QUICK NEWS, March 10:THE NEWEST THING IN SOLAR; NO CAROLINA WANTS WIND AT SEA; HOW PLUG-IN CARS GET MORE NEW ENERGY ON THE GRID

THE NEWEST THING IN SOLAR New Concept in Solar Energy Poised to Catch on Across US

Steve Karnowski, March 7, 2015 (AP via ABC News)

“…[Community solar gardens] — also known as community or shared solar — [started in Colorado and have] spread to Minnesota, California, Massachusetts and several other states…[A central solar array feeds] electricity to the local power grid. Customers subscribe to that power and get credit on their utility bills, with contracts that typically lock in for 25 years and shelter against rate increases. Some developers say customer bills will drop below regular retail rates within a few years; others say the savings begin immediately…Rooftop solar panels are becoming more popular among homeowners as the cost comes down, but that market is limited to only about one-fourth of U.S. residences, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory…Community solar opens the door to many more, including renters, customers with shaded roofs and those who can't afford solar panels…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

NO CAROLINA WANTS WIND AT SEA McCrory requests wind farm buffer off coast

John Murawski, March 9, 2015 (The Charlotte News and Observer via The State)

“A recommendation from Gov. Pat McCrory's administration to keep offshore wind farms at least 24 nautical miles away from the coast would strike a death knell for wind energy here, wind advocates say…The buffer requested by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is among 195 public comments…[to] the U.S. Department of Interior…If DENR's proposal were adopted, the wind farm development area would shrink by about half from the currently proposed 480 square miles. The oceanic area has been steadily shrinking with each stage of the review process as the military, shipping industry, fishing interests and tourism concerns chip away at the proposed zone…[The 24 nautical mile exclusion zone pushes development] to distances and depths that unnecessarily raise cost burdens…The DENR letter surprised wind advocates because Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has long supported offshore wind farms along side of offshore drilling…DENR still ‘fully supports offshore energy development’....[but] development will have to protect coast and ocean, and address military and navigational concerns…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

HOW PLUG-IN CARS GET MORE NEW ENERGY ON THE GRID Vehicle Grid Integration; VGI Applications for Demand Response, Frequency Regulation, Microgrids, Virtual Power Plants, and Renewable Energy Integration

1Q 2015 (Navigant Research)

“…Today’s [Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs)] represent a significant increase in electricity demand that, if unmanaged, could cause problems with distribution-level transformers and could drastically increase demand during peak hours when PEV owners return from work and plug in their vehicles. The effect would force utilities to make upgrades to distribution networks that would likely be passed on in the form of higher rates to consumers…[But they] also represent an increase in load that could be used to capture renewable electricity generation and help balance generation with demand, theoretically making electricity marginally cheaper and cleaner. Vehicle grid integration (VGI) technologies, which have been in development since before the Volt and LEAF were first sold…[W] ith global sales surpassing 320,000 in 2014, pilots testing VGI technologies are emerging with greater frequency. According to Navigant Research, PEVs participating in VGI services are expected to provide nearly 4.2 GW of power to grids globally by 2024 under an aggressive scenario…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet