When a town has high electric bills and no available land for a solar farm, a floating solar plant on the pond of a waste water plant makes great sense. Walden, Colorado, population 750, elevation 8,000 feet plus, and land area of 0.34 square miles, is such a town.
In this edition of the clean energy and transport news roundup, we’ve got stories about Colorado solar fees, sheep as solar workers, solar microgrids, a new integrated energy storage system, driverless car insurance policies, a 2500 mile EV roadtrip, automatic braking systems, Musk’s pessimism about slowing climate change, Chinese EV … [continued]
Originally published on Planetsave. For the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, June was a month of changes for the future of renewable electricity and solar gardens in this state. Here is why: At June’s end, PV-Tech reported the Colorado PUC reversed an earlier decision it had rendered by approving the deployment of community … [continued]
About 579 kW of low-income solar projects have been announced by the Colorado Energy Office and GRID Alternatives. Five projects will be built by the Delta Montrose Electric Association, Gunnison County Electric Association, Holy Cross Energy, San Miguel Power Association, and the Yampa Valley Electric Association. They are being constructed to … [continued]
A new, first-of-its-kind solar financing option based around a combination of low upfront costs and personal ownership has just been unveiled by SolarCity. The new financing option — which has been dubbed “MyPower” — works by allowing SolarCity customers to pay for their solar loan in a similar way to the … [continued]
The US-based solar leasing giant Sunrun is planning a major expansion throughout the country, with the aim to enter a number of new markets and to add over 800 new employees, according to recent reports. The plans call for the expansion and opening of new offices in the Arizonan, Nevadan, … [continued]
Coloradans support rooftop solar. They have made that abundantly clear time and time again. A recent poll demonstrated that 70% of Coloradans support net metering, a critical solar policy. In December, hundreds of residents descended on Xcel headquarters to oppose the utility’s attacks on rooftop solar. And at the beginning … [continued]
Last week, hundreds of Coloradans gathered at the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to express their support for rooftop solar and net metering (and their opposition to Xcel’s proposals to undermine it). Solar proponents out-numbered supporters of Xcel by a ratio of 16 to one. Net metering is a policy that … [continued]
In December, Xcel Energy’s Frank Prager appeared on CPR’s Colorado Matters and spread blatant untruths about rooftop solar in Colorado. While Prager’s comments are a stark contrast to Xcel’s own carefully-cultivated brand image—after all, Xcel’s slogan is ‘responsible by nature’ – they align perfectly with utilities’ coordinated attacks on rooftop … [continued]
Originally published on Cost of Solar. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a strong push from Colorado residents, businesses, and organizations to get 3,000 megawatts (MW) of solar on one million rooftops by 2030. Despite this, Colorado utility Xcel Energy is pushing to roll back policies that support the … [continued]
