Solar Mandate for New Commercial Buildings in Watertown, MA

Written by Ryan Pollin, ERS for Zondits, December 13, 2018 The City of Watertown, Massachusetts, has become the first municipality in New England to mandate that all commercial new construction buildings be designed with solar PV. The decision was made by unanimous approval from the town council. The ordinance will also affect retrofits of buildings … Read more

Environment America Report Takes Stock of U.S. Clean Energy Progress

No Longer a Novelty, Clean Energy Technologies Boom All Across the US A new report documents the democratization of renewables, energy storage and electric vehicles in America. Written by Julia Pyper, greentechmedia.com, July 19, 2018 It was 1997, and stakeholders were working hard to help craft the first renewable energy standard in the State of … Read more

Hydrogen Reactor Design Stores Solar Heat

solar power generation

Solar-powered hydrogen reactor stores heat for overnight use Written by Michael Irving, newatlas.com, February 22, 2018 The Sun can provide an unlimited amount of energy, but there’s one major downside – night. For roughly half the day facilities and devices that rely on solar power have to shut down or store extra energy, and the … Read more

Baseball Gets its Largest Solar Project Yet

Baseball

Padres installing baseball’s biggest solar project Written by Rob Nikolewski, sandiegouniontribune.com, January 17, 2018 Petco Park is about to become home to the largest solar power system in Major League Baseball. Workers have begun to install a 336,520-watt project, with 716 solar modules that can produce more than 12 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in the … Read more

Maui College Aims to Go 100% Renewable

This College Wants To Be The First 100% Renewable Campus In The U.S. After a long process of implementing energy-efficiency measures and installing solar arrays and battery storage, Maui College is ready to cut ties with fossil fuels forever. Written by Elli Anzilotti, fastcompany.com, March 19, 2018. In 2015, the state of Hawaii committed to … Read more

The Eclipse: A Test for Solar Power Generation

Solar Power Dipped Along Great American Solar Eclipse Path SPACE, August 24, 2017 As the solar eclipse moved from coast to coast, solar-energy generation dropped. The map shows the hottest zones — in dark orange — fading to nothingness as the moon covers the sun overhead, and then slowly coming back as the eclipse concludes. The … Read more

Solar Eclipse Will Significantly Interfere With Power Production in America

solar eclipse

America’s Electrical Grid Prepares For The Shock Of A Total Solar Eclipse Forbes, August 8, 2017 The solar eclipse that will occur on August 21st will have an interesting side effect of shutting off a lot of electricity production in America as it rolls across our ever-increasing number of solar arrays. The shadow from the … Read more

The History of Electric Meters and Net Metering

clevest-cleantech electric meter

Jesse Remillard, ERS, for Zondits A recent episode on the 99% Invisible podcast investigates how electric meters work and the origins of net metering, as well as the future of electricity markets. The 99% Invisible podcast is all about the things that largely go unnoticed but are essential to the modern world we live in. … Read more

Solar Frontier’s CIS Solar Installation Exceeds Expectations

solar frontier

Solar Frontier’s 2.3MW installation on Netherlands warehouses surpasses energy generation target by 6% Semiconductor Today, January 11, 2016. Image credit: stux Tokyo-based Solar Frontier – the largest manufacturer of CIS (copper indium selenium) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar modules – says that its recently completed 2.3MW project in The Netherlands (constructed in collaboration with solar energy companies … Read more