SolarCity and Vivint Solar vie for personnel, funding, technology and customers in residential solar. We spoke with Brendon Merkley, the COO of Vivint Solar just last month. Vivint is the second largest solar installer in the U.S. behind SolarCity (SCTY). GTM has learned from sources close to the company that Merkley has resigned to join… Keep reading →
The solar industry has been very hot. Record amounts of new solar capacity have been installed over the past two years. The accelerating pace of adoption of solar panels for distributed generation (installed at the point of use, rather than sold into the power grid) and the downward trend of module prices have created exuberance… Keep reading →
No, the idea isn’t to power commercial air travel with photovoltaic solar – that’s being left that to super-lightweight, experimental efforts like Solar Impulse. Nevertheless, a French collaboration this week plans to unveil a new way of bringing solar power to aircraft, with a photovoltaic window. The pitch is that it can automatically adjust the… Keep reading →
The death of the traditional utility business model has been highly exaggerated, to butcher the Mark Twain quote. But that doesn’t mean change won’t happen, and when it does, those companies with a strong ‘ecosystem of innovation’ will be faster to pivot and more likely to survive. The drumbeat of warnings has grown louder that… Keep reading →
We’re only eight months into the year, and utility-scale solar installations in the United States have already surpassed the total for all of last year. Data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [PDF] shows 1,774 megawatts of new Big Solar capacity as of the end of August – compared to 1,476 MW for the entire… Keep reading →
IBM is looking to capture a share of Europe’s growing “smart” electricity market. IBM has inked a deal with the metering division of EOn, Germany’s largest utility, to deliver a data and analytics platform, the Intelligent Energy Service Enablement Platform, for Smart Grid customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with plans to expand offerings to… Keep reading →
WASHINGTON: Budget crunch be damned, the Defense Department’s effort to get more energy-efficient is still in business, said the assistant secretary in charge. Even without the free-flowing supplemental funds and the flexibility of the “rapid equipping” initiatives that allowed for speedy spending at the height of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon is still trying to reduce its… Keep reading →
The US military’s efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels may help to advance emerging energy technologies by providing them with coveted assets, such as financial backing and testing opportunities. But there is no guarantee that these technologies, as applied to military-specific conditions, will be commercial successes in a civilian context. The Department of Defense holds an… Keep reading →
The unpredictability of renewable energy sources like wind and solar creates reliability challenges for utilities seeking to balance power supply and demand across centralized grid networks. Policies compelling energy providers to incorporate more renewable energy into their portfolios make the challenge more urgent, but also create business opportunities for companies finding solutions. Those who crack… Keep reading →
New large-scale solar projects earmarked for funding under the NY-Sun initiative will potentially increase New York’s solar capacity by 64 MW, bringing the state to the forefront of solar energy development. On July 9, 2013, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced $54 million in funding for large-scale solar projects having a combined capacity of… Keep reading →
