Tag Archive for: solar

In California, batteries now contribute 60 times more to peak capacity than they did in 2017.

Batteries are already helping power grids weather a hotter world

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On Tuesday, the UK Met Office recorded the country’s first-ever temperature above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) at London’s Heathrow Airport just before 1 p.m., as temperatures were still rising. High demand sent power prices in the UK up 5% in one day.

Across the Channel, things have been even more volatile. Europe’s heat wave has reduced France’s available nuclear power, as the river water used to cool nuclear plants became too hot to be effective. As a result, day-ahead baseload power prices settled at 610 euros per megawatt-hour — about 10 times higher than prices from 2017 to 2021.

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Source: Bloomberg

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Starting in January, most new commercial construction in California will be required to install some solar generation and battery storage.

New California building codes include climate change mandates

Starting in January, most new commercial construction in California will be required to install some solar generation and battery storage, along with heat pump technology, as the state moves toward its zero-carbon goals.

The new 2022 building standards mandate, approved by the California Energy Commission, adds to the renewable solar mandate that went into effect in January 2020 for all new single-family residential construction.

“Solar as a standard feature on all new homes went pretty smooth,” said Bob Raymer, technical director with the California Building Industry Association in Sacramento.

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Source: Biz Journals

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Last April, sustainable wind and solar energy sources produced 17.96 percent more electricity than nuclear power plants for the first time

US produces more power from wind and solar than nuclear for the first time

In April of this year sustainable wind and solar energy sources produced 17.96 percent more electricity than nuclear power plants, the first time the former have overtaken the latter in U.S. history.

This surge in wind and solar-generated electricity meant that clean energy, which also includes geothermal, hydroelectric and biomass energy, comprised nearly 30 percent of the total electricity in the whole U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. In 2021, clean energy only made up around 20 percent of the total electricity across the country.

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Source: Newsweek

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Canada, US, and Mexico signed an agreement to lift Trump-era tariffs, after an independent panel said that the duties violated the provisions of existing trade agreements.

US lifts tariffs on solar products from Canada and Mexico

Canada, the United States, and Mexico signed an agreement to lift Trump-era tariffs, after an independent panel said that the duties violated the provisions of existing trade agreements.

Nearly half a year after an independent panel said that the Section 201 tariffs were not in compliance with the 2018 Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the US government has agreed to lift those tariffs for Canadian-made solar products.

The three countries have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said reflects the countries’ shared commitment to combat climate change and develop renewable energy.

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Source: PV Magazine

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The maximum grant sizes of the CalAPP program ranges between $40,000 and $100,000 depending on population and the application is simple.

California Energy Commission to give grants to cities, counties that adopt SolarAPP+

California recently launched a first-in-the-nation initiative to spur growth in rooftop solar and reduce consumer costs by cutting red tape that impedes solar installations.

The California Energy Commission’s “CalAPP” program will provide incentives to cities and counties to adopt SolarAPP+, software designed by the federal Dept. of Energy using innovative technology that issues building permits for rooftop solar in real time. SolarAPP+ eliminates permitting delays, standardizes the permitting process between jurisdictions and reduces the cost of solar, leading to solar on more roofs.

Properties that install solar first need to receive a permit from the local building department, but outdated and bureaucratic permitting requirements in many areas combined with chronic staffing shortages can add months of delays and thousands of dollars to solar projects. In many cases, property owners give up on solar entirely. Even in the several cities and counties with streamlined solar permitting, different processes and requirements unique to that jurisdiction can add significant costs to contractors who pass those on to their customers.

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Source: Solar Power World

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The recent decision by the Biden administration to waive tariffs on solar panels from Southeast Asia gave the industry a much-needed boost

The US solar boom is back on track

The solar energy industry in the U.S. has grown rapidly over the last decade, second only to wind power. But supply chain issues, made worse by the tariffs on solar panels manufactured in Southeast Asia, have been pushing costs up for the U.S. solar industry. This month, President Biden announced the waiving of certain tariffs on solar imports, sending stocks soaring, and potentially giving the sector a game-changing boost.

U.S. solar energy production increased from 1.82 TWh in 2011 to a giant 163.7 TWh in 2021, with significantly more sectoral growth than any renewable source other than wind. Solar photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity is now enough to power around 22 million homes, with solar power accounting for 50 percent of all new electricity-generating capacity added in the first quarter of 2022.

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Source: Oil Price

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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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