QUICK NEWS, June 25: GLOBAL NEW ENERGY TO $244 BIL IN 2012; NEW PV TEST CENTER; A LAB FOR MATCHING NEW ENERGY AND THE GRID

GLOBAL NEW ENERGY TO $244 BIL IN 2012 Renewable Energy: World Invests $244 billion in 2012, Geographic Shift to Developing Countries

June 2013 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century)

“…19% of global final energy consumption in 2011 (the latest year for which data are available), with a little less than half from traditional biomass. For only the second time since 2006, global investments in renewable energy in 2012 failed to top the year before, falling 12% mainly due to dramatically lower solar prices and weakened US and EU markets, says the Frankfurt School – UNEP/BNEF report, Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2013. However, with $244 billion (including small hydro-electric projects) 2012 was the second highest year ever for renewable energy investments. There was a continuing upward trend in developing countries, with investments in the South topping $112 billion versus $132 billon in developed countries—a dramatic change from 2007, when developed economies invested 2.5 times more in renewables (excluding large hydro) than developing countries. The gap has now closed to just 18%...” click here for more

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NEW PV TEST CENTER Fraunhofer CSE and Fraunhofer ISE joint testing venture ranks performance of PV modules

June 18, 2013 (Fraunhofer ISE)

“The Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems CSE in Boston and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg announce the release of the first report from their PV Durability Initiative (PVDI). PVDI’s robust testing protocol generates scores that enable the credible rating of PV modules based on their likelihood to perform reliably under different kinds of stress. The report provides solar PV financiers, developers, and other industry players with the first widely available quantitative dataset to assess long-term durability…” click here for more

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A LAB FOR MATCHING NEW ENERGY AND THE GRID Energy Department, NREL Announce New Research Center to Boost Clean Energy Technologies on a Smarter Grid

June 20, 2013 (U.S. Department of Energy)

“The Energy Department and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today announced the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in Golden, Colorado, as the latest Energy Department user facility and the only one in the nation focused on utility-scale clean energy grid integration. The facility’s first industry partner – Colorado-based Advanced Energy Industries – has already signed on to start work at ESIF, developing lower cost, better performing solar power inverters…” click here for more

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