Tag Archive for: energy

ISES explains how much solar PV energy could be harvested from freed-up agricultural land in densely-populated countries with declining populations.

Declining populations free up agricultural land for large amounts of solar in densely populated countries

The global population is expected to increase from 8 billion people today to 9.7 billion by mid-century. Strong growth is particularly evident in Africa, which will add a billion people.

However, in many countries, population is stable or even falling. There are nine countries with populations larger than 20 million people that are expected to have lower populations in 2050 than today: China, Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Ukraine and Poland. The combined population of these countries is expected to fall by 10%, from 2 billion people today to 1.8 billion people in 2050.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Vast arrays of floating solar panels near the equator could provide unlimited clean energy to countries in Southeast Asia and West Africa, according to new research.

Floating solar on the equator could provide ‘limitless’ energy

Engineering professors at Australian National University have published a new paper in which they explain how some regions on the equator would be ideal for floating solar because the waters there don’t have strong winds and large waves. Tropical storms rarely hit those regions.

The researchers assert that floating solar in those waters could generate up to a massive 1 million TWh per year. They note in an article in The Conversation that “that’s about five times more annual energy than is needed for a fully decarbonized global economy supporting 10 billion affluent people.”

The waters are categorized as calm if the waves are smaller than 6 meters and winds are weaker than 15 meters per second. The calmest waters are in and around Indonesia and equatorial West Africa, near Nigeria. So floating panels installed in those waters wouldn’t need strong, costly engineering defenses.

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Source: electrek

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Researchers have come up with a new way to generate electricity with solar panel technology by harvesting the energy produced by raindrops.

Solar panel tech breakthrough generates electricity from rain

Researchers have come up with a new way to generate electricity with solar panel technology by harvesting the energy produced by raindrops.

The method, proposed by a team from Tsinghua University in China, involves a device called a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that creates electrification from liquid-solid contact.

These are typically used to harvest energy from waves, as droplet-based TENGs (D-TENGs) have previously faced technical limitations that prevented them from working at any significant scale.

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Source: INDEPENDENT

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The Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine, joined the US DOE, KB Home, SunPower, Southern California Edison and Schneider Electric to officially open the novel microgrid communities in the Shadow Mountain master plan in Menifee, CA.

University of California, Irvine, opens research microgrid in Shadow Mountain community

The Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine, joined the U.S. Department of Energy, KB Home, SunPower, Southern California Edison and Schneider Electric on May 22 to officially open the novel microgrid communities located in the Shadow Mountain master plan in Menifee, California.

A microgrid is a self-supporting energy system that serves a specific geographic footprint, with one or more sources of energy that power the community along with the utility grid. For this research and demonstration project, the all-electric homes are located in two adjacent communities and equipped with solar panels, home batteries, a smart water heater, a smart heating and air conditioning system and controls that can isolate and energize the homes in the event of a grid outage. Every home is certified to DOE-designated Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) standards, which includes ENERGY STAR, WaterSense and Indoor airPLUS.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Solar is emerging as an energy superpower with this year's investment in the sector ($380B) set to surpass spending on oil production ($370B) for the first time.

Global solar power investment to surpass oil for the first time

Solar is emerging as an energy superpower with this year’s investment in the sector ($380B) set to surpass spending on oil production ($370B) for the first time.

That’s according to Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, who said the

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Source: Seeking Alpha

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A one-stop-shop solar solution lowers energy costs and raises cash on hand.

How to increase NOI while reducing capex & carbon emissions with solar

Commercial solar is in the middle of a surge. The total number of solar capacity installed by US businesses more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Meanwhile, states and localities are readying new penalties on carbon emissions, and energy prices continue to be vulnerable to global disruptions.

But while solar’s time is increasingly “now”, property owners and developers who take a do-it-yourself approach can quickly find themselves adrift amid all the complexities, says Blair Herbert, CEO of Coast Energy. Instead, having a partner who works as a one-stop-shop to navigate the regulatory, installation, financing and operational hurdles can help owners and developers gain real NOI benefits more efficiently.

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Source: GLOBE ST.

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Residential rooftop solar supplied a record 14% of Australia’s electricity this summer – contributing more than brown coal and more than large-scale wind farms and solar projects.

Australia hits new rooftop solar record

The total output of rooftop solar in Australia over the summer was 8,046 GWh, up 19.5% on the preceding year, according to the Clean Energy Council.

The Clean Energy Council says that an increase of 15% to 20% in Australian electricity bills in 2022 underpinned strong demand for rooftop solar. Rising power prices also made rooftop solar’s payback times even more attractive.

“We’re seeing a fundamental shift; consumers are becoming energy generators,” said Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton, noting that these figures only measure what enters the grid.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Solar panels placed over parking spaces are among the many options that can help companies get closer to their sustainability goals.

Four amazing benefits of adding parking lot solar panel canopies

People are getting progressively creative about how and where they deploy solar panels. One recent example concerns efforts to plant certain crops under them. Then, farmers can take advantage of formerly unused land, plus get power generation potential and extra earning opportunities. Parking lot solar power is another possibility gaining momentum. Here’s a closer look at some of the perks it offers.

1. Enabling Greater Energy Independence
2. Increasing Research Opportunities
3. Enhancing Convenience for Drivers of Electric Cars
4. Creating Shadier Spaces While Prioritizing Sustainability

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Source: Renewable Energy Magazine

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Utility-scale solar and wind each added more generating capacity than natural gas during the first nine months of 2022
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More utility-scale solar has been installed this year than all other forms of energy

Utility-scale solar and wind each added more generating capacity than natural gas during the first nine months of 2022, according to a SUN DAY Campaign review of FERC data. FERC’s latest three-year forecast suggests that installed natural gas capacity will begin to decline by 2025 while solar and wind continue to rapidly expand.

Solar (6,751 MW) and wind (6,328 MW) each provided more new generating capacity during the first three-quarters of this year than did natural gas (6,086 MW). Combined with capacity additions by geothermal (90 MW), biomass (22 MW) and hydropower (14 MW), renewable energy sources accounted for 13,205 MW or 68.4% of the 19,316 MW of new generation put into service this year.

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Source: Solar Power World

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The off-grid solar sector has shown resilience in the face of pandemic-related challenges, with 70 million people gaining access to electricity from early 2020 to the end of 2021.

Off-grid solar continues to expand

Despite the pressure the pandemic has placed on supply chains and income levels, the number of people who source electricity from solar energy kits has continued to grow and has now reached 490 million.

According to the “Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2022: State of The Sector” report – published by the World Bank’s Lighting Global, International Finance Corp. (IFC), GOGLA, Efficiency for Access Coalition, and Open Capital Advisors – the number of people who use solar energy kits had grown by 70 million by the end of 2021, up from 420 million in 2019.

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Source: PV Magazine

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