Tag Archives: feed-in-tariffs
Solarreviews.com: Helping Consumers Find the Right Solar Installer
The solar energy market grew by 76% last year, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association. As solar power becomes an increasingly competitive energy source, more Americans are looking for reputable companies that can meet their solar needs. Up until now, however, consumers have not had the ability to easily access ratings [...]
The Solar Shakeout Continues
The past few years have seen some spectacular flameouts in the solar energy industry, with none so prominent—at least in the U.S.—as Solyndra. Many of these flameouts were startups, but some were bigger players. Now Suntech is in the hot seat. The Chinese manufacturer was one of the world’s biggest PV producers, but it recently [...]
Pictoral Installs 757 Kilowatt PV Array
Pictorial, a family-owned, New Jersey commercial printer since 1938, is now benefitting from its new solar rooftop. It’s a757 kilowatt photovoltaic array installed by N.J.-based Solis Partners. Printing companies use a fair amount of electricity running printing presses, machine operated cutting machines and more, so it’s no surprise that the system, which covers two-thirds of [...]
HIT Sets 21.4% Efficiency Solar Cell Record
Thanks to researchers at EPFL`s Institute of Microengineering in Neuchatel, Switzerland, a new world record efficiency of 21.4% has been set for solar cells. This feat was done with HIT solar cells (heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer), and is by far the highest conversion efficiency ever achieved with the substrates that were used. These types [...]
Sharp to Launch Windows That Double Up As Solar Panels
Japanese manufacturer Sharp this week announced the arrival of what it hopes will become a common money-saving building material. Its see-through solar panel, or window with built in solar capacity depending on which way you look at it (or indeed through it?) has been designed for use both as windows and balcony infill panels. The [...]
U.S Transmission Lines Need Upgrading for Renewable Energy Projects
The Telegraph Herald highlighted an issue that many people may not consider when advocating renewable energy projects: a lack of an adequate transmission system to move clean energy generated in remote desert areas to more populated regions around the country. Developers–and the government–believe that the vast expanse of sun-drenched desert in the American Southwest could [...]
Bill Clinton Thinks Solar is the Future
He has only 308 solar panels on the roof of his presidential library, former President Bill Clinton announced at the opening of his Solar Power International 2012 keynote, and he is taking bids to drastically expand. “So if anybody wants in, send me an email.” He then picked up the subject of creative cooperation he [...]
The Philippines Passes Renewable Energy FiT
In a historic day for renewable energy in The Philippines, the country approved a feed-in tariff (FiT) that convers small hydro, biomass, wind, and solar. It postponed including ocean energy for further study. The government previously announced the FiT for geothermal separately, in what it calls a “geothermal crash program.” It raised the rates to provide incentives to [...]
In Focus: UK Solar Feed-in-Tariffs
The UK Government scheme to pay homeowners to generate electricity through photovoltaic (PV) solar panels has sparked debate and argument throughout the green community. Recently, I’ve come across a number of commonly held concerns about Feed-in-tariffs (FITs) which I feel need to be addressed. Myth #1: The taxpayer pays for the feed-in-tariff By now there [...]