Environmental Concerns and Siting Requirements for Small Ground Mount Solar Projects

This paper will identify and explain the environmental concerns and siting requirements for small ground mount solar PV projects within the FIT 3 and EASR frameworks, discuss the discrepancies, interpretations, and provide a path forward towards successful project execution.

India Focuses on Safety as Country Rapidly Expands Solar Capacity

When new mandatory regulations for photovoltaic products go into effect, manufacturers will have to fast-track compliance.

Batteries That Make Use of Solar Power, Even in the Dark

Stanley Reed for the NY Times:  A new cash crop has sprung up on Nicholas Beatty’s enchanting farm near here. Rows of gray solar panels range over about 25 acres, turning sunlight into electricity, as dog-size muntjac deer hop by. The panels themselves, trouble-free money earners that feed into the electric grid, are no longer unusual on farms in Britain or other countries. What’s new in Mr. Beatty’s field is a hulking 40-foot-long shipping container. Stacked inside, in what look like drawers, are about 200 lithium-ion cells that make up a battery large enough to store a substantial portion of the electricity the solar farm puts out. The battery and its software give Mr. Beatty an advantage over other solar panel farmers. Power prices in Britain and elsewhere rise and fall, sometimes strikingly, during the day and over the year, depending on the supply and demand.   Cont'd...

Case Study: Solar Cube - Solar Tracking Solution

The client indicated a large number of high quality; 2 axis solar arrays built on rural and farm properties that were starting to fail.

New York set for offshore wind after environmental review

Daniel J. Graeber fro UPI:  Areas off the New York coast will be open for offshore wind energy bidders, but some area is reserved because of ecological concerns, the U.S. government said. The U.S. Interior Department, in coordination with its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said it would open 79,350 acres off the coast of New York up for a commercial wind energy lease sale. About 1,780 acres was removed because of environmental concerns associated with a subsea feature known as the Cholera Bank. "In a comment letter, the National Marine Fisheries Service identified the Cholera Bank feature as a sensitive habitat to be avoided for the placement of structures," an Interior Department stated read. "As a result of this removal, the revised lease area will be approximately two percent smaller than the lease area considered in the proposed sale notice."   Cont'd...

The Aquion Energy Saltwater Storage Battery

This system is working good in a 4000 sq ft shop & house combo, but could use more storage for peace of mind & will likely upgrade next year.

Elon Musk wants to sell you a better-looking solar roof amid slowing growth for panels

Ivan Penn and Russ Mitchell for The LA Times:  Like some kind of 21st century Willy Wonka, audacious entrepreneur Elon Muskchose a prime spot on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tour to unveil his latest attempt to energize an industry — roofs that generate solar power but look like no other.  Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Motors and chairman of SolarCity, showcased a line of high-design solar roof tiles that would replace clunky solar panels and tie into an upgraded version of the Tesla wall-mounted battery for those times when the sun doesn’t shine. The glass solar shingles resemble French slate, Tuscan barrel tile or more conventional roofing materials with a textured or smooth surface.  “The key is to make solar look good,” Musk said during the product introduction staged on the old set of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” series, where he had re-roofed four of the Wisteria Lane houses. “If this is done right, all roofs will have solar.”   Cont'd..

Half a million solar panels were installed every day in 2015.

Katie Herzog for GRIST:  Half a million solar panels were installed every day in 2015.  According to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewable energy, mostly solar and wind, accounted for more than half of all new electric capacity added in the world last year, a 15 percent jump from 2014. Globally, there is now more renewable power capacity than coal power capacity. Clean energy growth was especially high in China, which was responsible for about 40 percent of all new clean energy capacity. Get this: In China in 2015, two wind turbines were installed every hour. This surge in renewables, according to the IEA, can be attributed to policy changes, lowered costs, and improvements in technology.   Cont'd...

Follow-up: Moving off-the-grid and into a micro-house in the Southern Adirondacks

I would recommend this living situation to anyone! I feel that this isnt just a temporary fad but a trend that will continue especially for Millennials that are buried in debt, specifically student loans.

Bike Path In Poland Can Glow For 20 Years Using Solar Power

Andrew Conrad for PSFK:  It’s no Yellow Brick Road, but residents of Olsztyn, a town along the Lyna River in northern Poland, can now follow along this glowing bike path to travel safely to their destination. Using solar power, it is said that the path can remain illuminated for up to 20 years. The engineering breakthrough, developed by Polish firm TPA, was unveiled in late September as a 100-meter trial section with plans for expansion. The asphalt in the path is blended with particles that absorb energy from the sun during daylight hours and then glow for up to 10 hours once the sun goes down. The plan is to increase the shorter section following winter.   Cont'd...

Are We Understating the Potential for (and Uncertainty in) Wind Energy Cost Reductions?

Berkeley Lab study shows greater potential than many other recent assessments.

Europe's offshore wind industry booming as costs fall

The Guardian:  On a sunny October morning, our boat passes the run-down relicts of Liverpool’s maritime past and heads down the river Mersey and into the Irish Sea. As we steam offshore, I see in the distance a cluster of tall structures that soon reveal themselves to be towers of a wind turbine array. Arriving at the windfarm, six miles offshore, the turbines rise as high as 650ft, taller than the tallest church in the world. Each of the turbines’ three shiny metallic rotor blades is nearly 300ft long. “A single rotation of an eight-megawatt turbine will cover the daily electricity consumption of an average British household,” says Benj Sykes, vice president of Dong Energy Wind Power, the company that is constructing and co-owns this wind project, as the boat rocks in five-foot swells.   Cont'd...

What is a Stacked Perovskite/CIGS Solar Module?

As this result shows that the combination of two PV technologies can outperform the power generation of single junctions the significance of this result shouldnt be underestimated as it breaks the current limitations of solar technology and shows that higher performing modules can be expected to become part of the energy system ... Tom Aernouts, imec

Idaho company debuts solar power sidewalks

Nicholas K. Geranios for AP:  Scott Brusaw has a vision for the nation's roads. He believes the solar-powered glass pavers his company makes could transform thousands of miles of pavement into a new energy source. His business, Solar Roadways, recently unveiled its first public installation, in a downtown plaza in this northern Idaho resort town. It's 150 square feet of hexagon-shaped solar panels that people can walk and bicycle on. The company is working on proof that the panels, for which it has a patent, are strong enough and have enough traction to handle motor vehicles, including semitrailers. "Our plan is to replace all the asphalt and concrete," said Brusaw, noting concrete occupies over 48,000 square miles in the U.S. "If you cover it with solar panels, we can make three times our energy needs." Solar Roadways is among a growing number of companies embracing renewable energy as the U.S. aims to reduce carbon emissions by one-third from 2005 levels by 2030.   Cont'd...

NREL's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory Offers a Mesa-Top Home for Global Measurement Accuracy

The need for good data is foremost. A swing of just a half percentage point in the actual output of solar energy plants-compared to projected outputs-would represent about $165 million annually.

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