Solar energy is growing quickly across America, providing enough clean electricity to power 2.2 million American homes. As costs for solar-generated electricity become increasingly competitive with traditional energy sources, what can we expect next from the industry? Find out by joining me on Twitter next Wednesday, May 7, at 2 p.m. ET, for a live #SolarChat —… Keep reading →
As Beltway types rush to make their opinions known on Senator Max Baucus’ energy tax revision proposals before a response deadline at the end of this month, financiers are scrambling to get deals together that can support renewable energy projects already underway. Tax policy has been a major component of energy policy in the US… Keep reading →
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will rule whether a solar project or natural gas plant should be constructed based on which facility is most in the public interest. A judge recently ruled the solar project was best for consumers. [Fresh Energy] Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently said the nuclear talks “showed the enmity… Keep reading →
Who’s the biggest turkey of them all? Creating year-end lists is usually an exercise in positive thinking and congratulatory back-slapping. But as the popularity of this year’s list of deceased solar companies showed us, GTM’s readers are far more interested in the morbid and the sarcastic. In celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday, here is our… Keep reading →
The Solar Impulse HB-SIA that hop-scotched across America earlier this year, finishing its epic, sun-fueled cross-continent journey in early July, has since been broken down, packed into a jumbo jet and returned to Europe. An ocean was too big a hurdle for this plane – but come 2015, things could be different for the Swiss… Keep reading →
Many assume that it’s cheap labor that gives Chinese companies an edge at producing solar panels that cost less than those that come out of Europe or the United States. But a new study says uh-uh. Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and MIT said a bottom-up cost model they developed shows that a plant… Keep reading →
BLM has issued a land order to segregate federal lands from new mining claims for solar energy development across six western states. On July 5, 2013, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a Public Land Order that withdraws 303,900 acres of federal land identified for solar energy development from new mining claims for 20… Keep reading →
The solar business has been overshadowed in the past two years by rapidly declining prices, related “trade wars” replete with accusations of dumping on global markets and the failure of a high-profile company – Solyndra – pushing an unproved technology.
But solar power has in the past decade gone from a hippie style accessory and an expensive small-scale solution to a large, proven generation source with installations that can rival and exceed the scale of competing fossil fuel plants. Nonetheless, financing remains a fundamental challenge, with many projects highly dependent on market forecasts that have too little historic data for banks wary of lending to any but the most traditional enterprises at a time of intense regulatory oversight. Keep reading →
There are many ways to survive in the solar business, but relying on protectionist policies and planning to serve only one part of the growing marketplace are not successful strategies for survival.
“A global manufacturer has to be willing to look at its product portfolio and participate in all aspects of the market,” Canadian Solar VP of US Sales and General Manager Alan King told Breaking Energy recently. Canadian Solar, despite its name, has an expanding presence around the world and is a NASDAQ-traded company determined to survive the fallout from falling panel prices. Keep reading →
