Over the past six years, solar energy capacity more than doubled in 45 of America’s 57 largest cities, according to a new study released yesterday by Environment America Research & Policy Center. The report, Shining Cities 2019: The Top U.S. Cities for Solar Energy, is the sixth annual edition of the most comprehensive survey of installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in major U.S. cities.
Financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard Ltd announced on November 8 the release of its annual in-depth studies comparing the costs of energy from various generation technologies and of energy storage technologies for different applications. Lazard’s latest annual Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis (LCOE 12.0) shows a continued decline in the cost of generating electricity from alternative energy technologies, especially utility-scale solar and wind.
A new study commissioned by and submitted to the Minnesota Commerce Department finds that Minnesota could achieve 10 percent solar energy by 2025 at costs comparable to natural gas generation. The study’s findings also suggest that expected cost reductions for solar, wind and storage could enable Minnesota to achieve 70 percent solar and wind by 2050.
The World Bank Group and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) released the “Where Sun Meets Water: Floating Solar Market Report” with funding provided by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the Government of Denmark, which is the first in a series of reports on floating solar.
According to latest Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) ‘BIPV in the MENA Region’ report, for the upcoming Big 5 Solar Exhibition, which will run from 26-29 November 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the construction sector across MENA countries can expect to see an increase in Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) components as the region strives to achieve decarbonisation targets.
The renewable energy industry created more than 500,000 new jobs globally in 2017, a 5.3 per cent increase from 2016, according to the latest figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in the fifth edition report Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2018, launched at IRENA’s 15th Council which took place in Abu Dhabi from 8 to 9 May 2018. The report states that the total number of people employed in the sector (including large hydropower) now stands at 10.3 million globally, surpassing the 10 million figure for the first time.
China tops the latest EY’s Renewable energy country attractiveness index (RECAI) for the third time consecutively, with the US and Germany overtaking India, which falls from second to fourth position. The UK and the Netherlands are notable climbers (to positions seventh and ninth respectively), while Taiwan re-enters the bi-annual top 40 ranking.
Community solar capacity in the United States more than doubled between 2016 and 2017, from 347 megawatts (MW) at the end of 2016, to 734 MW at the end of 2017, according to the “Community Solar Program Design Models” report released by the U.S. Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA). At present 228 utilities in 36 states have active community solar programs.
Global solar photovoltaic (PV) demand is forecast to hit another annual record of 113 gigawatts in 2018, propelled by strong demand anticipated in China. According to business information provider IHS Markit, burgeoning demand from the Chinese market is expected to persevere on the back of continuing policy support, a successful transition from a market that had been dominated by large ground-mount projects and strong momentum in the distributed-PV (DPV) sector. In particular, the fourth quarter of 2018 — with 34 gigawatts of new PV installations — will be the largest quarter in history.
The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018 report, published on April 5th by UN Environment, Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, finds that falling costs for solar electricity, and to some extent wind power, is continuing to drive deployment. Last year was the eighth in a row in which global investment in renewables exceeded $200 billion – and since 2004, the world has invested $2.9 trillion in these green energy sources.
Findings presented in a new paper by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Clean Energy Group (CEG) show that more integrated solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage projects could make economic sense if the value of avoiding power outages is taken into account in project economics.
New IRENA report finds all renewable technologies to be competitive by 2020. The cost of generating power from onshore wind has fallen by around a quarter since 2010, with solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity costs falling by 73 per cent in that time, according to new cost analysis from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
