Why We Should Democratize the Electricity System (Part 1)
A serialized version of ILSR’s new report, Democratizing the Electricity System, Part 1 of 5.
Search Results for: germany
Washington State Considers Including Hydro as a Renewable Under RPS
Every state that has a Renewable Energy Standard (RES) – or Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) as these mandates were originally called – has slightly different rules regarding hydro power.
German Buildings Not as Cold as You Think
German citizens must get colder every winter — according to co2online GmbH, the amount of energy used to heat residential buildings has decreased by 22% since 2002, sinking from 161 kWh/m2/year to 126 kWh/ m2/year. The company claims it has collected data from over a million homes.
New PV Technology for World’s Largest CSP Plant in Mojave
With the price of solar panels dropping significantly over the last five years, Germany’s Solar Millennium AG reports it will convert the first 500 megawatts of its 1,000 MW Blythe solar power plant in the Mojave desert from concentrated solar power/solar thermal system to PV.
Solar PV Makes Most Sense at Modest Size
Is bigger better when building solar PV power plants?
When looking at historic data in the U.S., no. But when considering other sources, perhaps. Ultimately, “community scale” solar is likely to provide the best combination of affordability, speed, and opportunity for local economic benefit.
Germans Encouraged to Roof Carports with Solar Panels
Carports and garages are both perfectly serviceable structures to protect your car. We’re talking about carports here, though, so we’re just going to mention that they’re cheap, easy to build, and have great air circulation.
There’s one more advantage to a German carport – it’s incredibly simple to roof it over with solar panels and let solar energy pay for the carport.
New Wind Turbines 300X More Powerful than in 1996 (+ Top Wind Power Stories)
I can’t say I was the one who noticed this, but that’s a pretty cool stat — some new wind turbines (sold today by Vestas) are 300x more powerful than wind turbines sold 15 years ago.
US Solar PV to Double in 2011; Grow 47% a year to 2015
The US market for solar PV will double in 2011 despite the hard economic times, as plunging prices and policy incentives underpin growth. A strong project pipeline, and growing demand from utilities, driven by the need to meet Renewable Portfolio Standard targets, will result in constant annual growth rates of 47% out to 2015, according to research from Solarbuzz.
IKEA Buys Scottish Wind Farm and Plans 39,000 Solar Panels in UK
IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer from Sweden, has set a goal to derive all of its energy from renewable sources, and it is now installing 39,000 solar panels on the rooftops of it’s stores in the United Kingdom to help achieve that goal.
Blackstone Private Equity Firm Invests in German Offshore Wind…In a Big Way
Private equity firm Blackstone is investing in offshore wind in Germany in a big way. The company announced it had secured a total of 1.2 billion euros of financing for the 288MW Meerwind North Sea wind farm project, as well as obtaining a permit for Nordlicher Grund, a 64-turbine, 1.3 billion euro North Sea wind farm. A group of seven banks will provide 822 million euros in debt financing with Blackstone supplying Meerwind’s equity. Supporting the financing is Germany’s feed-in tariff, which locks in rates for Meerwind’s electricity output.
