Skip to main content

Electrek green energy brief: Dong building wind without incentives, cheap solar power causing problems, more

Solar Installers Struggle as Panels Become Cheap Enough to Own – This is the best problem in the world for these companies to have. They are going to be forced to sell directly to these populations, book revenue up front and get the Wall Street people – who hate the heavy debt load of the lease structure – off their backs. There will still be a lot of solar leasing going on for a bit – but, like SolarCity has already done since at least 4th quarter of 2016, a lot of direct sales will occur. Not to mention that this is great for the solar industry in general – regular people are paying cash for solar. That’s pretty cool.

Dong Energy bids 480MW with zero incentiveOWP West and Borkum Riffgrund West 2 – DONG Energy made bids at zero EUR per MWh, i.e. these projects will not receive a subsidy on top of the wholesale electricity price – caveat, these projects are to be commissioned by 2024, as such they’re expecting much price reduction from today. Nonetheless, this is a utility scale clean energy source that the owners think can make money without incentives. That’s cause for celebration.

Adara Power introduces 20-kWh residential energy storage solution – Nothing ground breaking, just a consumer product that caught my eye because its cool to start seeing final, cleanly made home products for energy storage. I’m used to seeing pallets of subcomponents before engineers put together roofs or closets full of things. Home battery stuff is cool looking .Will there be a market for a larger individual Tesla Powerwall, or should there be the same 14kWw unit doubled up? I like double up units because one day I want to take one off the wall and put it in the frunk of my Model 3 for the long road trip.

SunEdison, while bankrupt, was still worth a lot – There’s a story a week about the assets of SunEdison – a company that went bankrupt about a year ago – doing something in the solar industry. Interesting to watch how billions of assets of a truly global solar power company unfold.

NREL Researchers Capture Excess Photon Energy to Produce Solar Fuels – Using quantum dots (QD) and a process called Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG), the NREL researchers were able to push the peak external quantum efficiency for hydrogen generation to 114 percent. The advancement could significantly boost the production of hydrogen from sunlight by using the cell to split water at a higher efficiency and lower cost than current photoelectrochemical approaches. I don’t know what the first half of that sentence means, but the second half means energy storage in a form different from lithium – and I’m interested in exploring these things. I’ve read that adding hydrogen to natural gas will significantly lower the CO2 output while keeping energy levels pretty high – interesting bridge solution. Who knows what the end mix will be. Thanks for doing the research NREL.

Ikea builds in Indiana – Its old news that Ikea is a leader in renewables. Thank you Ikea for making solar power so normal that it becomes old news. What’s not old news is that Indiana is cutting its solar support. I look at solar and wind incentives as replacements for carbon taxes. We all know pollution is real – this is just another path to get there.

Wind power is serious – being a solar focused individual, sometimes I don’t notice – but wow…

Header image if of a Yurt with solar power. I took the picture in the summer of 2008 on the road to the Kunjerab Pass at the Chinese/Pakistani border.

Considering residential solar?  will connect you with local contractors. Tweet me to pick apart quote.

For more electric vehicle, autonomous transport and clean technology news, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Newsletter, RSS or Facebook to get our latest articles.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Stay up to date with the latest content by subscribing to Electrek on Google News. You’re reading Electrek— experts who break news about Tesla, electric vehicles, and green energy, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow Electrek on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our YouTube channel for the latest reviews.