Recently in Photovoltaic (PV)
Commentary:
Fox News and The Onion each offered up a story on solar electricity recently, and it's interesting to compare the two. One of the pieces was so laughably inaccurate it could only have been satire. And the other was by The Onion.
Government:
Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti, one of more than a dozen candidates for mayor in the upcoming election, has said that as mayor he'll push for Los Angeles to generate about a fifth of its electrical power from the city's rooftops. Now his main competition in the race, City Controller Wendy Greuel, has signed onto that pledge.
Photovoltaic (PV):
To the list of countries that have bested California in solar power generating capacity, which already includes Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and Japan, get ready to add a truly embarrassing new rival: Belgium.
Science:
When researchers were trying to figure out how to maximize the amount of time light spent inside their organic solar photovoltaic cells, they turned to an age-old technique to refine their design: evolution by natural selection.
Photovoltaic (PV):
Thanks to a new interactive map, you can explore when rooftop solar power will be cheaper than buying power from the grid, and the map offers some good news for Californians.
Photovoltaic (PV):
A report just published by WWF, in cooperation with FirstSolar, concludes that seven large regions around thew world could meet their need for energy by covering less than one percent of their land area with photovoltaic panels. But what does that mean for California?
Photovoltaic (PV):
Oakland-based solar leasing firm Sungevity has just gotten hold of $125 million in venture capital funding to expand its leasing program, the firm reported Wednesday.
Utilities:
The LADWP's Board unanimously approved a plan Friday to buy 100 megawatts of solar power from property owners throughout the city of Los Angeles.
Photovoltaic (PV):
California's groundbreaking program to encourage rooftop solar power installation has subsidized more than a gigawatt's worth of solar panels since 2007.
Photovoltaic (PV):
The nation's chief wildlife protection agency is opposing a new solar project in the Ivanpah Valley just outside the California state line, saying the project as currently designed would harm the valley's beleaguered tortoise population.
Photovoltaic (PV):
Mosaic, an Oakland startup that funds rooftop solar projects, is now offering Californians and New Yorkers an opportunity to invest in solar projects in a Kickstarter-style crowdfunding arrangement -- except unlike Kickstarter, Mosaic aims to pay its investors back with interest.
Photovoltaic (PV):
Energy mogul Warren Buffett has added a couple of sizable pieces to his collection of California renewable energy facilities with the purchase of the Antelope Valley Solar Plants (AVSP) from San Jose-based SunPower.
Photovoltaic (PV):
For a couple hours Wednesday, California's grid-tied solar power production topped 1.2 gigawatts -- a new all-time record set despite the winter season.
Photovoltaic (PV):
The story of the Solar Glut runs like this: We absolutely must increase our production of solar electricity as soon as possible, but we can't because we have too many solar panels and they're too inexpensive. In other words, outside of the context of the economic system in which we happen to be enmired, the Solar Glut as crisis makes no sense whatsoever.
Technology:
Did you open a package this week hoping for a nifty solar charger only to find out your gift was an ill-fitting sweater? In a few years, your gift might be both.
Government:
State Senator Lois Wolk launches another attempt to promote community solar projects.
Photovoltaic (PV):
Another industrial solar plant on public lands gets closer to approval in the California Desert.
Photovoltaic (PV):
Within ten years, power from solar panels on your roof will be as inexpensive as power from local electric companies across the country. And for southern Californians, that day will be here quite a bit sooner.
Utilities:
A leading California solar advocacy group is calling utility allegations that rooftop solar panel owners cost other ratepayers money "largely horsemalarkey."
Utilities:
California utilities raise the alarm about costs to ratepayers of rooftop solar... but let's not mention the billions in transmission lines those solar installations might save us.
News and analysis about renewable energy in California. Blog host Chris Clarke is an environmental writer of two decades standing. He currently lives in Joshua Tree and can be contacted at: rewire@kcet.org.
- Wind Power
- PV and Solar Thermal
- Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
- Watts and Watt-Hours, Kilo and Mega
- 'Enough To Power X Thousand Homes'
- The Grid
- Distributed Generation
- Conservation and 'Negawatts'
- Grid Storage
- PACE Loans, Feed In Tariffs and Net Metering
- Base Load and Peaking Power
- Capacity Factor
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Biomass
- Transportation and Renewable Energy
- Geothermal
