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CBCNEWS: Tesla’s expected home battery announcement could spark energy revolution
The man behind the electric car revolution is expected to unveil a large-scale battery capable of powering an entire house, during an announcement at Tesla Motors headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. While the battery will likely slash power bills for consumers, some say it’s also a move toward democratizing energy systems.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, teased the announcement on Twitter a month ago, saying a major new Tesla product line will be unveiled at Hawthorne Design Studio at 8 p.m. local time Thursday. “Not a car,” he wrote, sparking speculation that it may be a home battery.
VOX: A solar future isn’t just likely — it’s inevitable
Obviously, predicting the far future is a mug’s game if you take it too seriously. This post is more about storytelling, a way of seeing the present through a different lens, than pure prognostication. But storytelling is important. And insofar as one can feel confident about far-future predictions, I feel pretty good about this one.
Here it is: solar photovoltaic (PV) power is eventually going to dominate global energy. The question is not if, but when. Maybe it will happen radically faster than anyone expects — say, by 2050. Or maybe it won’t be until the year 3000, or later. But it’ll happen.
THE GUARDIAN: UK installed more solar power than any other European country in 2014
The UK installed more new solar power capacity than any other European country last year and is on track to retain its top-ranking position this year, due to a rush to complete projects ahead of deep cuts to subsidies at the start of this month.
However, the strong performance from the UK comes in the midst of a challenging period for the European solar sector.
Preliminary figures by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) show installation rates across Europe have fallen sharply over the past four years. The analysis, due to be published next month and shared with BusinessGreen, reveals less than 7GW was installed in the bloc in 2014 compared to 21GW in 2011.
FINANCIAL POST: Canadian Solar Inc poised to take off as global demand rises
South Africa is enduring an unprecedented power generation crisis. Electricity blackouts continue across the country as its power monopoly, Eskom, plunges deeper into chaos. Eskom acknowledges it failed to maintain important infrastructure for the past 20 years. As winter begins to bite, South Africa is bracing for widespread electricity outages, and demand for alternative sources of energy is spiking.
A diesel-driven generator powers a restaurant in Johannesburg. For the third day in a row, large parts of the city have no electricity. The restaurant owner, Heidi Welman, spends hundreds of dollars a month on her generator to keep her business open. “It’s a real big pain in the butt,” she said.
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