Thin Film Solar Panels Are Here
A new report out by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) takes a close and deep look at feed-in tariff programs around the world.
Feed-in tariff programs exist in 75 countries, states and provinces around the world, and they are having a huge impact.
According to IMS Research, a total of 14.6 GW of solar PV capacity would be added this year which would mark a 95 percent increase from the previous year’s figure. However, the research also notes that sales in the European Union could stagnate and new markets would drive growth in the coming few years.
The research has predicted a massive addition of 14.6 GW on the basis of data collected from 40 countries. More than 50 percent of these installations would come up in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic totally to about 9.8 GW of capacity addition. However, the growth could likely be shifted to developing markets such as Asia and North America in the near future.
According to the Marketbuzz 2010 report, a total of 7.5 GW of solar PV capacity was added in 2009 with Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic contributing about 77 percent to this growth. The United States and Japan were neck-to-neck in terms of capacity addition. This trend, however, could soon change.
France will shut down about half its coal-fired power stations by 2015, replacing them with natural-gas-fired plants, as part of the European Copenhagen agreement to cut carbon emissions 20% by 2020.
Germany’s RWE AG, the single largest carbon emitter in Europe, said it won’t build new coal-fired power plants, finding that they are no longer economically feasible. The UK will build no new coal plants without carbon-capture technology.
Vattenfall AB, Scandinavia’s largest utility and one of the first to test CCS technology, has also pioneered adaptations of coal plants, such as this one in Denmark, making them able to run on biomass instead of coal.
Today is the start of the 2010 American Solar Challenge (ASC) race. Solar-powered vehicles will leave from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and head to Naperville, Illinois today. In three days, drivers will start in Topeka, Kansas and go to a checkpoint in Jefferson City, Missouri before heading to Rolla, Missouri.
Feed-in tariffs (FiT) have hit the UK and they are predicted to create a big boost for solar energy. A new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts a five-fold increase in demand for photovoltaic (PV) solar panels this year as a result.
The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) released figures yesterday showing that the global solar photovoltaic industry had a record year in 2009. But it is expecting a lot from 2010 as well.
High-Speed Rail (HSR) attracts a lot of positive attention because of its speed, of course. But is this speed only about saving time and having fun? No.
It is about expanding economic competitiveness and improving social cohesion as well.
Research from Europe shows that we can praise HSR for doing just these things,.. there, at least. But how does this research transfer to the US situation.
US solar energy company SunEdison has announced final plans to build the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plant in the world,.. in Italy.
SunEdison’s new solar PV farm will be a 72MW farm in the northern Italian province of Veneto near the town of Rovigo. It has just received final approval from the Italian government and the farm is expected to be finished and in use before the end of the year (with power generation starting in the second half of 2010).
The PV farm will pass up 60MW Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park in Olmedilla, Spain to take the world title. However, China is close on its heels with a mega-project that would make this “farm” look like a small “potted plant”.
At the Wall Street Journal’s recent ECO:nomics conference, the “only CEO-level event focused on the relationship between the environment and the bottom line,” the CEOs of some major energy companies expressed their impatience at the US’ slow and unclear movement to take action on climate change and clean energy.
Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Peter Voser said that the industry needs “certainty on the carbon price, certainty on legislation.” Shell is a member of the US Climate Action Partnership.
American Electric Power chairman Michael Morris, regarding climate change and clean energy legislation, said, “We need this done. America needs to lead the world [in clean technologies].”
And FPL Group chief executive Lew Hay reiterated, “We need some certainty about the economics.”
These top CEOs are getting impatient, and there is no question why. The bottom line is, if the US is going to lead the global economy (or even be a significant player in it), it needs to get cracking on clean energy legislation.
In a similar manner, the question the Center for American Progress (CAP) recently decided to pose is this: “Is the US already out of the clean energy race?”. They have just released a report on this topic.
A new analysis by the European Wind Energy Association finds that the European Union (EU) is going to exceed its target of producing 20% of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2020.
The reports looked at all forms of renewable energy. It found that 13 of the 27 EU countries are set to meet their target, 8 are set to exceed it and the remaining 6 are expected to fall short.