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California Generates Enough Solar Power to Meet Half Its Energy Needs
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) took a shot at Sec. of Energy Rick Perry, former Republican governor of Texas. Remarking on Perry’s view of Texas as an energy powerhouse, Brown said, “We’ve got more sun than you’ve got oil.” Recent data shows California coming through. The state briefly generated enough solar power to meet nearly half of the state’s electricity needs, according to data from the largest grid operator in the state, California ISO. Around midday on March 3, demand reached around 29 Gigawatts (GW), while solar was providing nearly 14 GW of generation—some 9 GW from utility-scale arrays and another 5 GW or so from rooftops and parking lot canopies around the state.
Energy retailers making millions buying solar power on the cheap from homeowners
It’s been called the great solar scam: households investing in solar energy and feeding electricity back to the grid for just a fraction of what it’s worth, and sometimes for free. At the same time, the energy market operator is complaining that even it can’t find out how much solar is going into the grid at peak times that are critical for the network. It comes amid surging power prices and calls for a bipartisan energy policy.
Solar Energy Has Banner Year and Five Year Forecast is Even Better
Solar capacity just keeps growing. The Solar Industry Industries Association said that capacity doubled in 2016, compared to a year earlier. The reason? Utility scale solar is expanding while the price of solar equipment is falling, by 20%, which makes such equipment the cheapest it has ever been. Utility-scale solar is defined by that which must attach to the grid before being sent to homes and businesses.
Future is bright for solar, alternative energy markets in Manitoba
Solar energy enthusiasts gathered in Winnipeg on Thursday to shed some light on something that didn’t really exist here a year ago — a market for solar energy in Manitoba. The Manitoba Environmental Industries Association, which organized the event, hopes the Energy Summit becomes an annual event.
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