By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent According to the latest DNV-GL Energy Transition Outlook 2018: Power Supply and Use report, renewable energy will power approximately 80% of electricity generation by 2050, with the majority of that surge coming from wind and solar. As prices for the technology continue to drop, DNV0-GL is predicting that 40% of all electricity generation will come from solar sources, while 29% will come from wind. [wds id=”3″] What’s more, the report suggests rapid electrification will continue to become a higher percentage of energy use, reaching 45% by 2050, with particular increases occurring in the transportation, building … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent It’s not often that I get to write something positive about the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). For those of you who have followed my work over the years, we’ve had a…contentious relationships at best. Typically, I’m writing about something I view as skullduggery, and the commissoners (particularly on Twitter) have felt compelled to take on a writer from a little-known solar trade publication. But today is not one of those days. Today, I’m taking my hat off to the ACC for rejecting a grid access charge proposed in 2015 by Tucson Electric Power (TEP) that … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Something magical happened in California yesterday. Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 100, which takes the state’s renewable portfolio standards (RPS) to 100% by 2045. Imagine that. The world’s fifth-largest economy is now on its way to getting 100% of its electricity from non-fossil-fuel sources within the next 30 years. If you had suggested such a thing even seven years ago, when I first joined the solar industry, people would have called you insane (or worse). But now that it’s done, it’s time to complete the circle and get the governor’s signature on SB … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent To continue powering the United States with coal without adding any adverse climatalogical effects, 89% of the United States would have to be covered in forest, according to a new study from the Michigan Technological Institute. The study compared that route – interesting but ultimately futile – with the idea of shifting electricity generation to solar power (now you’re talking) and figuring out how to sequester the carbon produced in the solar manufacturing process instead (a much more manageable task). [wds id=”3″] (Kudos to the press release writer who put this subhead into the press … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Over the weekend, two of the world’s most influential mayors – Bill de Blasio (mayor of New York City) and Sadiq Khan (mayor of London) – took to the pages of the British newspaper The Guardian to urge cities around the world to divest from companies that extract fossil fuels. The op-ed came ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit, a gathering of world leaders designed to discuss issues surrounding climate change and other environmental issues. The summit starts on Wednesday in San Francisco. [wds id=”3″] The mayors wrote: We believe that ending institutional investment … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Vote Solar released the results of its analysis of New Jersey’s planned 450 MW community solar program, in which it found the program could spur as much as $800 million in economic development. Specifically, the report says the community solar program will create: 1,778 sustained full-time jobs during construction and an additional 41 sustained full time jobs associated with operations and maintenance. $414.7 million in earnings for those employed. $797.9 million in local economic benefits for the state, excepting local tax revenues. $3.3 million from property tax revenues in the first year alone. [wds id=”3″] … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Saying the fees were arrived at using flawed studies and without taking into account the advantages that solar customers bring to the grid, the New Mexico Public Resources Commission eliminated Rate 59, a fee previously charged only to solar customers and cost them, on average, $300 per year. The New Mexico PRC also said it would start a rulemaking proceeding to ensure that the state law concerning solar surcharges was followed in future. At issue was the charge levied by Southwestern Public Service, the state’s largest regulated utility. [wds id=”3″] As Vote Solar reported: In … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Duke Energy is asking the South Carolina Public Services Commission to reinstate retail net metering until a compromise can be reached on raising the current 2% cap, an issue that has roiled the South Carolina solar industry over the past 12 months. The utility has joined a group of solar stakeholders to extend the net metering program through March 15, which they allow time for the development of long-term recommendations through the ORS-led collaborative process and for legislative consideration of any consensus recommendations, including any recommendations related to future net metering policies or programs. [wds … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent A hundred million here, a hundred million there, and suddenly you’re talking real money. And that’s the kind of real money that Energy Impact Partners, a utility-backed investment fund, has raised to invest in clean tech. $681 million, to be exact. Bloomberg reports that Energy Impact Partners, backed by such utility giants as Southern Company and National Grid, are looking to invest the money in startups that are doing clean tech research, looking for the next big breakthrough. This is in addition to the the $200 million the fund has already invested in companies like … Read More →

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon This week’s Energy Show is for solar power customers, contractors and inverter manufacturers who appreciate the need for reliable solar power systems. Surprising as it may seem, most solar monitoring systems are simply not up to the reliability standards of the panels and inverters they support. The good news is that solar monitoring problems almost never affect system performance. Monitoring failures may indicate an inverter problem, but the panels and inverters are almost always working properly. In reality, the problem is with the communications somewhere along the chain – including the inverter, inverter gateway, … Read More →