US Solar Market Staying Strong
For the third year in a row the US solar industry installed over 10GW of solar capacity in residential, commercial, and utility companies combined. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) President and CEO Abby Hopper said, “The total amount of solar installed in America is on track to more than double in the next five years, proving solar’s resiliency and its economic strength. It’s clear, this next decade is going to be one of significant growth.” Residential solar has seen growth is in the last five years and did great in 2018 with almost 315,000 homes adding a solar system. Total US solar capacity now stands at 62.4 GWdc, about 75 times more than was installed at the end of 2008!
San Francisco Pushing to Create it's own 100% Renewable Utility Service and Drop PG&E
San Francisco city officials are looking into the possibility of creating their own utility out of the wreckage of PG&E who filed bankruptcy in January. The city would either buy the electrical lines from PG&E or seize them through eminent domain. If this works PG&E’s system would be the backbone of a push for a new 100% renewable full-service municipal utility. “We need to take advantage of this opportunity, because the crisis of climate change is a crisis,” San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen said during a hearing. “We really need to take it to the next level, and that next level is a complete build out so that we are providing 100 percent renewable energy to all of our customers.”
More wind and solar farms would be need to be built in the surrounding areas to supply San Francisco with green power which would also create good jobs. “If we want to be truly independent in providing energy, clean energy to the residents of San Francisco, we need to really think about a local version of a Green New Deal,” Supervisor Sandra Fewer said at the same January hearing. “And that is really about building our own resources for renewable energy on our own land.” San Francisco leaders are also talking about how a utility service offered by the city would prioritize safety, quality, and affordability over profit. “When profit is the ultimate motive, then public safety comes second, then reliability comes second, then keeping costs down comes second,” Ronen said. “Profit will not be our ultimate goal.”
Wind-Solar Coming in Hot
In Minnesota Juhl Energy is pioneering a new way to create highly efficient renewable energy farms. This is being done by pairing one or more wind turbines with a solar array. When it’s done like this only one inverter and one grid connection is needed which reduces equipment costs compared to doing two separate projects. The price of solar has dropped as well so that’s another reason why companies are looking to add it to their wind power projects. It’s a match made in heaven since the solar will be strong during the day and the wind will flex its muscles mainly at night.