Sept. 18, 2019 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)-In 2018, about 4,178 billion kilowatthours (kWh) (or 4.18 trillion kWh) of electricity were generated at utility-scale electricity generation facilities in the United States.1 About 63% of this electricity generation was from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases). About 20% was from nuclear energy, and about 17% was from renewable energy sources. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that an additional 30 billion kWh of electricity generation was from small-scale solar photovoltaic systems in 2018

Bright Hub -One of the most beneficial ways of increasing the efficiency of a wind turbine is to modify the design of the turbine blades. Although there are already many types of blade designs already in the market, only a few designs have turned out to be useful.

Whalepower, a Canadian company that uses bio-mimicry, a concept of adapting the designs of nature into developing mechanical machine, has changed the design of the conventional turbine blades from flat smooth blades to a ridged design similar to that of whale fins. The blades of whale power turbine features a series of ridges just like the tubercles or bumps found on the humpback whale fins.

In the U.S. several landfills have already been converted into solar farms. The project also provides the opportunity to convert an unusable land and turn it into something that can become the asset of the community.

Water is a finite resource, as water wars in California can attest. Reducing our water footprint is essential to conserving this life-giving substance.

Solar Thermal Magazine Feb.10, 2019 -You would think that a state that refers to itself as the sunshine state would be rushing to install solar power technology. I mean with all that sunshine ( not to mention wind, wave and tidal energy) available why buy electricity from out of state.

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), already a self proclaimed leader in solar energy, has announced a groundbreaking “30-by-30” plan to install more than 30 million solar panels by 2030 and make the state of Florida a world leader in the production of solar energy.

EnergyCentral , Dec. 30, 2018 - These are tumultuous times for solar. After growing rapidly in the last decade, the industry slowed down this year. The economics of solar panel installations, which is heavily subsidized and thrives on cheap panels imported from China, caught up with the industry. There was a sharp drop in the number of residential and utility installations of solar after the Trump administration instituted tariffs on solar panels made in China. The administration also tried to revive the coal industry by questioning renewable energy’s ability to generate baseload power.

But it was not bad news all the way.

Next quarter should see the highest number of utility installations of solar, in terms of power, according to consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. The product mix at utility installations also underwent a change as tracking systems, which follow the sun’s path through the day, became more popular as compared to fixed tilt systems. That is expected to continue in 2019.

January, 2019 Arcadia Power Blog -The fight against climate change is a fight for everyone, from individuals to businesses, national and local governments.

Among many leaders driving change towards a 100% renewable energy future, find these 156 major global companies—each of whom have pledged to go 100% renewable in the near future.

Look for your trusted bank, service, or a favorite brand, and see when and how each of them are working to meet their goals. Click to read on.

Around the world, cities, states, countries, and companies (and people just like you!) are making the switch to clean, renewable energy to help confront climate change – and because it just makes good economic sense.

Renewable energy is both a clean alternative to the fossil fuels driving the climate crisis and an engine for job creation. What’s not to love? But like any new technology, as it starts to take hold, there are bound to be questions.

April, 2017 (Curbed.com)-From bike shares to newly redesigned electric bikes, there are more options than ever for biking in American cities. Bike companies are also working to change the industry, specifically through the use of “power-boosting technology.”

Pedal-addicts might remember when the prototype of the bright red Copenhagen Wheel was released by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lab in 2009. The company Superpedestrian—which launched in 2013—just debuted a new version of the product to consumers after years of intense anticipation and improvements.

While it’s hard to miss a massive solar array or a field full of wind turbines, so much of the action with geothermal energy happens out-of-sight that it tends to not generate as much love as its buzzier brothers in the renewable energy landscape.

And that’s too bad, because geothermal energy is pretty awesome. It takes the natural functions of the Earth and puts them to great use heating homes, creating electricity, and helping to propel the global shift from the dirty fossil fuels driving climate change to renewables.

May 11, 2018 -California has faced its fair share of challenges due the climate crisis. But now it’s fighting back with a powerful weapon: renewable energy.

More than that, the Golden State is proving that we can start a renewable energy revolution right now.

With the White House stepping out of the climate fight, California has stepped up in a big way, leading a coalition of 16 states and the District of Columbia suing to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from weakening fuel efficiency standards.

Renewable energy is energy generated from ongoing natural processes like wind or sunlight that are not depleted when used. Unlike fossil fuels, these types of energy are theoretically unlimited. In contrast, fossil fuels like oil and gas are finite resources formed in the earth over hundreds of millions of years from the remains of plants and animals.

Importantly, and unlike fossil fuels, renewable energy is clean and doesn’t release carbon pollution into the atmosphere (which drives climate change). Burning fossil fuels does.

Mar. 20, 2018 -Months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is still struggling to become fully energized. A number of grassroots efforts think solar energy can speed the recovery and prevent a total blackout when the next storm hits.

Mar. 24, 2018 -With all the talk of hyper-performance electric vehicles (EV) and other ‘unobtainium’ cars, we’re happy to report a refreshing story that should appease those unhappy with electric vehicle (EV) affordability. How about a 3D-printed EV for $7,500? And the best part is that you won’t have to wait for it very long.

Feb. 27, 2018 -Are you passionate about green energy and protecting our planet? Are you looking for a career you can be proud of that offers possibilities we aren’t even aware of yet? Look no further than the renewable energy industry.

You could be working in wind or solar power in no time with the right education and tools to get you set on this exciting path. Here are some of the best degrees to pursue and the career choices that may come your way.

Jan. 21, 2018 - A team of talented scientists from Stanford University situated in Stanford, in Silicon Valley, 20 miles (approximately 30 Km) out of San Jose, California, USA have successfully displayed the usage of nanotechnology. The method to manufacture crystalline silicon (c-Si) thin-film solar cells which are being claimed to be more efficient at capturing solar energy.

Jan. 2, 2018 - Not too long ago, the mention of hydrogen, or concentrating solar power, or both at the same time, would be met by a roll of the eye from alternative energy insiders. Hydrogen is an abundant and clean-burning fuel, but the primary source of hydrogen is natural gas. Concentrating solar power has a built-in energy storage element, but it is more complicated and expensive than other solar technologies. Et cetera, et cetera, and so on and so forth.

Dec. 15, 2017 - It is easier to believe in the future of solar today than it was decades ago. This article honors eight of the women who believed and persevered and pioneered the PV industry of today and without who it might be a very different industry indeed.

Each woman has in her own way championed the cause of climate change as well as the cause of the solar industry and has worked tirelessly educating, conducting research and deploying solar technologies to ensure the future of the industry.

Apr. 11, 2017 - Can you imagine a world in which you could spray on your power source and place it wherever you’d like? Maybe on the windows of your home or on the roof of your car. Perhaps on the sides of your tall business building.

Well, solar technology companies are working on a way to literally spray on solar cells to any convenient surface, which will harness power from the sun and eliminate dependence on wasteful energy. To boot, this futuristic option may be more affordable than the solar panels being created in Silicon Valley today.

Sept. 1, 2019 (Union of Concerned Scientists)-Innovative programs around the country now make it possible for all environmentally conscious energy consumers to support renewable energy directly by participating in the "green" power market. The willingness to pay for the benefits of increasing our renewable energy supplies can be tapped within any market structure and by any size or type of energy consumer.

Aug. 2, 2018 (nocamels)-Autonomous vehicles, electrification, connected cars and shared transport are the megatrends now remaking the auto industry. Offshoots of these four main forces include ways to detect sleepy drivers, infotainment solutions, digital cockpits, intelligent transport systems, vehicle cybersecurity, and satellite navigation technologies.

The Israeli companies in the car arena address all these needs as well as future ones.

Forbes Magazie, Jan. 14, 2019  - Two recent developments in the world of fusion power are giving scientists and policymakers newfound optimism for the elusive ‘holy grail’ of energy technologies. The first is a discovery by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) which uses radio frequency (RF) technology to greatly reduce so-called ‘plasma disruption’ – the leading challenge to achieving a sustained, net energy gain fusion reaction. This is a key element in making fusion a feasible source of electricity.

Environment Florida, May 31, 2019  - Solar power is expanding rapidly. The United States now has over 60 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed — enough to power nearly one in every 11 homes in America. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have invested in solar energy and millions more are ready to join them.

America’s major cities have played a key role in the clean energy revolution and stand to reap tremendous benefits from solar energy. As population centers, they are major sources of electricity demand and, with millions of rooftops suitable for solar panels, they have the potential to be major sources of clean energy production as well.

Watch this short video, and learn how concentrated solar power works to bring the energy of the sun, even when it is no longer shining.

PBS.org, Mar.15, 2019

1832-39 Scottish inventor Robert Anderson invents the first crude electric carriage powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.

1835: American Thomas Davenport is credited with building the first practical electric vehicle -- a small locomotive.

1859: French physicist Gaston Planté invents the rechargeable lead-acid storage battery. In 1881, his countryman Camille Faure will improve the storage battery's ability to supply current and invent the basic lead-acid battery used in automobiles.

For the rest of the history, click now

Jan. 2, 2019 Arcadia Power -Despite a number of alarming climate change headlines, 2018 had many big wins for renewable energy. The proliferation of solar and wind power went beyond almost all previous predictions, a record number of states, communities, and companies have joined the renewable energy 100 pledge, and many more.

Here’s a small collection of some of our favorite renewable energy headlines and milestones from the past year. Sneak preview: the future is bright.

March 12, 2017 - The Netherlands is covered with bike paths, connecting more or less every destination a person might wish to go to and greatly increasing the convenience of cycling as a sustainable mode of transport.

In the densely populated country, where space is scarce, a consortium of companies and research labs called SolaRoad is endeavoring to make those cycle lanes reduce carbon emissions in yet another way: by having them to generate solar electricity.

View a chart showing all of the reported projects in North and Central America that have 100% renewable energy goals, including some you would not have expected.

Feb. 7, 2017 - The first Wattway solar road pilot in America has popped up in rural west Georgia. The Ray C. Anderson Foundation, named for sustainable manufacturing pioneer Ray Anderson, is testing renewable technologies along an 18-mile stretch of road, and recently installed 538 square feet of Colas‘ Wattway solar road system near the border between Georgia and Alabama.

Feb. 14, 2017 - Here is a vision of the future in a warming world without fossil fuels.

No switching on the air conditioning because your roof re-radiates the sun’s heat back into space.

You don’t have to worry that the current from solar energy will turn off at night, because the same sunlight that powered the refrigerator has also turned two greenhouse gases into hydrocarbon fuel that serves as battery back-up.

The new Solar Farmhouse contains everything the quintessential home possesses -- the quaint front porch, the white wood siding, the gabled roof, and the simple lines -- updated with a slew of net-zero features, including a passive solar design, air-tight building envelope, and open plan.

In 2017 renewable energy represented 17.5 % of energy consumed in the EU, on a path to the 2020 target of 20 %.

The share of energy from renewable sources used in transport activities reached 7.6 % in 2017.

These stats will be updated in Feb. 2020. Stay tuned.

Gardens by the Bay will be Singapore's largest garden project and is central to their continued development of Marina Bay.

There are various incentives being offered. The article explains it in detail.

The world needs widely available reliable, affordable, carbon-free energy. New tools are needed to power the world.

Bill Gates, George Soros and others are behind this.

Affordable, lightweight, and versatile, batteries made of porous materials could soon transform energy storage.

The world’s energy systems, markets, and values are rapidly changing in response to climate disruption — and those mitigation efforts may be starting to move the needle.

Feb. 10, 2017 -Here is an inconvenient truth that advocates of alternative energy sources are reluctant to admit – traditional solar panels can be a bit of an eyesore.

Especially in a residential setting, bulky solar panels may detract from the aesthetic of any house, no matter how much the owner tries to convince you otherwise.

Think about the streets in your neighborhood, and ask yourself how many of the homes actually have visible solar panels, and you will quickly realize that they are not very popular.

Nov. 14, 2019  (inhabitat) — In hopes of reinventing its image, new life is breathing into Fukushima, the Japanese northeastern prefecture that was devastated by a 2011 tsunami and consequent nuclear power plant meltdown. Fukushima, which is Japan’s third largest prefecture, is revitalizing and transforming into a renewable energy hub.

Eight years ago, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake triggered a massive tsunami, overwhelming the Fukushima reactors and causing the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl incident. Decontamination of Fukushima’s nuclear plant and surroundings are ongoing.

Since 2011, both the Japanese state and Fukushima local governments have ramped up the prefecture’s renewable energy production. To meet the entire region’s needs with 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, endeavors are underway to cultivate and integrate clean energy sources like biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind.

Nov. 12, 2019  (Energy Central)— Wood-fired power plants across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula will continue operating through the 2020s, but their life beyond that is uncertain amid declining wind and solar prices.

A September ruling by Michigan regulators created a competitive bidding process for one of the state’s largest utilities, Consumers Energy, that will force biomass producers to compete directly with wind and solar once their contracts expire over the coming decade.

Consumers has argued in recent years that contracts with independent producers under the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) are too expensive. This includes wood-fired power plants as well as small hydropower and waste-to-energy.

Nov. 11, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)— With an average of 300 days of sun per year, the present and future of clean energies in Spain are focused undoubtedly on solar energy. By installing over 4GW of capacity in 2019 (14 times more than in 2018), Spain will lead the solar market in Europe this year, a landmark that illustrates the solar energy sector in the country has already taken off.

But why now, after what can be considered false dawns previously?

The global picture has changed: an important energy transition is now underway and many factors will determine the world’s energy future. These include government policies that seek to promote social wellness while addressing the risks of climate change. Technology will also be vital to improve living standards through addressing climate risks. Technological advances continue reshaping the energy playground. Many technologies, which did not exist five or 10 years ago, have a more important role today and their impacts will continue expanding.

Nov. 8, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)— The devastating California wildfires and related power outages are already leading to new approaches to energy resiliency that rely on battery storage technologies.

Millions of people in the state have had their electricity cut over the last month due to preventative utility shut-offs. Even if the shut-offs could be justified to avoid starting more fires, the ability of the utilities in these affected areas to supply reliable power to their customers is now in doubt.

The impacts of the shut-offs have been dramatic—hospitals without power had to be evacuated, people at home with critical medical equipment were placed at risk without power to run these devices (one person has died), and over $2.5 billion in business losses accrued due to outages—all pointing to an energy system in collapse.

Nov. 8, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)— McDonald’s announced the signing of two long-term, large-scale virtual power purchase agreements, whereby McDonald’s will buy renewable energy generated by Aviator Wind West, a wind power project located in Coke County, Texas and a solar project located in Texas.

The combined 380 MW in renewable energy expected to be generated from McDonald’s contribution to these projects will help to prevent over 700,000 metric tons of carbon emissions each year, which is equivalent to planting more than 11 million trees or taking over 140,000 cars off the road for one year.

Additionally, the energy generated by these U.S. projects will be equivalent to over 2,500 restaurants-worth of electricity.

Nov. 5, 2019  (Science News)— As the sun moves across the sky, sunflowers continually orient themselves to soak up the most light. Now a type of human-made material can do that, too.

This is the first artificial material capable of phototropism, researchers report November 4 in Nature Nanotechnology. Stemlike cylinders of the material, dubbed SunBOTs, can maneuver to capture about 90 percent of available sunlight, even when the sun comes in at an oblique angle, materials scientist Ximin He of UCLA and her colleagues found. The technology could someday be used to optimize solar panels, desalinate water or move robots, the researchers say.

Other scientists have made artificial substances that can bend toward light, but those materials stop arbitrarily. SunBOTs can self-regulate, moving into the optimal position needed to absorb the sun’s rays, then making small adjustments to stay there as the sun shifts.

Nov. 4, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)— Singapore’s state-owned power grid operator wants to build more connections to neighboring countries to tap their greater potential for renewable energy.

Nations like Malaysia and Indonesia have ample spare land for solar panels and enough wind to power turbines, both things that Singapore is lacking, Wong Kim Yin, chief executive officer of SP Group, said in an interview Friday. Building transmission lines to connect the countries and using renewable energy credits to facilitate power trading can allow the island nation to use clean power even if it can’t produce it.

“One of the possible ways of tapping renewable resources is actually working with our neighbors,” Wong said on Bloomberg Television. “Some physical regional interconnects will help Singapore in that department.”

Nov. 1, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)— At a conference put on by the Connecticut Power and Energy Society (CPES) on October 30, a panel of energy suppliers discussed and debated the best way to advance renewable energy in the state of Connecticut and the entire U.S.

States, cities, towns and companies across America are setting aggressive clean energy and/or zero-carbon emission goals. New York hopes to be sourcing 70% of its energy from renewables by 2030; Hawaii wants to be 100% renewable by 2045. Eight other states have made similar commitments. The Sierra Club found 140 cites that have set clean energy goals.

Indeed, Americans in general want clean energy, according to a survey conducted by Consumer Reports, which found that 76% of Americans agree that increasing renewable energy is a worthwhile goal.

Oct. 28, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)-According to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of the latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” (with data through August 31, 2019), both wind and solar are accounting for more and more of the total electrical generation in the United States.

Renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for 18.49% of net domestic electrical generation during the first eight months of 2019, said SUN DAY. A year earlier, renewables’ share was 17.95%.

Oct. 17, 2019  (Bloomberg News)-India is considering building 30 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity along a desert on its western border known for its sunny, windy and arid expanse, according to people familiar with the plan.

The projects, which will be spread across the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, are part of efforts to expand the country’s renewable capacity and reduce the share of fossil fuels in its energy mix, the people said, asking not to be named as the discussions are private and at an early stage. The plan was discussed at a meeting in Gujarat last week, they said.

Land for renewable projects is a key challenge in India and the high cost of acquisition weighs on the price of electricity. The nation is increasingly looking at barren lands for building renewable projects so its energy goals don’t clash with its growing need for agricultural production. For that reason, India plans to install 25 gigawatts of solar projects, combined with storage capacity, in the high-altitude region of Ladakh in the extreme north of the country, power minister R.K. Singh said in August.

Oct. 16, 2019  (Bloomberg News)-If the U.S. wants to extend economic growth, it should double down on cleaning up the environment and fighting climate change, which are fueling both jobs and revenue, according to a new analysis by University College London researchers.

“Don’t listen to the political rhetoric,” said Mark Maslin, a professor of geography and one of the authors behind the study published Tuesday. “Just look at the data and be hard-nosed about it, and say, ‘Okay, if we’re going to support the economy and make it grow and have lots of employment, this is where I need to invest.’”

For years, there’s been a major technical difficulty with charting progress in the “green economy:” the U.S. doesn’t measure it. Part of the blame lies with Congress, which as part of 2013 budget cuts eliminated funding for data-collection on “green goods and services.”

Oct. 10, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)-Florida Power & Light today announced that it is garnering more support from solar stakeholders for its FPL SolarTogether, a proposed new offering for FPL customers that would be the largest community solar program in the U.S., pending regulatory review.

In addition to the program being the largest in the U.S., FPL said that its SolarTogether would be the largest voluntary low-income solar offering in the country. The planned installation of 1,490 MW of new universal solar capacity at 20 new solar power plants across FPL’s service territory would generate an estimated $249 million in net savings for all FPL customers over the long term, primarily from avoided fuel and other system savings.

Oct. 9, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)-Today California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) began the first phase of its Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) during which the power will be cut to up to 800,000 customers, according to the utility.

The utility notified customers yesterday in a post on its 'Currents' website of the impending shutoffs, which will occur in three phases.

Oct. 8, 2019  (Bloomberg News)-Siemens AG is partnering on a 5,000-megawatt combined solar and wind farm in Western Australia that will produce renewable hydrogen for potential export to Asia.

The Murchison facility will use Siemens’ electrolyzer technology to convert power from the solar and wind units into hydrogen, it said in a joint statement with developer Hydrogen Renewables Australia. The project’s location, north of the coastal town of Kalbarri, makes it “one of the most cost-effective” spots in Australia to produce clean energy, according to the statement.

HRA has six years to scale up the project to enable exports to Japan and South Korea, ramping up to full capacity by 2028, when it could be supplying as much as 10% of Asia’s hydrogen demand, Chief Executive Officer Terry Kallis said by phone. Total investment is seen at about A$10 billion ($6.75 billion).

Oct. 7, 2019  (Renewable Energy World)- West coast utility PacifiCorp released its draft of a long-term energy plan that calls for retiring five coal-fired units in the next decade and adding more than 6,000 MW of wind and solar over the next six years.

The draft of PacifiCorp’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan forecasts how the company hopes to generate power and meet customer needs cost-effectively over the next 20 years. The utility will file its final version with state regulators later this month.

“The transition in how we meet our customers’ energy needs is under way,” said Rick Link, PacifiCorp’s vice president of resource planning and acquisitions.

Oct. 3, 2019  (NY Times Climate Forward)- In the shadow of a noisy, turbulent Brexit, another epic transformation is underway in Britain.

A leading industrial power that built itself on coal and colonialism, Britain is now trying to pivot away from the fossil fuels that powered the industrial age. The government has set a legally binding target to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Some of that change is already in motion: The country is fast ditching coal in favor of wind energy and gas. And this summer, for the first time in more than 130 years, it went two weeks without burning one lump of coal.

Oct. 3, 2019 (Science Daily)- A research team from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and Kanazawa University develops an eco-friendly device that uses solar energy to catalyze an electrochemical oxidation reaction with high efficiency.

Green energy sources constitute a hot research field globally because of the current environmental crisis and the necessity to avoid non-renewable energy (fossil fuels). Researchers have been seeking ways to harness and harvest solar energy for decades, and photovoltaic devices, which convert light into electricity, are in high demand.

Sept. 25, 2019 (grist)- On a balmy day this past May, I sat on a white, metal park bench outside of Plaza de Recreo Guanina, a small community meeting space consisting of a few fenced-off trees and a lot of concrete in Miramar, a neighborhood in the southeast Puerto Rican city of Guayama. Just outside the square, a few palm trees swayed in a breeze tinged with just the slightest scent of rotten eggs.

A run-down green truck pulled up nearby, and two locals-turned-activists — Aldwin Colón Burgos and Erasmo Cruz Vega — came out to greet me. Upon shaking hands with Cruz Vega — a spectacled man in his early 70s who has called the community home for nearly 60 years — he handed me a white surgical mask. “You’re going to need it,” he said in Spanish.

Sept. 20, 2019 (GIZMODO) - The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the capacity for renewable energy to grow by almost 12 percent this year. Gotta love us some solar and wind energy! The problem is, the world is still having a dirty love affair with coal.

The agency released these new projects Friday, noting that this growth is the fastest the industry has seen since 2015. The findings are much welcome: Renewables saw virtually no growth between 2017 and 2018. And in the era of the climate crisis, the industry needs to grow if our energy grid can shift toward cleaner energy without government intervention.

The article also talks about how coal-dependency could neutralize those gains.

Sept. 12, 2019  (Science News)- A new device is an anti-solar panel, harvesting energy from the cold night sky.

By harnessing the temperature difference between Earth and outer space, a prototype of the device produced enough electricity at night to power a small LED light. A bigger version of this nighttime generator could someday light rooms, charge phones or power other electronics in remote or low-resource areas that lack electricity at night when solar panels don’t work, researchers report online September 12 in Joule.

The core of the new night-light is a thermoelectric generator, which produces electricity when one side of the generator is cooler than the other . The sky-facing side of the generator is attached to an aluminum plate sealed beneath a transparent cover and surrounded with insulation to keep heat out. This plate stays cooler than the ambient air by shedding any heat it absorbs as infrared radiation. That radiation can zip up through the transparent cover and the atmosphere toward the cold sink of outer space.

Sept. 6, 2019 (Renewable Energy World)-California’s energy storage incentive program has been a great success, with more than 11,000 battery storage systems installed to-date. The problem is, it’s not reaching the state’s most vulnerable communities. A new proposal from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) aims to fix some of the barriers preventing disadvantaged communities from participating in the program, and it allocates $100 million to a new program designed to offset the cost of battery storage systems for populations threatened by wildfires and related utility power shutoffs.

California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) has a long history, dating back to 2001 when the program was established to encourage the development of customer-sited generation. Over the years, SGIP has evolved into primarily an energy storage incentive for residential and commercial customers. In recognition of the fact that these funds have not been flowing to the state’s disadvantaged communities, in 2017 the CPUC created the SGIP Equity Budget, a 25 percent carve-out of the program’s funds reserved for projects in disadvantaged and low-income communities.

Sept. 3, 2019 (Renewable Energy World)-Europeans can massively expand low-cost solar generation just by tapping the space over their heads.

That’s the conclusion of researchers who used satellite imagery, electricity prices and lending data to assess the untapped energy potential of Europe’s buildings. Rooftop area three times the size Luxembourg is available and could economically supply almost a quarter of the bloc’s power, according to a paper published in Elsevier’s October edition of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

“Policies at country and regional level to exploit this potential can bring benefits for employment in the manufacturing, installation and operational sectors” while mobilizing people toward “achieving the EU’s transition to a low-carbon energy system,” wrote researchers led by Katalin Bodis of the European Commission’s Joint Research Center.

Sept. 3, 2019 (Renewable Energy World)-In a region of the world where coal is still king, there is room for renewables. This was a takeaway from the Ministerial Address and Joint Opening Keynote at POWERGEN Asia and Asian Utility Week. The two annual events kicked off Tuesday, Sept. 3, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Shantanu Jaiswal of Bloomberg NEF set the stage for the Keynote, which was titled Navigating the Energy Transition. Jaiswal presented strategies for a cleaner future, even in a country that now generates 75 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels.

He identified five keys to that energy transition.

Aug. 29, 2019 (Renewable Energy World)-From Bloomberg News Editors: One evening last year, North Dartmouth, Mass. homeowner noticed charred wood and a burning smell in his attic, near his young sons’ bedroom. He climbed a ladder and saw a melted connector wire from the solar panels installed on the roof of his home. Firefighters rushed over and discovered that flames had burned through the shingles, the roof and a support beam. Luckily, a recent rain had doused it.

A month later, a fire broke out on the roof in Waldorf, Maryland home, sending a section of the ceiling crashing onto a bed. It ultimately caused so much fire, smoke and water damage that the owners were forced to live in a hotel for more than a year.

The two homes had something in common: SolarCity, now a unit of Elon Musk's Tesla Inc., had installed their rooftop panels. While these are just a pair of relatively small incidents at a company with some 400,000 solar customers—one of the biggest such portfolios in the U.S.—they add to the growing concern about the safety of Tesla’s solar systems.

Aug. 22, 2019 (Environment America) -Since 2009, the United States has increased its solar power generation 40-fold and upped its electric production from wind by more than 270 percent, according to a new report released today by Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group. The study also highlights advances in energy savings, the increased use of energy storage and the tremendous growth of electric vehicle sales.

“Switching to clean, renewable energy can put our nation on a healthier, more sustainable course,” said Rob Sargent, clean energy program director for Environment America. “Tremendous improvements in energy efficiency over the past 10 years combined with virtually unlimited reserves of pollution-free wind and solar energy and a willing public mean that a future powered entirely by clean, renewable energy is increasingly within our reach.”

Aug. 19, 2019 (inhabitat) -Tennessee’s fourth largest city, Chattanooga, became the first American airport to be 100% solar powered – and joins only a handful of airports who claim the same across the world. The $5 million dollar solar farm project has been seven years in the making with funding by the Federal Aviation Administration.

“This is a momentous day for the Chattanooga Airport as we complete our solar farm and achieve a major sustainability milestone,” said Terry Hart, the president and CEO of the Chattanooga Airport. “This project has immediate benefits to our airport and community, and we’re proud to set an example in renewable energy for other airports, businesses and our region. While generating a local renewable resource, we are also increasing the economic efficiency of the airport.”

Aug. 13, 2019 (Energy Central)) -The Energy Web, a comprehensive online energy services platform described as “The Grid’s New Digital DNA” went live on June 19. To listen to its advocates, 2019 will be remembered as the year when the energy market changed forever, when transactions finally became virtually free and frictionless for everyone. The Energy Web Chain (EWC) is not merely a trading platform. It’s described as “a foundational blockchain specific to the energy sector on which any number of applications can run for various use cases.” Examples include energy trading, renewable energy certificates, electric vehicle charging, settlement for grid flexibility services, transactive Peer-to-Peer exchanges with distributed energy resources, and more.

Aug. 12, 2019 (Renewable Energy World) -Vattenfall is building a new hybrid energy park, consisting of solar panels, wind turbines and batteries at Haringvliet in the Netherlands.

The total capacity is 60 MW, enough to deliver renewable energy to 40,000 Dutch households when operational in September 2020. The total investment is nearly $40 million.

Through this project, Vattenfall combines wind turbines with solar panels and energy storage.

Aug. 8, 2019 (Renewable Energy World) -Dominion Energy plans to invest in and develop four battery storage pilot projects in Virginia.

The four utility-scale projects would total 16 MW and be the largest of their kind in the state, Dominion Energy Virginia reported this week. The utility has filed to seek approval from the State Corporation Commission.

"Energy storage is critical to providing continued reliability for our customers as we expand our renewable portfolio," said Mark D. Mitchell, vice president – generation construction. "Battery storage has made significant strides in recent years, in both efficiency and cost. These pilot projects will enable Dominion Energy to better understand how best to deploy batteries to help overcome the inherent fluctuation of wind and solar generation sources."

Aug. 6, 2019 (Renewable Energy World) -From the way we shop to the way we socialize, the internet affects nearly everything we do these days. This dramatic change in our way of life has been fueled by a handful of large tech companies, companies that are increasingly going all in on solar.

Whether driven by the economics in solar’s favor or pressure from climate change-minded investors and customers, tech companies are one-upping each other in their investments in solar and other types of renewable energy.

Earlier this summer, the Solar Energy Industries Association released its annual Solar Means Business report, finding that Apple, Amazon, Switch (which operates data centers) and Google were among the top 10 purchasers of solar power last year.