Tag Archive for: solar

The number of solar residential installations continues to climb every year and to break records. A government estimate shows how much.

This year’s rooftop solar installations expected to break last year’s record, experts say

Rooftop solar installations had a record-breaking year in 2022 and experts believe this trend will continue.

Last year broke records for small-scale solar installations. National rooftop solar adoption has risen by 32.2 gigawatts since 2014, according to new estimates from the US Energy Information Administration, with 2022 holding the record for the most small-scale solar capacity added in one year (6.4 gigawatts).

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Source: CNET

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Unite to Light partnered with Direct Relief to send 600 solar Chandler Chargers and 150 solar-powered Luke Lights to Lahaina within days.

Unite to Light sends solar lamps and chargers to Lahaina

The smoke. The soot. The devastation. No one understands what it’s like to survive a wildfire … except another survivor of wildfire. So when Lahaina called for aid in the wake of the disastrous fires in West Maui earlier this month, a couple of Santa Barbara-based organizations were quick to answer.

Upon hearing last week of the need for electricity, lighting and communication to help the local population to recover, Santa Barbara-based nonprofit Unite to Light, co-founded by UC Santa Barbara professor John Bowers, partnered with Direct Relief to send 600 solar Chandler Chargers and 150 solar-powered Luke Lights to Lahaina within days.

“We stand ready to help recovery efforts in Lahaina and around the world by providing efficient and clean sources of light and electricity to those who need them the most,” said Bowers, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and of materials, who is also the organization’s board chair.

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Source: UC Santa Barbara

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For the six-month period, solar was 5.77% of total U.S. electrical generation. A year earlier, solar’s share was 4.95%.

Solar continues march to top renewable electricity source in the United States

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Renewable energy sources provided 25.11% of the nation’s electrical generation in the first half of 2023, according to a SUN DAY Campaign review of data from the U.S. EIA. The latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report shows that electricity from renewables is up slightly from the 25.06% reported for the first half of 2022.

Solar grew by 12.44%, compared to the same period in 2022. This was driven in large part by growth in “estimated” residential solar PV whose output increased by 25.59% — more than any other energy source — and accounted for nearly one-third (31.42%) of total solar production. For the six-month period, solar was 5.77% of total U.S. electrical generation. A year earlier, solar’s share was 4.95%.

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Source: Solar Power World

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New data from the SEIA on private investment suggests the law's subsidies for manufacturing and generation are significantly boosting industry activity levels.

The new climate law is upending the solar landscape

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The year since passage of the big climate law has brought over $100 billion in U.S. solar and storage company investments.

Why it matters: New data from the Solar Energy Industries Association — a major industry trade group — on private investment suggests the law’s subsidies for manufacturing and generation are significantly boosting industry activity levels.

  • The chart above shows how SEIA and the consultancy Wood Mackenzie see the law boosting power projects.

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Source: AXIOS

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Solar is growing at 33.7% year-on-year and is now at twice the capacity of coal power in China, according to a new report.

China’s solar is now at twice the capacity of its coal power – report

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Today, the China Electricity Council, a state-approved nonprofit national trade association, released its first-quarter report, the “Operational Situation of [the] Electric Power Industry.”

As of the end of March, according to the report, China’s installed power generation capacity was 2.62 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%. Every category of fuel – that is, both renewables and fossil fuels – saw year-on-year installed capacity increases.

Overall, the installed generation capacity of non-fossil-fuel energy power generation was 1.33 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%, accounting for 50.5% of the total installed capacity, and the proportion increased by 3 percentage points year-on-year.

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Source: electrek

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Agrivoltaics is experiencing increased adoption thanks in part to increased awareness about the associated benefits coming during a time of accelerated farm transitions.

Agrivoltaics hit ‘watershed moment’ as farmland transitions increase

“State governments, solar developers, farmers, and landowners are recognizing, and more importantly seeing first-hand, the multiple potential benefits that are possible with agrivoltaic projects,” Macknick said. “In some areas this is driven by land constraints, in other areas this is driven more by local perceptions of solar development, and in other regions farm economics are a major contributing factor.”

Legislative efforts on the federal level, as well as in states like Massachusetts and Colorado, “could spark further and more rapid change,” he said.

In May, Colorado enacted a law authorizing the state’s Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office to award grants for new or ongoing research on the use of agrivoltaics. Previous bills to fund agrivoltaics in the state were “primarily sponsored” by Democrats, the Colorado Sun reported in January, but this bill won key support from Republican Sen. Cleave Simpson, who said he became interested in the practice as a result of economic problems he experienced while running his family’s 800-acre alfalfa farm.

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Source: Utility Dive

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In total, solar accounted for 15.9% of the state’s retail electricity sales in 2021, the highest among all renewable energy sources.

Solar accounted for 16% of California’s electricity sales in 2021

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Solar became California’s biggest non-fossil fuel source of electricity sales in 2021, according to the latest data from the California Energy Commission.

In total, solar accounted for 15.9% of the state’s retail electricity sales, the highest among all renewable energy sources, followed by wind (11.5%) and geothermal (5.8%). In addition, 37.2% of the state’s retail electricity sales were from RPS-eligible (Renewables Portfolio Standard) sources in 2021, leading nuclear (10.8%) and large hydro (10.7%).

Together, non-fossil fuel sources contributed to about 59% of California’s retail electricity sales. This amount remained unchanged from 2020 despite the jump in renewables and drought-related declines in hydroelectric generation.

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Source: PV Tech

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Faith leaders & solar installers discuss how and why houses of worship are going solar & how the clean energy tax credits in the IRA can help

Houses of worship go solar

Houses of worship across America are going solar — putting their values into action, helping protect God’s creation, and saving money on their electric bills at the same time.

On May 18, 2023, Environment America Research & Policy Center and the Texas Solar Energy Society hosted a panel discussion featuring Reverend Richard Neusch, the Senior Leader of the Pastoral Staff at True Life Fellowship in Round Rock, Texas; Louis Petrik, the CEO of Longhorn Solar; and Dub Taylor, the Chief Operating Officer of the Texas PACE Authority. The panelists discussed why houses of worship are going solar, how they are going about it, and how to tap clean energy tax credits available to faith-based nonprofits for the first time this year. The panel was moderated by Johanna Neumann, Senior Director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy at Environment America Research & Policy Center.

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Source: Environment America

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The flat, open, sunny roofs of medium and large warehouses and distribution centers are perfect locations for solar panels.

Report: The huge solar potential of American warehouses

Solar power is getting cheaper and more efficient all the time, and America should take advantage of untapped solar energy opportunities, including the billions of square feet of warehouse rooftops across the country.

Solar power is the fastest growing form of energy in the United States, thanks in large part to its low and rapidly dropping price and to supportive public policies in some parts of the country. But the United States has the technical potential to produce 78 times as much electricity as it used in 2020 just with solar photovoltaic (PV) energy. To quickly and sustainably achieve a future of 100% renewable energy, America must take advantage of untapped solar energy opportunities.

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Source: Environment America

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Utility-scale battery energy storage system capacity in the West region of the US is forecast to grow exponentially over the next decade

Solar-fueled arbitrage potential supercharging storage economics in Western US

Utility-scale battery energy storage system capacity in the West region of the US is forecast to grow exponentially over the next decade, driven by aggressive renewable portfolio standards and related strong solar development, particularly across the sunshine-soaked desert southwest. The West is home to 6 GW of operating battery storage — 60% of the nationwide total. At over 32 GW, the pipeline of both stand-alone and colocated storage in the region is more than five times the installed base, however, as it tries to keep pace with the rapidly expanding solar fleet.

The Western US is home to the best solar resources in the country, and photovoltaic development has followed accordingly, with 30 GW in operation and another 51 GW in planning. This growing solar base is expected to lead to significant daytime generation surpluses, opening the door for the rapid expansion of battery storage. The West is home to just over 6 GW of operating storage capacity, but the pipeline has swelled to over 32 GW, with much of this capacity paired with a solar generator.

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Source: S&P Global

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