solar

As one of its first announcements under the Trump administration, the Department of Energy (DOE) will invest up to $30 million in new projects to support the integration of solar into the nation’s electric grid. The agency’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced the measure as part of its SunShot Initiative, which the […]

Solar roadways—roads that incorporate embedded photovoltaic cells—have piqued interest for several years. A few examples are finally being rolled out, though their practical applications are still being evaluated. On December 20, global transport infrastructure group Colas completed installing a solar panel paving system it calls “Wattway” (Figure 5) over 50 square meters (m2) at the […]

TWO RIVERS, Wis., Jan. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — WPPI Energy and NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), today announced plans to build a 100-megawatt solar energy center – Wisconsin’s largest – with a capacity to serve more than 23,000 people with affordable, clean energy. “This solar energy center adds diversity to […]

Amazon’s latest wind farm in coastal North Carolina has completed construction and is weeks from beginning operations—and state legislators have just asked the incoming Trump administration to shut it down. The $400 million, 208-MW, 104-turbine project, built by Apex Renewables near Elizabeth City and backed by financing from Iberdrola Renewables, is supposed to power Amazon’s […]

For the third straight year, renewable generation accounted for the majority of new utility-scale capacity additions in the U.S. during 2016, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on January 10. The EIA estimated that the U.S. added 24 GW of new utility-scale generation in 2016, of which 63% was renewables, almost all of it wind […]

China rolled out its latest five-year energy development plan, detailing the country’s aim of investing about 2.5 trillion yuan (more than $363 billion) through 2020 in the development of renewable energy resources. Yang Li Zhe, deputy director of China’s National Energy Board, explained the country’s vision during a press conference held in Beijing on January […]

In a finding that is likely to boost controversy over the future of U.S. energy policy, a comprehensive study of the full levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from various sources of electricity conducted by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute found that wind turbines and natural gas combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) […]

A 52.5-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant commissioned this October in Jordan will generate about 1% of the Middle Eastern nation’s power (Figure 5). 5. Solar carpet. The 52.5-MW Shams Ma’an Solar Power Plant in Jordan was commissioned this October. Courtesy: Business Wire The plant uses more than 600,000 Series 4 thin-film modules manufactured by Arizona-headquartered […]

Cuba is in the midst of a renewable revolution to transform, update, and adapt its fossil fuel–dependent power mix to its current energy needs. Because Cuba has a relatively high solar potential (~ 5 kWh/m2/day), and it is feasible to adapt solar photovoltaic (PV) technology to rural areas, islands, and isolated communities, commercial interest in […]

Owner/operator: SolarReserve Three-and-a-half hours north of Las Vegas, in a rocky, desolate stretch of Nevada desert, an innovative solar-storage plant has nearly completed a year of commercial operations. It also may have delivered proof of round-the-clock dispatchable solar energy. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant built by Santa Monica, […]