service area” as total consumption increases by an estimated 100%, and peak demand grows by 85%.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Batteries, solar, wind and hydropower: Why renewable energy is essential to curbing climate change

The pace in which the world needs to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy needs to urgently accelerate as the threat from rising global temperatures increases each day, experts say.

There is a more than 50% chance that temperatures will exceed 2 degrees Celsius unless the ambitious climate pledges made leading up to the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference are not strictly adhered to, a study published this month in the scientific journal Nature found.

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Source: ABC News

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AI method learns from experienced staff on perovskite solar production lines

Academics from MIT and Stanford who have posited a new production method for perovskite solar cells have also developed a machine learning system which benefits from the experience of seasoned workers – and they’ve posted it online for anyone to use.

There’s no substitute for experience and researchers in the US have acknowledged the fact by coming up with a machine learning method for producing perovskite solar cells which can incorporate the observations of seasoned production line staff.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Solar soars as renewables chip away at American power kingpin gas

US electricity generation from renewable sources will increase to 23% in 2023 from 20% last year, as solar and wind begin to erode the leading market share of natural gas, according to a new report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

That shift, if lasting, would end the steady market gains of natural gas that began in 2014, enabling it to surpass coal two years later as the leading generation source in the world’s largest electricity market. Renewables will take 22% of the US power market this year.

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Source: RECHARGE

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How San Diego will feed its appetite for solar energy

San Diego is going to need lots of renewable energy if it’s going to nix planet-warming emissions from its economy in the coming decades, as it has pledged to do. One new study shows the county could technically generate what its people will need within its borders, but San Diego will probably need help from its neighbors.

Enter Imperial County. With a population 18 times smaller than San Diego, this 4.4 thousand square mile swath of land is rich in resources. It has first dibs on Colorado River water over entire western states, fueling a $2 billion agricultural industry that provides much of America’s winter vegetables.

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Source: Voice of San Diego

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