Author: solarenergy
At a time when energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important, solar panels are a brilliant solution. As a homeowner in Colorado Springs, investing in solar panels for your home can be a game-changing decision. But why is buying and installing solar panels a smart choice?
Freedom Solar Power announced the largest commercial solar installation in the greater Houston, Texas area in partnership with Stainless Structurals, a supplier specializing in the design, production and distribution of stainless steel solutions. The 1.97-MW installation was completed in March 2024. The Stainless Structurals rooftop installation encompasses over 4,000 solar panels across 118,000 ft2 of roof (a half-mile) to power a more sustainable and self-sufficient future for Stainless Structurals by offsetting energy usage by 78% and saving the company $4.8 million over the next 25 years. The initial motivator for this facility improvement project was to find a thermal barrier…
The operation and maintenance (O&M) of a utility-scale solar project is largely self-explanatory: keep the solar panels clean, monitor the health of the inverter, maintain the grounds, and check the tracker mechanisms for wear and tear. Maintaining large-scale lithium battery energy storage system (BESS) installations requires different skills, although they are largely hands-off and do not require weather-related maintenance. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to monitor, as BESS projects actually generate a huge amount of data. Asset managers can help portfolio owners sort through the mountains of data to ensure batteries are operating optimally. Software company Power factors optimizes…
With the frequency and severity of climate change disasters increasing steadily year by year, millions of lives are affected worldwide, and news outlets report new thresholds being broken with monotonous but dire regularity, and if that wasn’t enough climate change is driving a growing mental health crisis. Studies over recent years show significant increases in climate change anxiety worldwide. According to Google’s data, searches related to “climate anxiety” or “eco-anxiety” increased by 4,590% from 2018 to 2023. A nationally representative survey by the EdWeek Research Center found 37% of teenagers feel anxious when thinking about climate change. And if the direct…
Arctech says it plans to open a 3GW tracker factory in Saudi Arabia. The tracker manufacturer says the Jeddah facility will be designed to reach a capacity of up to 10 GW. April 30, 2024 Emiliano BelliniArctech Solar has launched a new partnership with the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) to establish a manufacturing facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The plant will cover an area of approximately 97,000 square meters and have a production capacity of 3 GW, with the potential to reach up to 10 GW through local production. It will focus on PV-enabled tracker…
Gore Street’s 80MW Stony project. Image: Gore Street Capital. UK-based battery storage investor and developer Gore Street is using battery data analytics solutions to manage risk and get better insurance terms for projects in its portfolio. The investment manager of the Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, Gore Street Capital, announced this morning that the fund has deployed German-based provider ACCURE’s cloud-based battery data analytics software. The predictive analytics solution can reduce operational issues and the risk of fire caused by thermal runaway events, Gore Street said. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software has been installed at two of Gore Street’s project…
German supplier of photovoltaic thermal (PVT) modules Sunmaxx PVT and planning company for regenerative energy systems good energy recently conducted a new, comprehensive feasibility study on decarbonization with solar energy technologies at a 17,000 m² production site of automotive supplier MAHLE. The study shows that heat and electricity demand at the MAHLE site can be completely decarbonized through the combination of PVT and standard PV modules.By using PVT modules, geothermal probes and a geothermal heat pump, the production site can significantly reduce its CO2 footprint and save costs. These modules can produce heat and electricity at the same time.Image: Sunmaxx…
An image of a NextEnergy Capital solar park in Great Britain. Image: NextEnergy Capital. “The biggest problem with the solar industry right now is the grid and the workforce,” said Mark Wakeford, chairman of EvoEnergy, when discussing the role of the Solar Taskforce and some of its key findings to date. Speaking at an industry event today (April 30), Wakefield, chair of the Taskforce’s skills group, highlighted that the electricity grid needs further investment and support to enable sustainable generation technologies, such as solar, to power the energy system decarbonization. Lawrence Slade, CEO of the Energy Networks Association, added to…
By Contributing Author April 4, 2024 A solar farm in Austin, Texas.By Dennis Wamsted and Seth Feaster | Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)Rising demand for electricity is not standing in the way of a cleaner grid, and we need look no further than Texas for proof.Over the past decade, electricity generation in Texas increased by 104.6 million MWh, from 391.9 million MWh in 2013 to 496.5 million MWh in 2023. This increase far exceeded growth elsewhere in the United States. It was more than three times the increase in generation in the next fastest growing state, Florida,…
This is the third and final installment of a series of articles examining the opportunities and pitfalls of the current guidelines for the IRA. Bonus credit program for low-income communities for communal solar energy. In part one, we looked at the ways the guidance is unintentionally failing low-income households by imposing unnecessarily strict methods of delivering benefits. In part two, I proposed that the Treasury Department allow financial benefits to be distributed through prepaid cards so that households can benefit directly and immediately from the program. This third article addresses concerns that often arise during discussions about direct benefits: verifiability…