Tag Archive for: solar

In total, solar accounted for 15.9% of the state’s retail electricity sales in 2021, the highest among all renewable energy sources.

Solar accounted for 16% of California’s electricity sales in 2021

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Solar became California’s biggest non-fossil fuel source of electricity sales in 2021, according to the latest data from the California Energy Commission.

In total, solar accounted for 15.9% of the state’s retail electricity sales, the highest among all renewable energy sources, followed by wind (11.5%) and geothermal (5.8%). In addition, 37.2% of the state’s retail electricity sales were from RPS-eligible (Renewables Portfolio Standard) sources in 2021, leading nuclear (10.8%) and large hydro (10.7%).

Together, non-fossil fuel sources contributed to about 59% of California’s retail electricity sales. This amount remained unchanged from 2020 despite the jump in renewables and drought-related declines in hydroelectric generation.

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Source: PV Tech

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Faith leaders & solar installers discuss how and why houses of worship are going solar & how the clean energy tax credits in the IRA can help

Houses of worship go solar

Houses of worship across America are going solar — putting their values into action, helping protect God’s creation, and saving money on their electric bills at the same time.

On May 18, 2023, Environment America Research & Policy Center and the Texas Solar Energy Society hosted a panel discussion featuring Reverend Richard Neusch, the Senior Leader of the Pastoral Staff at True Life Fellowship in Round Rock, Texas; Louis Petrik, the CEO of Longhorn Solar; and Dub Taylor, the Chief Operating Officer of the Texas PACE Authority. The panelists discussed why houses of worship are going solar, how they are going about it, and how to tap clean energy tax credits available to faith-based nonprofits for the first time this year. The panel was moderated by Johanna Neumann, Senior Director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy at Environment America Research & Policy Center.

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Source: Environment America

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The flat, open, sunny roofs of medium and large warehouses and distribution centers are perfect locations for solar panels.

Report: The huge solar potential of American warehouses

Solar power is getting cheaper and more efficient all the time, and America should take advantage of untapped solar energy opportunities, including the billions of square feet of warehouse rooftops across the country.

Solar power is the fastest growing form of energy in the United States, thanks in large part to its low and rapidly dropping price and to supportive public policies in some parts of the country. But the United States has the technical potential to produce 78 times as much electricity as it used in 2020 just with solar photovoltaic (PV) energy. To quickly and sustainably achieve a future of 100% renewable energy, America must take advantage of untapped solar energy opportunities.

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Source: Environment America

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Utility-scale battery energy storage system capacity in the West region of the US is forecast to grow exponentially over the next decade

Solar-fueled arbitrage potential supercharging storage economics in Western US

Utility-scale battery energy storage system capacity in the West region of the US is forecast to grow exponentially over the next decade, driven by aggressive renewable portfolio standards and related strong solar development, particularly across the sunshine-soaked desert southwest. The West is home to 6 GW of operating battery storage — 60% of the nationwide total. At over 32 GW, the pipeline of both stand-alone and colocated storage in the region is more than five times the installed base, however, as it tries to keep pace with the rapidly expanding solar fleet.

The Western US is home to the best solar resources in the country, and photovoltaic development has followed accordingly, with 30 GW in operation and another 51 GW in planning. This growing solar base is expected to lead to significant daytime generation surpluses, opening the door for the rapid expansion of battery storage. The West is home to just over 6 GW of operating storage capacity, but the pipeline has swelled to over 32 GW, with much of this capacity paired with a solar generator.

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Source: S&P Global

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In 2023, wind, solar and battery storage account for 82% of new utility-scale generating capacity in the US.

Wind, solar, and batteries increasingly account for more new US power capacity additions

Wind, solar, and battery storage are growing as a share of new electric-generating capacity each year. In 2023, these three technologies account for 82% of the new, utility-scale generating capacity that developers plan to bring online in the United States, according to our Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory.

Utility-scale solar capacity didn’t start ramping up in the United States until 2010. As the cost of solar panels dropped substantially and state and federal policies introduced generous tax incentives, solar capacity boomed. As of January 2023, 73.5 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar capacity was operating in the United States, about 6% of the U.S. total.

Just over half of the new U.S. generating capacity expected in 2023 is solar power. If all of the planned capacity comes online this year as expected, it will be the most U.S. solar capacity added in a single year and the first year that more than half of U.S. capacity additions are solar.

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Source: eia

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The California utility PG&E is trying out two different models with Tesla and Sunrun to help ease summer grid stress.

PG&E is testing different flavors of virtual power plant

As a demand-response manager for California utility Pacific Gas & Electric, John Hernandez knows all about how hundreds or thousands of battery-equipped homes can be remotely controlled to serve the grid’s needs, much as central power plants do. These aggregations of controllable home solar-plus-battery systems are called virtual power plants, or VPPs for short.

The question is, what kind of power plants should these VPPs be modeled after? This summer, Hernandez’s team at PG&E will be testing two types of VPPs that use similar tools but different methods to help keep the grid stable during hot summer evenings.

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Source: Canary Media

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Developers plan to add 54.5 GW of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity to the US power grid in 2023. The 54% will be solar power.

More than half of new US electric-generating capacity in 2023 will be solar

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Developers plan to add 54.5 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity to the U.S. power grid in 2023, according to our Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. More than half of this capacity will be solar power (54%), followed by battery storage (17%).

Solar. U.S. utility-scale solar capacity has been rising rapidly since 2010. Despite its upward trend over the past decade, additions of utility-scale solar capacity declined by 23% in 2022 compared with 2021. This drop in solar capacity additions was the result of supply chain disruptions and other pandemic-related challenges. We expect that some of those delayed 2022 projects will begin operating in 2023, when developers plan to install 29.1 GW of solar power in the United States. If all of this capacity comes online as planned, 2023 will have the most new utility-scale solar capacity added in a single year, more than doubling the current record (13.4 GW in 2021).

In 2023, the most new solar capacity, by far, will be in Texas (7.7 GW) and California (4.2 GW), together accounting for 41% of planned new solar capacity.

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Source: EIA

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The new 464 MW solar array is the largest ground mounted solar array project constructed on any Air Force installation.

Edwards AFB solar & battery storage project goes live

Edwards Air Force Base in southern California is home to the Air Force Test Center, Air Force Test Pilot School, and NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. It is the Air Force Materiel Command’s center for conducting and supporting research and development of flight, as well as testing and evaluating aerospace systems from concept to combat. It also hosts many test activities conducted by America’s commercial aerospace industry.

Its history as an Air Force installation began in 1932 when General Hap Arnold began acquiring land adjacent to Muroc Field for a place to practice bombing runs. During World War II, development of fighter planes was shifted there to prevent prying eyes from learning about America’s newest attack aircraft. Over the years, it has played a role in several historic aviation events, including Chuck Yeager’s flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, test flights of the North American X-15, the first landings of the Space Shuttle, and the 1986 around the world flight of the Rutan Voyager.

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Source: Clean Technica

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The scientists claim that, for an average annual generation for solar of 1,370 kWh/kW, 38 million hectares would be needed.

Solar may cover the world’s electricity demand with 0.3% of its land area

Solar energy could theoretically cover the world’s electricity demand by just 0.3% of its land area. This is one of the main conclusions of new research by a group of academic institutions, led by Aarhus University in Denmark. The researchers claim that raw materials and land availability will not present real barriers to PV in its race to dominate the global energy landscape.

The scientists claim that, for an average annual generation for solar of 1,370 kWh/kW, 38 million hectares would be needed. They noted that the world has a total area of 13,003 million hectares.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Solar and agriculture are beginning to converge as farmers learn renewable energy can make farming more efficient.

Why solar & farming is a match made in heaven

A plot of land can do a number of things. It can grow trees and crops. It can support a home, an office tower, or a factory. It can be a parking lot. But it can’t do all those things at the same time. Choices have to be made. It’s no use to erect the world’s tallest apartment building if there is not enough food for the people who will live there. It is no use to put solar panels everywhere if they don’t leave space available for crops or dwellings.

Multi-tasking is a word that has crept into our vocabularies lately. Computers can have a bunch of tabs open at the same time and still be able to do online chats. As the world becomes more densely populated, land will need to multi-task as well. Here are some examples of how that can work.

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Source: Clean Technica

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