Fire at Tennessee polysilicon fab, NJ man scams the feds for $3 million in solar rebates: pvMB 05/06/19
It’s Monday, and it is pvMB time. Today in addition to the dark news in the headline, we also bring you three new directors at Rocky Mountain Institute, and record levels of solar curtailment in California this April.
Energy Freedom bill moves forward, Spruce raises $208 million, stable solar pricing: pvMB 05/03/19
Happy Friday and welcome to the pvMB. Today we also bring you the Texas Senate passing a bill to prevent municipalities from interfering with citizens going solar, solar for schools in Minnesota, and more!
Corporate solar procurement knocks it out of the park in 2018
According to Rocky Mountain Institute corporations have signed contracts for 2.8 GW of solar in the United States this year, a gigawatt more than the deals signed in all previous years combined.
Clean energy versus gas
Solar and energy storage, either on their own or as part of clean energy portfolios, are showing that they can compete with natural gas in the United States. But will regulators wake up to this reality before half a trillion dollars worth of future stranded assets are built?
Tri-State could save $600 million by switching from coal to renewables
A study finds that “just the operating costs of many existing coal assets” now exceed total costs for new solar and wind power in the Mountain West. The Tri-State utility, for example, could save $600 million by 2030 by phasing out five coal units in favor of solar, wind and purchases of wholesale capacity and power.
Rush to gas risks hundreds of billions in stranded assets
A new report by Rocky Mountain Institute finds that gas plants proposed across the United States over the next 15 years could be replaced by clean energy portfolios at a net savings, and that these projects are at risk of becoming stranded assets.
RMI: Community solar market could reach $30 billion
Long rumored to be a market the industry needed to exploit, RMI says challenging – but fixable – barriers remain.
RMI lays out paths for utility evolution
The research organization’s latest publication looks at what it will take for utilities to meet the changing demands of the 21st century, including accommodating distributed solar and energy storage.
Inside the DOE grid study – an interview with Mark Dyson of RMI
Mark Dyson, a manager at Rocky Mountain Institute’s electricity practice, has some things to say about what the DOE grid study released last night got right – and what it got wrong.
Staying below 2 degrees is “possible and practical” says RMI
The Rocky Mountain Institute’s new report Positive Disruption describes pathways for the global economy to mitigate serious global warming through accelerated adoption of renewable energy, the transformation of our energy and transportation system, and improved management of agriculture, forestry, and other land-uses. Staying below two degrees Celsius of warming is not just possible the report argues but practical given the accelerating declines in the cost of renewable energy.
