Why Tesla’s new solar roof tiles and home battery are such a big deal TechCrunch, October 31, 2016 On October 28, Tesla unveiled its new solar roof tiles. Few of us in attendance, if any, realized the solar roofing tiles were actual functional solar panels until Elon Musk said so. Sure, it’s a neat trick, but … Read more
Ryan Pollin, ERS, for Zondits The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection has canceled its procurement of natural gas pipeline resources. As a result, Spectra Energy’s Access Northeast project, spanning parts of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, is now virtually guaranteed not to proceed. Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court … Read more
Chernobyl’s Atomic Wasteland May Be Reborn With Solar Energy Bloomberg, July 26, 2016 Ukraine’s looking toward the sun to put a radioactive wasteland back into business. Thirty years after atomic fallout from the Chernobyl meltdown rendered an area the size of Luxembourg uninhabitable for centuries, Ukraine is seeking investors to develop solar power near the … Read more
Germany had so much renewable energy on Sunday that it had to pay people to use electricity QZ, May 10, 2016 On Sunday, May 8, Germany hit a new high in renewable energy generation. Thanks to a sunny and windy day, at one point around 1pm the country’s solar, wind, hydro and biomass plants were … Read more
How California Blackouts Will Make Solar and Batteries A National Story Triple Pundit, April 18, 2016. Image credit: Life-Of-Pix Imagine islands of light fueled by solar connected to batteries Here’s how solar and distributed generation could become national news this summer. It is 7 p.m., and Los Angeles is blacked out. It’s the third day of … Read more
Waiting for a Rockefeller: Meet the Next `Supermajors’ of Energy Bloomberg, April 3, 2016. Image credit: geralt Clean power remains a tumultuous and fragmented business, crowded with companies grabbing for slices of an emerging market that aspires to reshape how the world meets its energy needs. They rise and fall as technology advances and demand seesaws. … Read more
GREENING VERMONT, BUILDING A MORE RESILIENT FUTURE The Vermont Independent, March 24, 2016. Image credit: johnoghue Here in Vermont, as everywhere, the built environment has a vast impact on the natural environment, human health, and the economy. 40% of our energy consumption comes from the building sector, and buildings also hold the greatest potential for achieving … Read more
Blockchain-based microgrid gives power to consumers in New York New Scientist, March 2, 2016. Image credit: Unsplash Transactive Grid aims to enable people to buy and sell renewable energy to their neighbours. To deal in energy at the moment, you have to go through a central company like Duke Energy in the US or National Grid … Read more
Ryan Pollin for Zondits, January 15, 2016. Image credit: Jeremy Levine Utility-scale solar has been growing like a weed in California, and their latest milestones are in the CA Independent System Operator’s 2015 year-end figures. More energy was provided by solar than by wind sources in the state (a first) or by hydroelectricity (also a first). … Read more
Gita Subramony for Zondits, January 6, 2016. Image credit: tpsdave Last week Marketplace reported on how solar customers in Nevada might end up paying more on their utility bills even though they use less energy from the grid. What’s going on here? Abundant sunshine in the Silver State created high demand for solar arrays. However, the … Read more