Tag Archive for: solar

Ivy Energy saw the lack of advocacy for VNEM solar projects and actively joined the proceeding representing the multifamily customer class.

Massive win for multifamily solar in CPUC proceedings

The highly controversial CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) NEM 3.0 proceedings began in early 2021, and have been ongoing ever since. The Commission recently released its new proposed decision (PD) and voted on it December 15, 2022. It set out to revise the Net Energy Metering (NEM) tariff, which is the key policy allowing customers to install and monetize solar panels. One of the sub-tariffs, Virtual Net Energy Metering (VNEM), was included in the PD and several consequential changes were being proposed that would impact the compensation mechanism for clean energy projects at multifamily properties. Ivy Energy, a shared solar software provider saw the lack of advocacy for VNEM solar projects and actively joined the proceeding, exclusively representing the multifamily customer class.

Ivy’s policy team reviewed the initial stakeholder comments and found that the multifamily market was severely underrepresented. Furthermore, the CPUC’s initial analysis and proposal did not specifically study the impact on multifamily properties, yet was anticipating to change the entire program based on data strictly originating from the single-family home market. VNEM multifamily solar projects account for 1% of the live California solar projects. This was both eye-opening and alarming to see, as apartments and multifamily buildings have not seen the same level of market adoption of solar as single-family residential and have different challenges and opportunities. Changing the VNEM tariff without robust analysis would have had consequences on future market growth opportunities and the ability of multifamily owners to invest in solar. With the long-term impact in mind, Ivy stepped up huge with policy leadership to advocate for multifamily buildings in California’s solar transition.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Multi Family Dive

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

During the first ten months of 2022, renewable energy sources out-produced both coal and nuclear power by 16.62% and 27.39% respectively.

Analysis shows US wind and solar could outpace coal and nuclear power in 2023

A new analysis of federal data shows that wind and solar alone could generate more electricity in the United States than nuclear and coal over the coming year, critical progress toward reducing the country’s reliance on dirty energy.

The SUN DAY Campaign, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable energy development, highlighted a recently released U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) review finding that renewable sources as a whole—including solar, wind, biomass, and others—provided 22.6% of U.S. electricity over the first 10 months of 2022, a pace set to beat the agency’s projection for the full year.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Eco Watch

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

The CPUC approved 3 energy project contracts proposed by San Diego Gas & Electric, and 4 contracts proposed by Southern California Edison.

California greenlights more than 800 MW of storage and solar

,

The CPUC’s 11.5-GW mid-term reliability procurement order sought to meet the state’s grid needs between 2023 and 2026, given the then-planned retirement of the 2.2-GW Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant by 2025, as well as the closure of several natural gas plants. The state is now considering extending the life of the Diablo Canyon plant through the end of the decade. However, it continues to focus on procuring new clean energy resources to meet grid needs, with the 2021 decision requiring 2 GW to come online by August, another 6 GW by mid-2024, followed by installments of 1.5 GW and 2 GW in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

In September 2021, SDG&E issued a request for offers to meet its share of these procurement needs, and then reopened the solicitation last April for new bids as well as updates to previous ones. It filed a proposal with the commission in October, seeking approval of two lithium-ion battery storage projects – the 80-MW Bottleneck project and 100-MW Cald project – as well as a 20-MW hybrid solar and storage facility. SCE, meanwhile, also launched an RFO in 2021, and filed its latest proposal with the commission in October, proposing four storage projects, ranging from 69 MW to 230 MW, for a combined capacity of 619 MW.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Utility Dive

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

The most significant event for the clean energy economy in 2022 which is the IRA, is going to have reverberations throughout 2023 and beyond.

Four big things to expect in clean energy in 2023

In 2023, the country’s first super-size offshore wind farms will come online, or at least get close to it. U.S. sales of electric vehicles will continue to accelerate, likely hitting 1 million units per year for the first time. And, state lawmakers in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota are poised to pass climate and clean energy legislation.

Meanwhile, the most significant event for the clean energy economy in 2022—the Inflation Reduction Act—is going to have reverberations throughout 2023 and beyond as federal agencies work to implement the law and consumers and companies begin to see its benefits.

That’s a lot. And that’s just the top of my list of what to watch and expect this year.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Inside Climate News

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

UC Davis' Scientists are investigating how to better harvest the sun to make agrivoltaic systems more efficient in arid agricultural regions.

Harvesting light to grow food and clean energy together

People are increasingly trying to grow both food and clean energy on the same land to help meet the challenges of climate change, drought and a growing global population that just topped 8 billion. This effort includes agrivoltaics, in which crops are grown under the shade of solar panels, ideally with less water.

Now scientists from the University of California, Davis, are investigating how to better harvest the sun — and its optimal light spectrum — to make agrivoltaic systems more efficient in arid agricultural regions like California.

Click here to read the full article
Source: UC Davis

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

The project is a roughly 75-MW solar-to-hydrogen facility using Fusion Fuel’s HEVO technology, capable of producing up to 9,300 tons of green hydrogen annually.

Green hydrogen project powered by solar under development in California

Fusion Fuel and Electus Energy have entered a joint venture agreement to develop a large-scale green hydrogen project in Bakersfield, California.

The proposed project is a roughly 75-MW solar-to-hydrogen facility using Fusion Fuel’s HEVO technology, capable of producing up to 9,300 tons of green hydrogen annually. The project would require an estimated $180 million in capital investment, with a final investment decision expected in early 2024 and commissioning in the first half of 2025. Once operational, this project will provide enough hydrogen fuel to support over 1,000 Class 8 trucks or buses per day.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Solar Power World

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Avantus partnered with wildlife services to protect desert lands by retiring grazing rights on more than 215,000 acres.

Solar company protects 215,000 acres of Mojave Desert

Avantus, formerly 8minute Energy, partnered with wildlife services to protect desert lands by retiring grazing rights on more than 215,000 acres.

The company is partnering with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the Onyx Conservation project. Onyx will conserve and permanently dedicate the area in Kern County to wildlife forage.

As one of the largest mitigation projects in the nation, Onyx will permanently protect a swath of Mojave Desert seven times larger than San Francisco. This will protect and enhance desert wildlife and plants, including the western Joshua Tree.

Click here to read the full article
Source: PV Magazine

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Heliogen announced the $4.1M award from DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office for accelerating large-scale development of its technology

Solar thermal energy company receives $4.1M federal grant

Pasadena-based solar thermal energy company Heliogen Inc. on Oct. 24 announced that it is to receive a $4.1 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office to accelerate the large-scale development and deployment of its technology.

Heliogen has been developing technology to harness the sun’s energy to heat industrial materials used in manufacturing processes, providing an alternative to carbon-based fuels. Specifically, Heliogen’s apparatus starts with an array of mirrors that align to track the sun, then concentrate the solar energy to a nearby thermal tower, where it’s used to heat industrial materials.

Click here to read the full article
Source: LA Business Journal

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

Solar and wind energy reduced wholesale energy costs in Texas by $7.4 billion in the first eight months of this year.

Texas solar and wind resources saved consumers nearly $28 billion over 12 years

Solar and wind energy reduced wholesale energy costs in Texas by $7.4 billion in the first eight months of this year, creating average monthly savings of $925 million, according to a study IdeaSmiths released last week. In total, solar and wind resources have saved Texas residents nearly $28 billion over the past 12 years, according to the study.

With natural gas and coal prices at 10-year highs, Texas residences and businesses are on track to save an estimated $11 billion this year because of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ renewable energy fleet, the report states.

Click here to read the full article
Source: Utility Dive

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.

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

,

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.

Click here to read the full article
Source: News Channel 3 KESQ

—

If you have any questions or thoughts about the topic, feel free to contact us here or leave a comment below.