Renewable Energy News
Florida, Nevada Pull the Plug on Solar Energy
Grass roots political ¨battles¨ continue to spark and ignite in U.S. states. Two recent developments, in Nevada and Florida, highlight the high state of flux of U.S. power markets and industry, while also revealing the ¨shenanigans¨ proponents get up to in promoting their causes.
Read more →Massachusetts PV Project Highlights Benefits of Solar Brownfields
The U.S. is home to more than 450,000 so-called brownfields. A just completed solar PV array in Massachusetts highlights the multiple and varied shared benefits and added value solar brings to remediation efforts.
Read more →Obama Doubles Renewable Energy Funding
Barack Obama has announced this weekend that the budget for renewable energy funding will be doubling within five years in an attempt to commit to pledges during the Paris Climate Summit in 2015. Making climate change the focus of his ‘Weekly Address’ emphasising his vision for a renewable future in the US, the President stated that he will be sending the proposal to Congress this week.
Read more →Community Solar, Microgrid Trends Gain Momentum
Numerous and varied community solar and microgrid programs and installations are taking shape across the U.S. as the number of cities and communities that have, or plan to, launch community solar and microgrid programs grows, adding momentum to efforts to realize renewable energy targets and mitigate threats associated with a warming climate.
Read more →GE Berlin Hybrid Power Plant Combines CHP, Solar and Smart Battery Storage
Along with solar PV and intelligent energy storage technology, combined heat and power (CHP) takes center stage in a Hyrbrid Power Plant GE has built to power its facility, households and local businesses in Berlin. Besides using PV and advanced battery technology to generate, store and dispatch electricity as demand requires the Hybrid Power Plant uses GE Jenbacher CHP technology to capture heat produced in various processes to heat water.
Read more →New Orleans Microgrids to Enhance Disaster Resiliency, Water Resources
Winner of a $141 million HUD National Disaster Resilience Competition grant, New Orleans aims to build two microgrids to enhance water resource management and quality of life, as well as improve disaster relief and emergency infrastructure and services.
Read more →Port au Prince's First Solar-Storage Project Will Provide Light and WiFi Around The Clock
The Champs de Mars public square and recreational park in the Haitian capital Port au Prince will be alight at night and powered by a solar PV-energy storage system. The first PV power plant in Haiti, the solar-energy storage system will also provide Wi-Fi connectivity across the park grounds, which includes the Triumphe Cultural Center.
Read more →Johnson Controls-Tyco Merger to Create One of World's Largest Battery Storage Companies
The Johnson Controls -Tyco merger will create one of the world's largest battery storage companies and boost JCI's presence in the nascent but rapidly evolving microgrid and energy efficiency industry and markets.
Read more →Caterpillar Takes Equity Stake In Africa Microgrid Company Powerhive
Part of a $20 million round of Series A VC funding, Caterpillar Ventures is taking an equity stake in Powerhive, a pioneering developer and vendor of smart microgrids that network residential and commercial solar PV-energy storage systems in rural Africa.
Read more →Solar Microgrids Could Yield Substantial Savings at City-wide Scale
Researchers from MIT, Italian and Saudi universities modeled installation and use of 20 microgrids with residential solar penetration of 0% and 20% in MIT's hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overall results showed average daily savings in power consumption of nearly 5kW as well as improved resilience to power outages.
Read more →Battery Storage Network to Power, Reduce Costs of SEPTA Rail Services
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is installing an 8.75-MW lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery storage network to reduce operating costs, reduce energy intensity and emissions, while enhancing service and helping stabilize the regional power grid.
Read more →ComEd Charts Course to Clean Energy Future with Chicago Solar Microgrid
Commonwealth Edison will use a $4 million grant from the new DOE SunShot Initiative SHINES (Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV) program in building a solar-powered microgrid in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, management announced January 20 .…
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Austin Readies Launch of 2 SHINES Solar-Storage Pilot Projects
Austin Energy's SHINES pilot projects are to pave the way toward a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of $0.14/kWh for solar PV systems that employ advanced Li-ion battery-based storage to dispatch electrical power night and day.
Read more →Energy Efficiency Financing More than Doubles in 2015
Corporate funding in the energy efficiency sector more than doubled to nearly $1.2 billion in 2015, with debt and public market financing accounting for nearly 60% of total venture capital (VC) and corporate funding of energy efficiency companies, a good sign the market is maturing and that bankers and investors are becoming more comfortable with risks and rewards.
Read more →Renewable Mini-grids Take Root in Rural India
Young and hungry for growth, energy services companies (ESCOs) in India are cottoning on to renewable energy microgrids as a means of expanding their businesses and bringing sustainable, pollution-free electrical power to rural households, communities and businesses. Homes and businesses…
Read more →New DOE-SEIA SHINES Program to Make Solar Plus Storage Affordable
The Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) launched a joint initiative aimed at boosting development and deployment of integrated solar energy-power storage systems. Dubbed SHINES ( Sustainable and Holistic…
Read more →Solar-Storage On the Rise in Europe as Solar Tax Credits And Feed-in Tariffs Fall
The declining costs of battery storage technologies (Li-ion in particular) and ratcheting down of solar tax credits and feed-in tariffs (FiTs) is enhancing the financial viability of integrating solar PV and stationary battery systems. That's true in the broadest of…
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USDA Awards $46MM for Rural Vermont Energy Efficiency, Renewables
Secretary Tom Vilsack on January 8 announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded $46 million to support energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and programs in rural Vermont. USDA awarded the funds to Vermont Energy Investment Corp. (VEIC), is…
Read more →South Shore Long Island Town Studying Community Microgrid Feasibility
Known as a haven for the rich and famous, the ¨South Shore¨ Long Island town of East Hampton is evaluating the feasibility of using a microgrid to enhance efficiency, reliability and resiliency of its power grid to extreme weather. More…
Read more →New MISO Rules to Boost Regional Energy Storage Applications
Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator (MISO) is exploring ways of changing market rules to facilitate grid-integration of battery and energy storage assets. Doing so would open the doors for industry participants to generate revenue streams from utility…
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