Category: En_Ren_Solar_CN

As world leaders gather this week in Egypt for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, extreme weather events like hurricanes, heat waves and drought continue to increase in intensity and frequency.

It’s the second attempt by the state Public Utilities Commission to change how people are paid for the excess energy their solar panels send to the grid….

California regulators want to promote equity and boost batteries to shore up the grid. Critics on both sides say the latest net-metering plan misses the mark.

California is poised to reduce payments to homes and businesses that go solar for clean electricity they supply to the power grid — a landmark shift in how the state promotes a crucial technology for fighting climate change.

“Don’t panic,” said Heather Mirletz at the Colorado School of Mines, lead author of a recent paper that challenges several assumptions about what could happen when today’s generation of solar panels near retirement age.

The major deterrent for solar panel installation is usually the upfront cost. While solar panel systems can save you thousands of dollars on your energy bills over time, they often present major installation costs. Thankfully, there are a few strategies that you can use to limit the cost of solar panels you install on your property as well as maximize the ongoing benefits of your system. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the average cost of a solar panel system and whether it’s worth the price…

Many people in the agriculture sector and elsewhere balk at opportunities to do things differently unless they have strong assurances those changes will bring benefits. An Oregon State University team investigated the effects of co-developing land for farming and solar energy — the results of their study were undoubtedly impressive. They found this approach could generate 20% of the electricity in the United States while only requiring an investment equaling less than 1% of the annual budget.

Researchers examined how much more expensive electricity would have been if the Texas grid did not use wind and solar power.

Solar power is fantastic. It is by far the cheapest energy we have ever had at only $0.06 per kWh and has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any energy source at only 6g/kWh. It makes sense why governments and private companies are scrambling to adopt solar power as fast as they can, given that specs like these could save the planet and make a lot of money in the process. But solar power has a problem.

In rural America, the shoulder-high corn is increasingly competing with a new cash crop: solar power. Acres of solar panels shine brightly in fields along interstates and rural byways, signaling a change in how America’s farming country generates income. The need for a happy marriage between these old and new industries has inspired a burst of innovation and a new word to describe the combination: Agrivoltaics.