TiE Arizona | Education, Networking, Mentoring for Arizona Entrepreneurs. Web2Present - Online Events, Training and Webinars. Why 'Market-based" is a Poor Criteria for Good Solar Policy | Energy Self Reliant States. Updated 8/26/11 and 9/1/11 Many renewable energy advocates argue that the market for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) is a more cost-effective tool for incentivizing solar power than a feed-in tariff (or CLEAN contract) set in a regulatory proceeding.
Really? This chart illustrates the installed cost of solar in New Jersey from 2006 to 2011 (as reported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Tracking the Sun III and converted to levelized cost) in green, the New Jersey SREC spot market price in red, and the German feed-in tariff price (constant exchange rate, adjusted for NJ solar insolation) for rooftop solar projects 30 kilowatts and smaller in blue.
(Update 9/1: the previous chart showing solar cost in $ per Watt is here). Does a “market-based” policy do a better job of matching the actual cost of solar? This comes to mind: “one of these things is not like the other…” Energy Self Reliant States. Solar Industry in 2009: 17,000 More Jobs, 37% Increase in Capacity, Major Drop in Costs. Clean Power Published on April 19th, 2010 | by Zachary Shahan [social_buttons] Despite the economic recession, the solar industry grew significantly in 2009. The solar industry added 17,000 jobs to the US economy in 2009. 46,000 jobs are supported by the solar industry now, but that number is expected to climb to over 60,000 by the end of 2010.
The Solar Energies Industry Association (SEIA) released the 2009 US Solar Industry Year in Review this week. In addition to the above, the industry brought in $1.4 billion in new venture capital investments in 2009. Prices for PV modules fell from $3.50-$4.00 a watt to $1.85-$2.25 a watt (40%) since mid-2008 and average installed capacity cost fell approximately 10% from 2008-2009. 441 MW worth of solar electric installations were installed in 2009. SEIA expects much more growth in residential and commercial rooftop installations in 2010. 2009 shows a lot to be happy about.
Image Credits: SEIA About the Author. The New American Streetcar/Energy Scandal. Clean Power Published on July 18th, 2011 | by Guest Contributor Following up on my article and call-to-action to help revive the extremely successful clean energy and energy efficiency program PACE, here’s an excellent post by an anonymous CleanTechnica reader. Although not about streetcars as the title suggests and not working directly from the private sector possibly a new front has been set up to fight against the successes of the alternative energy movement.
Instead of re-writing the story of The Great American Streetcar Scandal for historical comparison, here it is as written by John Robbins: Public transit in the United States has not always been so neglected. Today there is the possibility of something that might add up to a modern Great American Streetcar Energy Scandal. The Defence Department could upgrade computers at the radar stations that often have less computing power than you or I have at home. Does this amount to THE NEW GREAT AMERICAN STREETCAR ENERGY SCANDAL? 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. There are two good sources of solar installed cost in the U.S. market, the California Solar Initiative (CSI) dataset, which spans from 2006 to 2011 and the Lawrence Berkeley Labs’ 2010 report Tracking the Sun III.
The following chart illustrates the cost per Watt to install solar PV projects, based on a range of system sizes. The historic data confirm earlier analyses by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance that found that most solar PV economies of scale are achieved at a small size. But the historic U.S. data is not the only story. The Clean Coalition — a distributed generation advocacy organization — has different numbers on installed cost from their network of installer partners. Welcome to IEEE SmartGridComm 2011. Startling Smart Grid Developments. Peter Fox-Penner, a former chairman of The Brattle Group, reports some surprising developments—one of them quite disconcerting—in the latest issue of IEEE's smart grid eNewsletter. On the positive side of the ledger, Fox-Penner finds that contrary to what one might suppose, relatively small municipal and cooperative utilities have been among the most aggressive and imaginative early adopters of smart grid technology.
Cooperatives currently lead smart meter deployment, with 25 percent penetration of their customers' homes—three times the average across all utilities—according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission On the negative side, use of dynamic pricing across the United States is currently flat or declining rather than growing, contrary to what just about every smart grid advocate has expected or predicted. Despite an 85 percent increase in advanced metering over the past two years, the number of entities offering sophisticated pricing programs has decreased. Newswire - Renewable Energy News; Department of Energy Releases New 'Billion-Ton' Study Highlighting Opportunities for Growth in Bioenergy Resources.
Renewable Energy News; Department of Energy Releases New 'Billion-Ton Study Highlighting Opportunities for Growth in Bioenergy Resources Category: Investment, Renewable Energy Ideas get bigger when you share them... Visit this company: www.energy.gov Washington, D.C. - August 12, 2011 (Investorideas.com renewable energy/green newswire) The U.S. Department of Energy today released a report – 2011 U.S. Billion-Ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry – detailing U.S. biomass feedstock potential nationwide. The report examines the nation's capacity to produce a billion dry tons of biomass resources annually for energy uses without impacting other vital U.S. farm and forest products, such as food, feed, and fiber crops. "Developing the next generation of American biofuels and bioenergy will help diversify our energy portfolio, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and produce new clean energy jobs," said U.S.
More Info: News now! Newswire - Electric Car Stocks Trading Alert: ABAT, AONE, (OTC: EVCA), TSLA. Electric Car Stocks Trading Alert: ABAT, AONE, (OTC: EVCA), TSLA A123 Systems (NASDAQ:AONE) Top Percentage Gainer in Thursday's Trading on GE News Category: Investment, Electric Car, Renewable Energy Ideas get bigger when you share them... Visit this company: www.evcarco.com Point Roberts WA - August 12, 2011 (Investorideas.com renewable energy/green newswire) Investorideas.com, a leader in cleantech investor research, reports on trading for renewable energy stocks in the electric car and battery sector. A123 Systems, Inc. EV /Green Trading Snapshot A123 Systems, Inc. Market Snapshot Dow 11,182.67 +39.36 +0.35% Nasdaq 2,491.47 -1.21 -0.05% S&P 500 1,174.73 +2.09 +0.18% 10 Yr Bond (%) 2.2620% -0.0740 Oil 85.75 +0.03 +0.03% Gold 1,735.40 -13.40 -0.77% Research over 1300 global publicly traded green stocks with the renewable energy stocks directory Electric Car/ Green Car Company Snapshot www.renewableenergystocks.com.
Record-Setting Power Consumption In Texas -- ERCOT Narrowly Avoids Rolling Blackouts. Much in the news in Texas these past few weeks have been new peak power records and several grid emergency conditions which saw the ERCOT power system narrowly avoid rolling blackout a time or two. Tom Fowler of the Houston Chronicle‘s Fuel Fix blog has been tracking the story closely, see selected links below. Rebecca Smith provided a broad view of the events in the Wall Street Journal yesterday.
She reports that power consumption has reached levels this summer than ERCOT had forecast would not be reached until 2014. Eight times this summer power consumption has exceeded the previous record, set last year, 65,766 MW. The new record, set August 3, is 68,294 MW. Smith’s article reports some concern about the future ability of ERCOT to meet rising demand, given the lack of regulatory tools to push companies to build more power plants.
Those powerful economic forces at work will be signaling to both generators and retailers. MORE: FuelFix.com ERCOT story highlights from the past two weeks: California Energy Commission Home Page. Lifornia Energy Commission Website Search Results.