California

Scottish consultancy Wood Mackenzie has raised its 2019 forecast with Florida and Texas starting to deliver on their potential as the U.S. solar market returns to growth.

The ambitious climate, jobs and social program has encountered strong resistance from some national unions, and not only those connected to professions linked to traditional power industries.

An International Energy Agency report estimates the share of nuclear power in advanced economies could fall by two-thirds by 2040, as aging plants retire. The report claims without support for nuclear, the transition to a low carbon energy system would be far more complex and threaten global emissions targets.

What was originally a landmark bill to establish rights for the owners of PV systems has made it to the floor of the California Senate in a dramatically reduced form.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego – with the help of the university’s Comet supercomputer – modelled thousands of halide compounds to come up with a shortlist of 13 materials that could be candidates for the efficient solar cell materials of the future.

The solar-plus-storage combination is super-charging the deployment of batteries across the country and IHS Markit says the U.S. will become the largest market for grid-tied energy storage this year.

The Solar Energy Industries Association’s “ambitious goal” of solar supplying 20% of U.S. electricity in 2030 looks more like a forecast, and vision for rapid decarbonization is coming from the climate movement and the American Left, not SEIA.

It’s unclear exactly what the interest is in the California-based supercapacitor maker, but it could be more about the process than the product.

The volume of U.S. electricity generated by renewable energy is set to surpass the level sourced from coal for the first time this month and the trend is expected to continue in May, according to Department of Energy data.

California utility PG&E has tested levels of residential solar power up to 100% penetration, and how to mitigate the effects of voltage and thermal overload via smart inverters and traditional transformer and circuit upgrades — with smart inverters shown to allow for up to 100% penetration at cost-effective pricing.