Help wanted: the clean energy industry could really use the skills of tech executives
I was recently invited to speak a group of Georgia-based technology executives. I’ve included some excerpts from the slides and a list of some of the more exciting clean energy companies in the region.
Puerto Rico shines a bright light on the shortcomings of the world’s electricity infrastructure
On August 7, 2018, an untrimmed tree fell on an electrical transmission line in Puerto Rico, leaving 130,000 people in San Juan without power for an hour and a half. Big deal, right? When compared to the immense and long-lasting damage done to the island’s grid by Hurricane Maria the year before, a brief power […]
Microgrid powered neighborhoods are a real thing – how can we get more of them?
Imagine a neighborhood powered entirely by local energy. Shared solar panels, energy efficient homes, and community batteries to power houses at night. Even when the grid is down, lights and air conditioning will keep running without a hitch. While this vision remains a rarity, it is starting to happen. The Reynolds Landing Smart Neighborhood in […]
Clean Energy Headlines for July 2018
* Embattled EPA head, Scott Pruitt, resigns
* Does nuclear power help or hurt U.S. national security?
* Hoover Dam as a giant battery?
* First glimpse of Tesla’s grid controller
* The hottest recorded month on earth
An interview with Susan Kennedy, CEO of Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS)
I first saw Susan Kennedy speak at Solar Power International in 2017. Susan is the CEO of Advanced Microgrid Solutions, one of the most visible leaders in the rapidly growing microgrid industry. Susan’s resume is a decades-long testament to her legislative prowess and dedication to clean energy. She has served as a high-ranking aide to […]
The military is pioneering Local Energy to save money and save lives
In the late morning of April 9, 2004, 17 tanker trucks, and 5 armored escort vehicles left a logistics support area near Baghdad to resupply an army division fighting insurgents in Sadr City. At 12:30, only two kilometers from the convoy’s destination, the lead vehicle suddenly met a hail of small arms fire. In this […]
The U.S. government is really bad at predicting the growth in solar
It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. — Yogi Berra At last week’s Intersolar conference in San Francisco, keynote speaker Tony Seba made a compelling case for near-term disruptions in energy and transportation. In particular, his slide on solar projections really caught my attention. It turns out that government solar predictions have consistently […]
How much solar would it take to power the U.S.?
Critics claim that there simply isn’t enough land in the U.S. to power the country with solar. We dig through the numbers to reveal an answer that might surprise you.
Clean energy headlines for June 2018
Solar prices poised to take another huge plunge – China dropped a bombshell by reducing its financial support for solar deployments across the country. As the largest buyer of solar in the world, China’s reduced demand will create excess capacity in Chinese solar factories, which in turn will almost certainly plummet worldwide prices another 20-30% […]
Hawaii is a postcard from our electric future (Part 2)
Island power grids are a microcosm of the vastly larger grids that criss-cross the planet. In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how small islands are pioneering the path to clean energy. They are disproving conventional wisdom by showing that intermittent power from the sun and wind can successfully provide affordable and reliable […]
How Edison’s protege made the power industry into a regulated monopoly (Part 3 of 3)
This is the third and final part in my series exploring the events that shaped the electric industry as we know it. If you haven’t already done so, I recommend reading part one and part two first. As I mentioned in part one, the power industry was born from the inventions and investments of Thomas […]
1,000 solar scientists got together this week – here’s what they’re talking about
Every four years, one thousand solar scientists from across the world gather to peer into the future of the solar industry. The event is called the World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC). The seventh such event is taking place this week on the big island of Hawaii. I decided to attend the conference to learn […]
Islands: fruity drinks, sandy beaches, and the future of the electric grid (Part 1)
The shift to clean, local energy is a real challenge for many utilities. Their traditional planning models choke on the variability of solar and wind power. Self-generation from rooftop solar and improvements in energy efficiency threaten to end a century of revenue growth. Increases in extreme weather events are making blackouts more common. To get away from all these […]
Clean energy headlines for May 2018
May was a great month for clean energy….
* A recent California mandate requires all new homes to have solar panels
* A study shows clean energy is actually more economic than natural gas
* Saudia Arabia announces the biggest solar project in history
* The U.S. House and Senate push back on Trump’s plans to wind down clean energy programs.
Follow the money to understand the century-old business model of electricity
Most Americans give little thought to their electricity. Even though we spend between 3% and 7% of our income on power bills, we only engage with our power companies 10 minutes a year. Would it surprise you to learn that electricity is one of the largest and most profitable industries in the U.S? If we want […]
How do you know if a microgrid makes sense for you?
Microgrids are the epitome of Local Energy. As the name suggests, microgrids are miniature versions of the big grid. They generate their own power and they have their own loads. And, if the grid goes down, microgrids continue to operate in what the industry calls “island mode”. Even though there are only a few thousand built so […]
AC vs DC: How better economics ultimately beat out a bizarre publicity campaign (Part 2 of 3)
This is the second in a three-part series on the origins of the modern power industry. Part 1 can be found at How Edison, Tesla, and other visionaries invented the modern grid. The sparks that started the AC/DC current wars By the late 1880s, Edison was on his way to dominating the rapidly growing power […]
California just required solar on all new houses – will the world follow?
California just made a huge commitment to Local Energy. On May 9, California’s Energy Commission (CEC) unanimously passed a groundbreaking new building standard. Starting in 2020, all new homes in the state must be built with solar panels. Yes, that’s right. In California, residential solar is now required by law. How does the new building standard work? […]
Choreographing electrons and the hidden sophistication of the US electric grid
Flip the switch. Your light turns on. Simple, right? Actually, the light switch is straightforward but the system behind it is anything but simple. When you flip that switch, you are instantaneously connecting your bulb to the most sophisticated machine ever built. Carl Sagan once said, “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science […]
Three months into Trump’s solar tariffs – are the promised new jobs in sight?
On February 7, 2018, the U.S. tariffs on imported silicon solar technology went into effect. As we approach the three month anniversary, what, if anything, has happened as a result? A quick history lesson on the US solar tariffs Let’s step back for a brief history lesson. In the spring of 2017, the two largest […]