The incumbent electricity industry is using a range of tactics to curtail the spread of solar PV, which is upending their business model. These includes tariffs and connections, and creating friction between the “haves” and “have nots”. Is solar about to experience the same trend of “antis” as the wind energy industry?
If Australia’s PV deployment continues at the recent frenetic pace, it threatens to take much of the cream out of the wholesale electricity market.
Report finds 40% of solar PV projects currently in progress in the US come in under 500kW – including PV arrays on sheep farms. Baa.
A company whose name translates as ‘rural energy’ is installing over 500 solar systems a day in one of the poorest countries in the world.
Grid parity for solar PV now exists in 102 countries. Wholesale parity will follow as module costs fall another 50 per cent.
Strong fourth-quarter demand for solar photovoltaic power will drive 80% year-over-year growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
Solar pioneer Stuart Wenham says solar module costs will fall another 50%, and houses with solar will look more like remote area power supplies
MidAmerican Solar and SunPower mark the commencement of the 579MW Antelope Valley Solar Projects with a community celebration.
New report suggests rooftop solar should be embraced as a natural hedge against volatile electricity prices, and to hasten transition to low carbon system. But it warns that incumbents are lined up against the technology, but politicians would be ill-advised to side with the owners of legacy assets.
Electric vehicles and household solar PV systems are the perfect technological and ideological fit. So why aren’t they being promoted in this way?
In Abu Dhabi, the largest concentrating solar power plant in the world – 100MW – is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
Considering the fossil-fuel lobby’s failure to defeat Obama, and his newfound interest in climate change, where does the US rank in renewable energy development?
Hareon CEO sees China rooftop solar boom, but worried about conflict in Australia with energy incumbents. “This is not about individual companies’ commercial interest.”
SunPower, the US solar giant, says module costs continue to fall sharply, battery storage will be economical “very shortly”, and it’s about to move into the energy management business. And it says, solar has “barely scratched” the $2 trillion global electricity market. No wonder the utilities have hit the panic button.
German solar giant Conergy predicts strong growth in Australian solar market as solar PV costs fall below 13c/kWh – well below retail prices.
Utilities release a new report that suggests non solar households are paying $30 a year to cross-subsidise rooftop solar. That’s less than one tenth of the cross-subsidy on air-conditioning. But air-con is good for the utilities business, rooftop solar is not.
New report from America’s National Institute of Standards and Technology offers a guide to creating houses that generate as much energy as they use.
Did removing seven nuclear power plants endanger Germany’s electricity supply? And what long-term strategy is there to manage a grid without nuclear?
