The United States. “We” elected a man who for decades has had a reputation as a con man. What could go wrong?… ♠ He talked about bringing all Americans health care — more affordable and cheaper health care. Turns out, after trying to push through a health care plan that would result in ~20 million Americans losing […]
When You Elect A Con Man, You Probably Got Conned Read More 👉
Donald Trump’s bombing of Syria was odd, and not just for one reason. There were a handful of oddities about it. 1. First of all, Trump heavily, heavily, heavily pushed Obama to not bomb Syria after Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons on his citizens a few years ago. It was a very similar situation, and it’s completely unclear
5 Issues With Trump’s Attack On Syria Read More 👉
Originally published on CleanTechnica. First of all, let’s get this straight — I don’t think anyone is purely against the people who pull coal out of the ground, the people looking for steady jobs and decent income, or the people who try to help people from losing their jobs. But we are against burning coal
Coal Power’s Decline, & Associated Politics Read More 👉
Via CleanTechnica: We’ve got several notable updates regarding our first cleantech conference — CLEANTECH REVOLUTION TOUR → BERLIN — to share with you. First of all, we now have: → a Facebook event page (share with friends!) → an event webpage (which we’ll continuously update) → an eventbrite page for registering (again, register, and share with friends!) … and a confirmed
Originally published on Sustainnovate. Electric vehicle sales and production will double in China in 2016, according to recent reports. This refers of course to both all-electric vehicles (EVs) and also to plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). This matches a similar claim made by BYD founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu in an interview with Sustainnovate right after BYD won
China Electric Car Sales To Double In 2016, China Minister Predicts Read More 👉
Originally published on CleanTechnica (with slight modification). As I wrote just before Christmas, CleanTechnica is planning to implement solar + electric vehicle events in cities across North America and Europe (and perhaps further at some point). In partnership with GridHub, an exciting renewable energy startup based in Berlin that I’ll write more about shortly, we’re launching the
Cleantech Revolution Tour Event — April 8–10 In Berlin, Germany Read More 👉
Originally published on CleanTechnica. A couple of months ago, I published an article about how well electric cars work as primary cars. On the CleanTechnica repost, reader “AltairIV” made a superb comment and I asked if we could republish it. Luckily, he was happy to see it reach more eyes and enthusiastically replied, “It would
Convenience of Home EV Charging Trumps Inconvenience of Public Charging Read More 👉
Originally published on CleanTechnica. Update: This article originally stated that Bernard Lee was the Tesla employee Daniel talked to, but it was actually David Imai. One of our readers, Daniel Hoffmann, was recently sitting in his hotel lobby waiting to check in when he overheard someone next to him talking on the phone… and then booking
Tesla Model 3 — Small Info Leak Read More 👉
Originally published on EV Obsession. People (especially advertisers) are fond of calling plug-in hybrid and long-range, fully electric cars “no-compromise cars.” In fact, there’s no such thing as a no-compromise car… and I’m a little tired of hearing the nonsensical term. The compromises of short-range electric cars are obvious: driving over 60 or so miles
“No-Compromise Car” = No Such Thing Read More 👉
Originally published on Solar Love. A couple of months ago, I wrote an article about SolarCity’s “shockingly high MyPower prices” compared to competitors’ prices. The article was based off of an analysis by Pick My Solar. There’s a Part 2 to the story, though. Unfortunately, it’s no prettier. Let me reiterate that I’m long SCTY
SolarCity MyPower Loan Comes With Yellow (Red?) Flags Read More 👉
Originally published on EV Obsession. For anyone contending that extended-range electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt shouldn’t classify as “electric vehicles,” here are two stats for you from the most comprehensive EV driver study conducted to date: Nissan LEAF average annual electric miles driven: 9,697 Chevy Volt average annual electric miles driven: 9,112 Looking at total
84% of LEAF Charging & 87% of Volt Charging Done At Home Read More 👉
Originally published on CleanTechnica. Aside from the amazing Tesla Model S 70D, Cadillac ELR, BMW i8, and Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid — four high-priced heavyweights in the electric car segment — I test drove the Chevy Volt (for the first time!), Nissan LEAF (for the second time), and BMW i3 (for the second time) last week
Nissan LEAF, Chevy Volt, BMW i3 — Comparing 3 Top-Selling Electric Cars Read More 👉
Originally published on EV Obsession. Well, I was hoping to get more clarity by test driving the BMW i3 and the Tesla Model S 70D one day after the other last week. Unfortunately, I walked away more undecided than before the test drives. Mixing in test drives of the Nissan LEAF (which we got for my
BMW i3 vs Tesla Model S — Decisions, Decisions! Read More 👉
Solar power is growing like warts on a troll these days. If it were a disease, we’d have a full-blown epidemic. From $0-down leases to $0-down solar loans, there are easy ways to go solar these days. Even your grandmother can do it. But what are the actual pros and cons of solar power these
Solar Power Pros And Cons: Is Solar Power Worth It? Read More 👉
Originally published on EV Obsession. For the second year in a row, the Tesla Model S was the “best overall” car on the market, according to Consumer Reports in its 2015 “10 Best American Cars You Can Buy” ranking. Something that got a lot less hype is that the Chevy Volt was named “best green car”
Best Green Car of 2015? Read More 👉
Here’s a really interesting interview with the head of Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceX — Elon Musk. This is perhaps the most interesting interview I’ve seen with him, as it runs through life stories from age 6 to today. For some reason, it took me ages to get to this, and it is actually from 2013, but
Best Elon Musk Interview Yet? Read More 👉
Aside from press releases we receive via email (we get a lot!), I scan over 100 sources in order to find “the biggest” or “most interesting” stories I can for our team to cover. One of those sources is the Tesla Motors Club forum. Just after Christmas, I noticed a post that included two new Elon
Tesla Range Update, & Elon’s Deleted Tweets Read More 👉
While modern electric vehicles are just coming around, just seeing decent sales, many probably don’t realize that electric vehicles were extremely popular back at the beginning of the 1900s. The first car dealer in the US only sold electric cars. That was 1896. That was not long after the first known auto race, which was
Electric Vehicle Evolution In One Photo Read More 👉
Prices for German solar power storage systems have reportedly fallen 25% since the spring. The data come from the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar). Also according to BSW-Solar, approximately 15,000 German households now use battery storage combined with solar power, and that number has been growing faster and faster as the costs have come down. As an example
Solar Power Storage Prices Drop 25% In Germany… In <1 Year Read More 👉
One of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the world, the producer of the most efficient commercial solar modules on the planet, and a large solar developer — SunPower* — is teaming up with Sunverge Energy, a producer of “advanced Solar Integration System (SIS) energy storage solutions to residential customers and utilities.” Basically, the two
SunPower & Sunverge Team Up For Solar + Storage In US & Australia Read More 👉
There has long been a huge gap in the solar market, a gap between large, utility-scale solar projects and rooftop solar projects. It would be a disservice to numerous companies, organizations, citizen investors, and solar-supportive politicians to say that there has been nothing between those two installation types, but this middle space has long been
Community Solar Power To Blow Up With First Solar Jumping In Read More 👉
Originally published on Solar Love. The SEIA/GTM Research US Solar Market Insight™ report for the 3rd quarter was released today. Over on CleanTechnica, Josh covered the continued growth of the US solar power market. In this article, I want to quickly run down the pricing side of things. The short story is that solar prices continue
Residential Solar PV Prices Keep Dropping In US Read More 👉
Originally published on EV Obsession. Some good people at Urban Foresight, the International Energy Agency, the Electric Vehicles Initiative, and Clean Energy Ministerial have put together an “EV City Casebook” that I highly recommend checking out (it’s free). The focus of the casebook is a summary of “50 big ideas shaping the future of electric mobility.” We’ll be
How To Advance The EV Revolution (Report) Read More 👉
Originally published on Solar Love. SolarCity last week unveiled a new app that improves the solar customer experience, just for SolarCity customers of course. SolarCity customers can schedule appointments, track SolarCity crews headed to your house, track electricity production from their solar power systems, track their home energy use, as well as interact with the SolarCity
New SolarCity App Looks Fun & Useful Read More 👉
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, as a percentage of total car sales, no auto manufacturer is selling more electric cars than BMW (not counting 100%-electric companies like Tesla Motors). The percentage (4.9%) is even more than double what Nissan has achieved this year (2.1%). Of course, in many respects, Tesla Motors is
Tesla & BMW Teaming Up? Read More 👉
Kelley Blue Book (KBB) has awarded the Chevy Volt the “best buy of 2015” designation in the electric/hybrid car category. That’s an impressive designation in a category that includes the BMW i3, Nissan LEAF, Tesla Model S, and Toyota Prius. Of course, if you actually look at the benefits of electric cars, I think you
“Best Electric/Hybrid Buy” of 2015? Chevy Volt Read More 👉
What’s the greenest new car of the year? A BMW electric car. The BMW i3, a wonderful entry electric car from BMW, was just announced the 2015 Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal. With carbon fiber, aluminum, bamboo, recycled plastic, and the greatest efficiency of any vehicle on the market, it’s really no surprise
BMW i3 = 2015 Green Car of the Year Read More 👉
Five years ago, not many people had any idea the home solar PV market would grow so fast. But it did, and there’s no stopping its momentum now. Similarly, I don’t think many people realize how fast the home storage market is going to grow. Home energy storage is not financially practical for many people
Home Storage Market To Grow 10x Over By 2018 Read More 👉
The US Department of Energy loan program was infamous in some circles after Solyndra went bankrupt. Of course, some of us realized there was nothing scandalous about the program and it was providing a big net benefit for the country. It’s not even hard to understand. Investors don’t invest in one company and put all their
Solyndra Program To Provide US Taxpayers $5-6 Billion Net Profit Read More 👉
Australia may have a a crazy or completely corrupt prime minister running the show right now, but the solar energy market in Queensland is unstoppable. Approximately 25% of homes have rooftop solar panels there, and the number is still growing continuously. Recent data from southeast Queensland show that ~13% of the region’s home electricity demand
Rooftop Solar Provided 13% of Southeast Queensland Home Electricity Demand in October Read More 👉
A new video on climate solutions from the wonderful videographer Peter Sinclair highlights the EV revolution. Furthermore, what it really highlights is what I’ve been emphasizing as much as possible for the past year or so: the #1 thing that will really create an EV revolution is the absolutely fun and helpful instant torque that electric vehicles bring
The EV Revolution (VIDEO) Read More 👉
A big thanks is due to the Sierra Club, as it has just launched a new ‘pick-a-plug-in’ internet tool to help you pick the best electric car for your driving habits and needs. A lot of people aren’t even aware of a single electric car on the market, and certainly don’t know all of the electric cars
New Tool Helps You Find The Right Electric Car Read More 👉
Solar market research firm NPD Solarbuzz has stated that it expects the US home solar market to reach 1 gigawatt in early 2015. At least through the end of 2016, when the solar investment tax credit (ITC) is set to expire, Solarbuzz sees strong growth in the US home solar market. Until then home solar demand
US Home Solar Approaching 1 Gigawatt Read More 👉
Quickly learn how solar power works as well as a number of fun facts in the article and videos below. Solar power is taking the world by storm. The cost of solar panels has come down so much that hundreds of millions of people can probably benefit financially from going solar. It’s an exciting time,
How Solar Power Works Read More 👉
Living off the grid has great appeal to a lot of people. It sounds idyllic. You are no longer dependent on broader society (well, at least not for electricity). You no longer send your money to a greedy monopoly month after month. You largely rely on the clean electricity generated by your rooftop solar panels
Living Off The Grid — Good Idea? Read More 👉
Everybody knows (or should know) that solar energy is clean and green, but there are actually many advantages of solar energy. I’ll run down 11 of them here. I’d also throw in disadvantages of solar energy, but there’s basically just one. Since the sun doesn’t shine 24/7, we need to use other sources of electricity and need to
Advantages of Solar Energy Read More 👉
Tesla Motors just made two huge auto announcements. The company paired them together, making them seem like one, but they are actually two separate things. The question I have, which is bigger for society as a whole? Tesla D — Dual Motor Model S Tesla last week unveiled “Tesla D,” which is actually an all-wheel
Tesla D Speed Or Autopilot — What’s Bigger? (Poll) Read More 👉
A new report, Seeing is Believing, focuses on the fact that tackling global warming doesn’t just protect us from disaster, disease, and premature death; it can also result in considerable economic boons. Joshua S Hill recently highlighted some of the electricity matters and the general story over on sister site CleanTechnica, but I wanted to
Electric Cars Can Save You Money (Chart) Read More 👉
New data from GTM Research shows that the top home solar companies in the 2nd quarter of 2014 were, by far, SolarCity and Vivint Solar. Together, the two companies took over 50% of the market. This is the first time the two have combined to surpass the 50% marker. The milestone is also a bit
Top Home Solar Companies In Quarter 2, By Far, Were SolarCity & Vivint Solar Read More 👉
When you next visit London, be sure to not only look out for red telephone boxes, but also green ones. A new startup called Solarbox has just launched in the streets of “The Big Smoke.” It turns old telephone boxes into “solarboxes” that offer free solar charging for your phones, tablets, cameras, and so on. It’s a
London Launches 1st Solarbox Read More 👉
At a private shindig in little town called New York City last week, SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive and Chairman Elon Musk (Lyndon’s cousin and also the CEO, Chief Product Architect, and Chairman of Tesla Motors) made a few casual but potentially world-changing announcements, as is practically a habit with Elon. Most notably, they stated that
SolarCity To Sell Battery Storage With Every System Within 5-10 Years Read More 👉
A new report out from Lazard tells us something those who follow the wind and solar industries already knew to some degree: large-scale solar and wind power projects can now compete purely on cost with natural gas power plants (as well as coal and nuclear, of course). Solar panels cost less than electricity from any
Solar Panels Cost Less Than Electricity From Natural Gas In US Read More 👉
Solar power advertising has, for the most part, been sparse and lame. There have been a handful of excellent solar ads that I’ve seen over the past several years, but just a handful. A new video ad from NRG Home is narrated by Matthew McConaughey and does a decent job of selling home solar, but not an excellent
Matthew McConaughey Advertises Solar… in Stealth (VIDEO) Read More 👉
Electric cars are much, much greener than gas cars (“gasmobiles,” as I like to call them). Even in the state with the dirtiest electricity grid (Colorado), electric cars charging from the grid have a miles per gallon equivalency of 34. The average new gasoline-powered compact car has a fuel economy rating of 28 mpg. (In the cleanest
Electric Cars Greener Than The Average Car In 100% Of USA Read More 👉
Solar power is a very safe investment, but it has taken banks and financiers a bit of time to get used to the technology. However, there are a lot of promising movements in this arena. One of the most recent is news that Goldman Sachs is offering financing for solar PV projects in Japan for
Goldman Sachs Offering Solar PV Financing Lower Than Bank Loans In Japan Read More 👉
This report isn’t brand new, but I somehow missed it when it came out a few months ago. It’s a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which is quite a respected global organization. If anything the IEA has a history of being anti-renewables, but the new(ish) report notes that any country can reach a
Solar & Wind Power Can Be Cost-Competitive In Any Country, Says IEA Read More 👉
Dividend Solar has gone and busted out a can of CO2 whoopass with new solar loans that are the lowest on the market. At a 6.5% interest rate, it even beats PACE financing from Sonoma County (7%), which of course is only available in one county in California. Furthermore, rather than just serving a handful of
Solar Loans From 6.5% (US) Read More 👉
I know, “unstealths” is used more for startups than for educational programs, but I thought unstealths sounded more interesting for this New York solar school program than the standard alternatives. The program, K-Solar, is part of the $1 billion NY-Sun Initiative. 40 school districts have registered for the program. They are home to ~200 schools.
New York Solar School Program Unstealths Read More 👉