Study: Renewables As Green As You’d Expect

By Bobby Magill, Climate Central

A lot of metals go into making solar cells and wind turbines, raw materials such as copper, iron, rare earth metals such as indium and others and that involve a lot of greenhouse gases and other pollution when they’re mined and processed to make parts for renewable power generators.

Commercial rooftop solar installation done by NC Solar Now.

So just how green are these sources of low-carbon renewable electricity? Pretty green, it turns out.

Rolling out wind and solar power projects across the globe through 2050 will probably have a very low climate and environmental impact and even reduce air pollution despite the need for extracting pollution-intensive raw materials for those wind, solar and hydropower projects, according new research published last week.

As part of the new Norwegian University of Science and Technology study, researchers conducted the first-ever lifecycle analysis of a wide-scale global rollout of new wind, hydro and solar power plants, asking whether shifting from coal and natural gas power generation to renewables would increase or decrease certain types of pollution.

Generally, there isn’t much known about the environmental and climate costs of a global shift from fossil fuels to renewables and how that shift affects pollution from producing raw materials used in solar panels and wind turbine blades such as copper, concrete, aluminum, indium and other materials, according to the study.

Wind turbines require up to 14 times the iron needed for fossil fuel power generation, and solar photovoltaics require up to 40 times the copper than traditional coal, oil or natural gas-fired power plants, according to the study.

But over time, the environmental impact of extracting those raw materials declines, pollution decreases and the total quantity of those materials likely needed for renewables is a fraction of the volume of those materials being mined today, the study says.

The researchers assumed that solar, wind and hydropower will make up 39 percent of total global power production in 2050, up from 16.5 percent in 2010, requiring 1.5 gigatons of bulk raw materials for construction.

Wind farms are a major part of global renewable energy buildout by 2050. Credit: Lollie-Pop/flickr

“I was surprised that all the pollution went down for renewables,” the study’s lead author, Edgar Hertwich, an energy and process engineering professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, told Climate Central. “I expected some of the toxics might be rising because of the materials used. Metal ores contain a lot of heavy metals. I expected that to be significant. I was really surprised it didn’t show up.” When compared to coal-fired power plants, renewables come out on top because wind and solar power generation requires no additional raw material over the lifespan of the turbine or solar panel. Coal-fired plants, on the other hand, require continued mining of coal, he said.

The study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concludes that new renewable power installations would increase the demand for iron and steel by 10 percent by 2050, and the copper that would be needed for photovoltaic systems are equivalent to two years of current global copper production.

“The amount of material having to move for coal is more than metal moved for renewables,” he said. Even when solar and wind power generators need to be rebuilt, raw materials can be recycled from older power generators, he said.

Displacing fossil fuels with renewables could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 62 percent below a scenario that assumes global energy consumption would continue on its current trajectory, with coal power generation possibly increasing 149 percent over 2007 levels, according to the study. The research also shows that freshwater pollution could be reduced by half and particulate matter in the air reduced by 40 percent.

“This study helps further verify the benefits and necessity of renewable technologies for meeting long-term greenhouse gas mitigation goals,” said Christine Shearer, postdoctoral scholar of earth system science at the University of California-Irvine, whose recent research suggests that reliance on natural gas for power generation impedes the development of renewables.

“We know that no energy source is benign,” she said. “Each one will have an impact on the environment and resources, especially when scaled up. Hertwich and his colleagues have done a real service by quantifying these life cycle effects and showing the benefits of renewable energies not only for the climate, but also air and water, with a manageable amount of resources.”

Reprinted from Climate Central with permission

NCSEA Works to Create a Solar Powerhouse in North Carolina

By Michael Puttre, Solar Industry Magazine

With results of a statewide poll showing a strong majority of North Carolina voters across political parties supporting increased use of clean energy – especially solar – Ivan Urlaub, executive director of the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), convened the Making Energy Work conference in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 1-2.

“It’s just absolutely phenomenal the abundance of options that are coming into the market and coming down in cost,” Urlaub says. “The overarching objective for us has always been to get the fundamental rules of the road right so the market can optimize and have flexibility in any given period to bring an appropriate mix of capital into play.”

Urlaub’s message is that we are living in a period of technology integration. Solar power is being integrated with electric vehicles and storage. Electric vehicles are being tied to the grid as potential resources . Building applications are coming to the fore. Solar can be coupled with natural gas micro turbines. While all of these developments are true, the real effects of many of them are in the future. The fundamental clean energy issue – and one that has the greatest potential to unlock development – is the desire to employ distributed energy generation to diversify the electricity resource options . Ultimately, renewable energy, particularly solar and wind, perhaps in concert with each other and conventional sources and storage, is the one avenue where diversification of power generation is realistically achievable.

“We’re looking at a future that is significantly constrained,” Urlaub says. “Building new coal and nuclear is extremely difficult. So, it is an economic imperative that we have a policy construct that empowers the market, entrepreneurs and the utilities to get the cost of solar and other distributed energy resources down to the least cost as soon as possible so that we can diversify our resources and, thereby, have more secure and resilient electricity backbone to our economy and to our global market activity.”

The fundamental argument underpinning renewable energy development is sufficiently clear that North Carolina voters back the concept so strongly. The poll of North Carolina registered voters that the NCSEA conducted with Fallon Research early this year reports that 86 percent of Democrats, 77 percent of Republicans and 84 percent of Independents support clean energy policy in their state. Only 5 percent of all voters believe clean energy policies are responsible for rising energy costs, the poll says.

Urlaub says working with the legislature, state regulators and decision-makers at the municipal level is essential for stabling renewable energy as the key to energy diversification. “To reduce the soft costs of solar, we can’t just reduce it through volume; we have to reduce it through learning,” he says.

Last year, the NCSEA worked with the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center to develop a model photovoltaic power ordinance for local governments evaluating utility-scale solar projects. According to Urlaub, the model has been an excellent tool for municipalities, which are seeing an explosion of project proposals.

New U.S. Large-Scale Solar Shines and Wind Capacity Soars

By Solar Industry Magazine Solar additions to U.S. large-scale generating capacity were up by near 70 percent in the first half of the year over the same period last year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

While large-scale capacity additions in the first half of the year were 40 percent less than the capacity additions in the same period last year, the EIA reports that renewables capacity has soared. In addition to the aforementioned solar additions, the EIA reports that wind capacity in the first half of the year was more than double the level in the first half of 2013. Natural gas additions were down by about half.

A total of 4.35 GW of new large-scale generating capacity has come online during the first six months of the year, the EIA says. Natural gas plants, almost all combined-cycle plants*, made up more than half the additions, while solar panels contributed more than a quarter and wind plants around one-sixth. Source: U.S. EIA

Solar additions amounted to 1,146 MW, the EIA says. About three-quarters of this solar capacity was located in California, including the Topaz and Desert Sunlight Phase 1 and 2 photovoltaic plants and the Genesis solar thermal plant. Arizona, Nevada and Massachusetts made up most of the rest.

The EIA utility-scale report does not include solar capacity additions below 1 MW that are typically used in distributed power applications at residential and commercial sites.

Wind additions in the first half of the year amounted to 675 MW as compared with 329 MW added over the same period last year. Most of the additional wind capacity was concentrated in California, Nebraska, Michigan and Minnesota. California’s 228 MW of capacity additions came from the Alta Wind X and Alta Wind XI phases of the Alta Wind Energy Center.

Of the states, Florida added the most capacity with 1,210 MW – all of which came from natural gas combined-cycle plants. California came in second with just under 1,100 added, of which about 77 percent was solar and 21 percent was wind, with the remaining additions from natural gas and other sources. Utah and Texas combined for about 1,100 MW, nearly all of it natural gas combined-cycle capacity with some added solar and wind capacity in Texas. Source: U.S. EIA

*A combined-cycle power plant uses both a gas and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50 percent more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbine is routed to the nearby steam turbine, which generates extra power.

Buoyed by Business Deals, Solar Dominates New U.S. Cleantech Jobs

By Solar Industry Magazine

A new report from the nonprofit business group Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) shows that more than 12,500 clean energy and clean transportation jobs were announced in the second quarter of this year (Q2’14) – more than double the number of jobs announced in the first quarter. Solar power generation led all sectors in Q2’14 with more than 5,300 jobs announced. The wind industry posted more than 2,700 jobs, many stemming from projects that qualified for the recently expired production tax credit.

On the next-generation transportation side, electric car manufacturers Tesla and General Motors announced new jobs.

According to E2, the jump in jobs took place despite mixed agenda signals on clean energy policies from Congress, but amidst new confidence about future clean energy growth tied to the recently announced federal Clean Power Plan that’s designed to cut carbon pollution and increase clean energy and energy efficiency.

“Businesses depend on market certainty and clean energy businesses are no different,” says Jonathan Foster, chief financial officer of Nexant, an energy software services company, and a director of E2’s northern California chapter. “What good policies do – whether it’s AB.32 in California or the new federal Clean Power Plan – is help create market certainty.”

AB.32 requires California to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Passed in 2006, the legislation is considered one of the pillars of energy policy in the U.S. that has led to the propagation of renewable portfolio standards in general and the rise of solar power as a significant source of power generation – and jobs – in particular.

Announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in June, the Clean Power Plan will cut carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent by 2030. Along the way, the policy is expected to drive growth in energy efficiency and renewable energy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and saving American businesses and consumers an estimated $37 billion in energy costs. According to E2’s new report, five solar companies announced significant hiring in the residential sector, expanding their existing workforce in the prime solar markets of Arizona, California, New York and Massachusetts. Each of these states has strong net-metering policies, E2 notes.

Arizona recorded the greatest number of announced jobs in the report. Solar Wind Energy Inc. announced it expects to hire at least 350 permanent jobs for a new project in San Luis, Arizona. This will come as welcome news for the solar sector in the state, which, according to a report from The Solar Foundation, took a hit on jobs last year due to layoffs after the completion of the Solana concentrating solar power plant.

California ranks second in the E2 report, thanks to announcements from the utility-scale solar industry and from 500 new jobs announced by Tesla Motors. Michigan placed third, with GM expected to add as many as 1,400 jobs producing advanced battery technologies.

Down the pike, the E2 report points to a number of developments that are likely to keep the new solar jobs coming. More than 1,000 new jobs are expected as an outgrowth of SolarCity’s $200 million acquisition of solar manufacturer Silevo. As part of the acquisition, SolarCity will build a 1 GW annual production capacity manufacturing in Buffalo, N.Y. About 800 new construction jobs are tied to Tenaska’s recently closed deal to build the Imperial Solar Energy Center West Project in Imperial County, California.

The top 10 for announced clean energy and clean transportation jobs in Q2’14 are as follows:

1. Arizona
2. California
3. Michigan
4. Utah
5. Massachusetts
6. New York
7. Nevada
8. New Mexico
9. North Dakota
10. North Carolina

For the full E2 jobs report, click here.

Solar Cell Upgrades Drive Greater PV Performance

By Solar Industry Magazine

Manufacturers of solar photovoltaic cells are increasing research and development (R&D) efforts to push cell efficiencies to record levels. According to a report from NPD Solarbuzz, the power rating of standard 60-cell multicrystalline modules is forecast to reach 275 W within the next 12 months. “The solar PV industry previously operated without a clear technology roadmap, which is no longer an option in the rapidly growing solar PV industry,” says Final Colville, vice president of NPD Solarbuzz. “Legacy over-capacity within the industry, combined with uncertainty arising from trade disputes, is now forcing cell manufacturers to improve manufacturing processes to attain record efficiencies.”

Modules based on crystalline silicon cells continue to be the dominant technology used for solar PV installations. During the second quarter of this year, 92 percent of solar module production was silicon based, with the remainder coming from thin-film technologies by First Solar and other suppliers.

Technology development in silicon-based PV modules was curtailed by dramatic price reductions and low margins caused by market oversupply that has only bottomed out this year. During 2011, 4 GW to 6 GW of new silicon cell capacity were added every quarter, mostly surplus to market requirements, NPD Solarbuzz says.

Cell manufacturers focused on reducing costs in 2012. New factories were put on hold and resources were devoted to improved existing processes. Efficiency increases for solar cells were achieved primarily due to the use of high quality multicrystalline silicon wafers that allowed standard 60-cell modules to reach 265 W without requiring additional manufacturing steps.

However, with supply and demand achieving a balance, silicon PV module manufacturers are again allocating capital for R&D and factory expansion. “To move existing silicon-based cell capacity further forward now requires new technologies to be implemented, which has the potential to drive solar manufacturing into the first widespread technology buy cycle seen within the industry,” Colville says.

According to the report, a leading candidate for efficiency enhancement today is the introduction of new advanced process stages during rear-side fabrication of silicon solar cells. Capacity upgrades have resulted in strong demand for new equipment in rear-side cell processing capable of producing passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) modules.

The PERC upgrade alone has the potential to add 10 W to 60-cell multicrystalline modules and 15 W to monocrystalline versions, Colville says. If successfully implemented, this upgrade would push multicrystalline modules toward 275 W.

Are Solar Shingles Coming to a Rooftop Near You?

By Mark Del Franco, Solar Industry Magazine

In 2005, solar shingle technology burst onto the solar scene with lofty intentions. Advocates noted the technology would not only revamp photovoltaic solar installation, but transform traditional construction and building methods.

Also referred to as building integrated PV, solar shingle technology combines the performance and protection of a conventional asphalt roof with an integrated PV system. Additionally, because solar is embedded into the structure’s outer membrane, owners could still get the benefits of PV without rooftop racking costs, an area of substantial savings.

However, after nearly a decade, the revolution has not moved much beyond its earlier hype.

“The technology is still very new and the market still has on its training wheels,” says Matt Feinstein, senior analyst who leads solar research at Boston-based consultancy Lux Research.

For starter, Feinstein notes, the biggest challenge confronting solar shingles has been its inability to compete with rooftop solar, which is cheaper and more reliable. And because they are part of the building’s physical infrastructure, solar shingle technology must meet strict building codes – an added hurdle.

“If aesthetics are the only thing the technology has going for it, it’s probably going to fail,” Feinstein says.

Complicating matters, he says, is that there is no clear-cut market leader, as thin-film and crystalline silicon are competing head-to-head, like they do in the broader solar market.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), crystalline silicon panels have higher electricity output per square meter (m2), but greater costs and design constraints. Thin-film materials generate less electricity per m2, but are less expensive and may be integrated more easily onto more surfaces, the association says.

Early entrants, such as the partnership of Solexel and Owens Corning, came into the space but succumbed to the challenges often encountered by start-ups. For example, a particular challenge was configuring existing solar balance-of-system technologies developed for mounted solar panels for shingle applications. Photo: tai viinikka/flickr

Currently, there are a few providers in the space, such as CertainTeed, SunPower and Dow Solar, a subsidiary of Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical.

In 2009, Dow developed the Powerhouse solar shingle, a photovoltaic solar panel in the form of a solar roofing shingle that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. However, to ensure reliability, the company spent two years testing and certifying the product. By Oct. 2011, the product was available for the U.S. market.

The product is certified by UL and recognized by the International Code Council as an approved building material, says spokesperson Josh Wimble, adding that the solar shingles meet building code requirements for weather-durable roofing material.

“It’s commonly believed that solar shingles are only available in really limited regions, as they were when launched a few years ago, but we’ve expanded to 19 states and all Canadian provinces,” Wimble says.

He notes that pricing has also improved – although each roofer and builder sets the price for their purchasers, improvements in rates pass on to homeowners – while options like financing make the return on investment much more immediately tangible.

“The saving homeowners are generating through utility off-set will quickly begin to outweigh their financing payments,” Wimble says.

Like any emerging technology, providers of solar shingle technology will need to continue to improve the product if it is to truly compete with rooftop solar. Photo: Ben West/flickr

Still, Don Rodriguez, president of New Mexico-based developer Sparq Residential Solar, envisions brighter says for solar shingles.

“New construction would be the best bet for solar shingles to proliferate,” Rodriguez says.

Architects, builders, installers and the financial community will have to work together to make it happen, he says. The financial community and builders would have to accept the higher-cost shingles as viable roofing alternative. Banks would have to regard the shingles as an acceptable roof material. The constructions guys would have to be certified in some way for proper installation.

A tall order. Yet …

“Who knows,” Rodriguez says, considering. “There might be an application or opportunity out there no one has thought of that might make all the difference. “

States Dangle Property Tax Abatements to Draw New Solar Customers

By Mark Del Franco, Solar Industry Magazine

Several states are using property tax abatement programs to sweeten the deal for businesses and homeowners installing solar projects. In fact, 38 states currently offer some type of program aimed at property tax exemption for renewable energy.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), an exemption typically excludes the added value created by the solar system to property valuations. In fact, the exemption makes it economically feasible for many. Homeowners, as an example, would not choose to install solar if faced with a property tax reassessment necessitated by the installation, notes the association.

“Markets are created when there are strong policies in place that encourage the use of solar energy, such as property tax exemptions,” says Ken Johnson, SEIA spokesperson. “When people choose to go solar, property tax exemptions prevent homeowners from being penalized with increased taxes.”

Such tax abatement programs come in many forms. For example, New Jersey exempts solar systems from local property taxes if the system is used to meet on-site electricity, heating, cooling or general energy needs. One tax exemption in Nevada allows businesses to apply for a property tax abatement of up to 55 percent – for up to 20 years – if solar power is generated on the property.

Given how the tax abatement programs can catalyze installations, some states, such as California, have extended existing programs. For example, in June, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to extend the Solar Property Tax Exclusion until Jan. 1, 2025. As noted by SEIA, the extension of the exclusion does not take funs away from any jurisdictions where taxes are currently being collected, nor does it have an impact on California’s general fund. Further, the exclusion reduces wholesale solar electricity costs for utility customers while, at the same time, reducing barriers to accessing solar for customer-sited projects. That same month, the New York legislature approved a measure to extend a state property tax abatement program for renewable energy systems, including solar, wind and other energy systems until Jan. 1, 2025. The bill carries a 15-year property tax exemption for homeowners and residences installing qualified renewable energy systems. However, local governments are permitted to disallow the exemption in their jurisdictions.

The legislation comes at a time when New York’s solar industry is thriving, explains Samuel Scroggins, an associate at the law firm Foley & Lardner. In fact, the state installed nearly 69 MW of solar capacity in 2013 – ranking ninth among U.S. states.

If signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., the bill will have a positive effect on New York’s residential solar market, explains Scroggins.

“Specifically, the bill will help mitigate the costs of installing solar electric generating systems on residential property,” he says. “Further, by strengthening the existing incentive program, New York will continue to make strides and bolster its reputation as one of the national leaders in the solar energy market.”

The bill is expected to reach Cuomo’s desk by the end of the year.

All of New U.S. Capacity in July Came from Renewable Sources

By Solar Industry Magazine All new U.S. electrical generating capacity put into service in July came from renewable energy sources, according to the latest Energy Infrastructure Update report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Citing the FERC statistics, renewable energy advocacy group the SUN DAY Campaign says 379 MW of wind, 21 MW of solar and 5 MW of hydropower came online in the month.

For the first seven months of this year, renewables have accounted from more than half (53.8 percent) of the 4,758 MW of new U.S. electrical capacity that has entered service, with solar (25.8 percent) and wind (25.1 percent) each accounting for more than a quarter of the total. In addition, biomass provided 1.8 percent, geothermal 0.7 percent and hydropower 0.4 percent.

As for the balance, natural gas accounted for 45.9 percent, while a small fraction (0.3 percent) came from oil and “other” combined. SUN DAY notes that there has been no new electrical generating capacity from either coal or nuclear thus far in 2014. Wind turbines from the Maple Ridge Wind Farm outside of Lowville, NY. Photo: Chris Bentley /flickr

Renewable energy sources now account from 16.3 percent of total installed operating generating capacity in the U.S.: hydro – 8.57 percent, wind – 5.26 percent, biomass – 1.37 percent, solar – 0.75 percent and geothermal – 0.33 percent.

“This is not the first time in recent years that all new electrical generating capacity for a given month has come from renewable energy sources,” comments Ken Bossong , executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “And it is likely to become an ever more frequent occurrence in the months and years ahead.”

New Report Highlights Clouds in Solar Growth for North Carolina

By Dave Rogers, Environment North Carolina

Raleigh, NC – Over the last few years North Carolina has emerged as a national leader in solar power. But according to a new report by Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center titled “Lighting The Way,” the story might not be as bright as often told. While North Carolina ranks fourth for solar installation in terms of overall capacity, the state ranks tenth per capita, behind cloudier states like New Jersey and Massachusetts. The report emphasizes that it is not availability of sunlight that makes states solar leaders, but the degree to which state and local governments have created effective public policy to help capture the virtually unlimited and pollution-free energy from the sun.

North Carolina’s solar capacity more than doubled in in 2014, bringing the total capacity to 557 megawatts. Growth in the number of large scale “solar farms” built across the state is mostly responsible for the increase. North Carolina lags behind other leaders in residential and commercial rooftop systems installed.

“Solar energy is emerging as a go-to energy option here in North Carolina which exciting,” said Dave Rogers, field director with Environment North Carolina. “But there is so much more we can do. Solar panels on every possible rooftop means pollution-free power that will never run out. Solar power can also play a key role in North Carolina’s fight against global warming and meeting the requirements in the Clean Power Plan.”

Solar in the United States increased more than 120-fold in the last 10 years. In the first quarter of 2014, solar energy accounted for 74 percent of all the new electric generation capacity installed in the United States. And as the solar industry grows, the cost for installed solar decreases, making it more accessible. The price of installed solar systems fell 60 percent between the beginning of 2011 and the end of 2013. Jobs in the solar industry are also growing rapidly. In 2013, there were more than 140,000 solar jobs in the U.S., including 3,100 in North Carolina.

Another major driver for solar energy is that it produces no pollution; including climate-altering carbon emissions. According the report, solar power produces 96 percent less global warming pollution than coal-fired power plants over its entire life-cycle and 91 percent less global warming pollution than natural gas-fired power plants.

The report recommends several policies adopted by other leading solar states that would help more North Carolina homeowners and businesses to “go solar:”

• Enable third-party sales of electricity. Financing rooftop solar energy systems through third-party electricity sales significantly lowers the up-front cost of installing solar PV systems for consumers. The state should allow companies that install solar panels to sell electricity to their customers without subjecting them to the same regulations as large public utilities, such as Duke Energy.
• Improve the state’s net metering laws. Net metering helps ensure that small commercial or residential customers are fairly compensated for the solar electricity that they produce. Investor-owned utilities should be required to reduce “standby fees” to encourage large commercial customers to install solar panels, and co-op and municipal utilities should be required to offer net metering to their customers.
• Defend and strengthen the state’s renewable energy standard to require utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and to increase requirements for solar energy production. The state should also require all of the solar power that counts towards North Carolina’s renewable energy standard to be produced within the state.

“Solar is shining brightly in North Carolina,” said Rogers. “But we have so much more potential. We look forward to working with North Carolina’s leaders to put solar on top of every possible home, school and business.”

Reprinted with permission from Environment North Carolina

New Set of Rate Rules Could End the Tug-of-War Over Solar

By Michael Puttre, Solar Industry Magazine

Across the U.S., regulators and legislatures have been trying – and generally failing – to reconcile the conflicting demands of utilities and solar sector advocates over photovoltaic power. A group of analysts from the North Carolina State University’s Clean Energy Technology Centerand Meister Consultants Group says too much energy is being spent on the wrong arguments.

A new report, prepared with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative, says the issue needs to move away from regional battles over net-metering and toward comprehensive, broadly acceptable principles from public for utility rate design.

If that sounds like a tall order, Jim Kennerly, senior policy analyst at the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center and lead author of the report, says a three-pronged strategy incorporating revenue decoupling, minimum monthly bills and time-of-use pricing will enable utilities to recover costs without imposing fees and other hardships on solar customers.

Getting to Solar

As Kennerly sees it, the main bone of contention between the utility and solar advocate camps over net metering is whether distributed PV is to be regarded as a cost or benefit, invariably, whether before public utility commissions (PUCs) or, interestingly, the court of public opinion, utilities argue that rooftop solar shifts costs onto non-solar ratepayers, while PV advocates counter that utilities are failing to take the true value of solar into account.

Incorporating the value of solar, with its hard-to-quantify environmental benefits and infrastructure-deferring generation capacity close to the load, has been the most recent flank march staged by solar advocates. Earlier this year, the Minnesota PUC took a step toward quantifying the societal benefits of distributed generation solar power when approved a standard methodology for calculating the value of solar developed by the state’s Department of Commerce. Nevertheless, other PUCs have since demonstrated that value of solar considerations are a long way from becoming standard features of regulatory decisions.

“The risk of value of solar calculations is that some people will categorically disbelieve that certain benefits exist, and some will categorically disbelieve that some costs exist,” Kennerly says. “These either-or, black-or-white kinds of positions lead to a blind alley. You don’t get to a place where people agree.”

Borrowing a page from “Getting to Yes,” that negotiating primer from the deal-friendly 1980s, Kennerly says the parties need to focus on interests, not positions. Most of the wrangles over net metering that accompany arguments before PUCs center on costs, value and who might be getting a free lunch.

“Utilities talk about cost-shifts,” Kennerly says. “But their interest is in making money and making sure that they are viable as time goes on, which is totally legitimate. They’re public utilities. But there is also the public interest in trying to advance new technology. Clean technology.”

The N.C. Clean Energy Center/Meister report is an attempt to reconcile these interests – along with the interests of the solar sector to grow and thrive. The SunShot Imitative supports the effort as a means of reducing solar soft costs, which is beneficial for ratepayers and taxpayers alike. At the same time, the recommendations suggest a way utilities can shift toward getting the fixed-cost revenue they need while changing their role as time goes on.

As Kennerly envisions it, rate decoupling is the key mechanism by which utilities can recover their costs and serve their shareholders without placing barriers in the way of solar development. This essentially removes the sale of electricity as the primary drivers of the utility’s revenue stream. Under the policy, a utility goes before the PUC with an explanation of how much money it wants to make based on its assets, rate basic and other factors, such as how many customers it has and how much electricity those customer using.

“A lot of clean energy and energy efficiency advocates are very much in favor of this because what it lets the utility do is make its revenue requirement without having to sell as much electricity,” Kennerly says. “It gets rid of the throughput incentive.”

The excepted and PUC-approved revenue amount is assured by means of the minimum bill, which enables utilities to collect distribution feel, even from solar customer who would otherwise zero-out their electric bills. According the the N.C./Meister report, PUC involvement through a revenue decoupling policy is essential for a minimum bill to remain reasonable and equitable.

The report’s third key recommendation, phasing in time-of-use electricity pricing, is designed to avoid the cost shifts that attend price averaging. Kennerly points out that most people use electricity at a flat rate that represents the average cost of serving them. Billing rates based on costs at the time of use would enable PV customers to avoid periods of peak usage while still paying their fair share for what they do use.

“All of these recommendations are intended to be first steps before you look at fees or charges on PV, if you do at all,” Kennerly says. “This addresses the biggest cost shifts before you start looking at the little cost shifts, like net metering – if it is a cost shift at all.”

For a copy of the report, “Rethinking Standby and Fixed Cost Charges: Regulatory & Rate Design Pathways to Deeper Solar PV Costs Reductions,” click here.

Lighting the Way: Top 10 States that Helped Drive America’s Solar Energy Boom in 2013

By Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center

Solar energy is on the rise. Over the course of the last decade, the amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the United States has increased more than 120-fold, from 97 megawatts in 2003 to more than 12,000 megawatts at the end of 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, solar energy accounted for 74 percent of all the new electric generation capacity installed in the United States. The cost of solar energy is declining, and each year tens of thousands more Americans begin to reap the benefits of clean energy from the sun, including energy generated right on the rooftops of their homes or places of business. America’s solar energy revolution has been led by 10 states that have the greatest amount of solar energy capacity installed per capita. These 10 states have opened the door for solar energy and are reaping the rewards as a result.

The Top 10 states with the most solar electricity installed per capita account for only 26 percent of the U.S. population but 87 percent of the nation’s total installed solar electricity capacity.* These 10 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and North Carolina – possess strong policies that are enabling increasing numbers of homeowners, businesses, communities and utilities to “go solar.”

Other rising stars include New York, Vermont and Georgia, which have large or fast-growing solar energy markets and strong new solar policies or programs implemented since mid-2013. Unfortunately, the success of solar power in these and other states has been threatened by recent attacks by fossil fuel interests and electric utilities on key solar policies, such as net metering. Despite those attacks, many states have reaffirmed and expanded their commitments to solar energy over the past year by increasing solar energy goals and implementing new policies to expand access to clean solar power.

By following the lead of these states, the United States can work toward getting at least 10 percent of our energy from the sun by 2030, resulting in cleaner air, more local jobs and reduced emissions of pollutants that cause global warming.

Figure ES-1. Cumulative U.S. Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Capacity

Figure ES-2, a-d. Solar Energy in the Top 10 Solar States versus the Rest of the U.S.

Solar energy is good for the environment, consumers and the economy.

• Solar photovoltaics (PV) produce 96 percent less global warming pollution per unit of energy than coal-fired power plants over their entire life cycle, and 91 percent less global warming pollution than natural gas-fired power plants.
• Solar energy benefits consumers by reducing the need for expensive investments in long-distance transmission lines.
• Solar energy can lower electricity costs by providing power at times of peak local demand.
• The cost of installed solar energy systems has fallen by 60 percent since the beginning of 2011.
• Solar energy creates local clean energy jobs that can’t be outsourced. More than 140,000 people currently work in America’s solar energy industry, about half of them in jobs such as installation that are located in close proximity to the places where solar panels are installed.

Solar energy is on the rise – especially in states that have adopted strong public policies to encourage solar power.

• The amount of solar photovoltaic capacity* in the United States has tripled in the past two years. (See Figure ES-1.)
• America’s solar energy revolution is being led by 10 states which have the highest per-capita solar electricity capacity* in the nation. These 10 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and North Carolina – account for 26 percent of the U.S. population and 20 percent of U.S. electricity consumption, but 87 percent of total U.S. solar electricity capacity and 89 percent of the solar electricity capacity installed in 2013. (See Figure ES-2 and Table ES-1.)

Table ES-1. Solar Electricity Capacity in the Top 10 Solar States (ranked by cumulative capacity per resident; data from the Solar Energy Industries Association)

• From 2012 to 2013, Arizona maintained its first-place ranking as the state with the largest amount of solar energy capacity per capita, with 275 Watts/person at the end of 2013. California and Massachusetts both advanced two spots in the rankings to fourth place and eighth place, respectively, significantly increasing their per-capita installed solar energy capacity. North Carolina continued its aggressive build-out of utility-scale solar energy, growing its per-capita capacity by more than 140 percent since 2012.

America’s leading solar states have adopted strong policies to encourage homeowners and businesses to “go solar.” Among the Top 10 states:

• Nine have strong net metering policies. In nearly all of the leading states, consumers are compensated at the full retail rate for the excess electricity they supply to the grid.
• Nine have strong statewide interconnection policies. Good interconnection policies reduce the time and hassle required for individuals and companies to connect solar energy systems to the grid.
• All have renewable electricity standards that set minimum requirements for the share of a utility’s electricity that must come from renewable sources, and eight of them have solar carve-outs that set specific targets for solar or other forms of clean, distributed electricity.
• Nine allow for creative financing options such as third-party power purchase agreements, and eight allow Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing.
• States in the Top 10 are far more likely to have each of these key solar policies in place than other states, reinforcing the conclusion of U.S. Department of Energy research linking the presence of key solar policies to increases in solar energy deployment.

Beyond the Top 10 states for per-capita solar energy capacity, there are several “advancing” states that have accelerated growth of their solar energy markets by embracing solar-friendly policies.

• With 250 MW of solar electricity capacity installed at the end of 2013, New York ranks ninth in the nation for cumulative solar energy capacity. New York recently expanded its commitment to solar energy by investing an additional $1 billion in its highly successful NY-Sun Initiative and extending the program through 2023. The state has also developed an innovative, market-based structure for solar energy incentives that will provide long-term funding certainty for solar energy developers.
• Vermont ranked eighth for per-capita solar energy capacity installed during 2013. Though Vermont is the only state in the Northeast not to have a renewable portfolio standard, it has many other strong policies that drive solar energy development. The state continued its track record of solar energy leadership in 2013 by raising its net metering cap from four percent of a utility’s peak load to 15 percent.
• Georgia’s per-capita solar energy capacity took a dramatic leap forward in 2013 after the state Public Service Commission voted to require the state’s largest utility to construct or procure 525 MW of solar energy capacity by the end of 2016. The state added 9 W per person in 2013 – more than eight times as much as it added in 2012.

Strong public policies at every level of government can help unlock America’s potential for clean solar energy. To achieve America’s full solar potential:

• Local governments should adopt policies guaranteeing homeowners and businesses the right to use or sell power from the sunlight that strikes their properties. They should also implement financing programs, such as property-assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, adopt bulk purchasing programs for solar installations, and adopt solar-friendly zoning and permitting rules to make it easier and cheaper for residents and businesses to “go solar.” Municipally-owned utilities should promote solar by providing net-metering, Value of Solar rates, and by making investments in community-scale and utility-scale solar projects.
• State governments should set ambitious goals for solar energy and adopt policies – including many of those described in this report – to meet them. State governments should also use their role as the primary regulators of electric utilities to encourage utility investments in solar energy, implement rate structures that maximize the benefits of solar energy to consumers, and support smart investments to move toward a more intelligent electric grid in which distributed sources of energy such as solar power play a larger role.
• The federal government should continue key tax credits for solar energy, encourage responsible development of prime solar resources on public lands in the American West, and support research, development and deployment efforts designed to reduce the cost of solar energy and smooth the incorporation of large amounts of solar energy into the electric grid.
• All levels of government should lead by example by installing solar energy technologies on all government buildings.

* In this report, “solar photovoltaic capacity” refers to installed solar photovoltaic systems, both distributed and utility-scale. “Solar electricity capacity” refers to all solar technologies that generate electricity, including concentrating solar power systems that use the sun’s heat – rather than its light – to generate electricity. The figures in this report do not include other solar energy technologies, such as solar water heating.

Reprinted with permission from Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center

Mosaic Shines as a Crowdfunding Model for Solar Projects

Mosaic is an online marketplace for investing in high-quality solar projects. In a unique crowdfunding model, Mosaic brings qualified investors, who seek steady returns, together with borrowers seeking finance for solar projects.

Holding the reins is co-founder and president of Mosaic Billy Parish. Parish co-founded and grew the Energy Action Coalition into the largest youth organization in the world focused on clean energy and climate solutions. He developed a proposal to create a Clean Energy Corps to produce 5 million green jobs, which shaped the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the largest green investment in U.S. history. Mosaic, the force behind #PutSolarOnIt, not only celebrates solar energy on the summer solstice, but every day of the year. The company’s mission is to “fundamentally change the way energy is financed.’ It also attracts some star power. Actor Mark Ruffalo is an investor and supporter of Mosaic, and appeared with Parish on Fox Business to discuss the future of clean energy.

From the Mosaic blog: “2013 was the year that solar really became mainstream and the future looks primed for more growth. Across the globe solar panels have sprouted up on rooftops from New York to Fiji as people realize that not only are solar photovoltaic (PV) panels good for the environment, but one’s bottomline as well. From established companies like Wal-Mart down to the off-the-grid villager in Kenya or the nomadic herder in Mongolia, the promise of solar is an opportunity that no one wants to squander.”

Mosaic believes you shouldn’t have to choose between making money and making a difference. Already thousands of people in the country have invested millions to finance solar projects through Mosaic’s online marketplace. Investments run the gamut between big and small, giving everyone the power to invest and make a difference in the environment.

Mosaic touts ‘Steady income from the Sun.’ And they deliver.

North Carolina Among Leaders in Solar Energy Production

By Evan Matsumoto, HickoryRecord.com

HICKORY — Here comes the sun.

Once it arrives, that sunlight will be converted from photons to voltage, via photovoltaic panels baking in neat rows throughout the Catawba County countryside. Those solar-paneled fields have the capacity to power thousands of homes.

The county’s newest solar addition will come sometime in the next five years after Claremont City Council approved Monday night an agreement with Apple Inc. to start work on a new 100-acre, 17.5 megawatt farm. Apple, the California-based tech behemoth, already owns two other farms in the county. A solar array at the Sigmon Catawba Farm. Photo: Robert C. Reed

But the trio of Apple farms adds to the already waxing solar industry cooking across Catawba County and the state.

Strata Solar powered up its newest farm in early June. The 6.4 megawatt farm was built on the Sigmon Catawba Farm in Newton. Like Apple, the June ribbon-cutting marked the Chapel Hill provider’s third solar farm in the county.

North Carolina law entices massive companies like Apple, and smaller ones likes Strata, to build solar farms in the state because it excludes certain property from the tax base. In the case of solar energy, the government eliminates 80 percent of the taxable appraised value of the systems.

Chris Gaither, a spokesman for Apple, said in a phone interview Tuesday the company doesn’t disclose site decisions, so he couldn’t comment on the exact reasons for the location. But he did offer the addition of the Claremont solar farm was because of the company’s big data center in Maiden.

The Carolinas’ biggest utility is also getting into the renewable energy game. A Green Source Rider filed by Duke Energy allows big energy users, like data centers, to offset all or a portion of their energy consumption with renewable power, which helps Apple toward its goal of being powered entirely by renewable energy.

But it’s not purely environmental sustainability concerns driving the Duke program.

Greenpeace, an independent environmental organization, wrote in a 2014 report the Duke program is “geared to prevent losing additional business to increased solar investments from customers like Apple.” The report said the Duke program was also pushed by Facebook and Google, owners of their own data centers in N.C.

Gary Cook, a senior IT analyst with Greenpeace, said Duke is actually slowing down the solar market in the state, but companies like Apple have found ways to move toward a 100 percent renewable energy model anyway.

“For companies who are aggressive about it – and Apple is definitely one of them – they have been taking advantage of the solar resource in North Carolina,” Cook said.

Regardless of motive, the state is emerging as one of the top producers of solar energy in the country through public and private work.

The Solar Energy Industries Association ranks North Carolina third in the country based on solar capacity installed in 2013. California and Arizona outranked the Tar Heel State, but the SEIA noted N.C. added enough capacity to power more than 31,000 homes — 335.4 megawatts — though most of that power is used in the commercial sector.

Cook said the future of solar in North Carolina will be a push into residential areas. He said third-party companies could lease solar panels to residents to help offset their bills from Duke and at the same time use a cleaner source of electricity. Efforts like Solarize Charlotte are already aiming to lead cleaner and cheaper electricity to select communities around the city.

“Solar is ready for prime time in North Carolina,” Cook said.

Reprinted with permission

Government Report Forecasts Big Gains for U.S. Solar

By Solar Industry

The Solar Industries Association (SEIA) says a new U.S. federal study forecasts that solar energy will play a big role in the coming years. Citing a report from the U.S. Energy (EIA), SEIA notes that the government agency predicts most new electric generation agency predicts most new electric generation capacity in the U.S. through 2040 will come from natural gas and renewable energy. Of the 832 GW of renewable capacity additions being forecast, nearly half is expected to come from solar photovoltaic systems.

“Solar is fastest-growing source of renewable energy today – and, as this report bears out, it will continue to be for years and years to come,” says Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. “The continued, rapid deployment of solar nationwide will create thousands of new American jobs, pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy and help to significantly reduce pollution. Just as importantly, it will also provide Americans with the freedom to decide how to power their homes, businesses, schools and government facilities in the future. “This report predicts that 60 percent of all new PV installation in the years ahead will be rooftop solar, creating significant savings when it comes to future energy costs,” continue Resch. “But this progress could be jeopardized if smart public policies, such as the solar investment tax credit (ITC), net energy metering and renewable portfolio standards, come under renewed attack by entrenched fossil fuel interests.

“Of immediate concern, we are strongly urging Congress to adopt ‘commence construction’ language this year, allowing project developers to take full advantage of the highly-successful solar ITC and giving Americans access to new, affordable clean energy sources.”

Top Five Job Sectors to Benefit from EPA's Proposed Clean Power Plan

By Camille H. Davis, Solar Industry

On June 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of President Obama's Climate Action Plan, proposed an initial set of rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal plants by as much as 30 percent by 2030. Because the proposal is state specific, each state can decide how it will go about reaching the requirements. States should not have to choose between a strong economy and healthy environment, and provided they come up with a successful mix, there is no reason why they will ever need to make that decision.

The most discussed issue seems to be the feared job loss that would occur as a result of the implementation of this rule. However, in growing industries such as solar technology and biofuel, jobs are available for those with the necessary training and certification.

It looks as if a sustainable workforce boom is on the horizon.

CleanEdison was founded with the intention of providing education and training for a growing renewable workforce. Here are the top five job sectors that we expect to benefit the most from the EPA's proposed plan:

1. Construction
The EPA projects natural gas to account for 32 percent of U.S. power by 2030. The construction sector could gain a total of 62,500 jobs from the construction of new natural gas plants alone. This is without counting the hundreds of thousands of construction jobs that will be required to upgrade our electric grid and build new transmission lines.

2. Manufacturing
In 2011, the solar industry employed over 100,000 workers, with an expected growth rate of 27,000 net new solar manufacturing jobs the next year, and this was before the EPA proposed the carbon cut rule.

While solar manufacturing has taken a hit as production of photovoltaic components moved offshore, increasing demand and new technologies hold out the promise of bringing some of these jobs back. Moreover, the EPA rules may also spur manufacturing job creation in other cleantech sectors as well, including the following:

• Wind power: Domestically manufactured equipment used in wind turbines 70 percent in 2011, with 560 factories directly employing 75,000 full-time employees. This number can be expected to grow substantially;
• Hydroelectricity: If the U.S. utilized just 6 percent to 15 percent of its untapped hydropower resources, the total number of jobs required to meet that target could generate as many as 700,000 jobs; and
• Geothermal: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, geothermal systems are the most efficient of all heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Geothermal energy provides more jobs on a per-megawatt basis than natural gas. Approximately 248.7 million acres of public lands in the western U.S. are areas of identified geothermal potential, and a single geothermal plant generates about 860 jobs.

3. Solar installation and sales
Solar energy is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the nation. Sales and distribution employed about 23,910 people in 2012, and installation employed 65,571 people. With respective growth rates of 22 percent and 35 percent, that's an additional 5,260 and 22,950 jobs.

As the solar sector continues to grow, a steadily growing supply of qualified installers will be needed to support the build-out.

4. Workforce training providers
People need to be trained on how to make, install and maintain a solar panel or build green buildings. This educational workforce can expect to grow in parallel with the demand for a sustainable, qualified workforce.

5. Engineering
Every renewable project will necessitate a variety of engineers and technical specialists in a wide array of fields: electrical, civil, information technology, systems management, waste management, simulation modeling, operations, structural, energy analysis. The list goes on. These engineers and certified specialists will all need to design specific solutions for the wave of new clients that will be generated by the EPA's clean power plan.

As conventional energy sources become more costly in both economic and environmental terms, the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries are accelerating. In particular, things are looking up for the solar energy industry, which means less dependence on fossil fuels, a greener environment and more jobs.

Although many of these jobs require specific technical skills, harnessing the opportunity in this booming industry is not as intimidating as it may seem.

Camille H. Davis handles business development and public relations at CleanEdison, a New York-based provider of cleantech sector employment education.

D.C. Universities Strike Deal to Buy Solar from North Carolina

Three Washington, D.C. academic institutions have joined the ever-growing list of businesses going solar.

George Washington University, American University and the George Washington University Hospital will receive up to 52 MW of output from a trio of solar photovoltaic plants in North Carolina, which are being developed and managed by Duke Energy Renewables. The Capital Partners Solar Project includes three separate power purchase agreements (PPA) between Duke and the three academic institutions.

The three entities indicate that purchasing solar PV provides cost savings and emissions reductions while demonstrating environmental responsibilities. For instance, the 20-year agreement provides fixed pricing at a lower total price than current power alternatives. And as the prices of those alternatives likely increase, the savings will be even greater in the future.

“Thanks to this innovative partnership, George Washington University will now derive more than half of its electricity from solar energy,” according to Steve Knapp, university president. “This will greatly accelerate our progress toward the carbon neutrality target we had earlier set for 2025.”

Under the agreement, George Washington University will receive about 86.6 million kW, American University will get 30 million kW and George Washington University Hospital will receive about 6 million kW annually.

The 20-year deal will provide fixed pricing for solar energy for a lower price than the schools pay currently for power, due in part to its large scale. George Washington University spent about $13 million on electricity last year and American University, about $5 million.

Duke Energy Renewables President Greg Wolf said the first of three solar plants needed for the agreement; a 20 MW PV solar project in Pasquotank County, N.C.; will be finished at the end of this year.

The remaining 32 MW will also be built in North Carolina and will be configured to meet the terms of the PPA, Wolf said.

Duke currently owns 170 MW of generating capacity at 21 solar plants, 14 of which are located in North Carolina.

Solar power generated in North Carolina will move to the Washington, D.C. region’s electrical grid for the universities and an equivalent amount of conventional electricity will be withdrawn from that grid.

“There is a significant amount of solar being built in North Carolina, and we’re glad to be part of that,” said Wolf.

New Energy Maps Show 4 Cool Things about Renewables

By Bobby Magill, Climate Central

When the U.S. Energy Information Administration launched its new U.S. Energy Mapping System last fall and upgraded it for use on mobile devices in early June, it powered a system allowing anyone to visualize some of the reams of data the EIA compiles on all things energy-related in the country.

That mapping system has a lot to show about renewables — critical to reducing climate change-driving greenhouse gas emissions — and the spread of renewables development across the continent. Here are four cool things the new Energy Mapping System can show you about where renewable energy is being produced and where it has the potential to be generated in the future:

1. Wind Turbines Are Being Built In Places You May Not Expect

The wind farms in the U.S. and the wind power production potential of each state. The darker the shade of brown, the lower the wind potential. The light blue signifies higher wind potential and the dark blue signifies the highest wind potential. Credit: EIA

Texas, Colorado, Wyoming and Oklahoma have huge wind power potential, and giant wind farms, too. Large swathes of the East have very low wind power potential. But because Appalachian ridge tops see high sustained winds, the EIA’s maps show the pattern of wind farms that have been built throughout the Northeast in regions that otherwise have little wind power potential.

This is especially true in Pennsylvania, where wind farms sprawl along ridge tops in regions that, at first blush, look like there is little wind potential at all. But Pennsylvania generated 2.1 million megawatt hours of wind power in 2012, about as much as windy New Mexico, EIA data show.

New York, another Northeast state shown on the EIA map as having little wind potential, generated even more wind power than Pennsylvania in 2012. New York produced nearly 3 million megawatt hours of wind power in 2012, about half that of Colorado.

The maps also show large areas of the U.S. with high wind power potential going untapped, especially in South Dakota and along the Colorado Front Range near Denver. These areas are highlighted in bright blue on the map.

2. The Cloudier Northeast Has Its Share Of Solar Power

The solar power potential of the contiguous U.S. and the sites of most of the nation's solar power generating facilities. The darker the shade of brown, the greater the solar power production potential of an area. Credit: EIA

The EIA’s map shows that many solar power plants are where you’d expect them to be — in Arizona, Nevada and California where sunny skies are the defining feature of the climate there. But solar power plants are also spread throughout New Jersey, New York and New England, where the solar power potential is fairly low.

Sure, some of the nation’s largest solar power plants are in Arizona and California, but the map shows that, though the solar power plants in the Northeast are generally small, solar can be done there, too.

New Jersey, for example, produced about twice as much solar power in 2012 as sunny Colorado did and nearly a third more solar power in 2012 as Florida, where the solar power potential is significantly greater than anywhere in the Northeast. EIA data show that New Jersey produced 304,000 megawatt hours of solar power that year, while Florida produced 194,000 megawatt hours and Colorado produced 165,000.

3. Biomass Power Production Is All Over, But Mainly In The East And Midwest

The biomass power production potential and biomass power plants scattered across the Lower 48 states. The darker the shade of green, the greater the biomass power production potential. Biomass power plants can be anything from solid waste incinerators to landfills generating power from burning methane emissions. Credit: EIA

Biomass energy comes from many different sources, primarily the burning of wood and wood products and capturing and burning landfill gas and other waste gases. Nationally, more than 57 million megawatt hours of electricity were produced from biomass sources in 2012, with Florida and California producing the most biomass energy.

But the EIA maps show that most facilities producing biomass electricity are concentrated in the Northeast, Upper Midwest and South, especially around Miami, Chicago, Detroit and New York City. The power plants shown on the EIA map use a wide range of sources of fuel to produce electricity. For example, The Covanta Essex Company’s 60 megawatt Covanta Essex resource recovery plant in Essex County, N.J., produces electricity by burning more than 2,800 tons of municipal solid waste each day. An irrigation district in Turlock, Calif., burns methane produced from the treatment of wastewater to generate 1.2 megawatts of electricity.

4. The U.S. Has Great Geothermal Potential; Most Of It Is Untapped

The geothermal power production potential across the country and the sites of current geothermal power plants in the U.S. The darker the shade of brown, the higher the geothermal power production potential of the area. Credit: EIA

Nevada, California, Utah, New Mexico, western Colorado are all places with large geothermal resources (heat from places where molten rock comes relatively close to the earth’s surface). But nationwide, there are only a handful of geothermal power plants, which in 2012 produced about 15.5 million megawatt hours of electricity, mostly in California, where geothermal accounts for roughly 5 percent of the state’s power generation, according to EIA data.

Geothermal power generation has been slow, according to EIA data, mainly because of the cost and risk involved in building new geothermal power plants, which can take up to eight years longer to complete than wind and solar power generating facilities.

Reprinted with permission from Climate Central

Duke Energy Plots Attack on North Carolina’s Solar Revolution

North Carolina has become a hot spot for solar. The state was second in the nation in solar growth in 2013, behind only California. So if U.S. states were considered countries, North Carolina would have qualified as one of the top 10 countries in the world for solar growth last year.

All of that solar growth, driven by policies like the state’s renewable energy portfolio law, has been a boon for North Carolina’s economy, generating $1.7 billion in revenue for the state. At the end of 2012, 137 solar companies employed 1,400 people in North Carolina and that number increased during a record year in 2013 for solar.

But while solar shines brightly in North Carolina, a dark cloud is approaching that is putting all the benefits of solar at risk. Duke Energy, which is the state’s monopoly utility and the largest power company in the country, is about to launch a major attack on solar energy.

In January, Paul Newton, Duke’s president of North Carolina operations, launched the first shots in the attack on solar. Speaking in front of a joint energy committee of the state’s legislature, Newton attacked net metering, one of the key policies to North Carolina’s solar growth.

Net metering allows customers with rooftop solar panels to get credit for any extra electricity that they send back to the grid. It’s kind of like rollover minutes on a cell phone bill.

Newton argued that solar customers aren’t “paying their fair share” to Duke, and because of that, his company would be forced to charge higher rates to all of its other customers as a result.

The problem is those allegations are false. A study conducted last year showed that the benefits of rooftop solar in North Carolina – even for customers who don’t have the panels – would outweigh any costs by 30 percent. The reason is as more homes and businesses go solar, Duke wouldn't have to keep building expensive gas and coal plants, which are bad for the environment, and consequently raising rates on its customers to finance them. Those rate benefits are aside from the job creation, climate, and public health positives of solar power. However, Duke’s shareholders profit by building those gas and coal plants, which is exactly why rooftop solar is in the line of fire.

Duke’s Big Ally in its War on Solar: ALEC

Duke isn't the first utility in the U.S. to attack net metering; utility companies in California, Arizona and Colorado began similar campaigns in 2013, and others are forming battle plans now. In December, The Guardian newspaper uncovered that these power companies have been coordinating their efforts under the guise of the American Legislative Exchange Council, (ALEC), a group that lets corporations like Duke ghostwrite laws for right-wing state legislators.

Many utilities are ALEC members and continue to make ALEC’s top priority to attack net metering laws. Forty percent of NC state lawmakers are ALEC members, and because of that Duke will rely on them to do their bidding.

So far, Duke and ALEC’s communications strategy has been to stigmatize solar energy as being only for the wealthy. Their argument is that resident shouldn’t let the rich with solar panels get even richer on the backs of non-solar households.

In the beginning of solar, it may have been mostly higher income families, since it involved a cost upfront. However, recent research reveals that middle class neighborhoods are increasingly opting for solar. In any case, if ALEC and the utility companies are so worried about the poor, perhaps they should be trying to give more solar access to working and middle class communities, since it will help them save money, and not take away their chance to go solar by attacking policies like net metering.

Duke will eventually learn to bask in the sun.

A few days after Newton went in front of the legislature to attack solar policies, Duke Energy’s Facebook and Twitter feeds started bragging, amazingly, about North Carolina’s solar growth:

Shining in solar. North Carolina ranks fourth in the nation. #solarpic.twitter.com/twBF8eXzIb
— Duke Energy (@DukeEnergy) January 16, 2014

That was not the only public display of support for solar power Duke has shown in recent months. Previous CEO Jim Rogers said that he saw said that he saw rooftop solar as an opportunity as much as a threat, and in March, Duke bought a stake of a distributed solar power financing company, Clean Power Finance.

Were these moves signs that Duke is embracing the solar revolution, or just a PR move to appear more green? Both may be true: Duke is feeling its way around the edges of solar opportunities while stalling for time by attacking net metering. One scenario that would speed up Duke’s solar transition is if it loses on net metering, which would force the company to quickly come to terms with the inevitability of solar.

A Duke loss on net metering is far from a given, considering Duke and ALEC’s almost unlimited influence in North Carolina politics. Though even with all of Duke’s money and political power, it can’t change one simple reality: Rooftop solar is immensely popular. A 2013 poll showed that 88 percent of North Carolinians support solar energy. Last year, when ALEC attacked North Carolina’s renewable energy law and the effort failed because Republicans in the legislature recognized growing solar power as a job creator. In fact, ALEC’s efforts to attack renewable energy laws failed in every state where it tried in 2013.

Now, solar advocates will suit up to fight the next attack wave in this year. The sooner they win, the sooner utility companies such as Duke will have to face the music and realize that they need to join their customers as they bask in the sun.

Rewritten from David Pomerantz, Greenpeace Blogs