For years solar was too darn expensive. Companies like One Block Off the Grid emerged and introduced a new way to purchase solar power using a cooperative model to lower the price. They have a tiered pricing structure . The more people who sin up the better the price of the system. Recently, In Connecticut, SmartPower, using […]
Solar Power Demand Expected to Grow to 4.3 GW in 2013
According to the latest edition of NPD Solarbuzz North America PV Markets Quarterly, the demand of solar PV power (photovoltaics) in the U.S. will increase with about 20% compared to 2012. Much of the growth is thanks to California, Arizona, New Jersey and North Carolina – where 70% of the growth has taken place.
Green Building at its Finest at the Ford Rouge Factory
When Ford knocked on my door to visit their headquarter in January, I hemmed and hawed not because of Ford, but who wants to go to Detroit in January? Can you say bone chilling? (Been there, done that.) But they knew how to get a green building geek girl wobbly at the knees and beg for me. Wave […]
World’s Largest Community Solar Farm Moves Forward
Welcome guest poster, Mathias Aarre Maehlum, with part 2 of his recent community solar garden post: The idea of community-owned solar farms has been around for quite some time. Homeowners who aren’t eligible for solar panels because they don’t own their own roof or live in an apartment building, still have the chance to invest […]
What Is a Community Solar Garden?
Welcome guest poster, Mathias: According to National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), only 1/5 households in America are suitable for residential solar panel installations. 4/5 households do either not have sufficient space or have shading issues, which simply means that solar panels are not feasible. Luckily things are about to change. In just a few years, community-owned […]
NJ Solar Farm: Largest East of the Mississippi. Powers 1500 Homes
NJ Oak Solar in Fairfield Township, New Jersey is the biggest non-utility owned solar farm of its kind east of the Mississippi with over 53,000 solar modules. The farm is owned by Chicago-based Lincoln Renewable Energy. Currently, the Company is developing several other projects and recently announced their joint venture with Samsung C&T Corporation. The $50 million, 12.5 MW […]
Searaser – One Step Closer to Affordable Wave Power?
Welcome guest poster, Mathias Aarre Maehlum. The team behind Searaser, a device that converts wave energy into useful electricity, claims it will generate electricity even cheaper than fossil fuels and coal. Are their claims rooted in reality, or is this just another hype within renewable energy? Let’s take a look closer at this technology. What […]
Continuous Solar Production Via Torresol Solar Thermal Energy’s Plants
One of the problems I often heard discussed about solar and wind energy is there isn’t reliable cost effective storage options. What happens when the sun isn’t shining that day or the wind isn’t blowing? Torresol Energy’s Gemasolar in Spain is a concentrated solar power plant that was built to solve this problem. The Gemasolar […]
