distributed generation
-
When is it time to break up with your utility?
Boulder ends its franchise agreement with Xcel Energy and looks into independent, renewable options instead.
-
For U.S. electricity, bigger isn't better
The United States doesn't need another nuclear or coal power plant. It's time to abandon our 20th-century electricity system for wind and solar power.
-
New York City's massive solar opportunity
Solar power on New York City rooftops would provide half the city's peak power and lower residents' electricity bills.
-
Feds running a high-voltage gravy train for power transmission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gives bonus incentives for outdated and costly systems of energy transmission at the expense of ratepayers.
-
Value of solar power far exceeds its cost
Solar power has a monetary value as much as 10 times higher than its energy value.
-
Do we have to choose between big or small clean energy projects?
The choice comes from the reality that financial resources are limited, the system of regulations and incentives are skewed toward big, centralized solutions, and choosing one strategy (long-distance transmission of centralized generation) necessarily reduces the money available and future prospects for expanded distributed generation.
-
Smaller generation incites largest renewable energy gains
While seeming counterintuitive, a focus on smaller-scale distributed generation enables more and faster development of cost-effective renewable energy. In April, I wrote about the illusion that we can “move forward on all fronts” in renewable energy development; rather, a bias toward centralized electricity generation in U.S. policy reduces the potential and resources for distributed generation. […]
-
Solar PV gets grid parity for 78 million Americans with 'balance of system' best practices
Cutting non-module solar photovoltaic (PV) costs with best design practices could make solar PV cost less than grid electricity for more than 25 percent of Americans. Half of the installed cost of a solar PV array is the solar module, but the other half (the “balance of system”) involves labor, assembly, and other components. With […]
-
Distributed solar approaches grid parity
This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Grid parity is an approaching target for distributed solar power, and can be helped along with smarter electricity pricing policy. Consider a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed in Los Angeles. A local buying group negotiated […]