In the run-up to the 11 March anniversary of the Fukushima reactor meltdown, the steady drip of anti renewables articles in the mainstream media was becoming a torrent as the nuclear lobby cranked up its public relations machine. And they're taking aim at European feed-in tariffs, no doubt because of their success. Germany is particularly in their cross-hairs because of its massive development of renewable energy over the past two decades and Germany's plan to close all its reactors for good.
12 March 2012
In the final installation on the Department of Energy’s (DoE) SunShot-US$1/W program, the biggest challenge of them all for solar PV, the balance of system (BOS), is addressed.
14 July 2011
Newly installed solar photovoltaic (solar PV) projects in Californian were paid an average of approximately US$0.34/kWh last year, according to a privately-commissioned study, substantially more than Germans paid.
07 July 2011
With its SunShot program, the Department of Energy (DoE) has greatly expanded the reach past the one goal of a delivered US$1/W of solar power by 2017.
06 July 2011
The argument about who wins – PV, CSP, or CPV – is currently all the rage. But is this just an unnecessary distraction?
17 June 2011
One of the major challenges facing the solar photovoltaic (PV) research community is to bring costs down. In this first feature in a series following the progress of DoE’s dollar-per-watt program, Joyce Laird sets the stage.
16 June 2011
There is a lot going on at the solar photovoltaics (PV) research level. While all projects discussed below are at varying stages of lab-level development, with the speed PV is moving at today, some, or all, of these technologies may break into the commercial sector faster than even the scientists working on them imagine.
09 June 2011
Lyn Corum profiles a number of innovative projects that are at the heart of sustainable development, including a subtropical rain forest that thrives on CO2 and waste heat on a college campus…
26 April 2011
How does modern technology promote better solar installations? Joyce Laird takes a look at some of the companies active in this area of the PV installation value chain.
13 April 2011
This week saw the very sad death of Dr Hermann Scheer, in many ways the father figure of German renewable energy, and a hugely influential figure worldwide. He was a fighter who seemed to relish his battles, and an inspirational, irreplaceable character.
18 October 2010
The US has strong natural solar resources but PV is finding it difficult to compete with wind for state benefits. Charles Kubert examines the incentives available to help businesses and individuals use renewable energy, and looks at how t hey can be improved.
24 August 2010
The US solar industry is in good health with businesses and householders clamoring to install new systems. But, writes Joyce Laird, tighter national and state regulation is essential to protect customers from inefficient and potentially dangerous installations.
19 August 2010
Joyce Laird examines the latest technology developments in CIGS thin-film solar cells, and picks out the key new players in the industry on both sides of the Atlantic.
16 August 2010
The Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) has released a report calling for a modest solar photovoltaic (PV) feed-in tariff program in the City of Angels.
12 July 2010
The USA is seeing a shift in attitudes to renewable energy at Federal level. Bush-era oil-dominated policies are giving way to positive encouragement of sustainable energy. But, to what extent can the US capitalize on the ensuing manufacturing opportunities, enhanced by recession-induced stimulus funding? George Marsh reports.
22 April 2010
Part 1: Cell manufacturers continue to drive down the cost of manufacturing and boost efficiency of their products. But it’s for nothing if installation costs and peripheral devices that harvest usable energy from the cells negate the manufacturing cost savings, and add to the price for the end user. Joyce Laird looks at what is being done on the user end to move PV closer to a universal reality – one that meets all demands at a reasonable cost.
12 April 2010
2010 was predicted by many to be the year that solar PV recovered some of the ground lost over the past 18 months after the industry’s well-documented problems. So how are things likely to play out?
08 April 2010
There are many materials, techniques and technologies ready to announce their arrival on the solar PV scene. All will stretch the solar PV focus in some way. Some are very new and far-reaching, while others are focused on addressing immediate issues. But all are ready to be implemented within the next few months. Joyce Laird rounds up the ones to watch.
16 February 2010
Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the US Solar Energy Industries Association discussed the past 18 months of hard work, as well as the SEIA’s strategic priorities, with Lyn Corum at last year’s Solar Power International in Anaheim, California.
01 February 2010
Representative Matt Pierce (D-61st, Bloomington) introduced AB 1190 into the Indiana General Assembly January 7, 2010. The bill is the first comprehensive proposal for a system of feed-in tariffs for renewable energy in the current legislative sessions that have begun in states across the US.
22 January 2010