From the editor: James Hansen is behind the times on wind and solar
James Hansen has played a very important role in publicizing the dangers of Climate Change. But his remarks on renewable energy show that he is not well informed on the current state of wind, solar and grid integration.
MIT report questions value of distributed solar
The Utility of the Future report decries poor state-level rate-making, mythical cross-subsidies by non-solar customers, and economies of scale as reasons that adding more distributed PV to utilities’ portfolios make little long-term economic sense.
Kit Carson Co-op voluntarily commits to 100% solar electricity in summer
The New Mexico power producer has always wanted to serve its customers with renewable energy, but was severely limited by a previous contract. Now, thanks to a landmark FERC ruling and a new ‘angel’ wholesale-electricity supplier, the co-op can finally reach its goals.
Solar receives transmission boost in the West
As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution and create clean energy jobs, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell approved two transmission lines to deliver energy across Southwest.
IEA: solar, wind need new policies to tackle variability concerns
New report by the International Energy Agency identifies the integration of masses of variable renewable energy as the chief challenge facing next-generation solar and wind power, citing policy support as key in maximizing potential.
Bill Gates’ energy innovation fund commits to $1 billion in investment
The Breakthrough Energy Coalition is backing research on zero-carbon technologies; however its guidelines show a lack of understanding of solar technology and market development.
Report finds net metering is not sustainable over the long-term
The report by electricity market researchers finds that the value that solar contributes to the grid decreases with higher penetrations, making net metering unsuitable in the long run. But in most markets, those higher penetrations are still a long way off.
Renewables rise to 15% of U.S. electricity generation in Q1-Q3 2016
While solar’s share of net U.S. generation was only 1.4%, this is a 40% increase from a year ago.
Intertek Confirms SolarEdge inverters are UL 1741 SA Smart Inverters
“With PV inverters taking on an expanded role in energy management, they are continually acting as the solar energy system’s brain by controlling monitoring, storage, communications, and smart grid interactions,” stated Lior Handelsman, VP Marketing and Product Strategy of SolarEdge.
HECO sees significant uptick in self-supply applications
After protracted wrangling over solar adoption in Honolulu, the state’s citizens are taking matters into their own hands — joining a self-supply program that could show the way to NEM 2.0
