Tag Archives: germany
Big Business: Embracing Clean Energy
Power Forward, a report commissioned by Calvert Investments, Ceres, and WWF, claims that 59% of the Fortune 100 and nearly 2/3rds of the Global 100 have invested in setting GHG reduction commitments, renewable commitments, or both. And of those companies, two-dozen have set open renewable energy commitments to be critically watched and accounted for by [...]
The Solar Rooftop Boom in NYC
Things move fast in the city that never sleeps and solar’s been keeping pace. By the end of 2012, the amount of rooftop solar photovoltaic installations in New York City had boomed to 14 megawatts from 5.5 megawatts at the end of 2011—an increase of 8.5 megawatts in a year. That’s according to recent data [...]
Foxconn Goes Solar
Infamous Foxconn, best known for the deplorable working conditions for Chinese workers that make Apple’s iPod and other products, is intent on developing a strong presence in the solar industry. The company first announced this decision in 2011 at the height of overcapacity in the industry. The last thing that was needed was a big new player that would bring [...]
Dear SolarWorld CEO Frank Asbeck:
Dear Mr. Asbeck, I just saw this story on Reuters that sums up how dire your situation is: Debt-laden SolarWorld said it was in “constructive” talks with creditors on a restructuring plan after delaying the date for its annual press conference. An announcement will be made when a debt plan for Germany’s largest solar group has [...]
WTF? Residential Solar So Much Cheaper in Germany
In a follow-up to a 2012 study conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL), researchers found that the average number of man-hours to install a PV system on a residence in Germany is 39. That’s a significant difference from the 7.5 man-hours LBL’s researchers found when they surveyed German PV installers in Sep. 2012, [...]
German Consortium Developing EV Concept
BMW is leading a consortium of German firms focused on creating a lightweight frame scalable to production electric vehicles. The Visio.M consortium was recently granted $15 million through 2015 from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This group will develop an EV prototype weighing less than 1,000 pounds as part of the ministry’s IKT [...]
REPORT: Canadian Cleantech Companies Only 1% of $1 Trillion Global Industry
A new report released by the Pembina Institute says that despite a “go slow” approach to clean-energy development, Canada remains relatively competitive globally, but risks falling behind. The report, “Competing in Clean Energy” highlights the findings of previous studies, but also included information gathered by interviews with leading entrepreneurs and academics across Canada. The “go [...]
Germany: Doing Just Fine Without Nuclear
Freezing temperatures in both Belgium and Germany have put both countries’ power systems to the test this week, but neither country has experienced electricity blackouts despite the lack of nuclear power. Two of Belgium’s seven nuclear reactors – Doel 3 and Tihange 2 – were switched off this summer, following the discovery of cracks, cutting [...]
My Open Letter to Fox & Friends
Those silly kids over at Fox & Friends really went on a rant against solar the other day and capped it off by asserting that the German solar industry does so much better than ours here in the U.S. because, after all, Germany gets so much more sun that we do in the States. Here’s [...]