QUICK NEWS, July 25: The Solar Numbers; Target Targets Wind; Wave Energy Gets Lloyd’s Approval For First Time

The Solar Numbers How Popular Is Home Solar Energy? Number of systems and megawatts

Cassandra Sweet and Jess Kuronen, July 29, 2016 (Wall Street Journal)

“…[The U.S. installed 1,665 MW of solar PV in Q1 2016 to reach 29.3 GW of total installed capacity, enough to power 5.7 million American homes. With more than 1 million individual solar installations nationwide, the industry is on pace to nearly double in size in 2016. The residential solar market remained strong, with a fourth consecutive quarter with more than 500 MW of capacity brought online] …Falling equipment prices and competition among installers have driven the average price of a home solar system down 10.6% over the past year to $3.21 per watt, or $16,050 for a five-kilowatt solar array…[GTM Research forecasts that 14.5 GW of new PV installations will come on-line in 2016, up 94% over 2015. Utility PV is expected to drive the majority of demand, accounting for nearly three-fourths of new capacity]…” click here for more

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Target Targets Wind Target powers up with wind energy in 60 Texan stores; Partnership with Starwood Energy Group will see discount retailer use 100 per cent wind power in 60 of its stores

Jocelyn Timperley, 22 July 2016 (BusinessGreen)

“Discount retail giant Target has struck a new partnership with renewables investment firm Starwood Energy Group to use 100 per cent wind power in 60 of its Texas stores…[Target will] invest in the 211MW Stephens Ranch Wind Project owned by Starwood Energy, a 118-turbine wind farm near the city of Lubbock in Texas, in order to offset the energy use of the 60 stores…The deal will result in Target saving around 550,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, the firm said, roughly equivalent to the amount 115,000 passenger vehicles produce in a year. It will also save Target 153 million watts per hour in annual energy costs…[T]he model could be rolled out at more sites across the US…In October 2015 [Target] unveiled eight new climate pledge commitments for 2020, including adding solar rooftop panels to 500 of its stores and reducing both energy intensity and water use in its shops by 10 per cent per square foot…” click here for more

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Wave Energy Gets Lloyd’s Approval For First Time Lloyds grants first wave energy technology qualification

14 July 2016 (Offshore Engineer)

“Following more than two years of cooperation, Lloyd's Register has awarded its first Technology Qualification certificate to a developer of ocean energy technology, AW-Energy in Finland…Wave energy is [a predictable and significant] untapped resource of clean renewable energy globally, with a potential greater than the capacity of all the installed fossil fuel plants in Europe combined…AW-Energy has been developing WaveRoller technology for over 15 years and the engineering team since early 2014 has cooperated with Lloyd's Register on the Technology Qualification process for certification…[This qualification for bankability] paves the way to commercialization for the wave energy industry…” click here for more

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