Vice President Biden Rocks Solar Conference, 9 Reasons To Go Solar Today… (Clean Transport Highlights)

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Vice President Biden – Give Oil Industry’s Tax Credits to Clean Energy

Vice President Joe Biden says the oil industry no longer needs the $5 billion in annual tax credits that the government has doled out for years. Instead, he recommended applying half of those credits to clean energy industries like wind and solar.

NREL Signs Memorandum Of Understanding With China On Grid Research

The US Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has signed a first-ever memorandum of understanding with China’s State Grid Energy Research Institute. The two organisations last week signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU), which lays out a general framework for cooperation, including research project coordination, energy systems integration, power market design, site visits, and personnel exchanges.

How To Reduce Your Electricity Bill For Decades With A Renewable Energy Investment

If you’d like to reduce your electricity bill, it can pay to do a full energy and efficiency audit of your home, and to then take action on some of the lower-hanging fruit of efficiency measures, such as adding better insulation, installing a smarter thermostat, switching to LED lighting, killing vampire energy devices, and upgrading appliances to more efficient models.

Solar Decathlon Entry Inspired By The Golden Poppy

Casa Del Sol is Team Orange County’s entry in this year’s entry in the Solar Decathlon. It is based on the golden poppy, the state flower of California.

Why Storing Solar Energy & Using It At Night Is Closer Than You Think

In May, when Tesla Motors announced its new battery product to vast media buzz, the talk was all about people putting batteries in their solar-powered homes, and thereby becoming that much less reliant on the grid.

But there was always another and perhaps even bigger side of the story — the idea that very large scale batteries or battery packs could help out the grid itself by storing large amounts of solar energy for use in the evening or at night. The ultimate effect might be to displace electricity generated from coal or natural gas, and convert an inherently “intermittent” renewable energy source — solar — into a more constant one.

In the Solar Industry, It’s a Scramble to the Top

More solar panels have been ­mounted on the roofs of American homes this year than ever before. The technology was once seen as an expensive niche option for the tree-hugging, Prius-driving set. No longer. Today solar panels are affordable, mainstream energy sources—in other words, boring. What’s not: the impact of that shift on the companies that make, install, and maintain them.

9 Reasons Now is the Time to Invest in Solar for Your Home

You’ve seen solar panels dotting roofs around your area for a while now, but you’re not entirely convinced — for one reason or another — that getting solar panels for your home would be a worthwhile investment. It makes total sense. Although sunlight was first converted into electrical power in 1954, it is still considered a very new idea, which may scare you away. However, here are nine reasons you should consider solar.

Chinese Solar Stocks Set to Rise With Eyes on US Settlement

In the past week, Credit Suisse held over a dozen meetings with solar companies across the value chain at its annual Renewables Roundup event. This was part of a larger Solar Power International conference in California. The firm was cognizant of considerable concerns around the ITC step-down in 2017 for the U.S. utility scale market, a nearing China/U.S. tariff settlement that could keep module prices at elevated levels (although positive for module manufacturers with Chinese capacity) and persisting delays of the Chinese FiT (Feed-in Tariff) payment that are starting to call into question the value — and monetization options — of the assets being amassed in China.

Silicor Materials Building New Silicon Factory In Iceland

Silicor Materials is a 9-year-old California company that makes the silicon used to produce solar panels. Silicon requires a lot of power to manufacture, so the cost of energy is an important factor in producing silicon profitably.

ConEdison Development Acquires 50% Interest In 335 MW Solar Farm

ConEdison has announced that it has acquired 50% interest in the 335 MW Panoche Valley Solar Farm, located in Central California, from RET Capital. The New York State–based renewable energy developer and operator will provide construction management, operations and maintenance, and asset management for the San Benito County solar farm.

NexPower’s Building Integrated Photovoltaic Film Goes Anywhere

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have been around for a few years now. They have graced concrete, storefront systems, glass, and many other materials. The goal of these products is to integrate the photovoltaic system into building materials that are already used in the structure, reducing the weight of the system, providing more design flexibility, and making them aesthetically pleasing.

BIPV can be placed on the ground, rooftops, or a building's exterior (PRNewsFoto/NexPower Technology Corporation)


 

‘Phantom’ Solar Panels Surface In Campaign To Save Feed-In Tariff

Stunt in Whitehall aims to encourage green energy supporters to lend voice against planned cuts to popular solar incentives.

German Support For Renewables High, Low For Nuclear & Coal

A recent survey conducted among the German public finds continuing support for the Energiewende. Furthermore, only a third said the cost was too high. Craig Morris says a closer look also reveals that people who already have systems close by are less likely to oppose them.

German Renewable Energy Surcharge to Rise?

On October 15, Germany’€™s for transmission grid operators will announce the renewable energy surcharge for 2016. A leading think tank now predicts a hefty increase. But they left out one item.

ACT to Source 10% of Demand From Rooftop Solar

ACT has so far installed 45MW of rooftop solar, but expects this to grow quickly, despite the territory having relatively low cost of electricity.

Is California’s Net Metering 2.0 a Solar Tax Risk?

Everyone agrees that net-metered rooftop solar doesn’t pay income tax. But nobody really knows how Uncle Sam will treat feed-in tariffs, wholesale export compensation, and other arrangements that California’s utilities are suggesting to replace the state’s net metering regime — and that’s a risk exposure the industry shouldn’t have to bear.

Commercial PACE Projects Get $200M in Funding

PACE Equity announced $200 million in new financing for commercial PACE projects, which provides property-assessed clean energy financing for commercial projects. It is also looking to expand its team into Texas, Michigan and more cities in California.

From Shopping to Investing, Online Platforms Are Changing the Business of Solar

When EnergySage CEO Vikram Aggarwal looked at the results of his company’s solar-homeowner survey conducted earlier this year, he was happy to see they validated his instincts. In one question, the 4,000 homeowners who participated were asked where they got the idea to buy solar. Only 30 percent of them said they were influenced by an advertisement or solar company salesperson. The other 70 percent said they started their solar journey through an internet search, social media, news stories, personal recommendations or a community event.

Solar Frontier’s CEO Aims for 40-Cents-Per-Watt CIGS Modules

Japan’s Solar Frontier is the only true volume producer of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar panels. The company has shipped more than 3 gigawatts’ worth of modules since its founding.

SunPower Lawsuit Against SunEdison Dismissed

In June of this year, SunPower filed a lawsuit against SunEdison and certain SunEdison employees who previously worked for SunPower.  The complaint alleged that former employees, among other things, violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by breaching SunPower’s computer use policies and misappropriating SunPower’s information.  SunEdison moved to dismiss the claims arising under the CFAA, SunPower’s only basis for federal jurisdiction.  The court granted the motion, ruling that SunPower failed to adequately plead a CFAA claim.

Close Encounters in Startup Alley at Solar Power International 2015

Innovation is alive and well in the U.S. solar industry. It’s happening at established companies and it’s still happening in garages, funded with money from savings, friends and family. Most entrepreneurs just can’t help themselves in this regard — they are driven to invent.

RIP QBotix: Robotic Solar Tracking Fails to Reach the Market

According to several sources close to the company, solar tracker startup QBotix dismissed most of its staff and shuttered its operations last month. The company’s website is offline, as is its phone service. CEO Mike Miskovsky confirmed that QBotix ceased operations as of August 2015.

qbotix

EWEA Wind Scenarios for 2030

The European Wind Energy Association has published three scenarios for the growth of wind power across the EU over the next 15 years. The calculations are in line with the target of 27 percent renewable energy as a share of final energy consumption by 2030.

EWEAmap

LEED-Rated Buildings May Still Be Energy Hogs

LEED-rated building may still be energy hogs. High energy efficiency does not necessarily mean low energy usage or a small carbon footprint for buildings.

USGBC-Report


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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

Zachary Shahan has 7324 posts and counting. See all posts by Zachary Shahan