There’s certainly been project delays and second quarter installations are expected to be down across the board. However, on balance, the industry has shown more resilience than originally thought.

The hardest hit segment is likely to be commercial solar – projects built on businesses, schools, and government buildings.

Wood Mackenzie’s energy transition practice is forecasting a 32% drop in commercial solar installations compared to its pre-pandemic forecast for 2020. Commercial businesses – hugely impacted by current economic conditions – will likely opt out of discretionary investments like installing solar this year.

But what’s the true potential of this market post-2020? Wood Mackenzie and Station A, an AI-enabled clean energy marketplace, collaborated on a first-of-its-kind analysis to find out.

Quantifying the untapped potential

Historically, measuring commercial solar potential has been challenging due to a lack of reliable data. By combining Wood Mackenzie’s project-level solar data with Station A’s building-level data*, we were able to get an accurate bottoms-up view of this market for the very first time.

The key findings won’t surprise anyone in the commercial solar industry – there’s massive market potential.

About 3.5% of all commercial buildings have solar and another 1% can be accounted for through community solar subscriptions, where customers buy power from a solar project located in the same utility territory.

Not all buildings spend enough money on electricity to make solar a worthwhile investment. Once you account for those buildings -about 25% of the building stock- you’re left with approximately 70% of commercial buildings in the US. That equates to over 600,000 sites and 145 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity potential.

For comparison, the largest operating utility-scale solar project in the United States is about half a GW. So, there is enough potential on US commercial rooftops to equal 290 of the nation’s largest solar project.

Why isn’t commercial solar growing faster?

Wood Mackenzie’s outlook puts the annual commercial solar market at roughly 2 GW a year from 2021-2025. Over that time frame, enough commercial solar will be installed to tap into 8% of this addressable market……(Readmore)

California just became the first state to require solar panels on new homes — here’s how long it takes to make the $10,000 investment pay off

California just became the first state in the country to require all new homes to be built with rooftop solar panels. The California Energy Commission hearing room was packed full on Wednesday as the commission voted unanimously in favor of the proposed rule.

Starting on January 1, 2020 any new home that’s three stories tall or shorter, be it a single-family dwelling, apartment building, or condo, will need to include energy-harvesting solar panels on top.

There are a few exceptions to the rule. Homes that are in the shade and houses where the roof is too tiny to hold panels won’t need to comply.

The California Energy Comission says that the new rule should cost the average single-family homeowner an additional $10,000 or so in upfront building costs.

But builders put the costs of adding on solar to all new homes much higher. C.R. Herro, vice president of environmental affairs for Meritage Homes told the Orange County Register that solar can add between $14,000 and $16,000 to the price of a new home, and that’s not including add ons like more expensive energy efficient windows, lighting, and appliances.

Experts believe the costs of installing solar panels pay for themselves over time. But how quickly the investment yields returns depends on a whole host of factors, including how big your solar panels are, where you live, and how much sun you get. It’s possible that with the new rule in place, the costs of solar could go down, and both panels and installations could get a lot cheaper. Right now, roughly one in five new homes in the Golden State has rooftop solar panels. This new rule would shift the equation. Read more…

California just became the first state to require solar panels on new homes — here’s how long it takes to make the $10,000 investment pay off

Vizianagaram Collectorate Switches Completely to Solar Power, Will Save 3 Lakh/Month!

Changing the source of energy for an entire district is quite a task, and the Vizianagaram district is leading the way by becoming the first collectorate in Andhra Pradesh, to have made this landmark switch, and becoming completely powered by solar energy.

This is not the first time an entire village is relying on solar power. Read here, about how two villages in Andhra Pradesh relied exclusively on solar power back in 2016.

“The initiative in Vizianagaram, is a benchmark for various government offices, and the collectorate is the first in the whole state, to now rely on a renewable energy source,” said the District Collector, Vivek Yadav, to the Times of India. Read more…

Vizianagaram Collectorate Switches Completely to Solar Power, Will Save 3 Lakh/Month!

India Solar Goal’s Secret Weapon: Rooftops of Small Business

Rakshith Kunder is adding more solar panels to the roofs of his warehouses. He isn’t seeking to save the planet, it’s pure economics.

Businesses like Kunder’s are the next target for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as it seeks to achieve 100 gigawatts of solar installations by 2022. Of that, 40 gigawatts is expected to come from rooftop installations. Small businesses, which contribute about a third to India’s $2 trillion economy, suffer from high power tariffs and erratic supply causing them to fall back on expensive and polluting diesel generators to keep the lights on. Read more…

India Solar Goal’s Secret Weapon: Rooftops of Small Business

Grid Defection Is On the Rise in Puerto Rico

Orocovis sits right in the mountainous middle of Puerto Rico. It’s one of the island’s “more remote areas with challenging terrain” that on Thursday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said may not have electricity restored until April or May.

The town hasn’t had grid-connected power in the four months since Hurricane Maria. Instead, like many others on the island, Orocovis residents have been relying on costly generators. Alberto Melendez Castillo, the director of the S.U. Matrullas school there, said residents have also had to rely on canned food and milk.

This week, Sonnen and Pura Energía, a local solar installer, announced they’d brought two storage-plus-solar systems online at SU Matrullas. Now, Castillo says that teachers can use their computers, the school’s 150 students have enough light to do homework, the school’s kitchens have running refrigerators, and the community has an off-grid center to help them weather the next storm.

While it may take months for workers from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and mainland mutual aid crews to connect Orocovis back to the grid, the school can continue operating with the help of a 15-kilowatt rooftop solar system and two batteries — one 4 kilowatts/8 kilowatt-hours and the other 8 kilowatts/14 kilowatt-hours.

Even after grid-connected power becomes available, said Castillo, the school plans to stay disconnected and run on its own energy. Plans for a water collection and purification system would make the school an entirely independent lifeline for the community in the case of another disaster.  Read more…

Grid Defection Is On the Rise in Puerto Rico

10 really cool Solar Power installations in (and above) the world

Now that solar power is here, and without a doubt racing toward being a leading source of global electricity, we’ve now got some really cool, established solar power systems. Some on Earth, some above, some giant, some small. The flexibility of solar power is part of its magic.

Charles Fritts is considered the father of solar technology. In 1884 he created the first working solar module and put it atop a building in New York City to test its financial viability. At the time, silicon had not been considered for use, instead selenium was used in addition to an extremely thin layer of gold on the surface. While to device worked, the high cost of materials made the device economically infeasible, and it would take the work of Russell Ohl in the 1930’s to make the next step. Also of interest is that this research was being done before Albert Einstein’s paper on the ‘Photoelectric Effect’ – which became the base knowledge of the modern solar industry.

Created by electrical engineer Gerald Pearson and physicist/chemist Calvin Fuller, the first practical solar cell was displayed on April 25, 1954 at Bell Labs in New Jersey. The technology was quickly adopted into mainstream use, first by telephone companies (1955), then later by the US Department of Defense for vehicles and satellites in space (1958).

Lugo PV station, in San Bernardino County, California. For its time, the Lugo plant in Hesperia, California was the largest PV plant in the world. The plant was built by Atlantic Richfield Oil Company in 1982, and not only set the record as the largest PV plant at the time, but was the first PV plant to cross the 1MW barrier. The solar park was never able to compete with fossil fuels during its time, and was eventually shut down and resold for parts.

Tengger Desert Solar Park, in Zhongwei, Ningxia of China. Dubbed the “Great Wall of Solar,” this is currently the largest PV plant in the world in both size and production. Occupying a space of 43 sq km, the massive plant outputs a world record-setting 1,547MW of power.

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, Mojave Desert, California. Finished in 2014, the plant has an output of 392MW, making it the largest solar thermal station in the world. With a price tag of $2.2 billion, the project was developed by BrightSource Energy and Bechtel, and had a $300 million contribution from NRG Energy and a $168 million contribution from Google. Initially planned to be 440MW, the designs were scaled back to “avoid disturbing the desert tortoise”.

To raise awareness about sustainable development in China, a new novel approach has been taken: cute panda shaped solar parks. This is an actual picture of an operational solar power plant shaped like a panda. Phase 1 of the 250 acre project is already complete, with 50 MW of power being generated, and another 50 MW of power is expected to be added once phase 2 is done. Many more of these bear shaped plants are in the works.

262,400 solar cells power the International Space Station, which orbits the earth at 4.76 miles/s. The solar arrays cover more than half a football field, and can generate 120 KW of power. While in sunlight, the station diverts 60% of the electricity generated to the batteries, which must support the station while its not in view of the sun.

8,844 solar panels are arranged in a dragon like figure atop Taiwan’s new national stadium. During testing, it took just 6 minutes to power up all of the stadiums 3,300 lights. On days where the stadium is not being used, extra power can be diverted to the community nearby, meeting 80% of the area’s energy needs. The stadium is estimated to generate 1.14 million KWh per year, preventing the release of 660 tons of carbon dioxide into atmosphere annually.

Vanguard 1’s mission was to test the launch capabilities of a three-stage vehicle. It was the 2nd satellite launched by the U.S., and the first ever satellite to be powered by photovoltaics in 1958. The satellite’s batteries failed within the year of launch, but the satellite kept working until 1964, thanks to its high tech (at the time) solar-powered transmitter.Read more….

10 really cool Solar Power installations in (and above) the world

What India’s Solar Tariff Exemption Could Mean for the US Market

New documents show that a few countries with significant solar manufacturing facilities are exempt from Trump’s new solar tariffs, which could help U.S. developers.

The market impact from new solar tariffs announced earlier this week is shaping up to be less severe than it could have been. But while analysts don’t expect solar cell and module prices to skyrocket, some big business decisions will be made in the coming weeks and months around the modest price increase — which has prompted a series of questions around how, exactly, the new tariffs will be implemented.

One of the interesting pieces of information revealed in trade documents obtained by GTM this week is that crystalline silicon solar products from India are not subject to the new tariffs.

Annex I of President Trump’s proclamation confirms India is on the list of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) beneficiary countries, which are exempt from import tariffs because they currently account for a small portion of U.S. solar imports. This is significant for the manufacturers operating in India — and there are several notable ones — and for U.S. solar project developers looking to procure tariff-free panels. Read more…

What India’s Solar Tariff Exemption Could Mean for the US Market

An economic case for protecting the planet

We all share one planet — we breathe the same air, drink the same water and depend on the same oceans, forests and biodiversity. Economist Naoko Ishii is on a mission to protect these shared resources, known as the global commons, that are vital for our survival. In an eye-opening talk about the wellness of the planet, Ishii outlines four economic systems we need to change to safeguard the global commons, making the case for a new kind of social contract with the earth. Read more…

An economic case for protecting the planet

How Trump’s solar panel tariffs could threaten thousands of American jobs

The Trump administration’s solar panel tariffs could threaten thousands of American jobs.

On Monday, the administration put 30% tariffs on panels and cells coming from overseas. Tariffs will be in place for four years and will taper out.

President Trump said Tuesday that the decision will create jobs and allow the United States to “make our own product again.”

The solar industry and economists pushed back hard.

The Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group, predicted the tariffs will cost the American economy 23,000 jobs, including existing and future jobs that would have been created. Read more…

How Trump’s solar panel tariffs could threaten thousands of American jobs

This Could Be America’s First Solar-Powered Town

A new solar-powered town in Florida has already built a restaurant, a school and a community gathering space. Now in 2018, Babcock Ranch is adding something even more important: residents.

Below Tampa and Orlando, about half an hour northeast from the tourist attractions of Fort Myers, Babcock Ranch is built on and 18,000-acre expanse and hopes to have 19,500 homes and 50,000 residents within 20 to 25 years. Its first residents moved in January 4th.

While building a town is a multi-faceted project that no one person could accomplish, Babcock Ranch is the brainchild of one man: Syd Kitson, a Florida developer. “In 2005,” the town’s website states, Kitson “set out to prove that smart growth and preservation could work hand in hand.”

Originally used for logging and agriculture by Edward Vose Babcock, a lumber baron and mayor of Pittsburgh in the early 20th century, the land became known as the Babcock Nature Preserve. In 2006, Babcock’s heirs eventually sold the land to Kitson, who beat out the state of Florida in the bidding. He sold most of the land to the state and used the rest to create Babcock Ranch. At the time, Kitson told the New York Times, “This is how I’m going to change the world.” Read more…

This Could Be America’s First Solar-Powered Town