Tag Archive for: solar

Solar accounted for most of the capacity the nation added to its electric grids last year. That feat marks the first time since World War II.

Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII

Solar accounted for most of the capacity the nation added to its electric grids last year. That feat marks the first time since World War II, when hydropower was booming, that a renewable power source has comprised more than half of the nation’s energy additions.

“It’s really monumental,” said Shawn Rumery, senior director of research at the Solar Energy Industries Association, or SEIA. The trade group announced the 2023 numbers in a report released today with analytics firm Wood MacKenzie. The 32.4 gigawatts that came online in the United States last year shattered the previous high of 23.6 gigawatts recorded in 2021 and accounted for 53 percent of new capacity. Natural gas was next in line at a distant 18 percent.

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Source: Grist

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Feed-in Tariff program has 155 projects with a combined capacity of 105.2MW in service as of Dec. 2023, according to the program dashboard.

Los Angeles public-private partnership aims to advance industrial solar

Dive Brief:

  • A 1.5-megawatt solar array atop an industrial building in the Panorama City neighborhood of Los Angeles is the latest renewable energy project to take advantage of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Feed-in Tariff program.
  • FiT has 155 projects with a combined capacity of 105.2 megawatts in service as of December 2023, according to the program dashboard. Another 114 projects representing 72 MW are planned or under development, leaving 57.7 MW in capacity for eligible applicants.
  • Applicants must agree to sell power back to LADWP for at least 10 years, according to the program website — one of several barriers to participation that Arielle Lopez, policy and programs associate for sustainability at the Los Angeles Business Council, identified in an interview with Facilities Dive.

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Source: Utility Dive

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Developers and power plant owners plan to add 62.8 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in 2024.

Solar and battery storage to make up 81% of new US electric-generating capacity in 2024

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Developers and power plant owners plan to add 62.8 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in 2024, according to our latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. This addition would be 55% more added capacity than the 40.4 GW added in 2023 (the most since 2003) and points to a continued rise in industry activity. We expect solar to account for the largest share of new capacity in 2024, at 58%, followed by battery storage, at 23%.

Solar. We expect a record addition of utility-scale solar in 2024 if the scheduled 36.4 GW are added to the grid. This growth would almost double last year’s 18.4 GW increase, which was itself a record for annual utility-scale solar installation in the United States. As the effects of supply chain challenges and trade restrictions ease, solar continues to outpace capacity additions from other generating resources.

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Source: EIA.gov

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The Irvine office campus Intersect is adding a mega-solar project atop its roofs and car canopies in addition to a battery array.

Irvine’s Intersect office campus going solar

An Irvine office campus is adding a mega-solar project atop its roofs and car canopies in addition to a battery array.

MetLife Investment Management is working with DSD Renewables to install the 2.2-megawatt solar project and 510 kWh battery storage system at Intersect, on behalf of property owners PGGM and MetLife.

MetLife and DSD estimate the solar project will generate more than 3.5 million kWh of energy annually, which should provide for 74% of Intersect’s required power. The battery system also will store excess electricity generated, supporting the grid by reducing peak demand.

The project at the campus along Von Karman Avenue near John Wayne Airport should be completed in 2025, MetLife said.

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Source: The Orange County Register

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The federal IRA has made it possible for governments and tax-exempt entities like houses of worship to get tax credits for renewable projects.

Across the country, houses of worship are going solar

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On a Sunday morning in Charlevoix, a small town surrounded by lakes in northern Michigan, people gathered in the Greensky Hill Indian United Methodist Church. The small, one-room log building is almost 200 years old and the hymns are sung in English and Anishinaabemowin.

It was December, so Pastor Johnathan Mays was leading an Advent service, one of his last, since he would soon retire. In between reflections on scripture, Mays touched on an important venture: The church was planning to install solar panels on its larger meeting hall, working with Michigan-based nonprofit Solar Faithful to do so.

Greensky Hill has a long history of environmental care and stewardship, grounded in Anishinaabe culture, with a majority Native congregation.

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Source: Grist

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CVS Health is going solar at nearly 1,000 locations through a new agreement with Constellation Energy Corporation.

CVS continues sustainable energy efforts at East Coast, California stores

CVS Health is going solar at nearly 1,000 locations through a new agreement with Constellation Energy Corporation.

The pharmacy chain has announced two agreements that total 264,000-megawatt hours with Constellation to purchase zero-emission, renewable energy equivalent to the annual electricity use of nearly 1,000 CVS Health locations in California, Washington D.C., Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.

CVS Health’s deals are made possible by Constellation’s long-term agreements with solar projects located in California and Maryland. CVS will receive approximately 264,000 megawatt hours of energy per year through its retail agreement with Constellation, with that energy matched by Green-e Energy Certified RECs sourced from other renewable facilities throughout the U.S.

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Source: CSA

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Between US$7 and US$9 billion in transferable tax credit transactions were made last year in the US, according to a report from Crux.

Up to $9 billion in transferable tax credit transactions made in 2023 in the US

Between US$7 and US$9 billion in transferable tax credit transactions were made last year in the US, according to a report from Crux, an ecosystem for entities to transact and manage transferable tax credits.

The domestic clean energy infrastructure market is expected to grow even further in 2024 as transactions last year only started after the US Department of Treasury released the guidance on transferability in June, which already grew to a third of the traditional tax equity market, estimated at US$23 billion in 2023.

Tax credits for clean energy were made transferable by the Inflation Reduction Act. The move was aimed at making it easier for companies without specialist tax credit or tax equity experience to invest in clean energy.

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Source: PV Tech

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If successful, Sweetwater could be the first drinking water reservoir in the United States to host renewable energy of this kind.

San Diego could be first to float solar on drinking water

A south San Diego water district is thinking about powering itself with energy from the sun.

Leaders at Sweetwater Authority, which serves National City, western Chula Vista and Bonita, hired a contractor to study how floating solar panels on its namesake reservoir could reduce its budget. If successful, Sweetwater could be the first drinking water reservoir in the United States to host renewable energy of this kind.

Sweetwater’s board hired Noria Energy on June 28 to design a 3.75 megawatt solar array atop 10 acres of the reservoir. Noria has built floating solar arrays on top of a hydroelectric reservoir in Urra, Colombia and on wastewater treatment ponds in Healdsburg, California, both smaller than the solar panel array proposed at Sweetwater.

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Source: Voice of San Diego

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DOE recently released clean energy performance standards that encourage federal buildings under construction to incorporate solar.

The promise and challenge of solar on government-owned property

State and federal agencies have recently embraced the economic and environmental benefits that come with siting solar power on government-owned property. The Dept. of the Interior (DOI) recently proposed new rules to responsibly boost renewable energy deployment on public lands, showing the federal government can be a leader in combating climate change and contributing to greening and growing the nation’s economy.

“Our public lands are playing a critical role in the clean energy transition,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, Bureau of Land Management director, a sentiment increasingly shaping the actions taken by our nation’s policymakers. But just as quickly as government leadership can start a green movement, inconsistent policies can slow progress already in motion.

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Source: Solar Power World

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US EIA forecasts new capacity will boost the solar share of total generation to 5.6% in 2024 and 7.0% in 2025, up from 4.0% in 2023.

US EIA: Solar will supply almost all growth in US electricity generation through 2025

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We expect solar electric generation will be the leading source of growth in the U.S. electric power sector. In our January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), which contains new forecast data through December 2025, we forecast new capacity will boost the solar share of total generation to 5.6% in 2024 and 7.0% in 2025, up from 4.0% in 2023.

The STEO includes two Between the Lines articles that discuss how our forecast for Brent crude oil prices performed in 2023 and a closer look at our Brent price forecast for 2024 and 2025. We expect U.S. crude oil and natural gas production growth to slow, but both continue to reach new records.

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Source: Clean Technica

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