The Latest Solar Energy News

I suscribe to a variety of renewable energy publications, now and then attend a solar conference and have an office amidst world class scholars in this field. I'll today touch on a few Renewable Energy News ("REN") highlights:"

* Last week I posted on: THE SELLING OF HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES. NextEra of Florida was the purchaser, and I noted that it is especially anti-distributed solar. So a title such as What's Really at Stake in the Florida Solar Battle caught my attention. The article begins with a statement that solar panels on homes and businesses in Florida are not coming. First, the Florida Public Service Commission voted to end all solar rebate programs after next year. Said Mike Anthell, director the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association,...the people who sell us our electricity are understandably motivated to be sure we don't produce our own electricity". The utilities have done a great job of stacking the Commission, which is siding with the power generators against distributed generation. All NextEra has to do is to insure that only two Hawaii Public Utilities Commissions are with them. Said MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: "In the Sunshine State they have decided they are agains the Sun". I might add, again, that NextEra has a point: large wind and solar farms are a lot more cost effective than residential systems.

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* Editors from RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD AND POWER ENGINEERING" selected the 2014 Renewable Energy Project of the Year: the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. The system, located in the Mohave Desert, 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas, and the largest of it s kind in the world, was built for 2.2 billion, generating almost 400 MW at peak. It was supposed to be 440 MW, but they decided not to challenge the desert tortoise. Are they worth 48 MW?

Click on that article and read the comments. There are

always people, sometimes planted by the fossil and nuclear

industries, quibbling about something."

* Want to know who are the top 100 power people in wind energy? Well, you can buy the 2014 report for 156. This latest REN issue indicates:

* #1 last year was Henrik Poulsen (right") of DONG Energy. DONG is the abbreviation of a Danish natural gas organization.
* The top five were from Europe.
* Forty four are new to the list.
* There are now eight women, as opposed to six last year.

"If you'd like to read the full Top 100 Power People in Wind 2014 report, visit www.awordaboutwind.com and sign up for a free one-month trial. The first ten people to sign up then email the team on membership@awordaboutwind.com will receive a copy of the report."

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