Falling prices and advancements of home solar power is leading many consumers to consider adding them to their homes. And while prices have fallen dramatically over the last decade, residential systems can still be costly, which is why some owners turn to leasing their systems. “Installing solar on your home is cheaper and easier than…
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Solar companies are benefiting from power subsidies in Japan, which is banking on solar power to help meet the shortfall in supply after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 shattered public confidence in nuclear energy. Setouchi, a city in the western prefecture of Okayama, will be home to a solar power plant with a generating capacity…
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A warning light is flashing for the nation’s electric utilities — and it is getting more persistent. The utilities, big and small, for- and not-for-profit, are facing serious disruptive technology. The old business models are in danger. The unlikely disruptive technology that is causing the trouble is rooftop solar power. Back in the energy turbulent…
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Solar power crashed its way onto the U.S. power grid last year and is now fundamentally changing the makeup of how energy is being produced and consumed. Essentially, it’s becoming a mainstream power source: According to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research, solar power had another record year in…
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Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are developing a new bionic leaf that can convert energy from sunlight into an energy-dense fuel, imitating the photosynthetic process of plants. The artificial leaf concept has been covered before but aside from using a cool new name (bionic leaf sounds much cooler than artificial leaf, right?) the Berkeley…
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California is suffering through its worst drought in decades, and it has gotten so bad that officials announced that 17 communities across the state are in danger of running out of water within 60 to 120 days. But what if the solution to California’s water crisis is as simple as sunlight – a resource the…
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More than 99 percent of new electric capacity added in the U.S. in January came from renewable energy sources, according to data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday. Of the 325 megawatts of new capacity installed, solar led the way with 287 megawatts added in January. That was followed by geothermal…
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When you think about it, it seems like the most practical source of energy out there. It’s renewable, abundant in most climates, and it has little to no adverse affects on the atmosphere. The sun powers almost every other life form on the planet, so instead of spending millions and destroying the Earth drilling for…
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California is experiencing a massive drought over most of the state. The most visible aspect from space is the snow cover (or lack thereof) over the Sierra Nevada mountain range, but on the ground, things are even more obvious; the state is dry, dry, dry… Reservoirs are empty, ranchers can’t feed their herds, farmers can’t…
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A former dump once littered with piles of trash could become home to rows of solar panels if PSE&G wins approval for the project. The public utility company is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval for a 9 megawatt solar array at the shuttered Parklands Landfill on Route 206. A ballasted racking system would…
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