The quota model for renewable energy does not work as well as feed-in tariff models. In a report recently published by Germany’s Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien (Renewable Energy Agency), the feed-in tariff system was shown to deliver a lower cost to consumers than quota systems. […]
There isn’t much of a need for power storage in Germany even if it increases the share of its electricity that is generated by renewable sources by around 50%, according to a new study by the German engineering association VDE. Importantly, the study has shown that “baseload power – … [continued]
The EEX (European Energy Exchange) recent report on September’s trading results showed that both peak-load and baseload day-ahead electricity prices in Germany and Austria are lower than that of Switzerland and France. The EEX press release does mention that electricity prices converge (meet each other) 75% of the time. However, … [continued]
Editor’s note: While we here at CleanTechnica have focused on the ‘soft costs’ of solar making German much cheaper than U.S. solar, one of the world’s leading solar and climate change solutions entrepreneurs and investors, Jigar Shah, contends that the cost differences are actually largely due to another factor — … [continued]
A new solar photovoltaic conversion efficiency record for solar cells made of amorphous and monocrystalline silicon of 21.4% was recently set, thanks to the innovations of researchers at EPFL’s Institute of Microengineering in Neuchatel. The research team, led by professor Christophe Ballif, director of the Photovoltaics Laboratory (PVlab), recently … [continued]
Not to be outdone by their wind-power-loving neighbor Germany, Poland is set to harness 40 MW of wind with 20 Vestas wind turbines by the end of 2013. The turbines are going to dot the skyline of Wicko on the Polish coast of the Baltic Sea, about 50 miles … [continued]
What do you do when the grid cannot absorb all the wind power being generated? It might not sound like a likely scenario, but it’s a problem in northern Germany, where Greenpeace Energy has come up with an innovative way to continue using that wind power — turn it … [continued]
We publish on a lot of offshore wind farms on CleanTechnica. For new readers (or those of us who need refresher courses), there’s actually an annual report that provides an overview of all the projects around the world. Main(e) International Consulting has released a PDF overview of wind projects from … [continued]
I often get flak when I publish research on the cost trajectory for solar (e.g. my Rooftop Revolution report estimates 100 million Americans reaching grid parity by 2021). About half think I’m too conservative, and half think I’m too overconfident that solar will continue to drop in price by … [continued]
Germany has become the first country in the world to have 30-gigawatts-peak of installed solar power capacity, according to initial reports. Solar PV installations continue to increase in the face of larger-than-expected cuts in Germany’s solar feed-in tariff. […]
