Solar panels do produce electricity in cloudy weather. They don’t produce as much electricity as they do on sunny days, but they have been shown to produce 25% of what they produce on a sunny day, or 10% when it’s very cloudy.
Last month, Brazil announced its intention to begin the process of becoming a full Member of the International Renewable Energy Agency, and this month the Agency has welcomed Brazil’s intentions, saying the decision “reflects the country’s strong commitment to multilateralism and sustainable energy.”
From buying and selling electricity to raising capital for new ventures to securing the grid and valuing decarbonization directly, innumerable innovators from tiny startups to the largest technology firms and governments in the world are exploring how blockchain technologies can transform.
Many corporations, focused on the relentless pursuit of profits, make their money at the expense of the people, and the planet. The only proper purpose of any business is to serve the society in which it operates, and to contribute to the protection of the planet we all depend on for our existence. Ecotricity, founded by Dale Vince, is almost unique amongst UK energy companies in aiming to do just that. Although it makes money, that is only a means to achieve its main aim, environmental protection. Its main method of environmental protection is by supplying and developing renewable energy in the UK.
Minnesota’s largest investor-owned utility, Xcel Energy, last month reported sparse participation in a program designed to deliver value to customers who charge their electric vehicles when it’s most convenient for the grid. But despite its benefits for the grid and cost savings for customers, the initiative appears stuck in neutral.
In a major boost for the Indian solar module and cell manufacturers, Energy Efficiency Services Limited recently acquired 300 megawatts of modules for multiple uses. The order has come at a time when Indian manufacturers await a decision by the government to levy anti-dumping duties on Chinese modules.
Let’s take a peek at the progress that indigenous people around the world have made in switching from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
In small numbers, electric cars will change little, but in large numbers they could reverse the stagnant growth in electricity use, which has dropped in five of the last eight years and affected the bottom line of many electric utilities.
An Indian government’s think tank and the agency responsible for long-term planning has set a milestone of 100 gigawatts by 2020 for the country’s ambitious renewable energy targets.
The rapid transformation of the electricity sector will make it necessary for utilities to adopt radically new pricing methods, writes Fereidoon Sionshansi, publisher of newsletter EEnergy Informer and editor of a new book, Innovation & Disruption at the Grid’s Edge.
