Solar power installations suck away the light of the sun

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The council of the US town of woodland rejected the installation of a small solar array along of Highway 258 by reasoning that those photo-voltaic installations suck away the light of the sun but not only that.

Had it been in Texas I might have understood it better considering that one of the Lone Star State's lawmakers things along the same light as regards to solar and when it comes to wind turbines then, according to him, we have to be really careful as those stop the wind from blowing in the end – as wind is a limited resource – and eventually will stop the Earth from spinning.

But back to Woodland, NC.

Woodland is a sleepy little town nestled in the open spaces of North Carolina. It has 388 inhabitants and between the white farmhouses the Highway 258 snakes along. Along this highway, at the verges, the 21st century was meant to arrive in the form of a solar array. For the inhabitants of the little town a nightmare.

The company – Strata Solar Company – applied to be permitted to install a solar farm along Highway 258 but after protest were raised by the community against those plans the council of Woodland refused to grant permission.

In a town hall meeting residents could voice their objections before council made its decision and enables us a view into this strange way of thinking by many and not just in that community in the USA.

Solar farms as plant killers

A spokesperson for the citizenship called Bobby Mann stated the fear that solar panels would suck up all the energy of the sun. His wife Jane told the audience that she had seen areas where around solar arrays all plants had died because they no longer could get enough sunlight. A former teacher who used to teach science expounded her theory that plants could not longer photosynthesize because there would not be enough sun.

Furthermore, she said, the clusters of cancers in the area could be not coincidence. No one could tell that solar panels were not causing cancer. They did, she stated.

Others claimed that properties near solar arrays would become worthless and would turn the place into a ghost town as everyone would be moving away.

Strata Solar Company tried to counter those arguments and stated – rightly so – that solar panels are only using the light that reaches them and that, on no account, are they cancer causing. But to no avail. The council voted three to one against granting permission for this small solar farm.

Unfortunately the attitude of many lawmakers in the US government is about the same. They too believe that solar panel make the sun go dark and that wind turbines suck all the wind and might even stop the Earth from spinning. No, I am not joking.

© 2018

Enviros, Tea Partiers, and the Christian Coalition all agree: Florida needs more rooftop solar

There’s an increasingly energetic fight brewing in Florida — one that has odd battle lines, bringing Tea Party activists and environmentalists together against monopoly utilities and big-money right-wing groups like Americans for Prosperity, and turning city governments against neighboring city governments.

The issue at stake? Whether state law should be amended to allow organizations other than utilities to sell electricity, which would clear the way for more rooftop solar power.

Florida is one of only five states in the country that actively bars third parties from selling electricity. (Another 20-plus states don’t explicitly bar it, but don’t allow it either — what this means for solar companies is unclear, one group that tracks the issue told PolitiFact.) So Floridian homeowners aren’t allowed to buy energy from companies that install solar panels on their roofs.

The state’s utilities, at the moment, only draw 1 percent of their electricity from solar, despite the fact that the state ranks third in the country in terms of potential to generate solar energy, and despite the fact that solar energy has become cost competitive with fossil fuels and is often a safer investment for utilities.

Read more here.

UK solar growth stalls following government subsidy cuts

Large solar power farm development largely stopped following April cuts, new figures show, and smaller farms will be hit next

The amount of solar power being installed in the UK has largely flatlined since the closure by the government of a subsidy scheme in April, even before a new round of subsidy cuts has taken effect.

Official figures released on Thursday show that large-scale solar farm developers rushed to connect to the grid in March to get in before the government excluded farms larger than 5MW, enough to power 2,500 homes, from its renewable obligation (RO) scheme.

But installations largely trickled to a halt after April, when the payments were stopped for new farms.

Read more here.

This should come as no surprise to anyone and was the aim of the game of the Tory regime under David Cameron. Having said that we must also consider that large solar farms, in the same as large wind farms, will not cut the mustard as to getting off fossil fuel and nuclear energy. Renewables themselves will not permit us to continue with “business as usual” and hoping that we can grow the economy – a stupid idea anyway – at the same time. We must reduce our electricity consumption and also have every home and building to be a power generating plant. But they don’t want that either. Their agenda is more nuclear power. Ed.

Peru to Provide Free Solar Power to its 2 Million Poorest Citizens

The country of Peru is looking to provide free electricity to over 2 million of its poorest citizens by harvesting energy from the sun. Energy and Mining Minister Jorge Merino said that the National Photovoltaic Household Electrification Program will provide electricity to poor households through the installation of photovoltaic panels.

The first part of the program aims to provide solar systems to 500,000 extremely poor households in areas that lack even basic access to the power grid. Unsurprisingly, it is a massive opportunity for domestic solar installers, and Merino has said that bidding for the contract will open later this year to fix the rest of the panels.

The project was first started in Contumaza, a province in the northeastern region of Cajamarca, where 1,601 solar panels were installed. The energy minister has said that when the project is finished, the scheme will allow 95% of Peru to have access to electricity by the end of 2016.

Read more: http://inhabitat.com/peru-solar-power-program-aims-to-give-electricity-to-the-countrys-2-million-poorest-citizens/

Australia Scientists Print Cheap Solar Panels Onto Flexible Plastic

Australian solar power scientists have developed a cheap and fast way to print solar cells onto plastic — plastic that can be used to cover an iPad or tint the windows covering a skyscraper.

Using organic solar ink and a new printer, a consortium of scientists from Australian universities can now print solar collectors onto flexible pages of PET plastic 16 inches long by 12 inches wide.

“It’s very cheap. The way in which it looks and works is quite different to conventional silicon rooftop solar,” said senior research scientist Dr Fiona Scholes. “Connecting our solar panels is as simple as connecting a battery.”

Read more: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/australia-scientists-print-cheap-solar-panels-onto-flexible-plastic/

UK landfill sites to become solar farms

A couple of key players in the UK's waste and renewable energy sectors have agreed a deal to transform large landfill sites into solar power farms, generating energy for the National Grid.

National recycling and waste management firm SITA UK has partnered with Somerset-based British Solar Renewables to make best use of capped landfill sites that are no longer accepting waste material.

"Following the tendering process, we're very pleased to be able to announce that BSR have been selected to pursue these exciting projects, which will help us to extract the maximum energy value from our capped landfill estate," said SITA's general manager for landfill Geraint Rees.

"This renewable energy technology will complement the existing energy plants operated on a number of our landfill sites, which contribute a significant amount of sustainable energy to the National Grid by capturing landfill gases."

SITA already generates sustainable energy from its capped landfill sites by extracting methane gas. But with this partnership, BSR will now conduct a comprehensive assessment of SITA's landfill estate over the coming months and will shortlist a number of sites that it considers to be suitable for potential solar farm development.

Energy crisis

BSR's business development director Giles Frampton said: "I am delighted that a company of the stature of SITA UK chose BSR to pursue these renewable energy projects on its portfolio of brownfield development sites.

"We look forward to working closely with SITA UK over the coming months and ensuring that, jointly, we help to mitigate the looming energy crisis that is currently facing the UK."

Once the suitable sites have been selected, development on the individual sites will be subject to planning permission from the relevant local authorities and consultation with any local residents where applicable. Any future planning applications will be pursued directly by BSR.

Source: http://www.edie.net/

Häuser können eigene Kraftwerke zur Stromerzeugung sein

Eigene Energie vom Dach des Hauses zur Eigenversorgung

Industrie erzeugt eigenen Strom

Mit dem Anstieg der Energiepreise erhöhen sich meist auch Ihre Energie-, Strom- und Lebenshaltungskosten. Mit einer Investition in Solar und Photovoltaik haben Sie ein höheres Maß an Kontrolle über Ihre Energiekosten, da Sie Ihre eigene, saubere Energie auf Ihrem Dach erzeugen. Zusätzlich wollen Sie mit Ihrem durch Photovoltaik erzeugten Sonnenstrom speichern. Wichtig dabei: Sie möchten sich von steigenden Strompreisen unabhängig machen. Sie möchten die Stromnetze entlasten und die Energiewende Realität werden lassen. Mit einem Sonnenspeicher macht die PV-Anlage heute richtig Sinn. Sie produzieren nicht nur selber Ihren Strom, sondern können ihn auch selbst nutzen. Sie werden unabhängig von den immer mehr steigenden Stromkosten. Ohne Stromspeicher produzieren Sie schnell mehr eigenen Strom als Sie verbrauchen können. Sie müssen ihn dann verkaufen oder ins öffentliche Netz abgeben. Denn meist sind Sie tagsüber nicht zuhause und verbrauchen da natürlich auch weniger Strom.

Abends, nach der Arbeit, laufen meistens Haushaltsgeräte, Fernseher, Computer, dann müssten Sie zukaufen. Und das wird zunehmend teuer. Mit Stromspeicher können Sie Ihren selbst erzeugten Strom dann nutzen, wenn Sie ihn brauchen und minimieren den zusätzlichen Verbrauch aus dem öffentlichen Netz. Das lohnt sich nicht nur für Ihren Geldbeutel, sondern auch für die Umwelt. Es gibt bereits heute Speichersysteme mit Intelligenz, weil er den Eigenbedarf optimiert und möglichen Fremdbedarf auf das erreichbare Minimum reduziert. Er koppelt Ihr eigenes Selbstversorger-Netz komplett vom öffentlichen Netz ab und bei wirklichen Bedarf macht er die Tür wieder auf. Ein wichtiger Vorteil ist auch die einfache Installation. Er muss nur mit Photovoltaik und Stromnetz verbunden werden. Und schon ist er betriebsbereit. Dabei ist es egal ob Sie ein Einfamilienhaus, Landwirtschaft oder Gewerbebetrieb haben. Eine weitere Kombination ist auch der Anschluss einer Warmwasser- oder Heizungswärmepumpe, so kann der kostbar erzeugte Strom optimal genutzt und natürlich auch gespeichert werden.

iKratos aus Weissenohe führt derzeit in der Metropolregion Nürnberg Fürth und Erlagen eine Kennenlern Aktion durch. Die 1 KWp PV Anlage knapp unter 2000 Euro kann 900 KWh pro Jahr erzeugen, genug um 1/4 der Rechnung des Stromversorgers zu kürzen. EU-Beschluss: Gebäude müssen ab 2019 ihre Energie selbst produzieren.

Um den Klimawandel nachhaltig zu bekämpfen, will die EU bis 2020 die Treibhausgase um 20 Prozent senken, ebenso den Energieverbrauch. In der Verbesserung der Energieeffizienz von Gebäuden sieht das Europäische Parlament enormes Potential und hat deshalb am Donnerstag eine novellierte Richtlinie für Energieeffizienz in Gebäuden verabschiedet. Alle Gebäude die nach 2018 gebaut werden, sollen dabei ihre eigene Energie produzieren. Die EU-Mitgliedsstaaten müssen nach der neuen Verordnung bis zum 31. Dezember 2018 sicherstellen, dass alle neu gebauten Gebäude so viel Energie erzeugen wie sie gleichzeitig verbrauchen, etwa mittels Sonnenkollektoren oder Wärmepumpen. Schon jetzt sollten die Mitgliedsstaaten nationale Pläne entwickeln, um die Zahl der “Netto-Nullenergiegebäude” zu erhöhen. Zudem sollen die Regierungen festlegen, wie hoch der Anteil der Null-Energiehäuser bei bestehenden Gebäuden für die Jahre 2015 bis 2020 sein soll. Hierbei sollen vor allem öffentliche Einrichtungen eine Vorreiterrolle einnehmen.

Bei Gebäuden, die einer größeren Renovierung unterzogen werden – wenn die Renovierungskosten 20 Prozent des Gebäudewertes übersteigen -, müssen die neuen Gebäudeteile wie Fenster oder Energieversorgungssysteme mindestens den bestehenden Anforderungen der Energieeffizienzbestimmungen entsprechen. Dafür sollten auch entsprechende Fördermaßnahmen zur Verfügung stehen, beispielsweise für den Einbau Erneuerbarer-Energie-Systeme. So soll bis spätestens 2014 ein Energieeffizienz-Fonds eingerichtet werden, der private und öffentliche Investitionen zur Erhöhung der Energieeffizienz von Gebäuden unterstützt.

Zudem sollen die Beihilfen zur Förderung der Energieeffizienz aus dem Fond für regionale Entwicklung “signifikant” angehoben werden. Das EP fordert die Europäische Kommission zudem auf, eine gemeinsame Methode zur Berechnung der Gesamtenergieeffizienz von Gebäuden bis zum 31. März 2010 zu erstellen. Um einen besseren Überblick zu gewährleisten, soll eine gemeinsame europäische Website mit allen geltenden Rechtsvorschriften eingerichtet werden.

Over 50% of Germany's renewable energy is owned by citizens & farmers, not utility companies

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Sometimes, while not liking them for other reasons, I must wonder as to whether Germany and the Germans are some of the only ones, if not indeed THE only ones, who actually get green and eco properly.

A solar complex in Bavaria, southern Germany

Germany's promotion of renewable energy rightly gets singled out for its effectiveness, most often by me as an example of how to do things well versus the fits and starts method of promotion common in the USA and even the UK.

There is another interesting facet of the German renewable energy saga: 51% of all renewable energy in Germany is owned by individual citizens or farms, totaling $100 billion worth of private investment in clean energy.

When one breaks that down into its components, that is to say, solar power and wind power, then the figures are that 50% of Germany's solar PV is owned by individuals and farms, while 54% of its wind power is held by the same groups.

While the UK has a serious load of wind turbines most of them, however, are not privately or farm owned but are owned by the electricity generating companies, with only a few farms holding such as private possession. Private wind and solar PV installations are rarely coming up in calculations, especially not the individual homes and farms.

In total there's roughly 17 GW of solar PV installed in Germany – versus roughly 3.6 GW in the US (based on SEIA's figures for new installations though the third quarter of 2011 plus the 2.6 GW installed going into the year) and recent figures for the UK are just a little above 6 GW (given by Renewables UK in January 2012). This is for a country which, I am sure, has more wind than Germany, though still, considering our sizes, better than the USA.

Germany now produces slightly over 20% of all its electricity from renewable sources and proves that those things can be done. The real stupid thing is that every time that countries, such as Germany, and their achievements in the real of renewable energy as well as recycling, etc., are pointed out the British government goes into turtle mode, pulling its head into its shell and proclaiming that that cannot work in Britain and Britain is different to all those other countries where it can be done.

The main thing though, other than the huge lead in solar PV installations Germany has over the US, thanks to good policy, and the fact that so much wind power isn't owned by utilities, is what slightly over half of renewable energy being owned not by corporations but by actual biological people mean. Namely an obvious democratic shift in control of resources and a break from the way electricity and energy has been produced over the past century.

This is a good thing indeed and is leads to decentralized power generation, more re-localization and re-regionalization of economic activity, the world getting smaller while more connected and therefore in a way bigger at the same time... taking a step backwards, and perhaps sideways, while moving forwards.

In “Small is beautiful” small power stations for every village were being advocated rather than large corporation owned ones and we must get down to that level.

It is also a much more resilient system in that the entire grid cannot be knocked for six by this or that incident when the entire country has small, personal or community owned power generating plants, whether wind, PV, or biomass.

© 2012

Solar power lights African nights

Burkina Faso student teacher Hema Cecile has a lot more time to crack the books thanks to a recent initiative from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The launch of the Lighting Africa program (www.lightingafrica.org) by the two organizations this year has made it possible for Cecile to swap kerosene lamps for a solar-powered LED lantern.

That means she and a thousand other households in the town of Dedougou - which lies more than 200 km (124 miles) west of the capital Ouagadougou - can extend hours of study, reading or leisure without cutting back on other things.

Cecile lives in the world's second poorest country, where the choice to keep a light on at night means sacrificing resources for necessities such as food, heat, power and shelter.

The LED lights consume almost no power, and can keep shining all night if required. That should mean a more productive, better educated, wealthier population - a virtuous circle of reduced energy use and increased economic activity.

Cecile, 23, is in her final year of teaching studies at the University of Ouagadougou and shares a single room with another student in a three-apartment building.

"There is no electricity, and the drinking water is from the local fountain," she said when she spoke with the reporter on a mobile phone lent her by a friend.

Her only power is from the solar panel built into her lantern, which she bought for a subsidized price of $20.

Lighting Africa is a $12 million project which intends to bring light to the poorest regions across sub-Saharan Africa. The program works with the lighting industry to develop clean, affordable lighting and energy solutions for millions without access to electric grids.

Its aim is to accelerate the market and to develop education programs that inform off-grid populations currently dependent on costly, inefficient and hazardous fuel-based lighting about modern alternatives.

Cecile used to spend $3-4 a month on kerosene for her lamp. That is a large proportion of her earnings - like 70 percent of the population she lives on less than $2 a day.

"I can work later at night - its good for my studies; I can read a book," said Cecile.

In the weeks since buying her lantern she has managed to read four books including Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and Emile Zola's Germinal.

She is among the most learned in a society which has the world's lowest literacy rate, according to a 2007 UN Human Development Report. When she graduates next year she will teach in a local Junior school.

She makes ends meet by holiday jobs as a cleaner and an IT trainer. To earn her daily ration of cornmeal she does shifts from May to September in a corn field.

Her solar lantern is made and distributed by CB Energie which won an open competition to be awarded the contract.

"We have just started to make these lanterns in Burkina Faso and sold about 3,000 so far," said Arnaud Chabanne a French engineer who founded the company.

The lanterns are designed to look like the kerosene ones they are replacing in order to increase adoption among the population. Each has a small solar panel on the top and costs an average $30, although some cost $100, depending on the size of the battery and the number of LED lights it contains.

Because of the large number of sunlight hours in Burkina Faso, the lamps can be relied on to work whenever needed. The battery life is 2-4 years, and can be replaced once they lose their storage capacity. The LED lights last 5-10 years.

Cecile had tried another solar lantern before she was given one by CB Energie, but "it did not last long each night' she said.

CB Energie has distributed the lanterns to about seven percent of the Dedougou area's 15,000 households, and will continue until every needy household has one.

"Petrol is expensive," said Chabanne, "so they can take this money for other things like food, or medicine."

Although it is barely out of its trial period the project, Chabanne said there are signs the project is a boon for the population in areas other than household savings and education.

"There are fewer people reporting eye problems to the local hospital."

Source: Reuters