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The fundamentals of solar energy.

Solar energy is probably the cleanest, most practical kind of renewable power available and also it can be used in several forms to help power your home. Numerous gardens today use solar lights or solar garden water features. The accessibility as well as wide utilization of solar power in gardens displays exactly how versatile it is as a source of power. The technology and the systems are becoming smaller, more compact and also much better looking than when they were first created and utilized. Earlier samples of solar power systems can be observed in California where, in the eighties, enough solar energy panels were set up to power over 10 million homes. Take a look at solar introduce

How do photovoltaic tiles work?

Simply put photovoltaic tiles along with other forms of solar energy function by converting some of the energy in sunlight into a clean kind of electricity that can be used in our homes. The PV cells include a positive along with a negative slice of silicon positioned under a thin piece of glass. Since the protons of the sunlight beat down on to the Photovoltaic cell they knock the neutrons off the silicon. The negatively charged free neutrons are drawn to the silicon but are trapped by the magnetic field that is created from the opposing fields. Small wires on the silicon capture these types of neutrons so when linked in a circuit an electrical current is created.

This particular reaction provides Direct Current electrical power though, and this must be passed through an inverter to be converted in to an Alternating Current utilized in our homes to power any kind of electrical items. Some of the power is actually lost in this part of the process as the inverter is close to 95% effective but it is a a lot higher efficiency than was once available.

The dynamics of the PV cell indicates there is minimum maintenance needed as well as there are no moving parts; this means that a typical Photovoltaic cell could last up to 40 years with no work besides an annual clean.

How to use them to power my house?

There are many methods to use solar energy around the house and not only for powering. You can use it to heat your hot water, heat your swimming pool or even your own central heating or even if you’ve lots of roof space and a reasonable quantity of sun you may get a grid tie system; a grid tie system indicates that not only are you able to power your whole house but during these times when you produce an excess of electrical power you can sell it back to the grid. An efficiently solar powered house will be able to reasonably produce between 75 and 100% of their own power and because of the grid tie system this means you may not have to pay for electrical power ever again.

To know more about solar power and saving the environment, check out Solar Energy.

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The rate of a barrel of oil has never been so extreme. Some hold that this is a short-term spike, but an increasing number of analysts are in accord that this kind of pricing is going to remain. World consumption is at an all time high and given the new thirst for oil in China and India it is doubtful to diminish. According to International energy Outlook, large-scale need is expected to carry on to multiply by as much as 59% in the next decade.

Already, customer utility bills have been ever-increasing on average 6.5% every year for the last thirty years in the United States. Given the tremendous increase in the charge of developing power using customary non-renewable resources, this rate is bound to be overtaken by unheard of cost increases in the very nearby future. And for clients who are getting increasingly more environmentally aware, the thought of the hundreds of thousands and many of tons of Carbon dioxide and other side-effects being emitted into the atmosphere yearly owing to the use of fossil fuels in generating energy is very terrifying.

It is a no-brainer that our dependence on oil to create power leaves us very susceptible. There are renewable technologies that turn out energy, but the obstruction has been one of charge effectiveness. It has always been less costly to source power using fossil fuels, and therefore, renewable sources such as solar power or wind power have not taken off. But the condition now seems to be changing. More and more, our consumption of energy is outstripping supply. The utility grid can barely maintain with requirement and rolling blackouts are no longer just a notion. No wonder governments are needing for options. And there’s no question why every person is talking about solar power once again.

In 1985 yearly international solar power system installation accounted for 21 megawatts of energy. By 2004, this had enlarged to an astounding 927 megawatts in new installation energy creation alone. The call for solar produced power over the last numerous years has amplified each year about 25 percent, while in 2004 revenue were ahead a monstrous 67 percent from the prior year.

There are several reasons for this proliferation in attraction for all things solar powered. Beyond the understandable environmental considerations and the privilege of not needing to depend on power from a power grid that is growing older and stretched to ability, solar is becoming asking price helpful. While usual energy creation will get more steeply priced, technological advancements are making solar energy less costly.

In 1980 the fee of garnering energy from the sun stood at about one hundred dollars per watt. Literally a hundred times more high-priced than the going figure of electricity, these techniques were not economically reasonable. By 1999 however, technology had condensed this to about $4 per watt and overheads have sustained to reduce by about 5% per year since. The Return on Investment is becoming very desirable for many industrial institutes and consumers.

Efficiencies have been achieved in quite a few technologies. The inverters that change the gathered DC power into usable AC energy used to send only about 65 percent efficiency. 35% of the collected energy was lost in the conversion process. Today’s transformers are so proficient they deliver up to 96% of collected power into usable AC current.

Green technology has also made solar gathering far more efficient. Twenty years ago, only 5 percent of the sun’s power hitting a solar charging panel was gathered. This sum is nowadays more than15 percent and will continue to increase as more capable compounds are designed and presented in the fabrication of these wind and solar panels.

All levels of government are increasingly investigating solar to provide stable, charge effective and environmentally friendly power. 35 states now have some particular repayment series for property owners that establish solar energy systems. And this is not just the southern “sunny states”. While California is the apparent leader in promoting solar energy solutions (a program announced in 2003 is promoting the launch of solar powered energy systems into millions of residences over the next some years) New Jersey and New York are next in order for solar investment.

At the municipal level, many jurisdictions have announced solar options for traffic and streetlights. 50 percent of the energy used to operate Sacremento’s area water sanitization plant is solar. NASA uses solar power systems in many of its structures. Governments are not incorporating solar merely because it is sound for the environment and establishes a case in point for trade entities and clients (even though these benefits cannot be lost on them!). They have concluded that choosing solar systems will conserve tens of thousands of dollars.

With so many refund programs today the homeowners are approaching the invariable conclusions. Once the preliminary gain on investment is recouped (as early on as 4-6 years with the reimbursement programs in California for example), solar clients don’t have any extra energy bills, almost no maintenance to be anxious about and are not attached to a utility company that is becoming increasingly fragile as pressure outstrips supply. There’s no question why solar energy is getting interest!

Solar power is still more steep than long-established power production methods, but the inequality is tightening each year. Solar power functions are also growing at an surprising charge. House heating system, solar pool light and heating, hot water tank heating system, calculators, flashlights, solar garden light and on and on. Solar is untainted, it’s capable and it is here to continue.

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They call themselves Latter-day Saints. We know them as Mormons. They have seen the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We now see that Mormons may be the America’s greenest parishioners. All theology aside, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is heartily embracing Ecology by installing solar power systems on five of its meetinghouses in the Southwest, beginning in Utah.

Installation began late last month on a solar power system at a new meetinghouse in Farmington, Utah. The solar array will provide enough energy to power the entire building, saving the church roughly $6,000 per year. “It’s about creating a place of worship that works in harmony with the environment,” said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton in a press release. Four other meetinghouses are scheduled for solar installations in Eagle Mountain, Utah, Apache Junction, Arizona, Logandale, Nevada and Pahrump, Nevada.

Apparently these solar panels are far from the first step the LDS Church has taken toward eco-friendliness. According to a time line on the Church’s website they’ve been at it since the 1950s, when they began building churches using passive cooling design and started harvesting rainwater for irrigation in the Pacific. In 1971 the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City installed an efficient heating and cooling system that tapped into underground spring wells. In the 1980s a Susanville, California meetinghouse began producing all its heat using geothermal energy. The list goes on with several smaller steps, including moisture and sunlight sensors to efficiently monitor and operate sprinkler systems.

Getting back to the present, the Farmington solar meetinghouse will do more than just provide power. The Church also plans to educate its members about the advantages of going green, including the use of a monitor to measure how much power the solar array is providing and to teach families about power consumption. Upon completion, all five solar meetinghouses will be LEED-certified.

Thanks to  Sundance Channel’s SUNfiltered blog for enlightening us to the existence of solar powered Mormons.

Photo Credit: LDS Newsroom

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In 2008 I wrote about a less friendly movement rising along with the eco-friendly solar power movement: solar panel theft. Since then, solar panel sales have continued to rise steadily and, unfortunately, so have solar panel thefts. In the last two weeks alone, two San Francisco schools were struck by thieves, a New York Times blog reports on Monday, removing some $50,000 worth of solar equipment. More generally, solar panel theft has increased at a comparable rate with solar panel installations nationwide.

SolarInsure, a brokerage firm that offers insurance plans for solar power systems, recorded a 17 percent increase in reported thefts in 2009 compared to 2008 numbers. California, which leads the nation in solar installations, experienced the highest increase in thefts: up 26 percent from 2008 to 2009. In response, SolarInsure will no longer offer insurance for systems without some form of integrated security measure.

One such measure comes from start-up GridLock Solar Security. It puts each solar panel in an array on a circuit wired to a main security unit. If any panel in the system is removed, the circuit is disrupted, an alarm sounds and the police are automatically alerted.

Tigo Energy, which develops programs that monitor and record power output from solar energy systems, has added a feature to its product that it likens to the popular OnStar system for automobiles. A chip embedded in each panel wirelessly communicates with a central monitoring unit. If communication is broken, the panel deactivates and alerts are sent out. Also, that removed panel cannot be reconnected elsewhere without a special security code.

On a legislative scale, Mike Thompson, a congressman from Napa Valley, has worked to create a national registry of solar panel serial codes into the Solar Technology Roadmap Act in order to discourage theft. That bill has passed the House and is working its way through the Senate.

Buildings unoccupied at night, such as schools, are sitting ducks for solar panel thieves. Unfortunately, these are also buildings — especially schools — where solar power is doing its most symbolic good. To make matters worse, tight-budgeted schools are unlikely to have the resources to re-install new panels if stolen equipment cannot be recovered.

Hopefully security systems like those described above will help bring the rise in panel thefts to a halt. And if nothing else, the wave of thefts further proves that solar energy is in high demand, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call thievery a green job. Although, maybe the culprits will be sent off to green jails.

Photo Credit: Off the Grid

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George Schultz has a long history in politics, most notably as former president Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of State. In those days he worked for a famously anti-environment president — one that, among other things, downsized the EPA, removed solar panels installed on the White House and opened the door to energy deregulation. But these days, George Schultz is on the other side of the fence, where, defying that age-old axiom, the grass actually is greener.

He has volunteered to be honorary co-chair of Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs in the battle against Big Oil’s attempt to obstruct California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, known simply as AB32. In 2006 that bill set the state’s renewable energy standard and catapulted California to the forefront of climate change action. Furthermore, the law, already enacted, will force oil companies to pay for pollution starting in 2011, and use the resulting funds to pay for clean energy rebates and incentives.

That has Texas oilmen shaking in their boots and quivering in anger, fearing that cap-and-trade legislation in California would pave the way for a national carbon tax of some sort, much like other environmental steps later implemented elsewhere, including vehicle emissions standards and energy efficient building codes.

So they formed the AB32 Implementation Group, a group ostensibly “working toward greenhouse gas emission reductions and enhancing California’s competitiveness,” but in actuality trying to cripple the landmark law. To that end, the oil companies are employing their well-known, well-practiced and cunningly dubious methods. So far they have spent $2 million to convince 800,000 people to sign on to a proposition euphemistically dubbed the California Jobs Initiative. This initiative would obstruct AB32’s implementation.

The truth is that the AB32 Implementation Group has nothing to do with implementing AB32. It is more about maintaining an unregulated, unhindered oil industry. But the truth can be hard to discern when standing up against Big Oil’s proven power to manipulate policy and populace, which makes it even more significant that a noted Republican statesman like George Schultz has signed on to help protect California clean energy.

“As a former Secretary of State, I see our dependence on foreign oil as one of the greatest threats to national security,” he told the Sacremento Bee, “and the Dirty Energy Proposition would undermine efforts to break that dependence.”

But the fight will not be easy. Oil companies have perhaps the best PR machine in the business, evidenced by their ability to gather 800,000 signatures for their initiative — a mysterious but very real success. They’ve also proven that they can and will come at it from all angles. One scary example is a recent, oil industry-funded NOVA spot on PBS, dubbed Energy: The Big Gamble, that was aimed at instilling a fear of clean energy in voters’ minds and ballots.

Schultz’s position is setting him apart from his Republican peers in California this election year. While Governor Schwarzenegger has been a friend to renewable energy, his proposed Republican successor, Meg Whitman, has vowed to delay implementation of AB32 if elected, which would be fully within her power. Indeed, judging by California’s history of setting clean energy precedents, the very future of America’s climate change movement could hinge on this year’s voting.

The Golden State continues to be the golden boy of clean energy. Stopping the AB32 Implementation Group from enacting their misleading initiative and ensuring the success of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, who openly supports AB32 as it stands now, are top priorities for George Schultz and Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs.

“This misguided proposition will seriously harm our effort to encourage the growing entrepreneurial ventures that hold the promise of important change toward cleaner energy,” said Schultz, adding that the initiative would derail “California’s innovative effort to stimulate movement toward a cleaner and more secure energy future.”

Sources: CleanTechnica and Sacramento Bee
Photo Credit: YotTT

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This really looks as the best way to go solar in California, leasing solar panels with down payment and they will be installed for free. As many people can not afford to buy their own solar panels for home, so leasing solar panels seems to be the best solution. You don’t have to pay any money for purchasing solar panel or for installation. All you have to do is only pay its fee every month, its same like you get other things like motor vehicle on lease and then every month you pay certain amount for that.  In California, free solar panel leasing program is started. According to this program customers will only pay a monthly fee and get lower utility bills. Ownership of the photovoltaic panels will be retained by the SolarCity.

Generally if a person’s home power demand is 2.8 kilowatt, then he approximately will be having monthly electric bill around $150 but after installing solar panel it will cost $60 a month and $80 to $90 monthly lease payment to Solar City. So at end of month you probably can have $10 saving.

Solar City was founded in 2006 and is chaired by Elon Musk who also chairs the Telsa Motors.

The solar panels installed by the company will charge you a set price for 10 to 15 years worth of service during that time period they will handle all maintenance and repairs also. Though you will still pay the electric bill but with the solar panels generating electricity it will get much lower. And if your panel will be producing more electricity than your use, it’s fed back to grid and for that electric company pays you also.

Let’s say if because of solar panels you get 10 to 20% saving on the life of solar panels then at the end of lease time you probably will be having the amount to pay off the panels. After that point with panels still generating power, you may not have an electric bill anymore.

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It’s true that getting a solar panel for your home is an effective way to immediately cut your expenses and get rid of power made from coal plants. Buying a solar panel costs a lot but even then it sounds an economical decision on long run.

Focusing on the fact that average class homeowners can not afford to buy a solar panel, some entrepreneurial companies have started solar panel leasing for interested homeowners.

Rental Companies:

Citizenr’s REnU program is having several advantages over traditional solar panel purchase. The other solar panel releasing companies are:

• FreEner-g is developed initially in Minnesota for serving the Minneapolis/St.Paul Area.
• In Connecticut there is CT Solar Lease.
• Serving for Arizona, California, and Oregon is SolarCity.

How These Companies Work?

Though these companies are having different terms and conditions but the basic thing about leasing solar panels is consistent in each package. To have that rental solar panel for your home needs, you have to deposit initially almost $500-$1,000. You can refund this deposit money at the end of your lease. This is the initial process and after that solar panels are installed at your place, according to your household’s energy needs. Every month you will have to pay the rent to the company that leased the panels.

The power which is produced by the solar panels for your home, flows back into the grid which causes the meter to run backward. These solar panels are available only for those places which are having net metering; means that the difference between what is produced and what is used can be tracked.

The Economics

There is a big difference between buying and renting the solar equipment. Let’s say, if you buy the photovoltaic (PV) panels to power your home, it will cost you almost $50,000. But if you buy it only for heating the water it will cost you around $6,000 which can be lowered more after rebates and tax credits and factored in. But there is one benefit of solar panel that it increases the value of your home and some areas allow you to sell power back to grid.

If you want to what it would cost you according to your area, Find Solar website is having a solar calculator that estimates costs of buying solar panels according to the location and few other factors. Keeping the above mentioned solar panel costs, its really hard for a common person to buy it, even if he do saving for ten years.

In such case only solar panel leasing is the way for a common person. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) is having the complete information regarding leasing solar panels, rebates programs, loans, grants, incentives, exemptions, and many more for renewable energy and energy efficiency in each state.

Rental solar panels are having so small start up cost, and that is also possible to lock in a rate that will stay constant for the next 25 years but that depends on the rental period, that for how many years you will use it. In the beginning the costs for per month will exceed as the energy will be obtained from the grid. Anyhow the savings are likely based on the theory that the energy costs will continue to rise, but have no guarantee of paying off in the long run.

Though rentals are little riskier than buying panels, but that will surely save you big money after a couple of decades. If we put a small variation in cost aside, solar power rental will allow hundreds of thousands of homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint and decrease dependence on non-renewable resources.

Currently it’s really difficult to predict that the costs for solar rental will be slightly higher, equal or lower than the traditional power from the grid, but one thing is for sure is that, if this enterprise succeeds, it will be a good mark for environmental benefits.

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If you are keenly interested in how to change your home to solar energy system and also curious in a grid(network of lines tied photovoltaic) system you need to calculate system size according to you energy needs. Also get knowledge of yours state as well as federal tax concessions and know how to source components.

Instructions and Information

Step 1

First look out how much your electric consumption annually; take average of your electric consumption in KWH. After that you will get the result and then divide it with 150 (monthly hours) if you live near the coastal area, it can be 155, if you live in a mountains area then it can be 160. It will provide you a rough size of solar energy system. lets say for example if your monthly average monthly use was 450kWh per month and you were living near the coastal area then you will need a 3KW PV system to offset 100% of your consumption.

Step 2

Establish and settle your incentive level. The New York Solar Initiatives provides incentives on state level. The incentives and concession level OR survey are different depending upon the use such as residential, commercial nonprofit or government entity (qualities and relations). The other states California and Texas are also having great discount in tax incentives. federal Government provide a 30% federal tax credit for you can get information from your accountant to check if you are eligible for the tax credit or not.

In many cases deductions in sum and tax credit both offset roughly 40 to 70 percent of the cost of the solar energy system installation, it will be more cost if you do the installation yourself in other words it will take more expenditure in the installation of this useful system. Commercial system are eligible for MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System), it’s also known as accelerated depreciation (allowance made in estimation). utility rates are different by location so there can not be any exact information for the payback . Anyhow it’s usually about 8 to 15 years if installed by the a contractor, it is a monthly finance and then compared this to your monthly electric bill.

For commercial user’s the payback can be from 3 to 6 years. There is another thing need to know is that when calculating payback is the estimation value of the system to your home/building, `insulation from future electric rate hikes, and when you to paid off the system installation, you have free electricity. In majority of cases the system will be worthily after the payment of all depreciations or tax credit. And today almost all modules are warranted for 20 to 25 years. There is necessary value of energy being produced from the sun heat instead of coal or natural gas and you will get fruitful return from your investment. For more information about that contact your local utility provider.

Step 3

If your electric need is 3 KW, then it is required to find out the amount of modules and the right size of inverter. There are much places available on internet so can find all these information on internet before buying this requires system. Buy branded modules for example Sharp, Sun power and many other because these companies have been working since many years. And they have also warranties on their products.

You will pay a premium (sum additional to interest) If you need cheap modules for installation then you will search for companies who provided these utilities the companies are Sun tech and Canadian Solar they have best quality products. Most of manufacturers in the industry make modules it is a same product’s which are produced many other’s There is less different among their products. But you will search a good quality products because these companies provide less warranty you must take a clear step about to buy these products.

Grid tied inverter will be needed also for that SMA Unites States, SEIA and FSLR inventers are the standard industries. If you want to install all these by yourself then you will need an AC disconnect and DC disconnect properly sized according to the National Electric Code.Then you will also need to know about the size wire, conduits and connectors you will need to run from the modules to the DC disconnect , to the inverter, to the AC disconnect and to your main electrical service. You will also need racking and Standoff for that try Prosolar or Uniarc. prosolar is cheap than Uniarc. You will need an extra breaker also for your electrical panel.

Step 4

After to collect all your materials which are used in the preparation of solar energy panels, then you will need to calculate your result then decide what type of modules and inverter you will need for, for this reason you will also need PV Watts V2 calculator using different quantities of the modules you are selecting until you obtain a KWh output which is roughly 90 to 100 % of your current consumption. Modules are rated in DC watts, so you will need to expect less result as subjected by the manufacturers because power is being change to AC before it reached your main service panel. A 210-watt modules will provide 198 watts after conversion and losses also.

Step 5

There are local codes regarding to this installation. Which is enforced and proposed by the inspectors so should consult with an electrician. There are different locality so you will need all of these materials according to your needs. because some require fire borders around the modules while other may need extra double, triple grounding for your system. Talk to an inspector if possible at your city or country development department. May be he concerned department provide your a clear cut details and guidelines for your area. You will also need to know and should consult with your local utility provider “interconnection” or “net metering” department.

Department like these will provide you a great details and other useful information or guidelines about the entire process, and also forms online on the internet. You must meet these three entities such as local permitting agency second local utility and third your local rebate administrator. All will be having paperwork and guidelines that, if not stick with all of them, if not vigorous slow any building momentum. You must be prepared before meeting with all of them, review all your needs and have all question answers regarding to installation instead of that you will waste countless hours making corrections, paying for additional reviews and possibly get a less rebate (tax) than expected.

Step 6

Taking all of these there ate so many differences to go over all the steps of how to size every different kinds of system for that to get a solar design book. For that “Solar Energy Magazine” is good source in which you will learn about all the concerned design and source of people who had installed their own system are published. And other related issues. here is a quick review of the things you should know: building permit requirements, inverter string size, wire and conduit sizing, building permit requirements, interconnection requirements, fire department requirements and building code requirements.

Step 7

You should have to take first the rebate paperwork because is is a multi step process than other requirements. You should first reserve the rebate after that install the solar energy system and then claim the rebate. The rebate reservation will expire and become void if the system is not installed within a reasonable and moderate amount of time. Always make follow up call to ensure that the rebate paperwork arrived.

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The US Coast Guard announced this morning that the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill has reached Louisiana coastline. Poor weather conditions are currently hindering crewmen from laying boom lines to contain the oil.

It’s been a week now since a BP oil rig explosion unleashed a deadly stain on Earth Day 2010. Unfortunately, things are not looking up. The leak has spewed out crude oil faster than originally estimated and the effects of this disaster remain to be seen. BP, Halliburton, the Coast Guard and the U.S. military are all chipping in to help contain the spill, but at this point the collective effort cannot keep up.

The leak stems from an explosion on April 22 that injured 17 workers and eventually sunk the rig itself. 11 workers are still missing and presumed dead.

With leak rates estimated at up to 8,000 barrels per day and government officials saying it could take up to 90 days to stop the leak, the true detriment of offshore drilling is really beginning to take hold.

So far we have tragic loss of life, huge manpower expenditures for cleanup and containment, as yet untold damages to the environment, impending coastal damage and an interruption in shipping and oil drilling that will no doubt have an impact on our still-oil-addicted economy, day-to-day transportation and whatever other industries are feeling the weight of closed shipping lanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Furthermore, as troubling as offshore drilling already is, it is even more disconcerting to see how inept we are at reacting to its failure. Perhaps oil companies were so busy lobbying and advertising how “clean” their new and improved drilling techniques are that they never bothered to address a worst-case scenario. But the truth as I see it? There’s simply no proven way to stop an oil leak when it bursts.

How do you stop or contain an explosive leak that originates 5,000 feet below the surface and has an entire ocean to leak into?

Attempts have been made on this most recent spill. BP sent a robot down to the seabed in an attempt to close an emergency shutoff valve, but it failed, and now they’ve ignited a controlled burn to try to contain the spreading oil slick on the surface.

As that oil slick hits the southern coast today, it brings with it untold, and absolutely unnecessary, troubles for a region already hammered with natural disasters. The governor of Louisiana, whose state and most famous city are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, has declared a state of emergency in preparation for tomorrow’s “landing.”

This could turn out to be the worst oil spill from an offshore rig in the US since a 1969 Pacific Ocean spill off Santa Barbara, California. That spill inspired a moratorium on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts — a moratorium that President Obama wants to alter to allow some drilling. Last week’s spill could end up being a silver lining for environmentalists, or anyone that can see the myths behind offshore drilling, as there is now a chance that backlash could force Obama to once again reverse his stance and leave the moratorium on offshore oil rigs, thus preventing further spills down the line.

Here’s a quick idea: let’s have offshore wind farms instead!

Source: Reuters & NASDAQ

Photo Credit: Gather & Consumer Energy Report

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Historically, utilities and solar power have had a tense, marginal relationship at best. The reasons are fairly obvious; most utilities today are deregulated, investor-owned companies looking for a profit. So how can interrupting their own revenue stream by facilitating the ownership of independent energy by their customers be considered a good business model? Yet regardless of that, utilities across the nation are getting more involved in the solar industry, and may even be guiding it.

Not without some motivation, of course. The primary impetus for utility interest in solar power came from the government. Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) require utilities to obtain a certain percentage of their power from renewable energy within a certain time frame — say, 20 percent renewable by 2020. Now, 29 states have mandatory RPS in place (four more have voluntary versions), and utilities have been forced to seek out renewable energy projects and promote energy efficiency.

Rebate programs, net metering and other incentives have popped up to help make that happen. The federal government and many state governments offer incentives for homes and businesses to adopt solar power which the utility can then buy through interconnection with that system. Before Congress extended the federal solar tax credits in 2008, utilities were not allowed to directly benefit from those credits. In other words, electricity providers had no incentive to purchase their own solar power generating systems. All the purchasing of such power was done through a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a developer or system owner.

But now, utilities do qualify and can cost-effectively build, own and operate their own solar arrays, and that is having a major effect on the solar industry. Even more so as remote, utility-scale solar thermal projects mired in bureaucratic and environmental red tape give way to more centrally located distributed PV projects. Now the question arises as to who is controlling who between the solar industry and utilities, as that inherently tense relationship gets more and more intimate.

California utilities, as per usual, are leading the way. Southern California Edison has announced a plan approved by the California Public Utilities Commission to install 500 megawatts of distributed, rooftop solar power in southern California. The utility will own and operate the systems, and will essentially lease rooftop space from customers, offering them a fixed long-term rate in return (very similar to SolarCity’s landmark solar leasing program). PG&E, northern California’s primary utility, has a similar plan currently awaiting approval.

So now we may have utilities in control of solar projects. Both the SCE and PG&E programs have gained a lot of attention over the last year and are by far the biggest of their kind in the country. It would appear that the solar industry has changed utilities by getting them to embrace the idea that a growing number of their customers are and will become independent power producers. Yet now that utilities seem to be accepting distributed solar power as a way of life, they may in turn be changing the solar industry by turning communities into solar farms.

It seems the solar industry and utilities are growing and changing together, and there is still a lot of room for tension. As solar’s share of a utility’s electricity generation increases, the more it will cut into utility revenue. That is probably why (in addition to meeting RPS mandates) utilities are looking to gain more control over installations. At the same time, utilities may be turning new home solar power systems into something akin to new cars — often leased rather than bought. Utilities have the capital to pay for a roof covered in solar panels, while many home and business owners do not.

So, is the solar industry changing utilities or are utilities changing solar? It’s a tough question, and its true answer may not be revealed until these new additions to the game play themselves out. But in the meantime, you can listen to an informative podcast on the subject sponsored by Renewable Energy World.

Photo Credit: Choctaw County Utilities & Cotton, Shires, & Associates

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