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 👉
Originally published on CleanTechnica. In 1974, a group of San Francisco’s pragmatic idealists, the Food Conspiracy, a grass-roots organization of food-buying clubs committed to buying and distributing wholesale food among themselves, became Other Avenues Worker Cooperative. Its mission is and was “food for the people, not profit.” Other stores expanded out of this group and yet, today,
Community Solar on a Food Coop 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 👉
This article is part of the ‘Think Further Thursday’ series, sponsored by Fred Alger Management, Inc. For more ‘Think Further’ content and videos, visit thinkfurtheralger.com. http://youtu.be/VLN0F2aldlI In 2064, solar power and wind power will be have become so cheap that fossil fuel or nuclear power plants will be ancient relics of another era. However, solar
The Electricity Grid Is About To Change… A Lot! 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 👉
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 👉
This year, we have seen the largest-ever outpouring of reporting and planning for inevitable climate change in the Anthropocene. One of the latest studies, REthinking Energy, draws on worldwide research and financial analysis to form some conclusions about changing our mix of energy, one of the major drivers of the phenomenon, as earth’s population continues to
Solar Prices Drop 80 Percent Since 2008, Onshore Wind Also Falls 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 👉
California solar power plants recently hit a new electricity output record for electricity from utility-scale solar power plants. It hit 4.813 gigawatts of output on August 15 at 12:03pm. The data comes from CAISO, which only tracks utility-scale output. It can’t track behind-the-meter rooftop output, which had the potential to add another 2.6 gigawatts. To put
California Solar Power Hits New Output Record Read More 👉
Suntech was the largest solar module manufacturer in the world for years, then a combination of some illegal moves and a harsh financial environment for solar module manufacturers crushed the company, leading it to bankruptcy. Suntech is finally on the upswing after all of that. However, rather than focusing solely on solar, the Chinese company is
Suntech Jumps Into Energy Storage With $25 Million Investment Read More 👉
Yingli Solar (aka Yingli Green Energy*) has been the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world the past couple of years. In 2009, it reached a cumulative solar panel production capacity of 1 gigawatt. By 2012, it had reached a production capacity of 2.45 gigawatts per year! Needless to say, Yingli has had many customers.
Yingli Solar Named A Top Supplier To Fuji, Expanding In Latin America Read More 👉
I recently had the chance to interview Sungevity CEO Andrew Birch, which was a great privilege and honor given Sungevity’s longtime and ongoing leadership in the solar industry. Obviously, I think you should read my full CleanTechnica article on that interview. However, right after writing that up I also saw a good interview with Birch on Bloomberg
Sungevity CEO Interview (VIDEO) Read More 👉
Current Republican leadership is really good at two things, as far as I can tell: 1) lying, and 2) fighting every single thing that Obama tries to do. I don’t think they represent the Republican base, but most Americans (Republicans as well as Democrats) are so uninformed politically that most Republicans don’t realize it. Furthermore,
Republican Propaganda Has People Switching To Solar Read More 👉
Houses in select KB Home communities located in in Irvine, El Dorado Hills, and San Diego, CA, will be able to not only generate their own clean energy with home solar power systems, but will also be able to store that energy, thanks to the pilot program in a collaboration between SunPower and KB Home.
KB Home and SunPower Collaborate on Home Solar Energy Storage Read More 👉
Solar leasing and solar power purchase agreements (PPAs)—in which homeowners don’t buy their solar power systems but simply the electricity that comes from them—have become extremely popular in the United States in recent years. The first such residential solar options were introduced in 2007, and they quickly grew and took over the majority of the residential
Solar Leasing To Lose Ground To Solar Ownership In 2015 Read More 👉
. The Tchimpounga chimpanzee sanctuary in the Republic of Congo needs some help with solar power. Jane Goodall Institute, founded by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, runs the sanctuary and wants to install new solar panels to power it reliably. Home to 160 chimpanzees, Tchimpounga currently gets electricity to run lighting, veterinary medical equipment, administrative machinery,
Solar For Goodall’s Congo Chimps Needs Crowdfund Help Read More 👉
Leading solar technology manufacturer and solar installer SunPower* has teamed up Admirals Bank, which offers solar loans across the US, to launch a $200 million home solar loan program. The loan program is to support home solar power installations from SunPower over the coming two years. The loan program will allow SunPower customers to get a
Home Solar Loan Program Launched By SunPower & Admirals Bank Read More 👉
Award-winning proposed Aktivhaus apartment tower at Skyline Plaza complex in Frankfurt (skyscrapercity.com) The European residential high-rise boom has a green twist these days. Magnus Kaminiarz & Cie unanimously won a top design award this spring for a remarkable apartment tower at the Skyline Plaza complex in Frankfurt. Kaminiarz will produce not only the tallest residential
Tallest German Residential High-Rise Will Also Be Solar Aktivhaus Read More 👉
The solar energy movement is growing by leaps and bounds, and many, if not all, of us in the green scene are widely in favor of implementing more solar power where appropriate, as one way to cleanly generate power and future-proof our energy costs. And solar solutions are being developed from a variety of angles,
Thin Film Solar Cells Short Film, Narrated by Han Solar Read More 👉
Originally published on 1Sun4All. Imagine the potential! It’s not just for roads — the possibilities with Solar Roadways include your home, it could be all or nearly off grid thanks to your solar patio, walkway, or driveway (which you no longer have to shovel or plow if you live in the north). When you leave home, you could drive on Solar
Solar FREAKIN’ Roadways! Join the Revolution (VIDEOS) Read More 👉
In an example of just how wrong stereotypes can be, the recent move by the Ohio State Senate to freeze the state’s renewable standard, along with its energy efficiency program, at 2014 levels for the next two years, is being strongly opposed by a number of (very possibly Republican) faith leaders in the region. Not
Ohio Utilities Fight Renewable Energy, Ohio Religious Leaders Fight Back Read More 👉
While solar vehicles are still rather more of a curiosity than a practical transportation solution — for most purposes anyways — the technology is slowly improving. And, for that matter, it is/could-be well-suited to certain specific environments or purposes. So before you brush off the technology completely, why not take a look at some interesting,
Solar Vehicles In India Read More 👉
By now, many of us have heard that the President spent a little time this morning at a Wal-Mart store in in Mountain View, California, near San Jose. Solar deployment and energy efficiency were the two main thrusts of his speech. He spoke about more than 300 recent private and public sector commitments to create
President Announces Solar Deployment and Energy Efficiency Actions Today Read More 👉
The residential solar energy war just continues to heat up more and more in the (already quite sunny and hot) state of Arizona. The State Department of Revenue there has done an about-face on PV tax policy, and is now saying that only solar panels owned outright are exempt from tax, leased panels are no
Want Solar Leasing In Arizona? You May Have To Pay A Tax On That Soon Read More 👉
The worst environmental effect of solar energy? Go for it. Thanks to Give a Shit about Nature for this viral photoon, via the Daily Kos!
Huge Solar Energy Spill Read More 👉
Internet and solar giants Google and SunPower announced a useful break for power customers (and a small climate change deterrent) yesterday by entering a $250 million partnership in clean US home energy for the future. A new fund ($100 million from Google and $150 million from SunPower) will help finance residential rooftop solar leases for
Google & SunPower Invest Big Cash In Residential Solar Leasing Fund Read More 👉
You want solar power? These guys seem unlikely to provide it. (Found on Facebook—thanks to Greenpeace UK.)
So You Want Solar Power, Do You? (cartoon) Read More 👉
Drones are no longer known as mere weapons of war. At least, that’s how Google, Facebook, and other online giants like Amazon appear to be thinking. Google has just acquired Titan Aerospace, a promising solar-powered drone maker, as part of its plans to globalize wireless internet. Titan’s website provides news that the company is working
A Special Solar Drone For Social Media Read More 👉
In the close race for PV efficiency, copper indium gallium (di)selenide cells have taken the lead again in tests at the Atsugi Research Center in Kanagawa, Japan. The Fraunhofer Institute, Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization, has independently verified the results. A Solar Frontier 0.5cm2 CIS configuration achieved 20.9% conversion efficiency, a world record for thin-film
World Conversion Efficiency Record Broken For Thin-Film Photovoltaics Read More 👉
There’s no denying it: Republicans kick Democrats’ asses when it comes to messaging. But things may be getting a bit better. Check out this Bill Maher clip for some tips and some history on political messaging: http://youtu.be/3TCxRc5vdq0 Now, let’s invade the sun and takes its oil! via Peter Sinclair
Bill Maher Nails The Difference Between Republican & Democratic Messaging (VIDEO) Read More 👉
Originally published on Solar Love. This isn’t a new commercial, but I ran across it recently and had to share again. It’s so funny and so well done. And it does nail the #1 reason why people go solar. Check it out: http://youtu.be/zYBfAW0fGNc
Rooftop Solar Owners Like Dolphin Babies, But… Read More 👉
You might expect the #1 solar area in America to be a city like San Franciso or San Diego. According to One Block Off the Grid*, it isn’t one of the largest metro areas, though—it’s Fresno, CA, with a strong lead at 182 watts per capita. That rate is almost a full 100 watts per
Top 10 Solar Metro Areas In The US Read More 👉
The EU Commission recently proposed new renewable energy and carbon targets. This is great news for Europe. (Well, it would be better if they were a bit more aggressive, but….) The new video above from DG Clima gives a good overview of the new targets and some reasons why such targets rock. For example, it
EU's New Renewable Energy Targets Explained (VIDEO) Read More 👉
If you’re solar-curious, and want to know more about the costs, benefits, and designs for integrating a solar PV system for your home or business, or if you’re a solar PV professional looking for more tools to aid you in your work, a new app could allow you to do that, right from your smartphone
Grab a Free Trial Subscription for this Solar PV Design App Read More 👉
Mesocore offers a container-sized housing solution that purifies rain water and is solar-powered. The potential return on investment for donating one to a family in need is very large. If you consider that there are millions of people around the world living without housing, electricity or clean drinking water, Mesocore self-contained micro homes could drastically
Solar-powered Water Purifying Affordable Homes Can be Donated or Purchased Read More 👉
Thanks to Solar Solution AZ for making this its Twitter bio (and for following me on Twitter). It’s true in many cases, especially in Arizona, if you can afford your electric bill, you can afford solar. For the average American who has the possibility to go solar, the 20-year savings from going solar are actually around $20,000.
Quote Of The Day: "If You Can Afford Your Electric Bill, You Can Afford Solar" Read More 👉
You often have to invest money (or time, which is money) in order to make money. Some investments are smaller and have quicker payoffs, while some investments are larger and have longer (though, often more significant) payoffs. The nice thing about money-saving investments in the home is that these investments often also save energy —
4 Green Gifts That Will Keep Green In Your Pocket Read More 👉
