US solar demand to hit new heights in 2013 | Business Spectator
EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press Release - Frequently asked questions: On the European Commission’s decision to impose provisional duties on imports of solar panels from China (Case AD 590)
The collapse of China’s photovoltaic industry will spark the next solar boom – Quartz
Two hot solar stocks, but one gets your attention - MarketWatch
I expect that the next round of capacity in China will be added with much more capital efficiency than in 2010 and 2011. And China has just announced new regulations, where new plants that "purely" expand capacity will be banned, suggesting that instead of companies buying new equipment, you'll see a lot of existing capacity changing hands, possibly through M&A activity. So I think we're looking at a much more balanced market in 2014 in terms of supply vs. demand.
Solar Energy and Industry Strength | The Energy Collective
Administrative Law Judge Eric Lipman this week concluded that Xcel Energy should invest in some large solar power arrays rather than natural gas generators in order to meet projected power needs in Minnesota. The reason solar was preferred is that the solar power arrays would offer ratepayers a better deal. If Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) upholds the decision, Minnesota could see its solar power capacity increase at least 7 times over.
Judge Rules Solar Power A Better Deal For Minnesota Than Natural Gas | CleanTechnica
Other key points are that falling wind and solar costs make them competitive with natural gas, even ignoring externalities. As a result, Credit Suisse has cut its natural gas projections considerably. “We estimate renewables slowing the rate of natural gas demand growth from power generation to <0.5 bcf/d through 2020 versus our prior estimate of 1.0-1.2 bcf/d even when taking into account planned coal plant shutdowns and assumed nuclear plant retirements.”
the Chinese government is pushing for a drastic shakeout of the country’s overcrowded solar cell industry, supporting only a quarter of players and practically telling the rest to get out of the business. This is essentially a death sentence to 75% of solar cell makers.
the transition from mostly China-based manufacturers to mostly U.S.-based project businesses — still has legs if investors are selective, Goldman said...
Rooftop solar offers “the highest margin and least policy risk,” the analysts said.
Goldman Sachs upgrades SolarCity, calls for ‘solar 2.5’ trade in 2014 - Energy Ticker - MarketWatch
China’s second-largest maker of solar photovoltaic panels will develop a huge 1,000 megawatt (MW) ground-mounted solar power plant complex in a remote Chinese desert, which the company announced Monday — a move that some say is a sign of big things to come for the global solar industry in 2014.
1,000 MW Chinese Solar Project Marks Significant Market Shift | CleanTechnica
The cost of solar panels and the accompanying installation has fallen by 70 per cent over the past two years. It is estimated that by 2020, four million UK households will have solar power capabilities and that the solar energy industry will employee 360,000 people.
The Future of Photovoltaic Energy - Business 2 Community
If you abandoned the American solar story after the Solyndra debacle, you've missed one of the greatest growth stories in the country. Since 2011, solar generation has skyrocketed more than 2,300%. For the first time ever, last year the U.S. added more solar capacity than wind.
The point is that solar PV production comes at times we need it most. When the sun is shining, we also tend to be using a lot of electricity. Historically, due to a limited amount of power capacity on the grid, that increase in demand meant an increase in the wholesale price of electricity bid on the spot market. However, when solar PV penetration really starts to get up there (as it has in Germany), that boost in midday production results in a drop in wholesale power prices — solar bids everyone down.
Solar Dropping Wholesale Electricity Prices Like A Bad Habit (Charts) | CleanTechnica
some of China's largest manufacturers won some major projects over the past couple of weeks. These projects eat up a lot of manufacturing capacity and are helping drive sale prices and margins up, which will help earnings all year.
the new solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the United States throughout 2013 reached a record 4.2 GW. This figure is a 15% growth on 2012 figures, and places the country as the leading solar market outside of the Asia-Pacific region.
Solar Energy and US Installation Growth | The Energy Collective
Because the price of solar panels has plummeted 77 percent the past four years to 77 cents a watt, Xcel also argues that the industry does not need the incentives and credits it has been receiving.
Battle over rooftop solar heads to Public Utilities Commission - The Denver Post
Booth said the view of some in the power industry was that the cost of the technology was dropping to a point where there would start to be "explosive growth in solar energy in New Zealand". Sustainable Electricity Association New Zealand (Seanz) said in November that local solar PV installations had jumped 370 per cent in the past two years. This had taken the industry's value to about $42 million, or double what it was in 2011.
Time to shine: Sunny days tipped for growing solar industry - Business - NZ Herald News
Simply put, a solar panel works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to knock electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity. Solar panels actually comprise many, smaller units called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic simply means they convert sunlight into electricity.) Many cells linked together make up a solar panel.
How Do Solar Panels Work? | Photovoltaic Cells | LiveScience
In Hawaii, 10% of households have rooftop-solar systems, and the island's grid is starting to become unstable. The utility has little incentive to try to resolve the issue. More rooftop-solar systems mean fewer customers who buy electricity.
Will Rooftop Solar Stand the Test of Time? - DailyFinance
A team of researchers at Argonne National Laboratory has figured out an efficient way to split hydrogen gas from water, using a low cost cobalt-based catalyst instead of pricey platinum.
For Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Blue Is The New Green | CleanTechnica
The whole “Why is German solar about half the price of U.S. solar?” question is one of the most important solar questions of the day. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has probably most extensively studied this matter. In a recently updated version of its analysis, LBNL examines why a residential German solar system goes for $3.00/watt and a residential U.S. solar system goes for $6.19/watt.
Why German Solar Is So Much Cheaper Than U.S. Solar — Updated Study | CleanTechnica
Booth said the take-off in solar would be "quite fundamentally disruptive" to the energy industry's business model and that bigger European power companies had already seen huge amounts knocked off their market capitalisation. In October, the Economist reported the share price of Germany's biggest utility company had dropped by 75 per cent from its peak in 2008 and income from fossil fuels and nuclear power generation was down by a third since 2010.
Time to shine: Sunny days tipped for growing solar industry - Business - NZ Herald News
Stem – a company that has created and implemented an on-site storage solution that switches between the grid and on-site batteries – recently completed a $15 million funding round. Aquion Energy, another storage company, announced a successful $55 million round for grid-scale battery applications in the first week of January. Meanwhile, Ambri – also focusing on grid scale storage, launched a $15 million funding round late last year. And these companies are by no means the only ones playing in that arena.
Solar Grid Storage: Finding Value In Grid Frequency Regulation - Forbes
Kenya has identified nine sites to build solar power plants that could provide more than half the country's electricity by 2016. Construction of the plants, expected to cost $1.2bn (£73m), is set to begin this year and initial design stages are almost complete. The partnership between government and private companies will see the state contributing about 50% of the cost.
JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS), the second-best performing solar manufacturer in the past year, agreed to assume control of a struggling rival’s production assets to boost capacity as global demand for photovoltaic panels climbs.
JinkoSolar to Take Over Rival Plants Under Reorganization - Bloomberg
As rooftop solar panels become increasingly popular, utilities are growing concerned that they will put pressure on local grids, destabilizing power service and requiring costly equipment upgrades.
Power Electronics Could Help Grid and Solar Power Get Along | MIT Technology Review
One stock that might be an intriguing choice for investors right now is Real Goods Solar, Inc. (RSOL - Snapshot Report). This is because this security in the solar space is seeing solid earnings estimate revision activity, and is in great company from a Zacks Industry Rank perspective.
Is Real Goods Solar (RSOL) Stock a Solid Choice Right Now? - January 21, 2014 - Zacks.com
Renewables are the fastest growing energy source in BP's Energy Outlook to 2035. The Energy Information Agency predicts an even higher yearly growth rate of 9.8% for U.S. solar until 2040. Right now you can buy many solar manufacturers for around 1.5 times sales, which is a great deal considering the growth the sector is about to see.
Security, predictability, climate change, safety – all of these are cited by the U.S. Department of Defense as motivating factors for its embrace of energy-efficient and renewable technologies. But a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts puts just as much emphasis on another factor that might come as a surprise: cost.
How Solar Saves The Military Big Bucks | EarthTechling
RECORD 2013 PV MOVES U.S. NEAR TOP OF WORLD Record 2013 Solar PV Installations Promotes U.S. to Strongest Market Outside Asia-Pacific…California retains leading state ranking in 2013, with North Carolina surging into second place
In 2013 Japan not only exceeded the cumulative capacity of 10GW, but also jumped up to a top position in the world PV market, exceeding the US and Germany. The nationwide feed-in tariff (FIT) that was launched in July 2012 was the biggest driver for the market growth, rejuvenating the domestic PV market. However, many industry participants predict that the Japanese PV market will hit the ceiling in 2014.
Solar Novus - Business - A Turning Point for the Japanese Photovoltaic Market
In 2017 the federal solar investment tax credit (ITC) will be cut by 66 percent, falling from 30 percent to 10 percent of the total solar project value. This legislative change will be significant for the industry, and it will also be a test. Overall, we believe that while the industry may be overestimating its ability to reduce the cost of capital (even in a mature marketplace with a mature asset class), the future is quite promising for solar in a number of markets as project costs continue to decline.
Peering Over the 2017 Horizon for Solar, Part 1: Securitization : Greentech Media
To illustrate the importance of the post-2017 investment tax credit (ITC), we have provided the following tables to compare certain electricity offtake prices for solar with the cost of capital and required all-in installation prices without the federal ITC and with a 10 percent ITC.
Peering Over the 2017 Horizon for Solar, Part 2: Beyond the ITC : Greentech Media