Grist | Topics | 12 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 12 of 12
Headline	Author	Published	Section
Takin' a Shine to You Ginormous solar plants to be built in California		15 Aug 2008	News
Posted at 8:34 AM on 15 Aug 2008 Two gigantic solar plants will be built in California under deals announced Thursday between utility Pacific Gas & Electric and companies OptiSolar and Sun Power. Together, the plants could generate 800 megawatts of electricity at peak capacity, enough to power 239,000 homes. (Perspective: The total peak capacity of every photovoltaic panel in the U.S. as of last year was 750 MW.) The lar ...
Topics: business, California, energy, news, progress, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Invade in the Shade Trees win in California solar panels vs. redwoods dispute		23 Jul 2008	News
Posted at 10:40 AM on 23 Jul 2008 Trees have emerged victorious in a California dispute that pitted redwoods against solar panels. Six months ago, Silicon Valley residents Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett were criminally convicted because their redwoods shaded the 10-kilowatt solar system on neighbor Mark Vargas' roof. Ultimately, Treanor and Bissett were forced to trim their trees and paid $37,000 in legal fees. T ...
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, energy, energy at home, green living, insanity, litigation, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Sun spotty Borenstein analysis of solar PV misses the point of California's solar program	Adam Browning	25 Feb 2008	Gristmill
I've been getting a lot of questions about this: "Solar panels a 'loser,' professor says."Severin Borenstein is an economics professor at UC Berkeley. He did an analysis of California's solar program and found that if you compare the current cost of distributed generation solar PV, which delivers retail power, with the wholesale power cost of a gas peaker running on pre-Katrina natural gas prices -- and leave global warming and environmental benefits ou ...
Topics: California, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Jobs, jobs, jobs Green energy projects bloom in California	Adam Browning	04 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Right on the heels of Tappergate, The New York Times comes out with a couple of articles exploring the economic benefits of fighting global warming. As is evident to anyone but a Taphole, the energy business is the largest business there ever is or was or will be, and therein lies not only enormous money-making opportunities but jobs, jobs, jobs. These things, we hear, are good for the economy. So, take California, which decided to get serious about developing a so ...
Topics: California, economy, energy, green jobs, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Here comes the sun California and New Jersey have high numbers of PV installations	Joseph Romm	31 Jan 2008	Gristmill
The following essay is a guest post by Earl Killian. ----- Cooler Planet looked at the solar photovoltaic (PV) installation data from the California Energy Commission and made it visual to show just how it is growing. A static view of their data is at the right, but go to the site and move the slider to see the growth from only 1,675 grid-connected photovoltaic installations in 2002 to 29,628 installations in 2008. According to SolarBuzz: In 2006, 112 me ...
Topics: solar voltaic power, renewable energy, energy, California, New Jersey (all these topics)

Revenue-neutral emission reduction for cities What if there were more Berkeleys?	David Roberts	29 Oct 2007	Gristmill
Imagine if more cities started doing this -- neutralizing the upfront costs of solar. It would stimulate competition and innovation in the solar industry (more than there already are). Pretty soon there would be large economies of scale for solar power and the price would drop (faster than it already is). More cities would be lured into the program, stimulating yet more innovation and lower prices. So on and so on, the cycle of smart long-term investment. Tell me again ...
Topics: California, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Sun Rise Berkeley, Calif., suggests innovative solar scheme		26 Oct 2007	News
Posted at 4:30 PM on 26 Oct 2007 The Berkeley, Calif., city council will soon vote on an innovative scheme to front the cost of solar panels to homeowners, who would pay the city back over 20 years as a property tax add-on. The amount to be paid back would be roughly what homeowners would save on electric bills by being sun-powered. "This plan could be our most important contribution to fighting global warming," says Berkeley ...
Topics: California, energy, innovation, news, placemaking, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Cities and counties take note Berkeley shows the way to climate change mitigation at a local level	JMG	26 Oct 2007	Gristmill
The city of Berkeley, Calif., shows how to take serious action on climate disruption by paying up-front costs to help residents switch to solar power. This could be done at any scale, from village to nation. All that is needed is wisdom and an understanding that any "ROI" (return on investment) calculation that doesn't include the risk that failure to respond to climate disruption will bankrupt us (in addition to its moral bankruptcy) isn't worth the paper it's prin ...
Topics: California, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Solar So Far Solar-powered homes a bright spot in California housing market		25 Sep 2007	News
Posted at 12:34 PM on 25 Sep 2007 Take that, housing market: Solar-powered homes in California are outshining the competition. source:� Los Angeles Times see also, in Grist:� Utility will pay for solar on Habitat for Humanity houses in California From the Archives We Really Needed Some Disclosure. More companies disclosing and mitigating emissions, says new report. Connecting the DOT. DOT offici ...
Topics: business, California, energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Shiny Happy People Utility will pay for solar on Habitat for Humanity houses in California		21 Sep 2007	News
Posted at 4:57 AM on 21 Sep 2007 Recognizing that solar electricity is a good investment in the long run but a bit spendy up front, utility Pacific Gas and Electric has agreed to pay for solar power on some 65 houses built by Habitat for Humanity in northern and central California next year. PG&E will donate about $1.2 million for panels and installation; low-income residents will see radically reduce ...
Topics: California, energy, environmental justice, news, placemaking, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

The solar power you don't hear about Solar thermal power deserves more attention, due to its lower cost and relative ease of storage	Joseph Romm	30 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Solar thermal power is back! Solar thermal gets less attention than its sexier cousin -- high-tech photovoltaics -- but has two big advantages. First, it is much cheaper than PV. Second, it captures energy in a form that is much easier to store -- heat -- typically with mirrored surfaces that concentrate sunlight onto a receiver that heats a liquid (which is then used to make steam to drive a turbine). Back in the 1980s, Luz International was the sole commercia ...
Topics: California, energy, renewable energy, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power, Spain (all these topics)

PG&E to buy 550 MW of concentrated solar from world's largest CS plant Solar has arrived	David Roberts	24 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Pacific Gas & Electric is buying 550 MW of concentrated solar. It's one of the biggest solar purchases ever, from what will be the world's biggest concentrated solar plant. The company is trying to conform to California's mandate that it get 20% of its power from renewables by 2010. According to Mr. [Fong] Wan [VP for energy procurement], about 12 percent of P.G.& E.'s electricity today comes from renewable sources, divided somewhat evenly among wind, biom ...
Topics: business, California, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Stories About: California AND solar voltaic power AND energy AND renewable energy