Tag Archives: energy
How China Will Transform The Energy Industry
When I started in the energy business back in the early 1980’s, the utility paradigm was to continually build more power plants to serve growing customer loads. This lead to environmental and economic difficulties, especially as the cost of completing planned nuclear power plants skyrocketed. At the utility where I worked, Pacific Gas and Electric, [...]
SolarCity Raises $500M
SolarCity (Nasdaq: SCTY), a provider of distributed energy, just announced a $500 million lease financing agreement with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). That translates to more than 100 megawatts of solar power. The combined lease is the largest of its kind for U.S. residential rooftops. SolarCity allows consumers to get electricity from grid-tied solar rooftops at [...]
5 Promising Eco Careers
Businesses everywhere recognize their responsibility as global citizens to safeguard and conserve the earth’s resources for current and future generations. This goal is prevalent in a variety of industries relating to natural science, engineering, and architecture. Qualified people who want to follow an environmentally friendly career path have plenty of options, and here are a [...]
Net Metering: Whats Not to Like?
There’s been a lot of talk lately about net metering. What’s so special about net metering, and why all the fuss? Net metering is a simple concept that’s policy in 43 states. It’s like rollover minutes on a cell phone bill — it lets utility customers who install solar systems feed energy they generate into [...]
U.S Army Announces $7B in Renewable Energy Projects
The U.S. Army has just launched the first in a series of renewable energy contracts that will eventually total $7 billion by the end of this year, using power purchase agreements along with a standard procurement tool that is expected to crush any obstacles that are put in its path. That includes the notorious budget [...]
In Focus: Off Grid Solar Power Billboard Lighting
The biggest challenge associated with lighting the scores of billboards located along remote stretches of highways and byways throughout the US is the accessibility of AC power. When AC power is not readily available or too costly to access, SEPCO’s ultra reliable grid-free solar power systems—combined with energy efficient, high performance LED flood light fixtures [...]
Suntech Update: Still Alive, but Badly Injured
Suntech, once the globe’s solar panel leader, recently declared insolvency. Yingli has replaced Suntech as the global solar panel leader. We are watching Suntech’s “ambiguous bankruptcy” as the company struggles to survive or transform. China’s Suntech is looking for more time to restate its full-year 2012 financials while revealing that its 2012 revenue halved to [...]
In Focus: Honda’s Smart Home
American Honda is building a house that demonstrates zero carbon living using some of its technologies, such as solar-charging for its Fit electric car and Honda’s home energy management system. The first ”Honda Smart Home” was built in Japan last year and this one will be on the campus of University of California, Davis. “This showcase for environmental innovation and renewable energy-enabling [...]
Taiwan Stadium Goes Solar
One industry that’s been making great strides on sustainability in recent years is the sports industry. We’ve been treated to an increasing number of stadiums that are net-zero energy, producing more energy from solar and wind than the stadium needs. Here’s the incredible Kaohsiung World Stadium in Taiwan, which opened in 2009. The largest stadium in the country [...]