A biosolar roof is one that has installed both vegetation and solar panels on the top of a building. Does the presence of one obstruct the other, or do they in fact enhance each other? The answer is the latter, explain Peter Irga, Fraser Torpy, Eamonn Wooster, Charles Sturt, Robert Fleck at the University of Technology Sydney and Jack Rojahn at the University of Canberra who summarise their study. The vegetation cools the panels closer to their … [Read more...]
Jobs in the new clean energy economy: where are they, what are they, and how to find one
According to IEA figures, in 2019 the energy sector employed over 65m people, 2% of the global workforce. Half of that workforce is already in the clean energy sector, and demand for skilled employees is soaring. Whereas fossil jobs are heavily weighted to low skilled and very high skilled, most clean energy jobs are at the high end. Helena Uhde at Ea Energy Analyses looks at this new world, explains the differences, and notes that although … [Read more...]
Scaling up global grid-scale Storage to 80GW/year (it was 16GW in 2022)
Globally, annual additions of grid-scale battery storage must rise to 80GW between now and 2030, explain Amit Jain, Gabriela Elizondo Azuela and Aakarshan Vaid at the World Bank, writing for WEF. In 2022 it was only 16GW. The biggest gap, perhaps understandably, is in developing countries. It’s in these regions where renewables auctions for deployment – primarily solar and wind – need to start including hybrid storage as part of the package. The … [Read more...]
Belgium: commercially viable Rooftop Solar for social housing. No installation subsidies, lower bills
Rooftop solar is becoming a key component of the roll-out of clean energy. But whereas the decision to install is straightforward for homeowners, how do tenants in social housing blocks take advantage of the subsidies and lower electricity prices? Sven Van Elst at ASTER and Maarten Michielssens at Energy Vision, writing for WEF, describe their project that is installing rooftop solar, free, for 52,500 social rental homes in Flanders, Belgium. No … [Read more...]
Agrivoltaics: GWs of solar power from farmland using strategically placed panels (and raising crop yields)
In Canada and the U.S. “agrivoltaics” are taking off. It’s when solar panels are laid out strategically on farmland. After concerns that it will obstruct farm machinery and lower crop yields, studies have shown that panels – on a large scale – can be placed so that they do not. In fact, certain crop yields can be raised when the panels are used to shield them from direct sunlight, explains Joshua Pearce at Western University, Canada. He looks at … [Read more...]
Space-Based Solar Power: getting closer as SpaceX and Blue Origin bring down the cost of heavy-lift launches?
“Space-based solar power” (SBSP) sounds great in theory: giant solar farms in space collect unobstructed sunlight 24/7 and beam it to Earth stations, all using technology that already exists. It isn’t getting off the ground (pun intended!) primarily because of the cost of launching thousands of tonnes into space, plus assembly and maintenance. The attraction is that, if it can happen affordably, it could provide a hundred times the energy the … [Read more...]
Though the price shocks hurt, Renewables installed between 2021-23 saved Europe €100bn
According to the IEA, without the solar and wind capacity additions made in 2021-23 Europe’s energy costs would have been €100bn higher in those three years, as prices spiked due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unexpected drop in output from nuclear and hydro. That money saved is another reason why the ramp up of renewables is so important, explains Joe Myers writing for the World Economic Forum who summarises the IEA data. Natural gas … [Read more...]
Rooftop Solar: will subsidies benefit wealthy early adopters, while grid limits lock out the latecomers?
Subsidies encouraging homeowners to install rooftop solar are being won by the affluent who can afford to be first movers. And when the technology has come down in price, the remaining majority of households will be shut out of the benefits of own-generation because the grid won’t have the capacity to integrate everyone. That’s the argument made by Juan Jose Cuenca Silva, Barry Hayes and Hannah Daly at the University College Cork who summarise … [Read more...]
Spain: as Renewables rise, managing supply and demand is the next challenge
In May this year Spain reached a landmark day when it was powered 100% by renewables - solar, wind and hydroelectric power - from ten o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock in the evening. In four years the share of renewable energy generation rose from 37% to 50%, while non-renewables dropped from 62% to 49%. Its draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition targets 35% of renewable energy in final consumption by 2030 and 100% in the … [Read more...]
Rooftop Solar for industry: up to 35% of U.S. manufacturing sectors could supply all their own power
Rooftop solar could supply the complete electricity needs of 5-35% of U.S. manufacturing sectors, explains Matthew Eckelman at Northeastern University who summarises his co-authored paper “Technical feasibility of powering U.S. manufacturing with rooftop solar PV”. At present, only 0.1% of industrial electricity demand in the U.S. is supplied by on-site sources of renewable energy. But large, unobstructed industrial rooftops and the declining … [Read more...]
Europe’s grid bottlenecks are delaying its energy transition
***While you're here... REGISTER NOW for "REPowering the grid for Solar PV" with the Vice-President of Tauron, DG ENER C, Eurelectric and SolarPowerEurope - Online Wednesday September 20 from 11:00 to 12:15 CEST*** No amount of record sales and deployment in Europe of heat pumps, EVs, solar farms, wind turbines and all the rest will guarantee the region meeting its electrification targets if the grids aren’t ready to integrate them. As … [Read more...]
Does Nuclear slow down the scale-up of Wind and Solar? France and Germany can’t agree
France and Germany lead the camps in disagreeing on the future of nuclear in Europe. Camille Lafrance and Benjamin Wehrmann at CLEW take a deep dive into the reasons why, quoting experts and politicians. Germany’s vision of a fully renewables-based EU is at odds with France’s unwavering support for low-carbon nuclear energy. European-wide agreement on targets matter because they drive future investment in the targeted technologies and the design … [Read more...]
Only certain types of Hybridisation (Wind or Solar + Storage) beat building expensive transmission lines
In some regions, the roll out of new wind and solar has outpaced new transmission. That causes “congestion” at times when the variable renewables are producing too much power locally, and cannot sell the excess, which squeezes profitability. That’s certainly the case in the U.S. now. One answer is “hybridisation” where storage is built alongside the renewables, to save that excess power for when it can be sold later. Julie Mulvaney Kemp at … [Read more...]
Power to the people: citizen-centred Just Transitions challenge energy system centralisation
EU Member States need to phase-out coal and transform their carbon-intensive industries to make Europe climate-neutral. However, these should not be the only goals: transparency and justice must also accompany this path, argue Diana SĂĽsser at IEECP, Serafeim Michas at TEESlab and Ricardo Antonio GarcĂa Mira at the University of A Coruna. As Member States implement their territorial just transition plans, they must ensure they benefit affected … [Read more...]
EU’s 40% domestic Cleantech ambition: same target for Wind (easy) and Solar (hard) doesn’t make sense
The proposed Net Zero Industry Act includes a target for the EU to manufacture domestically at least 40% of its cleantech deployment needs by 2030. That includes the key technologies of solar PV panels, wind turbines (onshore and offshore), EV batteries, heat pumps and hydrogen electrolysers. But it doesn’t make sense to have the same 40% target for all, explain Giovanni Sgaravatti, Simone Tagliapietra and Cecilia Trasi at Bruegel. The main … [Read more...]
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