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Headline	Author	Published	Section
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)

Scenarios for a low carbon, no-nuke future Renewables and efficiency would provide more GDP than fossil fuels	Gar Lipow	14 Jul 2008	Gristmill
The attached Excel spreadsheet takes specific technologies, the known cost of implementing them, and various scenarios for responses to such implementation and technical improvements (including no technical improvement!) and calculates costs and benefits. This is intended to be an open source model. The comment section will be used to revise the spreadsheet with links to the old versions added to the bottom of this post as revisions are made (for the sake of transparency.) ...
Topics: energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power, wind power (all these topics)

The Window to the Sol Your windows could collect solar energy, says study		10 Jul 2008	News
Posted at 3:49 PM on 10 Jul 2008 Have windows? Then you could collect solar energy, says a new study published in the journal Science. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a light-absorbing dye that, when painted on a window, transfers energy via the glass into solar cells at the window's edges (through a process we don't pretend to understand). If the dye-coated glass is placed atop a s ...
Topics: energy, innovation, news, renewable energy, scientific research, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Power from rooftops could replace coal More than half of today's electricity, more than 16 percent of today's energy	Gar Lipow	30 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Enough sunlight strikes unshaded U.S. rooftops to replace all the coal and some of the natural gas we use to make electricity. Backup via ground source heat pumps, and smart grid technology would allow this variable energy source to displace base-load coal with today's technology. Whether this is the most cost effective way to displace coal is another question. Also rooftop solar is a silver BB rather than a silver bullet: Even after massive efficiency improvements we wi ...
Topics: coal, energy, renewable energy, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Landmark solar bill in Hawaii All new homes to sport solar hot water	Adam Browning	26 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Hawai'i is highly dependent on imported oil for its electricity needs -- I've heard Jeff Mikaluna, Director of the Hawai'i chapter of the Sierra Club, quip that the state is one supertanker accident away from becoming Amish. Which makes this press release great news:Every new home to have solar Landmark Solar Roofs law -- the first of its type in the nation -- escapes veto list Honolulu -- Hawai'i will become the first state in the nation to make solar water ...
Topics: energy, green building, Hawaii, legislation, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

McKinsey on the economics of solar Business consulting firm projects robust growth for solar and grid parity in many locations by 2020	David Roberts	24 Jun 2008	Gristmill
McKinsey has a great new analysis piece: 'The economics of solar power.' Overall it's extremely optimistic, saying that despite uncertainties around technology and policy, growth in the solar sector is all but certain to be robust. Here's a interesting chart. The size of the yellow ball is the size of the solar market in TWh. The upper right of the chart is 'grid parity' -- i.e., solar electricity selling for roughly the same price as fossil electricity. Notice tha ...
Topics: economy, energy, renewable energy, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Sustainable economy 101 Lessons from Europe and Japan	Jon Rynn	23 Jun 2008	Gristmill
The following article appeared in Foreign Policy in Focus, and was reposted at commondreams.org. When New York City wanted to make the biggest purchase of subway cars in U.S. history in the late 1990s -- more than $3 billion worth -- the only companies that were able to bid on the contract were foreign. The same problem applies to high-speed rail today: Only European or Japanese companies can build any of the proposed rail networks in the United States. The U.S. has als ...
Topics: business, economy, energy, greenish companies, renewable energy, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power, wind power (all these topics)

Entreprenews you can use: Sungevity 'Dell of solar' seeks to make it cheap and user-friendly to get rooftop PV	David Roberts	23 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Today, a company called Sungevity announced the availability of what they're calling the cheapest solar system in the world: a rooftop solar panel system, fully installed, for $2,000. That's as much as I paid for my computer. For that price, the average home will save $21,000 in electricity over 25 years -- a 45 percent return on investment. From a simple web interface, customers can plug in their address and Sungevity will use satellite and aerial imagery to asse ...
Topics: business, energy, greenish companies, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Too Bad You Can't Make Energy From Fog San Francisco approves giant solar incentive program		11 Jun 2008	News
Posted at 5:22 PM on 11 Jun 2008 San Francisco has become the proud owner of the largest municipal solar program in the United States. The Solar Energy Incentive Program, approved by the city board of supervisors on Tuesday, will provide rebates to home- and business owners who install solar panels on their buildings. Individuals can receive up to $6,000; businesses can be granted $10,000. Supervisors al ...
Topics: energy, news, placemaking, renewable energy, San Francisco, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Interview with solar champion Hermann Scheer	David Roberts	29 May 2008	Gristmill
NewScientist has a great interview with German Social Democrat MP Hermann Scheer, who chairs the World Council for Renewable Energy and has done as much as anyone alive to spread the word on solar power. Unfortunately, it's behind a subscription wall, so you can't read it. But have no fear! I'll post a big chunk of it below the fold: What did you do about it? Ten years ago, I called for a programme to install solar panels on 100,000 roofs in Germany, so that ...
Topics: energy, Germany, interview, legislation, politics, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Power to the people Neighbors help neighbors get power from the sun	Erik Hoffner	23 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Co-ops are hugely underrated for their potential to make good happen in the world. As an example, the renewable energy co-op I'm a member of in the Northeast, aptly named Co-op Power, had its first 'member to member' solar hot water installation this weekend. The power of this co-op is in its 300-plus members' enthusiasm, and it was in evidence on this day as our trained team hoisted two panels into place, which were making hot water by evening. Photo: Erik Hoffner ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Think thin For Nanosolar, the future is municipal solar power plants	Joseph Romm	22 Apr 2008	Gristmill
The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. ----- Traditional photovoltaic (PV) is typically installed on rooftops and competes with retail electricity. Over 40 percent of the cost of a system can be in the installation, which must be customized to every rooftop. So technologies that dramatically lower PV cost end up having a less dramatic impact on total residential system cost. So it is natural that the next generation technolog ...
Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Encouraging solar installations in cities	David Roberts	18 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Harder than it looks.
Topics: energy, energy at home, renewable energy, San Francisco, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Markets, not technologies A long-term extension of the solar investment tax credit is vital	Adam Browning	14 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Joe is correct to point out that solar energy is not a monolith -- but he's got the categories wrong. The relevant division is not between technologies but markets. Market No. 1 is distributed generation solar -- that is, solar sited on the customer side of the meter, serving on-site load. Think rooftops. This market will be served almost exclusively by photovoltaics (for electricity -- hot water is another case) -- and the relevant cost comparison is the retail pr ...
Topics: business, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Do we need a massive government program to generate breakthroughs to make solar energy cost-competitive? Concentrated solar power is already doing great; no breakthroughs needed	Joseph Romm	11 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Almost certainly not and absolutely not. I give two answers here because there are two very different types of solar energy: Solar photovoltaics, PV, which is direct conversion of sunlight to electricity. It is well known, high-tech, uneconomically expensive in most parts of this country (but poised to resume dropping sharply in price), and intermittent (power only when the sun shines). Solar thermal electric or concentrated solar power (CSP), which uses mi ...
Topics: business, Department of Energy, energy, renewable energy, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Solar's new mega-plants	David Roberts	03 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Good stuff.(Thanks, Brian)
Topics: business, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Another entrant in the $1/watt solar sweepstakes Cost of solar cells may be driven down dramatically	David Roberts	26 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Well lookie here! A series of manufacturing process improvements could make the cost of electricity from silicon-based solar cells comparable to today's prices for coal generation within about four years, according to a company emerging out of stealth today. The company, 1366 Technologies, will be using technologies developed in MIT labs to reduce the manufacturing costs of standard-issue multi-crystalline silicon solar cells. They say they can ultimately reduce ...
Topics: business, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Doing the math Are solar incentives a subsidy for the rich?	Guest author	12 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay by Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, a freelance writer, and a contributor to AltEnergyStocks.com. ----- One of the most common arguments against incentives to help people buy solar panels for their homes is that they are a subsidy for the rich, paid for by everyone. The argument is that only the rich can buy a photovoltaic system, which, even with subsidies, costs thousa ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Next Up on the Panel ... Solar-panel manufacturers dumping toxic waste in China		10 Mar 2008	News
Posted at 4:54 PM on 10 Mar 2008 Solar panels may look bright and shiny, but they have a dark underbelly: production of polysilicon for panels gives off a highly toxic byproduct called silicon tetrachloride. In China, where factories are rushing to alleviate a polysilicon shortage that's cramping the global solar-panel industry, the bubbly white liquid is often just dumped in nearby villages. "The land where yo ...
Topics: business, China, energy, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, toxics (all these topics)

Blow by Blow Company creates global map of wind patterns		04 Mar 2008	News
Posted at 10:11 AM on 04 Mar 2008 Any way the wind blows, weather-consulting service 3Tier wants to map it. The company has created a global map of weather patterns that's available free on the internet, allowing anyone to check whether there's strong enough air movement -- and transmission capacity -- to power property in a certain area. 3Tier plans to do a similar project to show the potential of solar energy, to keep the renewable-energ ...
Topics: business, energy, greenish companies, innovation, news, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, wind power (all these topics)

We'll Buy What You're Cellin' Solar photovoltaic cells are quite eco-friendly, says research		26 Feb 2008	News
Posted at 4:56 PM on 26 Feb 2008 Are photovoltaic cells truly easy on the earth when manufacturing is factored in? If the question's been keeping you up at night, rest easy: According to a solar-cell life-cycle analysis to be published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, they are. From the Archives Making a Splash. Large water utilities form climate alliance. C ...
Topics: energy, 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)

Alternate futures Two huge power plants offer different paths forward	David Roberts	22 Feb 2008	Gristmill
In Sweetwater, Texas, a company called Tenaska has applied to build what will be the nation's first bona fide "clean coal" plant -- an IGCC plant that will capture and sequester CO2 emissions. (Said emissions will be used to pump more oil out of the Permian Basin oil fields, which will then be burned and create more CO2, but who's counting?) The 600MW plant is projected to be completed in 2014. Meanwhile, Spanish engineering firm Abengoa has signed a deal w ...
Topics: Arizona, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, Texas (all these topics)

Why solar? The numbers add up for solar power, whether you're in Seattle or Albuquerque	Edward Mazria	19 Feb 2008	Gristmill
The New York Times published an article yesterday titled 'Silicon Valley Starts to Turn Its Face to the Sun': 'This is the biggest market Silicon Valley has ever looked at,' says T. J. Rogers, the chief executive of Cypress Semiconductor, which is part-owner of the SunPower Corporation, a maker of solar cells in San Jose, Calif.'The solar industry today is like the late 1970s when mainframe computers dominated, and then Steve Jobs and I.B.M. came out with personal c ...
Topics: energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Masdar	David Roberts	05 Feb 2008	Gristmill
I know you can never bank on these things until they're completed, but if this goes as planned it sure will be righteously cool: Groundbreaking is scheduled for Saturday for Masdar City, a nearly self-contained mini-municipality designed for up to 50,000 people rising from the desert next to Abu Dhabi's international airport and intended as a hub for academic and corporate research on nonpolluting energy technologies. The 2.3-square-mile community, set behin ...
Topics: energy, international politics, politics, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, United Arab Emirates (all these topics)

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