Home: Renewable Energy News: November 2011

Renewable Energy News

NOVEMBER 2011 | View archive list |

Wednesday 30 November, 2011

Energy Matters Video News - Episode 50 - November 30, 2011
In this episode, Virginia covers IPART missing the mark on valuing solar electricity, Victorian households struggling with skyrocketing power bills, 80,000 South Australian households go solar and AGL's massive profits.

Fraunhofer Institute Seals Space Solar Cell Deal
Germany’s prestigious Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems has cemented a long-standing relationship with Azure Space Solar Power to develop the next generation of solar panel technology for use in space applications.

Concentrated Solar Energy Plant To Power COP17
South Africa's first Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) plant will be supplying electricity for the 17th annual Conference of the Parties (COP17) climate talks in Durban.

Tuesday 29 November, 2011

Bloomberg Predicts $7 Trillion Renewable Energy Spend By 2030
New figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) predict that by 2030, global spending on renewable energy installations will have hit $7 trillion.

EU Wind Power Capacity Could Increase 17x By 2020
According to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), offshore wind energy capacity in Europe is projected to increase 17-fold between 2010 and 2020.

Germany's Millionth Solar Power System Installed
21 years after an ambitious program was launched in Germany to promote the uptake of solar, the nation's 1 millionth solar panel array has been installed.

Monday 28 November, 2011

AGL's $1 Million A Day Profit
South Australians struggling with major electricity bill increases have questioned the profits a major power and gas company is making and the salaries it is paying its executives.

Panasonic Announces $581 Million HIT Solar Panel Factory
Panasonic Corporation has formally announced construction is about to commence on its 300MW solar panel manufacturing facility in Malaysia.

Wind Power Investment To Reach $820 Billion By 2017
Investment in the wind sector is tipped to reach a staggering cumulative $820 billion globally by 2017, according to a recent report from cleantech research firm, Pike Research.

Friday 25 November, 2011

Households In Victoria Struggling With Electricity Bills
Describing 2010-11 as its most 'difficult year' and forecasting an equally challenging year ahead, Victoria's Energy and Water Ombudsman Annual Report paints a grim picture of Victorian households struggling with increased electricity bills.

IPART's Fair Value On Solar Electricity In NSW Misses The Mark
While households currently installing a solar power system in New South Wales are slashing their electricity bills, incentives are less than in other states - and recommendations from IPART, if implemented, would see that continuing to occur.

Google Ends Concentrated Solar Power Research Program
Search engine giant Google this week announced a shutdown of its multi-million dollar Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal (RE
AuSES Solar 2011 Conference
Representatives of the Australian solar industry, policy makers and scientists will gather in Sydney next week for the 49th Annual AuSES Solar 2011 Conference.

Thursday 24 November, 2011

80,000 South Australian Electricity Customers Go Solar
A new report from the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) estimates 80,000 electricity customers in the state will have installed solar panels by December this year.

GE Metcap To Double Output Of Hybrid Power Plant
A deal struck earlier this year between GE and Turkish energy company Metcap Energy Investments to expand renewable energy development in the Middle East is now bearing fruit, with Turkish officials signing an agreement to double the output of the world’s first Integrated Renewables Combined-Cycle (IRCC) power plant.

Wednesday 23 November, 2011

Energy Matters Video News - Episode 49 - November 23, 2011
In this episode, Virginia covers Australia's top solar postcodes, Energy Matters announced a winner of this year's Deloitte Technology Fast 50 awards, big solar gets a big break in Canberra and the World Bank financing a massive solar farm in Morocco.

32MW Long Island Solar Farm Completed
The completion and commissioning of the Long Island Solar Farm (LISF) Project in New York State, the largest solar panel array in the eastern U.S., was celebrated last week.

Funding Aims To Reduce Solar Installation Costs
The U.S. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy says it will release $7 million in funds under the SunShot Incubator program directed at developing tools and approaches to reduce non-hardware costs related to going solar.

Origin Energy Buying Electricity From Gunning Wind Farm
Origin Energy has expanded its renewable energy portfolio, entering into a long-term power purchase agreement to buy electricity from Acciona's Gunning Wind Farm.

Tuesday 22 November, 2011

Suntech Celebrates With Australian Competition
Suntech is in its tenth year of manufacturing solar panels and as part of the company's celebrations is running two competitions in Australia

Solar Powered Wave Gliders Headed For Australia
A few days ago, Liquid Robotics launched four of its solar assisted unmanned Wave Gliders on a journey across the Pacific Ocean - with two of the units headed for Australia.

World Bank To Help Finance 500MW Concentrated Solar Power Plant
The World Bank has announced it will step in to help Morocco finance the 500 megawatt Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plant, a project key to the country's national Solar Power Plan of achieving 2000 megawatts (MW) of installed solar energy capacity by 2020.

Monday 21 November, 2011

Australia's Top 10 Small Scale Solar Power System Postcodes
Over half a million small scale solar power systems are now installed around Australia, adding up to more than a million kilowatts of solar electricity generation capacity. Is your postcode among the top ten for solar in the country?

Harnessing Solar Energy To Create Gas From Wastewater
U.S. solar tech company, HyperSolar Inc., states it has developed a process for creating natural gas from wastewater using solar power and has filed for a patent of the technology.

Friday 18 November, 2011

Solar Farm For Wastewater Reclamation Facility Completed
More than 8,000 solar panels are ready to help power a wastewater reclamation facility in Gilbert, Arizona.

Thursday 17 November, 2011

Energy Matters A Deloitte Technology Fast 50 2011 Winner
National solar solutions provider Energy Matters has been announced a winner in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 2011 awards and also a winner in the program's Leadership Award category.

Big Solar To Benefit From Feed In Tariffs In Canberra
The ACT Labor Government will today table legislation in the Territory's Legislative Assembly to support development of large scale solar power facilities in Canberra.

Buzz Aldrin Joins Solar Company
Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, the astronaut who piloted the Apollo 11 Lunar Module pilot that put man on the moon in 1969, has joined a U.S. solar company.

Wednesday 16 November, 2011

UPDATE: Silex Solar Suspends Australian Solar Panel Production
Silex Solar, Australia's only manufacturer of solar panels, has suspended manufacturing operations at its Homebush Bay facility - just months after discontinuing production of its in-house manufactured solar cells.

USA China Solar 'Trade War' - What's It All About?
The term 'trade war' has been appearing in headlines increasingly in relation to a solar stoush between the USA and China. In a nutshell, here's what it's all about.

Tuesday 15 November, 2011

Solar Panels Slash Backyard Swimming Pool Ownership Costs
With summer on our doorstep, thousands of backyard pools around Australia are already beginning to get a workout - as are their owners' wallets. However, some savvy pool owners are offsetting related costs by installing solar power systems to provide clean electricity for their pool pumps.

APEC - Fossil Fuel Subsidies Targeted
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Honolulu, Hawaii has adopted a declaration to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies while giving green goods a break on tariffs.

Monday 14 November, 2011

O'Farrell's Anti-Solar Crusade In NSW Continues
A plan by the New South Wales Government to force electricity retailers to note the cost of the upcoming carbon tax and renewable energy schemes on electricity bills has created an uproar as the plan doesn't appear to include showing the massive costs of fossil fuel subsidies and damage coal fired power generation has wreaked.

'Explosive' Coal Seam Gas Emissions Report Suppressed
According to Australian non-profit think-tank, Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE), a report thoroughly dismantling the claim coal seam gas (CSG) is "clean energy" has been suppressed by Worley Parsons, the company that compiled it, even though the company is under contractual obligation to deliver it.

Sunday 13 November, 2011

California Valley Solar Ranch Funding Controversy
A ceremony was held on the weekend to formally celebrate the commencement of construction of NRG Energy's 250 megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch, amid controversy over the project's funding.

Friday 11 November, 2011

DoD And NRDC Collaborate On Renewable Energy Planning Tool
Just days after we reported on a new solar mapping tool from NASA that measures the potential energy yield from solar power systems based on the Earth’s topography, comes news from the U.S Department of Defense (DoD) of yet another planning resource for the renewable energy sector.

Airdrop - Using Wind and Solar Energy To Extract Water From The Air
An Australian university student is the recipient of this year's James Dyson award for his Airdrop creation - a solar and wind power assisted device that extracts moisture from the air for irrigation purposes.

Thursday 10 November, 2011

SolarCon 2011 Puts India In The Solar Spotlight
India’s solar power industry is grabbing headlines with a flood of new announcements coming out of SolarCon 2011, currently taking place in the city of Hyderabad.

A Million Solar Rooftops Not Just California Dreaming
According to a new report from Environment California Research & Policy Center, the state is on track to hit its goal of installing 3 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2016, having installed 1 gigawatts of rooftop solar panels already.

IEA World Energy Outlook 2011 Paints A Grim Carbon Soaked Picture
The renewable energy revolution is making headway, but not fast enough. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) latest World Energy Outlook shows the world still locked into a fossil-fuel reliant, inefficient and carbon intensive energy system in 2035. The Agency says this future can be avoided, but time is running out.

Wednesday 09 November, 2011

SunPower Providing Home Solar Charging Stations For Nissan LEAF
SunPower Corp. USA has announced it will partner with Nissan North America (NNA) to supply household solar power systems to charge Nissan’s new 2011 model LEAF Electric Vehicle (EV).

Facebook's New Solar Power Project
Facebook's new Menlo Park facility in California is about to get a little greener, courtesy of solar energy.

IPCC Report Supports Feed-In Tariffs
Australian states without solid feed in tariff programs or reviewing their current arrangements should take note of the Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Tuesday 08 November, 2011

Space Mapping To Improve California Solar Planning
The United States may have decommissioned its space shuttle program, but the thousands of images of the Earth’s surface captured over three decades by astronauts are being used to build a precise solar modelling system that can help measure solar power output across California’s often rugged landscape.

Australia's Renewable Energy Sector To 18X Larger By 2050
The passing of Australia's Clean Energy legislation today in the Senate will result in the nation's renewable energy sector, excluding hydro, to grow 18 times larger by 2050 than it is currently according to a Ministerial press release just received.

Sharp Unveils Record Breaking Solar Cell
Sharp Corporation has announced it has achieved the world’s highest non-concentrator solar cell conversion efficiency of 36.9% using a three-layered, triple-junction compound solar cell.

NSW Auditor General Solar Bonus Scheme Report Reactions
The NSW Auditor General’s Report into the state's Solar Bonus Scheme says the Government and its agencies "grossly underestimated" the cost and popularity of the initiative.

Monday 07 November, 2011

U.S. Shouldn't Wave The White Flag On Solar : Chu
U.S Energy Secretary Steven Chu has continued to support government funding for renewable energy projects, saying America cannot afford to "wave the white flag" in the face of an ever-growing global market for clean energy.

Coal Seam Gas Greenwash Must Be Retracted
Matthew Wright, executive director of Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE), says blanket claims by gas industry majors that coal seam gas is a cleaner energy source than coal have been proven to be wrong and are a greenwash myth.

Solar Powered Oil Skimmer
Solar energy is cleaning up after the damage caused by fossil fuels in many different ways.

Friday 04 November, 2011

Renewable Energy Vital To Provide Power For 7 Billion+
The United Nations Development Programme has called on the international community in its 2011 Human Development Report to use renewable energy sources as a way to promote environmental sustainability and equity.

More Efficient Solar Cells Through 'Broadband' Technology
A team of U.S researchers have developed a new nanomaterial that when applied to the surface of solar cells absorbs light from across the entire spectrum, a breakthrough that could lead to more efficient solar panels.

Inflatable Solar Light - Give One, Get One
LuminAID is an inflatable solar light designed for use in emergency situations and to replace expensive, polluting kerosene based lighting in developing countries.

Thursday 03 November, 2011

Scale Of NSW Government Coal Subsidy 'Scandal' Revealed
A report on Climate Spectator reveals the enormous scale of coal subsidisation in New South Wales and asks a very important question: will the government’s criteria for solar incentives, that they not cost either consumers or the government, be applied to coal-fired generators?

Energy Matters CEO A Clean Energy Council Board Nominee
Jeremy Rich, the CEO of Energy Matters, has announced he is a nominee for a critical position on the Board of Australia's Clean Energy Council.

4th Singapore International Energy Week
The 4th Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) is under way, incorporating Clean Energy Expo Asia, which kicked off with the Second Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore referring to the nation "as a living laboratory for renewable energy".

Wednesday 02 November, 2011

USA Survey Shows Strong Solar Support
New national polling from the USA shows 9 out of 10 Americans support the use of solar energy and want to see more government money spent on developing a secure solar power industry.

Emcore Lands New NASA Solar Panel Deal
Producer of solar panels with eye-popping conversion efficiency, US-based Emcore has announced it has been awarded a contract to supply solar modules for NASA Ames’ Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission.

Suntech's Dr. Zhengrong Shi Appointed Head Of APVIA
Suntech's CEO and founder, Dr. Zhengrong Shi, has been appointed Chief Chairman of the Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association (APVIA).

Tuesday 01 November, 2011

More Floating Solar Power Systems
With so much of the Earth covered by water, it makes sense to utilise this sprawling canvas for the production of solar electricity.

UK Solar Feed In Tariff Honeymoon Over?
It's a situation that has been repeated around the world - governments launching solar incentives programs, but underestimating how many people wish to install solar power systems to buffer against spiraling electricity costs.

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