There has been a recent breakthrough in solar power technology that has major implications for industry. The energy required to produce steel and cement can now be solar powered. Heliogen, the company revealing this new solar capability, came out of “stealth mode” this past Tuesday, November 19th with this announcement. The overall solar technology involved […]
The True Cost Of Solar Still Not Well Known
After years of the cost of solar power being lower than conventional sources of electricity, the truth can still be hard to find. Case in point is when a local news outfit does a report on solar, the tag line is usually – “Does solar make sense for you?” Now, understandably, news organizations need to […]
Plans Announced For Large Battery Project In New York
New York City has just announced plans to replace 2 natural gas plants in Queens with lithium ion battery storage. In another PV Magazine inspired post, we will take another look at the importance of energy storage in our completely renewable energy future. The Ravenswood Energy Storage Project will be a 316 MW facility capable […]
The Big Future Of Small Grids
The potential, and the need for, microgrids cannot be overstated. This can be seen as a follow-post to one written earlier this year in January, 2019. In that post, based on a sfchronicle.com article, it was mentioned that utility PG&E was planning a future power outage to help prevent another catastrophic fire from devastating Northern […]
The Future Is Electric!
A future based solely on renewable energy is not far off. We can and will transition to a society that no longer utilizes the burning of fossil fuels. The electrification of our infrastructure, transportation, and energy needs is currently underway. Case in point is a story out of Berkeley, California. Berkeley is the first major […]
Report Shows Strong Solar Growth Trend
In a recent Department of Energy report, new wind and solar power capacity additions dwarf most fossil fuels types. This post is basically part two of the most recent one detailing future solar power growth predictions in the U.S. The basic idea here is that solar has been, and is completely expected to, stay on […]
Solar Power Accounts for 2.7 Percent Of U.S. Electricity Demands
A recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration details the fact that solar power has contributed 2.7 percent of the nation’s electricity needs for the first half of 2019. This is another post inspired by a recent PV Magazine USA article. The first half of 2018 had solar producing 2.4 percent of the country’s […]
America’s First Solar Airport
Chattanooga, Tennessee can now proudly boast to be the first city in America to have an airport that is 100 percent solar powered. This story comes by way of a recent CleanTechnica article. According to the article, the city’s airport has been gradually going solar since 2011. The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CMA) now has a […]
Tesla Offers Solar Panel Rental Program
A recent post on solar-power-now.com mentioned that Tesla has yet to aggressively re-enter the residential solar power market after acquiring SolarCity. Well, the company just announced a new angle to their solar power business. They are now offering homeowners the ability to rent solar panel systems for as little as $50 per month. Homeowners must […]
Large Solar Installers Fail To Achieve Profits
$17 billion. That was the total revenue of the American solar industry in 2018. It might shock some to discover that many of the largest solar installers in the country failed to show a profit in spite of such a large number. It’s also worth noting that this story pertains to a growing industry. A […]