Tag Archive for: california

The California Assembly passed legislation to encourage the installation of solar power infrastructure along California’s highways.

California highway solar power bill makes it to governor’s desk

The California Assembly, by a 79-0 vote on September 13, passed legislation to encourage the installation of solar power infrastructure along California’s highways. Environment California sponsored SB 49, which was authored by Sen. Josh Becker. The bill also passed a concurrence vote in the state Senate on Thursday evening and is on its way to the governor’s desk for him to sign into law.

“California needs to supercharge its deployment of solar panels and battery storage, and this bill takes advantage of some of the best places to do just that,” said Laura Deehan, Environment California’s state director. “We must think creatively to quickly utilize available spaces to build solar panels. Using the land along highways will help us speed toward a future powered by 100% clean energy in California.”

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Source: Solar Power World

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The California Legislature wrapped up its session last week and dozens of climate bills now await Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature — or veto.

Here are the major climate bills that made it through California’s Legislature this year

The California Legislature wrapped up its session last week and dozens of climate bills now await Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature — or veto. They range from corporate accountability to clean energy, transportation, water and more.

“The ball is definitely being advanced and I think, given the budget situation, we could have seen things be a lot worse than they turned out to be this year,” said Julia Stein, a climate policy researcher at UCLA.

This summer, lawmakers cut $6 billion in climate initiatives.

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Source: LAist

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Major corporations from oil and gas companies to retail giants would have to disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions under legislation passed Monday by California lawmakers.

California legislators approve America’s most expansive greenhouse gas emissions disclosure rules for big business

Major corporations from oil and gas companies to retail giants would have to disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions as well as those that come from activities like employee business travel under legislation passed Monday by California lawmakers, the most sweeping mandate of its kind in the nation.

The legislation would require thousands of public and private businesses that operate in California and make more than $1 billion annually to report their direct and indirect emissions. The goal is to increase transparency and nudge companies to evaluate how they can cut their emissions.

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Source: FORTUNE

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Α broad and unlikely coalition has united behind a proposal that would finally let community solar flourish in California. Utilities are trying to stop it.

The fight over California community solar: ​‘It’s everyone vs. utilities’

Community solar and storage could help power California toward its goals for clean energy, grid reliability, energy equity and affordable housing — but only if regulators don’t allow the state’s biggest utilities to undermine it.

That’s the argument a sprawling coalition of solar industry groups, consumer advocates, environmental justice organizations, labor unions and the state’s homebuilding industry has been making before the California Public Utilities Commission over the past few months.

The fight has centered around a new proposed payment structure for community solar called the Net Value Billing Tariff (NVBT), which the coalition says is crucial to revamping California’s moribund community solar market and would make community solar in the state both economical and effective. A structure for community solar payments was ordered up by AB 2316, a state law passed last year.

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Source: Canary Media

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The mystery surrounding a project to convert farmland into a new green city in California is finally being unraveled.

Silicon Valley elites want to build a new green city outside San Francisco

The mystery surrounding a project to convert farmland into a new green city in California is finally being unraveled. The would-be “mega-city” is the brainchild of a novice developer backed by some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent names.

But despite the heavyweights behind the project, it has already been embroiled in legal tussles and is being greeted by suspicion from talkative neighbors in and around Fairfield, a city in Solano County about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

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Source: FORTUNE

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The mechanical experience of installing arrays in various regions may differ only slightly based on their separate environments with distinct temperatures and weather conditions. The greater difference is in oversight from regional policies and permitting bodies.

How much do solar projects differ from California to Massachusetts?

The steps to building a solar array are mostly the same anywhere an installer is putting panels on a roof. They secure mounts and racking, attach modules and inverters and run wiring. It’s physically demanding work, but with the right experience, a solar installer could move anywhere in the country, pick up some panels and get them on a roof and quickly generating power.

The mechanical experience of installing arrays in various regions may differ only slightly based on their separate environments with distinct temperatures and weather conditions. The greater difference is in oversight from regional policies and permitting bodies.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Data from the CEC highlight California’s continued progress toward building a more resilient grid, achieving 100% clean electricity and meeting the state’s carbon neutrality goals.

Last decade saw solar generation boom, natural gas slowdown in California

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Data from the California Energy Commission (CEC) highlight California’s continued progress toward building a more resilient grid, achieving 100% clean electricity and meeting the state’s carbon neutrality goals.

Analysis of the state’s Total System Electric Generation report shows how California’s power mix has changed over the last decade. Since 2012:

  • Solar generation increased nearly twentyfold from 2,609 gigawatt-hours (GWh) to 48,950 GWh.
  • Wind generation grew by 63%.
  • Natural gas generation decreased 20%.
  • Coal has been nearly phased out of the power mix.

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Source: Solar Power World

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California now has the capacity to store 5,600 megawatts of power using batteries. That's enough to supply more than 4 million homes.

Batteries, not blackouts: California’s power grid gets boost from battery energy

As California increases its reliance on renewable energy sources like solar and wind, there’s a concern that there may not be enough energy during certain seasons and times of the day to keep the lights on.

But this summer, the state is setting a major milestone in energy storage.

California now has the capacity to store 5,600 megawatts of power using batteries. That’s enough to supply more than 4 million homes.

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Source: CBS News

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CA’s energy storage portfolio could yield net grid benefits of up to $1.6B a year by 2032 as the state looks to expand grid-scale battery installations to 13.6 GW

California’s storage portfolio could provide grid benefits of up to $1.6B per year by 2032, report finds

Lumen’s study takes a closer look at the operations, costs and benefits of storage resources in California – largely lithium-ion batteries, but also including thermal energy storage and other battery chemistries. These resources range from 25 kW to 300 MW, with discharge durations that range from less than an hour to seven hours.

The report found that from 2017 through 2021, California’s stationary storage market developed from a pilot phase into deploying lithium-ion batteries at commercial scale. At the same time, storage costs dropped significantly – with third-party contract prices ranging from $5 to $8 per kilowatt-month for capacity by the end of 2021 – and the use of storage to meet reliability needs increased significantly.

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Source: Utility Dive

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Recent studies have proposed using solar-plus-storage microgrids to minimize public safety concerns from PSPS during the wildfire season.

Solar-plus-storage microgrids minimize power shutoffs during wildfires

Recent studies have proposed using solar-plus-storage microgrids to minimize public safety concerns from power shutoffs (PSPS) during the wildfire season for communities located in wildland-urban interfaces, such as California and much of the US west coast.

A comprehensive assessment of microgrids had not been performed to evaluate the potential to enhance resilience for up to 46 million Americans living next to forests, or a wildland-urban interface, where wildfire risk is acute.

To address this research gap, a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory looked at a novel modeling framework and assessed the potential of solar and batteries for districts where power can be turned off based on wildfire warnings.

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Source: PV Magazine

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