That in turn means that the solar panels not sold in the EU because of such a measure would need to be sold somewhere else, increasing supply on all non-EU markets. Which in turn means even lower...
Local shipments rose to 3,809 megawatts in the 12 months ended March 31 from 1,404 megawatts the previous year, the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association said today on its website. The increase was...
Now that grid parity has been reached in a number of areas, we can see what the future will look like – regulation will still be needed. In Hawaii, new obstacles were put in place at the end of 2011,...
Commercial and utility-scale projects will boost solar installations to a range of 6.1 gigawatts to 9.4 gigawatts in 2013, exceeding an earlier forecast of 3.2 gigawatts to 4 gigawatts, Bloomberg New...
To understand consumer behaviour it’s worthwhile firstly reviewing the rate of overall solar system installations in the last two years, as detailed in the chart below prepared by Green Energy...
Japan’s PV market currently benefits from a feed-in tariff (FIT) paying up to ¥42 per kilowatt hour, even though this is likely to be reduced by approximately 10 percent beginning April 1. . . “At...
Perhaps a more useful method of comparison is to look at the installed capacity as a function of population. This gives a better comparison than just the total amount installed, as it allows a...
While the Flemish market is relatively small in absolute terms on a global scale – it only made up around one percent of PV sales worldwide last year – the Flemish are nonetheless progressing quite...
Days after Ohio regulators set back the largest proposed solar power installation in the eastern U.S., the Canadian province of Ontario announced that it will shut down its last coal-fired power...
According to early estimates, in 2012 the electricity demand was met for 86.8% with the national production (of which 62.2% thermoelectric, 13.3% hydroelectric, 1.6% geothermal, 4.0% wind power and...
The measures will take place when a decree is published later this year. They are seen as being interim measures as the new government formulates a wider energy policy framework. . .
Germans installed 1.3 million solar systems last year and generated 28 TWh of electricity in 2012, setting a new installation record. . .
Thinking about starting a community solar project? No matter what your project’s stage of development, the Community Solar Tool (CST) can help you. . .
Although critics of renewable energy may claim that it isn't reliable enough to power a grid, a new study gives proponents of clean power – such as wind and solar – fresh ammunition to respond. A...
One day in the not-too-distant future — probably sooner than many expect — some parts of the world will have power grids that are completely powered by renewables. Eventually, the entire world could...
This is an open source spreadsheet on the economics of solar photovoltaics. The spreadsheet contains more than 50 individual tabs covering a multitude of topics beyond the expected cash flow...[more]
Yesterday, Czech authorities announced that the country had reached an installed photovoltaic capacity of 1,999 megawatts as of September 30. The country's performance is especially impressive if we...
Yesterday, the BDEW announced power production figures for the first three quarters of 2012. Most notably, the share of solar power grew from 4.1 percent to 6.1 percent – an increase of nearly 50...
Solar PV is already a fast developing and major energy technology in Germany, not only in terms of MW but also in TWh and in the percentage of annual electricity demand. . .
In terms of produced electricity, China has grown 540% from last year. And in terms of capacity, 2.71 GW of capacity added in the first nine months of this year are already a 4.2 fold increase on...
That quote comes from a presentation given by an IEA representative at the 27th PV-SEC in September, where the keynote address was "What is a fair price for PV electricity?" and a number of...
The installations would take up roughly 2,635 km2; the UK is 244,820km2. Therefore, only one percent of the UK’s total land area would be required to install enough solar to cover our entire...
Two-thirds of worldwide solar panels installations in 2011 were in Europe totalling 18.5 GW, according to a report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. . .
California Governor "Jerry" Brown has recently approved a number of bills to support the adoption of more solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and other sources of renewable energy, including a bill to...
Energy expert Bernard Chabot takes a look at the PV installation data released on Friday by Germany's Network Agency for August, which shows that both the market volume and average system size...
Official statistics released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that the UK’s 1.38GW of installed solar capacity generated 0.5TWh of electricity in the second quarter of 2012 – an...
Most of those differences can be attributed to policy, either directly or indirectly. PV installations don’t pay sales tax in Germany. Rules governing permitting and interconnection are much simpler....
The nation of Bulgaria has introduced new, temporary feed-in tariff rates, including cutting the rates for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants above 200 kW by 5-39%. These rate reductions were decided at...
Huge interest for solar energy solutions has made the amount of solar cells multiply much faster than expected. This is made possible by favourable framework conditions. In fact the solar cell...
According to a monthly report from Italian grid operator Terna SpA, solar power provided 8.4% of total Italian electricity demand in August. It also revealed that electricity generated from PV during...
In the meantime, the example of Germany is worth keeping in mind when you hear utilities laud their cooperation with California's pilot feed-in tariff programs (while fighting their expansion in...
French expert Bernard Chabot analyzes and comments on the potential impacts on PV arrays size diversity of the PV installations in Germany from 2009 to the end of June 2012. . .
RenewEconomy has written before that the proliferation of solar PV in the mass market – reducing household energy costs and offering negative cost emissions abatement – has the potential to redefine...
From January to June 2012, data published on the EEX web site show that, if well balanced, PV and wind production can complement each other along the seasons, leading to an easier to manage...
French consultant and sustainable energy expert Bernard Chabot updates Germany's PV installation data in terms of system size vis-à-vis market share, compares it with the 2009-2011 distribution and...
here was 1.09GW of renewable power included under the UK’s feed-in tariff (FIT) solar scheme at the end of the first quarter, with an increase of 66 per cent from the previous quarter. . .
The drastic cuts in feed-in tariffs for solar power in the UK reduced installations by nearly 60 percent in April, putting the government far behind its target of 22 gigawatts of PV for 2020. . .
Reading Borough Council installed the 2,126 panels on schools, council offices, leisure centres, libraries, businesses and sheltered accommodation. The authority embarked on the project to take...
In California, solar proponents are happy about the clarification of what constitutes peak demand in legislation for net-metering, but the levels discussed in California are a fraction of what is...
A bill [PDF] before the California Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce this month seeks to equalize renewable energy installation in the state by promoting small-scale solar rooftops in the...
Here is a pair of graphs that demonstrate most vividly the merit order effect and the impact that solar is having on electricity prices in Germany; and why utilities there and elsewhere are desperate...
Residents and organisations including churches, who receive rebates for the electricity they put back into the National Grid, will see their Feed-in-Tariff payments increase by 4.8 per cent from next...
In an article published at Slate.com, Danish political scientist Bjørn Lomborg chimes in on how Germany is allegedly abandoning solar. He may not describe the situation in Germany well, but his...
Written by award-winning journalist Gar Smith, edited by Ernest Callenbach, with a foreword by leading Japanese anti-nuclear activist, Aileen Mioko Smith, Nuclear Roulette is a rigorously researched...
Video of Enbridge's 80+ MW solar PV plant near Sarnia .
Publisher Karl-Heinz Remmers takes aim at those who continue to label photovoltaics as the most expensive renewable energy source - particularly in context of the German renewable landscape. . .
December 9, 2011 December 16, 2011 edits: Corrected date. Added the expression "indicative" to describe the proposed tariffs. Added further paragraphs to explain the different assumptions between...[more]
The U.S. is projected to account for 84% of the market this quarter, and Canada (largely Ontario, because of its world-leading feed-in tariff and the “cool” or “contagion” factor), the other 16%....
By now, we are well above 11 gigawatts of installed capacity ... probably we will be at 12.0-12.5 gigawatts by the end of this year," Valerio Natalizia told a news conference. . . "Next...[more]
It could be the national capital's new look for the 21st century: A skyline dotted with 1,000 solar rooftops.
Though it has no government, Belgium has resolved to shut down its nuclear reactors, with the first three to be taken down in 2015 -- provided power supply is not endangered.
Now I can point to another shining example of how to develop renewable energy responsibly and transparently: SolarShare.[more]
The U.S. is projected to account for 84% of the market this quarter, and Canada (largely Ontario, because of its world-leading feed-in tariff and the “cool” or “contagion” factor), the other 16%....[more]
The Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (the German Solar Energy Association) graphs the rapid fall in the installed cost of solar photovoltaic systems in Germany.
The Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (the German Solar Energy Association) graphs the rapid fall in the installed cost of solar photovoltaic systems in Germany.
There are less than 1,000 souls in the town of Dardesheim. But the village and its 80,000 neighbors in the county of Halberstadt in the former East Germany have an expansive spirit. They want to...[more]
Results for the state of New York suggest that solar electric installations deliver between 15 to 40 cents per kWh to ratepayers and taxpayers. These results provide economic justification for the...
One powerful advantage of feed-in tariff policies for developing renewable energy is that they permit the participation of people from all walks of life. [more]
The Green Pathways Community Solar Cooperative Inc., along with its partner, Orangeville Hydro, approached Orangeville council at its April 4 meeting seeking a commitment from the town to lease the...
On March 31st, 2011, The Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade (MITyC) announced that it has approved 923 new solar photovoltaic (PV) plants for participation in the nation's feed-in...
The solar industry is booming. During the past decade PV shipments have grown by three orders of magnitude. In 2010 shipments were up over a hundred percent on 2009. How to account for this explosive...[more]
Worshippers at Richards Memorial United Church say they’ve always got their power from on high. Now they’re connecting their energy source to the grid.
Below are some sources on feed-in tariffs for renewable heat and solar DHW.[more]
Our family is one giant step closer to being part of Ontario’s innovative micro-FIT program, which is encouraging the growth of renewable energy production in the province by paying a premium to...
A Transatlantic Comparison on a Growing Business for Agriculture .
XOF1 and Jim White made history with the first ever Solar Power Skiing. The event took place over the frozen Arctic Ocean.
March 30, 2010 Total Market World PV 6,000 MW/yr 20,000 MW Total Worldwide Growth: 20-40%/yr ~90% of World PV from Feed-in Tariffs Major Markets Germany: 3,000 MW/yr Italy: 700 MW/yr Japan:...[more]
The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) reports that 40 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) contracts were in commercial operation by the end of 2009. This represents about 46 MW of installed DC capacity in the...[more]
Is another valuable tool for renewable energy advocates in building a case that "yes, even the US can" move to renewables--and the sooner the better.[more]
Photos of Freiburg's Solar Siedlung, Vauban, Heliotrope and others.
SolarShare was created by TREC Renewable Energy Co-op in January 2010 in order to purchase, own and operate solar PV installations across the Canadian province of Ontario. Through SolarShare’s...
The world's semiconductor manufacturers have now deliberately waded into the feed-in tariff policy arena. [more]
On a recent trip across Ontario to Indiana, I stopped by Sarnia to take some pictures of the large solar PV farm being installed outside town. When completed it will be one of the largest in North...[more]
Most contracts for solar PV, such as those under Ontario's Standard Offer Contract program and its new Feed-in Tariff program, are written in terms of AC kilowatts (kWAC).[more]
Barcelona's 444 kW Pergola solar del Forum was inaugurated May 4, 2009 at the site of Barcelona's World Forum of Culture.[more]
Barcelona's 444 kW Pergola solar del Forum was inaugurated May 4, 2009 at the site of Barcelona's World Forum of Culture.[more]
In 2007 the Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative proposed to senior executives at Toronto Hydro, Canada's largest municipal utility, the Toronto Solar Initiative. [more]
Of the 1,500 MW of Standard Offer Contracts awarded 50% of the wind contracts were granted to commercial wind developers, and 80% of the solar PV contracts were awarded to central-station plants.[more]
December 24, 2007 Lehr Brothers' Big L Packers installed this 119 kW solar PV plant on top of a shade structure in 2003. Big L, like other plants in Edison, California, packs citrus from the...[more]
A Community Power Photovoltaic Project Financial Model[more]
In response to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2007 visit to Toronto, the Ministry of Energy's call for increased renewable generation and the OPA's acknowledgement of the important role of...[more]
Cleveland's Great Lakes Science Center dedicated 156-panel solar array on July 11, 2007.[more]
The following chart summarizes actual installed cost of solar PV systems mostly in California.[more]
South Australia has released a draft of a modest, some would say timid, solar PV feed-in tariff that will be introduced into the state's parliament.[more]
The following data is extracted from Tables of Renewable Tariffs or Feed-In Tariffs Worldwide. These tables are updated periodically. Always check the tables for current tariffs.[more]
For more than a decade, senior environmental leaders in North America have been waiting for Germany's renewable energy market to collapse, an expectation tinged with schadenfreude. However, it's been...[more]
The following tables calculate the revenue, expenses, and cash flow for a projected investment in a solar PV project. The tables also calculate various investment parameters.[more]
Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:08AM BST By Erik Kirschbaum BONN, Germany (Reuters) - It rains year round in Germany. Clouds cover the skies for about two-thirds of all daylight hours. Yet the country has...[more]
Below is a sampling of annual reoccurring expenses for three different solar investments in Germany. Note that these projections include a number of items often overlooked here in North America, such...[more]
The following spreadsheet calculator is a work in progress. The workbook, or notebook in Corel terminology, contains three spreadsheets: BSi Calculator, Chabot PI Method, and Rate Calculation. The...[more]
According to a recent article in Sun & Wind Energy (2/2007), Italy has launched new feed-in tariffs for Solar PV. The new tariffs replace a complex and bureaucratic system of net metering and feed-in...[more]
The following chart from New Energy's 1/2007 issue (page 48) shows the profitability of solar PV installations in Germany in 2006. [more]
Fesa's B31 Solar PV project went into service in mid 2006. The 365 kW project was financed by Fesa as a solar bürgerbeteiligung or investment fund. [more]
When announcing the Standard Offer Program, the Ontario Power Authority provided a simple RetScreen spreadsheet to calculate simple payback on solar PV.[more]
Using the principle established by first, the Aachen model, and subsequently that used in Germany's EEG (the Renewable Energy Sources Act), the Ontario Sustainable Energy Asscoiation held a pricing...[more]
The following spreadsheet calculator is a work in progress. The calculator determines the price or tariff per kWh(thermal) necessary to arrive at the financial targets given for a solar hot water...[more]
The following is a rough translation of the German interconnection procedure for small solar PV systems from a flyer produced by Novotech.[more]
Ecovision, a developer of solar investment funds in Freiburg, created an investment vehicle to install solar PV systems on the roof tops of several schools in Stuttgart.[more]
The following are links to web pages that log real time performance of solar PV systems.[more]
My thanks to Simon Boone of Generation Solar Renewable Energy Systems for calling my attention to a simple spreadsheet function for calculating the rate of return. [more]
The following table gives the typical yields (kWh/kW/year) that can be expected at various locations mostly in North America.[more]
In the early 1990s the city of Aachen (Aix-en-Chapelle) Germany set the world of solar energy on its ear. Until that time development of solar PV depended entirely on direct and substantial...[more]
Photon magazine is reporting that 1,150 MW of solar photovoltaics were installed in Germany in 2006. If confirmed this another world record for the German solar industry and the first time that...[more]
Today, the important link between solar use in the home and energy conservation and efficiency is being lost. While many well-intentioned system integrators preach the virtues of energy efficiency,...
December 5, 2006 Total Market World PV 1,500-2,000 MW/yr $11-14 billion/yr Growth: 20-40%/yr Major Markets Germany: 600-750 MW/yr; $4-5 billion/yr Japan: 300-400 MW/yr; $2-3 billion/yr USA:...[more]
Alt captured that rebellious spirit in his inspiring tale of the small town of Schönau and how residents built a solar utility in the deep recesses of Germany's Schwartzwald--the Black Forest of...[more]
Pesch was named a strom (electricity) rebel by Elektritzitätswerke Schönau (EWS) in 2005 and that was a good reason for paying him a visit. The good folks at EWS know strom rebels when they see them....[more]
