US nears 50% emission free electricity, wind & solar set records, solar up 23%
The United States’ power grid crossed 45% of emission free electricity in April, which will probably be our peak clean generation number for the year, as hydro and nuclear fall in the month.
A single solar panel can offset the carbon emissions of 10 trees
Using broad average values of 48.5 pounds of carbon sequestration per year for a mature tree, versus 0.85 pounds of emissions offset per kilowatt-hour of solar electricity, it’s clear that some tree clearing is acceptable from an emissions standpoint.
Entergy seeks to grow renewables up to 2500% over next decade
The power company has issued 2022 RFPs for 3 GW of new capacity, while projecting up to 17 GW of new renewable capacity by 2031.
Modeling, inverters, and weather – oh my!
The 2022 Solar Risk Assessment focuses on inverter failures and rosy risk projections, which are the leading causes of economic loss for utility scale solar facilities.
Single axis trackers on a commercial rooftop increase generation 37%
Alion Energy trackers thread the ROI needle with productivity gains from white roofs and bifacial modules, while design aggressively maximizes module count
Perovskite solar module march continues with 30-year “no thickness” layers and speed testing
A team at Princeton University developed a new technique to accelerate solar cell longevity testing, while concurrently discovering a layer, only a few atoms in thickness, which is credibly projected to support perovskites lasting thirty years.
$27 million in land lease payments for two solar facilities on public land
The Bureau of Land Management has approved a 50-year “right of way” request for 465 MW of solar power in Southern California.
Half a penny for “near firm” solar and trillions in renewable opportunities
NextEra, the United States’ largest renewable company sees 3.5 TW renewable capacity installations through 2050 worth $2 trillion. These figures could double if we were to fully decarbonize the economy.
Mo’ current, mo’ problems as higher wattage solar modules increase risk of thermal runaway
LONGi Solar outlines its high temperature mitigation logic in designing the lower current, higher wattage Hi-MO5 solar panel series.
US Government drops solar land lease rates by 3.4% to 21%
To support the US Government’s goal of installing 25 GW of renewable energy on public lands, per acre lease rates have been reduced for all renewable energy sources – some by greater than 50%.
