First Time Ever, 4 Mahagenco Plants Shut As Rains Reduce Power Demand

For the first time in the history of the state-run generation power comapny Mahagenco, it
has completely shut down four of its seven power plants. The total generation has gone
below 2000 MW, which has also happened for the first time. The reason is no deman for
power from state-run discom MSEDCL.

according to maharashtra electricity regulatory Commission’s merit dis-patch order,
MSEDCL has to buy cheap power first before going in for costiler power. As the rate of
generation of Mahagenco is higher than some private, the company has taken a beating.

A Mahagenco official said all the units of Koradi, Khaparkheda, bhusawal and parli plants
were offile. “Even though MSEDCL increased power supply to agricultural consumers from
eight hours a day to 12, it has not helped. Heavy rains in many parts of the state has
reduced demand for power. Farmers are not required to use their pumps. The demand has
increased during Ganeshotsav, but now the extra demand is no longer there.

Presently, the total maximum demand is in the range of 13500 MW, which is quite low,” an
official said.

The official added that hte parli plant was closed down last year due to water shortage.
“Now there is water in its feeder dam to run tow units but we are unable to start them due to
lack of demand,” he added. Last month, Mahagenco had started all the five units of the 1340
MW khaparkheda power plant but had to close all of them down within a few days.

A MSEDCL official said demand also gone down due to increase in solar and wind
generation. “The wind is strong during the rainy season and hence wind power generation
has gone up. Many people are going for our solar rooftop policy and this too is gradually
reducing our demand,” he said.

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First Time Ever, 4 Mahagenco Plants Shut As Rains Reduce Power Demand

Top builders rush to install solar rooftops on dipping costs, favourable govt policies

Major real estate developers like DLF, Lodha, Vatika, IREO and Wadhwa Group are increasingly opting for solar rooftops on their buildings due to lower lifecycle costs, favourable state policies and a brand differentiation.

While Mumbai-based real estate firm Lodha Group is running a pilot project using solar energy at its 4,500-acre township named Palava in Mumbai, another city based developer. The Wadhwa Group has tied up with Waaree Energies for installing solar panels across all their projects.

DLF has recently tied up with solar energy developer Azure Power to set up solar panels on the rooftops of its Gurgaon properties, while Vatika Group has tied up with Amplus Energy Solutions to set up solar rooftop systems across six buildings in Gurgaon.

Private equity fund and developer IREO has also tied up for 100% solar power with a 9 mega watt (mw) third-party dedicated solar farm in Haryana for its first building at the 11 million sq ft IT SEZ being developed in Gurgaon’s Golf Course Extension Road. The building will also have 600 KW rooftop solar panels.

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Top builders rush to install solar rooftops on dipping costs, favourable govt policies

Walking On Sunshine: Is Solar Power The Way To Go?

For many, solar power is a lot more than just a ray of hope.

No question, there are legitimate benefits to installing solar power in your home.

But does that necessarily mean it’s a great idea for one and all?

KCAL9’s Jeff Vaughn sheds some light on solar: Who should get it? And how should you get it?

One thing is certain, more people are getting it.

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Walking On Sunshine: Is Solar Power The Way To Go?

A Quarter Of Australian Businesses Generate Electricity With Solar PV

An increase in interest and uptake of solar by Australia’s commercial sector has been supported by the results of a new survey, with nearly one-quarter of businesses claiming to have already tapped  rooftop solar as a measure to cut electricity costs and be more environmentally responsible.

Commercial solar, while much slower to take off in Australia than the residential market, has been making up some ground over the past year, but is yet to take hold. To boost the market, schemes like the Clean Energy Finance Corp-backed Westpac Bank loan facility have been launched to encourage Australian businesses to invest in solar, battery storage, energy efficient technologies and electric vehicles.

But progress is being made. According to the survey, published on Monday by energy management company Energy Action, 23 per cent of businesses generate some portion of their electricity supply using solar PV, up from just 14 per cent just two years ago. Another 37 per cent said they had “implemented solar PV measures in their business,” up from 23 per cent in 2014.

Meanwhile, the proportion of businesses who said they were seriously considering investing in technologies like solar PV and even battery storage and smart energy management systems was 84 per cent. Another 43 per cent reported they now had a formal energy management strategy in place.

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A Quarter Of Australian Businesses Generate Electricity With Solar PV

Metro to set up rooftop solar panels at 8 stations

Going green in its second year of operations, Jaipur Metro has decided to set up rooftop solar panels at eight elevated stations on its 9.25-km-long corridor betweenMansarovar and Chandpole.

The power generated by 200-kWp ‘Rooftop Solar Power Plant’ will be used to meet the requirements at the stations and would reduce its dependence on non-renewable sources.

JMRC director (operations) C S Jeengar said, the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited has finalised Hero firm to install the rooftop solar panels which will maintain it for next 25 years. “JMRC received a proposal from the Centre under its scheme to install the rooftop solar panels. Now, the state has to send its final approval after that work for installation will be started,” said an official.

Metro to set up rooftop solar panels at 8 stations

U.S. utility solar enjoys building boom in second quarter but residential slows

U.S. solar installations rose 43 percent in the second quarter, according to a new report, as sharp gains in large projects for utilities offset slowing growth in residential systems in top solar market California.

The United States installed 2,051 megawatts of photovoltaic solar in the second quarter, according to a report by research firm GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group. Systems for utilities made up 53 percent of the market in the first half of this year thanks to sharply lower system prices that are competitive with fossil fuels and state mandates to source more electricity from renewable sources.

A federal tax credit worth 30 percent of the cost of a solar system has also underpinned the utility market’s growth. The credit had been expected to expire at the end of this year, leading to a building boom in 2016. The credit, however, was extended by Congress for five years at the end of last year.

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U.S. utility solar enjoys building boom in second quarter but residential slows

How to install solar panels on the roof of your home

The roof: A sunny, flat expanse topping a two-story limestone townhouse on Maple Street in the Lefferts Manor Historic District in Brooklyn. The home was built in 1909, but its current owner wanted to bring the building’s energy system into the 21st century.

The bid: The building’s owner teamed up with eight other homeowners in the neighborhood, brought together by pro-solar nonprofit Here Comes Solar. The group asked for bids to outfit all their homes with solar panel systems and were able to get a base price of $5.50 per watt from the winning bidder, Brooklyn SolarWorks.

The math: After winning the bid, Brooklyn SolarWorks looked at the energy bill for the home on Maple Street to determine how much power a panel system would need to produce to both meet the home’s requirements and make financial sense for the homeowner.

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How to install solar panels on the roof of your home

The $8 Trillion Fight Over How to Rid America of Fossil Fuel

For every economist, there exists an equal and opposite economist, and they’re both wrong.

Like many jokes, this one is funny (to economists, anyway) because it’s true. What isn’t so funny is its application to the biggest challenge of the 21st century: How to shed a fossil-fuel energy infrastructure that seems hell-bent on destroying us. There are several camps trying to decide how much we must spend to avoid environmental disaster. Consensus on a grand total is a matter of degree, with estimates varying by as much as $8 trillion.

Geoffrey Heal, an economist at Columbia Business School, recently published a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper that asks what would it take—over the next three-and-a-half decades—to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below their 2005 level? That’s not a made-up target: It’s the goal the Obama administration submitted (PDF) to the UN. It’s also the long-term goal the U.S. will bring to G20 negotiations next week. And it shows up in the 2016 Democratic Party Platform (PDF) upon which Hillary Clinton is running for president. (Republican candidate Donald Trump has rejected the science of global warming. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson recognizes climate change and is “open to” a carbon tax.)

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The $8 Trillion Fight Over How to Rid America of Fossil Fuel

10 Solar Energy Facts & Charts You (& Everyone) Should Know

I sometimes forget that not everyone has the time to read all 9,190 solar energy articles we’ve published here on CleanTechnica — or even 10% of them, or 1% of them. Okay, who am I kidding — most people haven’t read a single solar energy article published on CleanTechnica.

Our goal isn’t just to be a cheerleader for the people who have gone solar and who have switched to electric cars, and it isn’t just to help keep industry insiders informed. Our goal is to help society help itself by inspiring more people to switch to cleantech. Part of that is sharing useful information that most people aren’t aware of about solar costs & incentives. Part of that is trying to persuade people to cut the death toll. Part of that is covering new solar tech that may interest you. Part of that is debunking media and fossil/utility misinformation.

It hit me after writing that last piece linked above, though, that there are really a handful of solar energy facts that few people know but that I think should be common knowledge in a healthy, democratic, free-market society. That’s how I got to writing this article. Read more…

10 Solar Energy Facts & Charts You (& Everyone) Should Know

SolarCity to develop roofs made of solar cells

Five million roofs are replaced each year in the U.S., so instead of simply swapping out old shingles with new ones, why not turn the whole roof into a solar power generator that’s integrated with your home’s electrical utility?

That is SolarCity’s plan for a new product it expects to begin producing next year, according to statements made during the company’s second-quarter earnings calllast week.

During the call, SolarCity Chief Technology Officer Peter Rive alluded to a new product that would be produced at the soon to open Buffalo, N.Y., solar panel manufacturing facility. Then SolarCity co-founder and Chairman Elon Musk interjected and said the product would be a solar roof, “as opposed to a [solar] module on a roof.”

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SolarCity to develop roofs made of solar cells