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Net Metering and Time-Variant Rates Drive Solar Power and Energy Storage Growth [PODCAST]

April 29, 2018

Nevada law has included net metering provisions for more than 20 years. Net metering is an arrangement that allows energy generated by a customer’s leased or purchased solar system to offset monthly power bills. It also permits excess energy supplied to the grid to earn credits, which are then automatically applied to future billing periods in which more energy is consumed than produced.

Historically, net metering was a one-for-one transaction in Nevada. For every kWh supplied to the grid, a credit was given to the customer for one kWh in the future. The scheme changed in 2015 when the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) created a laddered approach that ratcheted down the value of customer-generated energy over a period of years to about 2¢/kWh, which was much less than the retail rate of about 11¢/kWh. The change effectively stopped all construction on new residential rooftop solar systems.

Through Assembly Bill 405 (AB 405), the Nevada Legislature modified the net metering rate structure effective June 15, 2017.…

Report: Clean Energy Investments Hit $333.5 Billion in 2017

January 18, 2018

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Though some countries, including the U.S., have moved to support coal-fired power generation over the past year, investments in renewable energy continued to rise, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

The research group on January 16 said global investment in clean energy such as wind and solar reached about $ 333.5 billion in 2017, a 3% rise from the prior year, and just 7% below the record in 2015. BNEF said about half of all investment went to solar projects, with China accounting for nearly $ 133 billion—or about 40%—of the total investment in renewables. China’s total is 24% more than it spent in 2016, according to BNEF.

The report said two dozen countries invested more than $ 1 billion in clean energy initiatives in 2017. It noted that the falling costs of equipment such as wind turbines and solar panels has opened new markets, and is bringing electrification to areas—particularly in developing countries—where there is limited access to a transmission grid.…

Alternative Materials for Alternative Energy

December 22, 2017

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Moving toward sustainable manufacture of photovoltaics, Dr. Manuela Schiek’s research group in Oldenburg, Germany, has discovered how the latest technology in confocal laser scanning microscopy is enhancing both accuracy and efficiency of their research into organic semiconductors and transparent electrodes.

Harvesting energy directly from the sun in order to generate electricity, solar cells appear to represent the epitome of green energy. But have you ever stopped to consider the manufacturing process?

Take the case of crystalline silicon for example, a main component of conventional solar cells. First, transforming silica ore into its valuable crystallised form requires temperatures above 2,000C. Not only is this an incredibly energy-hungry process, but obtaining ultra-pure silicon also involves several hazardous chemicals and a potent greenhouse gas. Other main offenders in the modern manufacture of many inorganic thin-film solar cells include components comprising the toxic elements selenium and cadmium.

Indium is also a vital ingredient, forming indium tin oxide (ITO), but reserves of this finite resource are estimated to become unviable in the near future, which poses another set of potential challenges.…

Oman Starts Power Plant as Part of New Energy Development

December 16, 2017

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Oman recently began operating a Wärtsilä-built power plant in the northern part of the country, part of more than $ 1 billion in power and energy projects being developed in the Arab nation. The Musandam Independent Power Project (IPP) is a 120-MW natural gas-fired plant (Figure 1) that can use light fuel oil as a secondary fuel. It is the first plant to be inaugurated as part of the Musandam Power Company (MPC), a consortium of Oman Oil Company (OOC)—which holds 70% of MPC shares—and LG International Corporation, a South Korean energy supplier and developer. The MPC was created to encourage energy-related development in Oman through both foreign and domestic investment.

Salim Al Hashmi, project director for MPC, at a mid-November ceremony officially opening the IPP said “This plant is a central part of the major integrated development of the Musandam Governorate. The project will play a significant role in meeting the power needs of the region’s current and upcoming industries, while at the same time benefiting the local community.”…

CAISO Expansion, 100% Zero-Carbon Bids Flatline, But Bills for Energy Storage, DERs Thrive

September 22, 2017

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California’s legislature last week wrapped up its 2017 session without authorizing the broad expansion of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) into other Western states or passing a zero-carbon bill, which would have put the state on a path to 100% clean energy by 2045. It did, however, succeed in passing bills to encourage development of energy storage and distributed energy resources to reduce its reliance on gas-fired generation in light of the Aliso Canyon debacle.

A Freeze on CAISO Regionalization

CAISO and a number of participants within the Western Interconnection have been exploring the creation of a more fully integrated regional electricity market that would be managed by a single system operator and include day-ahead and real-time markets, but the measure will now need to be revived next year.

As some of the initiative’s proponents point out, power within the Western Interconnection is managed by 38 separate balancing authorities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. While all balancing authorities, including CAISO, are part of a synchronized grid, each authority is responsible for its own territorial supply and demand balance.…

$28 Million in DOE Funding Available for Advanced Energy Systems R&D

June 13, 2017

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The Department of Energy (DOE) is offering approximately $ 28 million in cost-shared funding for research and development of advanced energy systems. According to three separate funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), the department is looking for research into advanced combustion systems, advanced turbines, and gasification.

“Advanced energy conversion systems are designed to enable efficient, low-cost, and near-zero emission energy from existing and new fossil fuel power plants,” a DOE release says.

University Turbine Systems Research

The University Turbine Systems Research (UTSR) program has available $ 5.15 million to fund laboratory/bench scale research and development projects in six technical topic areas:

Low-NOx combustion technology development for “air-breathing” advanced turbines
Advanced cooling technology development for “air-breathing” advanced turbines
Advanced materials technology development for “air-breathing” advanced turbines
Big data analytics
Advanced instrumentation
Pressure gain combustion

DOE anticipates awarding funding for six to nine projects. Up to three awards are expected in each of the first three topic areas, and one per topic in the last three areas.…