We’ve all seen the ads for free solar panels on YouTube and Facebook – is there any truth to these claims? We pull back the curtain on the solar industry’s… “overambitious”… marketing tactics and to show what’s behind the buzzwords.
We are pleased to release the 2022 edition of Berkeley Lab’s Utility-Scale Solar report, which presents analysis of empirical plant-level data from the U.S. fleet of ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV), PV+battery, and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants with capacities exceeding 5 MWAC. While focused on key developments in 2021, this report explores … [continued]
We have some of the most informed readers in the world, but that doesn’t mean they agree on everything. In fact, sometimes they have feverish yet well informed debates that genuinely use logic (rather than ad hominem attacks and other logical fallacies) to discuss different technology or policy approaches. I … [continued]
The U.S. solar energy industry has grown tremendously in the past decade. That growth has actually been one of the most phenomenal economic growth stories across the whole U.S. economy. However, the “Covid Era” hit solar hard, and it has struggled to get back on the trajectory it was on. … [continued]
I recently discovered an infographic from the U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association with a wealth of solar power facts. The graphic is included on the bottom of this piece, but I find it much easier to scroll through the solar energy facts in a straightforward bullet list rather than an … [continued]
Is solar a good hedge against inflation? Last month, Americans faced the highest rate of inflation in 40 years. The impact of rising prices is the most obvious in the energy sector, where supply chain constraints and the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine could result in households spending … [continued]
The idea that it costs a premium to go green and clean is long expired in the electricity industry. A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) indicates that most of the renewable energy installed in G20 countries last year had lower costs than the absolute cheapest coal … [continued]
Why did so many individuals with knowledge of the field fail to recognize the sharp decline in costs, driven largely by photovoltaic (PV) module efficiencies?
Local energy is an express lane for climate change. The world is obsessed with gigabets on offshore wind and nuclear and there’s a traffic jam of political systems. COP26 was a disappointment. People can pull into the express lane, contribute in a personal way, and get great business value as well.
Long a pioneer in the adoption and acceleration of solar power, California is in the midst of seeking input from stakeholders, through a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) process, to evolve its approach to its net metering rooftop solar program in a manner that accounts for emerging needs and market … [continued]
