Featured Blogs - RenewableEnergyWorld.com

Rising Energy Dependency Endangers Europe’s Economy

Zoë Casey — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:59:00 GMT

The issue of energy may have been overshadowed by that of tax at yesterday’s EU summit of Heads of State in Brussels, but its growing importance and impact on Europe’s economy is one that cannot be ignored. As the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, Europeans are paying a lot for their energy – prices are 37% higher than those in the US and 20% hi

GM's Commitment to Solar Going Strong

Emily Hois — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:02:00 GMT

With the amount of energy required to produce a vehicle, it makes sense that automobile manufacturers are exploring solar power to help cut costs and position themselves as environmentally-conscious companies. Incorporating solar energy into their operations is already popular among European vehicle manufacturers: from SEAT’s 10.6 megawatts (MW) of

Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod Going Solar Thanks to $120M in Financing

Chris Meehan — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:51:00 GMT

Rockland Capital has raised $120 million in financing to support solar installations in nine towns along Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The financing will allow Broadway Electrical to install more than 37 megawatts of photovoltaic (PV) projects throughout the region, including projects on landfills and rooftops. The projects have

Streamlined Permitting Can Significantly Reduce Costs, Time for Installing Residential Solar

Chris Meehan — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

A recent report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) looks at how the permitting process can impact the costs and time it takes to install solar. The report, “The Impact of City-level Permitting Processes on Residential Photovoltaic Installation Prices and Development Times: An Empirical Analysis of Solar Systems in California Citie

Re-Igniting America's Solar Impulse

Tom Weis — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:37:00 GMT

First came the Wright Brothers. Then it was Charles Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis. In 1990, Eric Raymond made aviation history to much less fanfare with the first solar airplane crossing of the United States. Now it is Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg making history by flying across America in SOLAR IMPULSE, a 100

Rumors of US-China Trade Settlement Talks Fuel Solar Stocks

Doug Young — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:45:00 GMT

If short-term traders really have hijacked the sector, which seems probable, it would mark a relatively big setback for stocks that were once popular among aggressive longer-term investors who liked the strong prospects of solar energy. Of course that doesn’t mean that serious investors will never return to the sector if it ever manages to stabiliz

EVs: Geely Revs Up, BYD Enters Hong Kong

Doug Young — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Let’s start with a look at the latest news from Geely, which has announced that Liu Jinliang has left his older role as head of the company’s car sales to focus exclusively on developing its EV business. (company announcement) In a bid to ease concerns that the move might represent a demotion, Geely is quick to add that Liu will retain his role as

Wind Potential – All About the Data

Amy Malloy — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:40:00 GMT

When it comes to the deployment of wind power, data plays an important role in the design and operations of a wind farm. Is there enough wind? Where should the turbines be placed? How will the placement of turbines impact performance? Are the turbines in need of maintenance? Data collected from technologically advanced monitoring devices answers th

Creating Awareness: Geothermal for a Sustainable Future in New York City

Mark Franks — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:25:00 GMT

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called ground source heat pumps the “most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available.” Geothermal heat pumps or exchangers, also known as geo-exchange, require no fossil-fuel burning on-site, use 70 percent of their energy from Earth’s renewabl

3 Engagement Strategies for Solar Installers to Be “Liked” on Facebook with Graph Search

Tor 'Solar Fred' Valenza — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Facebook’s new Graph Search is still in a testing phase right now, but it will launch sitewide in the coming months. And when it does, your solar company had better be “liked” by your customers. What is Graph Search? Very simply, it’s an internal Facebook search engine that will allow your potential customers to search Facebook for people, places,

French and German Ministers Call for 2030 Renewable Energy Targets

Phillippa Jones — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:25:00 GMT

Writing in France’s prestigious centre-left daily newspaper Le Monde, Peter Altmaier, the German environment minister, and Delphine Batho, his French counterpart, underlined the need for a 2030 renewable energy target and highlighed the importance of renewables in transforming the European economy, improving energy security and reducing greenhouse

Why Boulder, Colorado Opted for a Clean Energy Takeover

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:35:00 GMT

The process started in 2003 when Boulder resumed studying the option to create a municipal utility. With a climate-action plan already in place, and a local carbon tax already financing conservation and clean energy, the once nascent issue became a serious option in Boulder. Creating a municipal utility would allow for more control over the grid, r

San Antonio Solar Fans Delay Introduction of SunCredit Program

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:12:00 GMT

Fracking and Solar: Friends, Foes or the Bridge to Clean Energy Adoption?

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:17:00 GMT

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has been widely criticized by environmentalists who cite concerns with water pollution and methane leakage from this high-volume method of extracting natural gas. However, the burning of natural gas is undoubtedly better for the planet than the burning of coal. Some experts are now saying that — toxic chemicals an

Solar Under Assault Again in Louisiana

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

A slew of bills introduced in Louisiana’s legislature this year were challenging the state’s solar incentives. At least one of which, House Bill 705 to gradually phase out the state’s solar and wind tax credits by 2020, has moved forward. While that bill might make some sense, other bills, like a bill to eliminate tax credits immediately, seem to b

China Solar Update: Trina Improves, Suntech Scores Extension, Beijing Awaits EU Tariff Decision

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:36:06 GMT

Several news bits from the solar sector show more signs of stabilization after a 2-year-old downturn, even as an ongoing trade war looks set to escalate. The big picture in these news bits does seem to reflect some cautious optimism returning to the sector after the prolonged downturn due to massive oversupply. But that turnaround remains very tent

Efficiency New Brunswick Cuts Geothermal Energy Incentives

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:21:00 GMT

Throughout Canada, energy efficiency retrofit grants have helped stimulate the geothermal industry and have made geothermal heat pumps more popular than ever before. The introduction of these substantial financial incentives on both a provincial and federal level have been a boon for the geothermal industry and the energy efficiency retrofit indust

SolarCity Sues Treasury Over 1603 Payments

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:00:00 GMT

In an interesting turn of events, solar third-party ownership company SolarCity is suing the Treasury Department in Federal Claims Court, alleging that it received less than expected from the now defunct 1603 Treasury Grant Program. This follows the Treasury investigation of SolarCity over whether or not it correctly valued the solar arrays the com

Finland's New Energy Solutions

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

You may not know much about Finland, but you certainly know the powerhouse technology company that became a household name across the globe and drove the nation’s economic expansion through the 1990s-2000s. Nokia generated a quarter of Finnish economic growth from 1998-2007, prompting a new term, ‘the Nokia effect’, to describe economic development

Electricity Loss and Theft: Who Pays?

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

We fret about turning off the lights to save pennies on energy. Meanwhile, electricity worth billions of dollars gets lost or stolen on the world’s power grids every year. In industry jargon, the problem is known as ‘line loss.’ A certain amount of electricity generated by a power plant never makes it to the consumer — or at least the paying consum