Paving the way for more large-scale renewable energy partnerships with CCAs SALT LAKE CITY: sPower, an industry leader in solar and wind assets, working collaboratively with MCE, announced that they recently achieved commercial operations on a 130 MWdc solar project in Lancaster, California. The project, named Antelope Expansion 2, completed by sPower in December of […]
Coffee compound may boost solar cells performance
Caffeine — a chemical found in tea and coffee — can help make traditional silicon solar cells more efficient at converting light to electricity, a study has found. The research, published 25 in the journal Joule, may enable this cost-effective renewable energy technology to compete on the market with silicon solar cells. The idea began […]
Southern California Edison Picks 195MW Battery Portfolio in Place of Puente Gas Plant
How a California community succeeded in pushing for a reliability fix that will see the installation of storage projects rather than a natural-gas peaker plant. What started as a routine gas plant procurement ended as a testament to the changing electrical grid. This week, utility Southern California Edison selected a roster of energy storage projects […]
California Leads With Hydrogen-Powered Electric Cars
The state currently has just 39 hydrogen refueling stations, but could have as many as 1,000 stations by 2030, enough to jump-start the little-known but environmentally friendly, specialized electric car market. Powering up an electric car is not just a question of plugging in. Drivers can also fuel up with hydrogen gas. Electric vehicles that […]
Southern California Edison Picks 195MW Battery Portfolio in Place of Puente Gas Plant
How a California community succeeded in pushing for a reliability fix that will see the installation of storage projects rather than a natural-gas peaker plant. What started as a routine gas plant procurement ended as a testament to the changing electrical grid. This week, utility Southern California Edison selected a roster of energy storage projects […]
Sunrun: Localized Solar and Batteries Reduce Grid Fire Risk
Distributed energy can decrease sag on distribution wires and provide local power if the broader grid goes down, the company argues. California is scrambling to prevent a repeat of deadly wildfires caused by the electrical grid, and Sunrun wants to help. The home solar and storage installer argues in a report out today that these […]
US Energy Storage Broke Records in 2018, but the Best Is Yet to Come
The groundbreaking installations came from business as usual, rather than in response to extreme events. The U.S. energy storage industry delivered record deployments in 2018, driven by a strong fourth quarter for utility-scale projects. But the new achievement for the young industry pales compared to what’s to come: an expected doubling in 2019, followed by […]
How Solar and Batteries Could Help California Manage Fire-Prevention Grid Shutdowns
Sunrun wants solar-battery microgrids to be part of PG&E’s plan to mitigate what could be widespread blackouts geared to prevent fires. As Pacific Gas & Electric and California regulators grapple with how to manage the potential for widespread fire-prevention grid shutdowns this summer, clean energy advocates are demanding a role for solar, energy storage and […]
2018: The Year of 100% Clean Energy
Policymakers and corporate leaders ignored the academic debate over 100% renewables, and went ahead with policies anyway. Last year, tense debate over the feasibility of 100 percent renewables entirely consumed the energy industry. Stanford professor Dr. Mark Jacobson stood on one side, arguing 100 percent renewables will be technically possible by 2050, while Dr. Christopher Clack led critiques picking apart that modeling. The […]
California’s Rooftop Solar Mandate Wins Final Approval
The California Building Standards Commission has signed off on the residential solar mandate — a first of its kind for the nation. It’s official. All new homes in California must incorporate solar power starting in 2020. The California Energy Commission (CEC) passed the measure in May as an update to the state’s 2019 Title 24, […]