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Is Elon Musk’s new PowerWall a Game Changer?

Thu, 28 May 2015 00:00:00 -0700

thebulletin.org - By Jim Conca - May. 28 (Opinion) - But fantastic battery storage doesn’t actually lower the cost of renewable energy. It doesn’t decrease the amount of energy that needs to be produced. Nor does it increase renewable’s low capacity factor or its low efficiency.

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Solar power will soon be as cheap as coal

Sat, 18 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0700

qz.com - By Phil McKenna - Apr. 18 (Opinion) - Inside a sprawling single-story office building in Bedford, Massachusetts, in a secret room known as the Growth Hall, the future of solar power is cooking at more than 2,500 °F. Behind closed doors and downturned blinds, custom-built ovens with ambitious names like “Fearless” and “Intrepid” are helping to perfect a new technique of making silicon wafers, the workhorse of today’s solar panels. If all goes well, the new method could cut the cost of solar power by more than 20% in the next few years. “This humble wafer will allow solar to be as cheap as coal and will drastically change the way we consume energy,” says Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366 Technologies, the company behind the new method of wafer fabrication.

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Best state in America: Sunny Arizona

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Niraj Chokshi - Apr. 17 (Opinion) - But Arizona isn’t just soaking in the rays. It’s doing its part to make that sunlight productive, too. In 2014, it expanded its solar output by 247 megawatts, more new solar power over the year than all but four other states, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a trade group. California, as it does in many rankings, blew the rest of the states out of the water, producing an additional 4,316 megawatts. North Carolina was second, with nearly 400, followed by Nevada and Massachusetts.

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Walton Family Undermining Rooftop Solar, ILSR Report Finds

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0700

ilsr.org - Oct. 10 (Opinion) -

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Hybrid materials could smash the solar efficiency ceiling

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0700

cam.ac.uk - Oct. 09 (Special Report) - A new method for transferring energy from organic to inorganic semiconductors could boost the efficiency of widely used inorganic solar cells.

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The Obama Hope and Change Index: 6 Years of Progress, By the Numbers

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0700

Rolling Stone - Oct. 08 (Special Report) - this has not been a feel-good presidency. But it has been a consequential one. The policy victories Obama has delivered have been hard-fought, messy and politically fraught. The achievements may not be all that the president’s 2008 boosters hoped for, but change has come. Here, six years of progress, by the numbers:

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Bernie Sanders at People's Climate March: To Stop Global Warming, Get Dirty Money Out of Politics

Mon, 22 Sep 2014 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Sep. 22 (Opinion) - Speaking at the People's Climate March in New York City, independent Senator Bernie Sanders discusses a potential 2016 presidential run and how getting money out of politics is critical to addressing the climate crisis. "[President Obama] can and should do more," Sanders says. "But the major impediment right now is not Obama, it is the Republican Party. We have to call them out on this. We don't do it enough. These are people who do not even acknowledge the scientific reality because they are beholden to Big Energy money and the Koch brothers."

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Why Morgan Stanley Is Betting That Tesla Will Kill Your Power Company

Tue, 05 Aug 2014 00:00:00 -0700

vice.com - Aug. 05 (Opinion) -

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German, U.S. Home Energy Storage Incentives Offer Divergent Visions for the Smart Grid

Tue, 05 Aug 2014 00:00:00 -0700

Scientific American - By Robert Fares - Aug. 05 (Opinion) - With home battery systems on the rise, it’s worth thinking about how economics might influence the development of storage-equipped smart grids in the future.

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The EPA carbon plan: Coal loses, but nuclear doesn't win | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 00:00:00 -0700

thebulletin.org - By Mark Cooper - Jun. 19 (News Analysis) - The claims and counterclaims about EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards have filled the air: It will boost nuclear. It will expand renewables. It promotes energy efficiency. It will kill coal. It changes everything. It accomplishes almost nothing.

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Growing Pains Felt As World Shifts Away From Incentivized Clean Energy

Sat, 12 Apr 2014 00:00:00 -0700

singularityhub.com - By Cameron Scott - Apr. 12 (Opinion) - The question about coal power isn’t whether it can be made clean — it can’t, according to a recent National Geographic cover story and the vast majority of environmental advocates — but whether it can be made clean enough to provide power as the world transitions to renewable energy sources without triggering an ecological disaster before we get there.

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U.S. Tries To Stop India's Solar Policy While Pushing Fight Against Climate Change

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Kate Sheppard - Mar. 28 (News Report) - The Obama administration talks a lot about the need to develop renewable energy around the world to curb climate change. But right now, it's trying to kill India's effort to boost its domestic solar industry.

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India Building Solar Canals To Produce Power & Slow Water Loss −

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 00:00:00 -0800

solarlove.org - Jan. 04 (News Report) - Close on heels of commencing use of wastelands in northern districts and rooftops in towns and cities, Gujarat is set to potentially use the existing 19,000 km-long network of Narmada canals across the State for setting up solar panels to generate power.

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ALEC Calls for ‘Guerilla Warfare’ in Weakening Carbon Emissions Standards

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:00:00 -0800

ecowatch.com - By Aliya Haq - Dec. 17 (News Report) - ALEC claims it is increasing its transparency, but old habits die hard (if they die at all). Several reporters were refused entry into the conference, including Dana Milbank of The Washington Post and Andy Kroll of Mother Jones. A few handpicked media outlets were allowed to attend the large plenary sessions, but not the task force meetings between lawmakers and corporations.

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Big Batteries Needed To Make Fickle Wind And Solar Power Work

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 00:00:00 -0800

All Things Considered - Dec. 12 (Special Report) - California hopes to get 33 percent of its electricity from wind and solar power by 2020. But that will only work if the state can economically store some of the energy for release on cloudy, windless days.

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The Radical Right Wing Is Becoming An Unlikely Advocate For Solar Power

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - Oct. 23 (Opinion) - Even Glenn Beck’s email list got a pitch from a solar generator company that doubles as your one-stop-shop for the apocalypse. The post The Radical Right Wing Is Becoming An Unlikely Advocate For Solar Power appeared first on ThinkProgress.

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World Bank support for China solar and wind power may have cost U.S. jobs

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Howard Schneider - Oct. 15 (Special Report) - As investment in alternative energy rebounded in 2011, U.S. wind and solar companies found stiff new competition — Chinese firms dominating the green industries that American officials looked to for growth. ...

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In Ariz., A Solar Plant That Powers 70,000 Homes Day Or Night

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0700

All Things Considered - Oct. 12 (News) - The array includes 3,200 mirrors that heat a special oil that boils water, which drives turbines. The setup is one of the largest solar power plants of its kind in the world.

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The plug-and-play solar panel

Wed, 02 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By Richard Taylor - Oct. 02 (News Report) - Harvesting the sun's power to fire up a computer or tablet is an enticing idea in principle but challenging in practice. But researchers at Intel have developed a chip which overcomes many of the obstacles. It allows solar panels to plug into and power a device directly, without the need for a battery.

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China offers solar power tax rebates

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Sep. 30 (News Report) - China has offered tax rebates to manufacturers of solar power products in an attempt to prop up the struggling sector and also cut pollution levels.

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VIDEO: Amsterdam canal hosts solar regatta

Mon, 16 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Sep. 16 (News Report) - A fleet of solar-powered boats glide through Amsterdam's historic canals for the first time as part of the city's 'Sun Day' festival.

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Renewable Energy Overpowers ALEC

Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0700

nationofchange.org - By Laura Macomber - Aug. 25 (News Report) - It was a party of multiple themes, touting the usual ALEC agenda of cutting taxes, reducing the power of unions and finding new ways to spend public funds on privately operated schools. But perhaps the most urgent discussion point was the one surrounding what are known as renewable portfolio standards (RPS) — laws that promote cleaner energy sources to better protect our fragile environment. For the past year, ALEC and its members have been rolling out legislation that attempts to repeal these laws.

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VIDEO: Close-up: UK's solar car race entry

Sat, 24 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Aug. 24 (News) - Meet the British team taking on the world with their unorthodox solar car

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The Grid Of The Future Could Be Brought To You By ... You

Thu, 15 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0700

All Things Considered - By Elizabeth Shogren - Aug. 15 (Special Report) - The electricity system is experiencing growing pains as the grid is beginning to rely on an increasing amount of renewable, particularly unpredictable sources of power like wind farms and solar panels. So grid operators are turning to individual customers to beef up redundancy and capacity.

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The reality of your carbon footprint | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0700

thebulletin.org - By Dawn Stover - Aug. 07 (Opinion) - When I read Grist’s recent article about a stationary bicycle that could power “just about any gadget you might want to use around the house or farm,” my first thought was: How cool is that? I want one. My second thought: The “dynapod,” as the machine is called, is one of the dumbest ideas for saving energy I’ve ever seen.

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