Industry News
Space solar panel specs, solar siding in the Netherlands, and more! Episode #34
The Clean Power Hour is a weekly clean energy headline review and commentary podcast brought to you by Tim Montague and yours truly – the CommercialSolarGuy – John Fitzgerald Weaver. First of course, here’s the podcast – Episode 34! Now, to the news! Scientists working for the Pentagon have successfully tested a solar panel the size of…
Read MoreSolar energy growth is exponential again – up 28%, 3.2% of all electricity in 2020
The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released the February Electric Power Monthly, providing data through the end of 2020. The report notes that solar energy exponential growth is back, as photovoltaic (solar) generation grew by more than 28%, accounting for ~3.2% of total US electricity generated for the year. Total electricity…
Read MoreHydrogen power paste, solar powered helicopter on Mars, more! Episode #33
The Clean Power Hour is a weekly clean energy headline review and commentary podcast brought to you by Tim Montague and yours truly – the CommercialSolarGuy – John Fitzgerald Weaver. First of course, here’s the podcast – Episode 33! Now, to the news! Hydrogen-powered drives for e-scooters …this advance is really something significant. One argument against hydrogen…
Read MoreWhat does a commercial solar panel system cost – free government research series
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released their U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmark: Q1 2020. The document is a bottom up review of the costs to build solar power plants of all sizes, and for the first time – it includes energy storage. Bottom up means…
Read MoreValue of solar up to 51¢/kWh, Texas power grid collapse, and more! Episode #32
The Clean Power Hour is a weekly clean energy headline review and commentary podcast brought to you by Tim Montague and yours truly – the CommercialSolarGuy – John Fitzgerald Weaver. First of course, here’s the podcast – Episode 32! Now, to the news! Tim likes drone videos … and now – we like drone videos. The Tesla…
Read MoreCommercial battery testing: some like it hot!
Lithium ion batteries are going to be deployed in massive volumes going forward globally. DNV GL tests those batteries to allow groups like 8Minute Energy to better model the technical, and thus financial, performance of those batteries. DNV GL’s most recent 2050 projections suggest 3 TWh of lithium ion globally, and 5.4 TWh of long…
Read MoreSolar power after sunset, Amazon’s EV, 564% ROI, more! Episode #31
The Clean Power Hour – a weekly clean energy headline review and commentary podcast run by Tim Montague, and yours truly – the CommercialSolarGuy – John Fitzgerald Weaver. First of course, here’s the podcast – Episode 31! Now, to the news! Musk offers $100M for carbon capturing X-Prize Ok, so if we’re going to extract…
Read MoreSolar cell efficiency record, but a product delayed
On December 21, 2020 OxFord PV announced that they set a new record for a perovskite-silicon tandem research solar cell at 29.52%. The perovskite cell was placed atop a monoPERC NType silicon solar cell. This efficiency percentage broke the very recently set record of 29.15% by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, who had just announced their solar cell…
Read MoreClean energy storage everywhere, the promise of HVDC, Elon’s $100M carbon capture, & more! Podcast #30
The Clean Power Hour – a weekly clean energy headline review and commentary podcast run by Tim Montague, and yours truly – the CommercialSolarGuy – John Fitzgerald Weaver. First of course, here’s the podcast – Episode 30! Now, to the news! Elon Musk announces he’ll donate $100 million toward the best carbon capture technology. As…
Read MoreCorporate solar = utility solar = rooftop solar, both growing and shrinking
The commercial and industrial solar market is broad – from a few panels on a storage facility, to a 500 acre solar power facility built to feed a Colorado steel mill, to the largest solar facilities in the world signing virtual power purchase agreements (PPA) to offset electricity usage hundreds of miles away. Big solar…
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