By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Easily lost amidst the excitement and thrill of building more solar capacity is a real concern: What do we do with the solar modules after the typical 25-year lifespan of a particular project? Fortunately, thanks the the European Union, a German manufacturer is on the case and has built the first industrial-sized recycling pilot plant for an industrial company in its home country. According to the website Phys.org: With strong competencies in plant manufacturing and wastewater treatment including recycling, the Geltz Umwelt-Technologie firm has built a test and treatment facility at a large disposal firm … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Reuters is reporting that China has filed a World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint against the United States over the solar tariffs President Donald J. Trump imposed in February. Who could have seen THAT coming? (Everyone. Everyone saw this coming.) From Reuters writers Dan Stanway and Muyu Xu: China’s commerce ministry said a U.S. decision to subsidize renewable energy firms and impose tariffs on imported products has seriously distorted the global market and harmed China’s interests, firing the latest shot in a broader trade conflict. This is what happens when you start a trade war – … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has returned to full strength, adding two members to its executive team: one who saw the association through some tough trade times and one outsider to bring a new perspective to the association as it looks to navigate the near-term and long-term futures of the solar industry. John Smirnow will rejoin SEIA as general counsel and vice president of market strategy, and Tony Chen will serve in the newly created position of vice president of business development. The announcement comes weeks after SEIA dismissed its previous executive vice president … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The latest solar bills in Illinois – an emerging market thanks to the Future Energy Jobs Act – hopes to balance farmer concerns about land use with the development of large-scale ground-mounted utility and small commercial projects. Under the legislation signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner on Friday, farming communities would have a uniform, set property tax assessment on newly built solar farms to ensure communities receive the income from the farms they have been promised. A separate bill also sets strict standards for the construction and deconstruction of solar farms built on agricultural … Read More →

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon Over a million buildings in the U.S. have rooftop solar. These systems are extremely reliable: solar panels are guaranteed for 25 years, and inverters are guaranteed for 10-25 years. Our experience as a contractor since 2001 bears out the terrific reliability record of rooftop solar. Nevertheless, when inverters are past their expected lifetime we upgrade them to new models. Often we are able to replace two smaller inverters with one more efficient large inverter. When rooftop systems get very dirty (generally in areas without regular rainfall) we provide cleaning services. And not surprising to … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent In a previous life, writer Frank Andorka spent his Februarys at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. attending the Legislative Day for the pest management industry. He’s always been surprised there isn’t such a national conference/day for the solar industry, but he did discover that the California Solar + Storage Association holds its own version in Sacramento on Wednesday. He asked Bernadette DelChiaro, the group’s executive director, about why she thinks “Lobby Day” is important. Here are her answers. Frank Andorka (FA): What is Lobby Day? Bernadette DelChiaro (BDC): Our annual Solar & Storage Worker … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent It took forty years for clean energy – solar and wind specifically – installations to reach 1 TW of installed capacity. BNEF says we’re only five years away from reaching the next TW. Talk about an accelerated adoption speed. [wds id=”3″] BNEF says the global solar and wind industries reached 1 TW of installed capacity sometime in the middle of the year, which if it all was in the United States could power the entire U.S. electric fleet. Albert Cheung, BloombergNEF’s head of analysis in London, offered this exciting insight: Hitting one terrawatt is a … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Baby steps. That’s what you could call the Oklahoma Attorney General’s recent opinion that says third-party solar contracts – PPAs, leases and loans – would not result in solar installers or consumers being considered utilities. This is a debate that has swept the country, and most recently occurred in Florida, where a decision similar to the Oklahoma one has led to a flood of residential solar companies into the state, including some of the nation’s largest solar companies with names you know like Sunrun and Vivint. Could Oklahoma be next? [wds id=”3″] Probably not, according … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent California’s Assembly has a huge opportunity before it right now, and they should seize it posthaste. Before them is a bill to move the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 100% by 2045. It would match the most aggressive RPS in the nation (Hawaii) and put the world’s fifth (or sixth, depending on who you believe) largest economy on a path to 100% renewable energy. And it would be a huge step forward for the United States because, as everyone knows, solar and renewable energy trends start in California and then make their way to … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Sometimes, the dumb is so breathtaking it’s hard to put into words. Such was the America First Energy Conference, which Reuters reporter Collin Eaton dutifully reported on this week from New Orleans. If Reuters doesn’t provide him some hazardous duty pay for locking himself in a room with these people for a day, then there is something seriously wrong with the system. I’ll let Eaton’s lede stand on its own because, whoa boy, it sorta sums it all up: Pumping carbon dioxide into the air makes the planet greener; the United Nations puts out fake … Read More →