Reinventing Fire: Electricity – YouTube. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Smart Growth
Dive Brief: Southern California Edison (SCE) has signed contracts for 2,221 MW of power from new resources to meet it customers’ long-term electricity needs, including 250 MW of storage capacity, Greentech Media reports. It is the first time SCE has … Continue reading
Assessing the benefits and costs of distributed solar PV Earlier this month, the decision of APS—Arizona’s largest electric utility—to propose two major changes to its net metering program, one which would do away with the program entirely, has become the … Continue reading
Bundled, Block, Volumetric Rates are the Barrier to Unleashing DER Innovation It’s no secret that net energy metering (NEM) is a controversial topic in the electricity world these days. Customers love the way it helps solar PV offset their utility … Continue reading
Renewables scored a major victory recently in the natural gas heartland that is Texas. In a resolution adopted by the Austin City Council on August 28, the city declared solar energy its default generation resource, in part noting “that solar … Continue reading
Solar Continues Trumping Fossil Fuel Pricing, With More Innovations To Come Solar power has come a long way in a short period of time. Just five years ago, the bulk of the energy community viewed it as being unreliable, expensive … Continue reading
Five real estate executives weigh in on what it will take to unlock $1.4 trillion in net energy savings through commercial building efficiency. RMI’s Reinventing Fire analysis shows how to tap into $1.9 trillion in saved energy costs in U.S. … Continue reading
Earlier this year, the internet swooned over the idea of turning everyday roads into solar energy systems that could power cities. The tagline of the inventors: "solar freakin' roadways." Those without a deep background in energy or materials wondered what … Continue reading
SAN ANTONIO — CPS Energy recently took some lumps for its proposed solar fees. That proposal was shelved after concern the fees would be an obstacle to residential solar, which is only beginning to gain traction in San Antonio. But … Continue reading
Distributed electricity generation, especially solar PV, is rapidly spreading and getting much cheaper. Distributed electricity storage is doing the same, thanks largely to mass production of batteries for electric vehicles. Solar power is already starting to erode some utilities’ sales … Continue reading
Talk about risky business. Over the last decade, oil went from being a necessary ingredient of global growth to being its primary constraint. New modeling is now blaming oil’s inability to keep up with demand as a primary driver for … Continue reading
CPS Energy is putting together a community program that would allow San Antonians who either can't afford to install solar panels on their roofs or live in apartment buildings to nevertheless have access to the renewable power. The effort would … Continue reading
Although the price of solar has dropped over the years, the up-front cost of installing a residential solar PV system — on average $7,000 to $10,000 after the federal tax credit and CPS Energy rebate — can still be prohibitive. … Continue reading
When Wes Kennedy started engineering solar systems in the mid-1990s, he pretty much had one integration option: batteries. At that time, Kennedy designed and installed systems for Jade Mountain, a Colorado-based distributed energy retailer that eventually merged with Real Goods … Continue reading
Brundage Management Co. has accepted the Bill Sinkin Solar Award for the company’s work in advancing the adoption of solar energy in San Antonio. San Antonio-based Brundage installed 825 kilowatts of solar energy systems on 11 of the company’s A-AAAKey … Continue reading
Like many consumers, David Polstein had already done much to reduce energy use in his large Victorian home in Newton, Mass. He replaced his appliances with energy-efficient models, installed better heating and put in new insulation. But he was unable … Continue reading
CPS Energy has dropped its proposed fees for solar customers — either for the time being or altogether. The utility detailed the proposal for the City Council last week, with council members raising concerns about whether the fees would discourage … Continue reading
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “India is to be found not in its few cities, but in its 700,000 villages.” Though that may at one time have been true, it is no longer the case. With about 30 country dwellers moving … Continue reading
SAN ANTONIO — City Council members told a CPS Energy official Wednesday that the utility's hoped-for timeline to charge fees for future solar customers is too abrupt, saying they need more information before making a decision. In a council briefing, … Continue reading
First, Randy Ross bought a Chevrolet Volt. Faced with the need to charge his car and eager to cut his utility bill, he installed solar panels on the roof of his Pleasanton, Calif., home. Now Ross, 61, has taken the … Continue reading