Solarbuzz.com reported this morning that prices for solar modules fell another few pennies per watt. As supply has fully caught up with demand in 2009, prices are skidding down. But since fossil fuel prices remain substantially lower due to the global recession, the price of solar remains relatively high and will take many more months of decreases before grid parity becomes (more…)
Archive for the ‘Electricity’ Category
Price of solar continues to fall in May, record low reached in Europe
Monday, May 4th, 2009First Solar profit jumps as costs fall
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Earlier this week, I shared the news of profits and growth in the wind industry. And yesterday, a key solar company reported outstanding profits as well. First Solar reduced its manufacturing cost per watt more than (more…)
1st Quarter Wind Power Growth Breaks Record!
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
I braced myself for the American Wind Energy Association’s quarterly report, thinking the sinking economy would lead to slower wind deployment in the US. But then I got the just-released report, and they showed another record wind deployment for the first quarter! The US added (more…)
Biggest Wind Utility Grows Profit Amid Downturn
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
While many companies are reporting lower profits here in 2009, Florida Power & Light shared a profit increase of 46% above the first quarter of 2008. And it was no coincidence that it is the nation’s largest wind power producer. The company made $364 million and (more…)
Kansas Wind May Power Graceland
Monday, April 27th, 2009 We’ve all heard of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) within states, directives that at least a chosen percentage of a state’s electricity be provided by renewable energy sources. Goals range from 25% renewables in NY by 2013 to 12.5% in NC by 2015. But the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) presented today that Kansas would reap great benefits from a 200% RPS, giving (more…)
US Electricity Emissions in Freefall
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) US electric power estimates for January and February just came out. And the numbers are dramatic. Net generation in January was down ~3.3% from January 2008, largely on lower demand from industrial users. February showed an even greater ~6.9% nosedive in (more…)
Report: 2008 US Wind Growth Even Faster
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009The American Wind Energy Assocation (AWEA) reported yesterday that their initial estimate of US wind growth was too slow. It turns out wind capacity grew more than 8.5 GW rather than 8.3 GW, a white-hot 51%! And they released a projection for 2009 of (more…)
Report: NC Doesn’t Need More Coal Power
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
A new report by the NC Waste Awareness & Reduction Network (NC WARN) makes a strong case that my native state of North Carolina can manage its population growth without adding new coal-fired power plants like the 800 MW Cliffside project which just began construction. Report authors John Blackburn and John Runkle even suggest we can phase out many (more…)
China Begins Energy Leapfrog
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Canadian Solar announced yesterday that they won a rural electrification bid for 80,000 homes in China’s western province of Sichuan. At 1.6 MW in total, the systems will provide 20 watts for each house or enough to power some lighting or very efficient appliance. Potentially coupled with China’s leading solar thermal water-heating systems, this translates into an example of (more…)
It’s Official: Global Solar Market Exploded in 2008
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Recent growth rates for solar have been impressive at 40+% these past several years. But the newly published Solarbuzz Annual Report, Marketbuzz 2009, shows last year’s rate blew those numbers away. The global solar installation market more than doubled (growing 110%) to add 5.95 GW of solar PV and bring our cumulative solar capacity to (more…)