UK government supports solar for Africa, slashes subsidies at home

I received two interesting press releases over the weekend.

The first, from Power for All—a campaign aiming for universal energy access through renewables—was jubilant: Power for All receives UK support for Africa's poor to achieve energy access through distributed renewables. The second, from UK solar installer Solarcentury, not so much:Government’s proposed £7m budget for solar equivalent to subsidising Hinkley Point for just two days (Hinkley Point refers to anew, massively subsidized and Chinese-built nuclear reactor in the works for South West England).

With the UK's Department for International Development throwing its weight behind solar for rural communities in Africa, you'd think the government would also be pushing renewables as the wave of the future at home too. After all, from Morocco targeting 50% renewables within the next 5 years and the world's biggest utility breaking up with fossil fuels, there does appear to be increasing momentum behind a decarbonization of the world's energy system. What government could possibly want to be left behind?

Read more here.

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.

Low-income Woodland farming families go solar

Like many Americans, Alex Hernandez lost his home and his job in the aftermath of the recession. The former contractor, now truck driver, has four kids, and his paycheck goes to them.

Hernandez lives in a four-bedroom apartment with his family in a Woodland complex, but it's not like the other apartment buildings -- this one is 100 percent solar powered.

That means big savings for Hernandez and everyone else who lives here.

"I went from 257 bucks a month to $7," Hernandez said. "And, I have my A/C on all day!"

Sounds too good to be true, but it's not. It's called Mutual Housing at Spring Lake. It's a community built specifically for low-income farm workers and their families. Their rent is reduced, and so is the utility bill thanks to solar panels built on the rooftops.

Read more here.

Report Documents Walmart Heirs' Efforts to Destroy Rooftop Solar Revolution

"The Waltons’ money is limiting average Americans’ ability to go solar and control their own energy future," environmental group says

The Walton family—who, as heirs to the Walmart fortune, have more wealth than 42 percent of American families combined—are impeding the nation's transition to a clean energy future, a new study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) finds.

"The Waltons claim to have a deep commitment to sustainability, but their support for anti-solar initiatives tells a different story," said Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher at ILSR and author of How the Walton Family is Threatening America's Clean Energy Future(pdf). "The Waltons are investing in efforts that both undercut clean energy and prevent average Americans from benefiting economically from solar power."

The report reveals that since 2010, the Waltons have donated $4.5 million to more than 20 organizations, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Americans for Prosperity, and the American Enterprise Institute, which are leading state campaigns against clean energy polices such as those that encourage utilities to source a share of their electricity from renewables or allow customers with rooftop solar systems to feed any excess electricity they produce back into the grid and be paid the going retail rate for it.

One such organization, the Goldwater Institute for Public Policy in Arizona, has received half a million in Walton Family Foundation grants and insists "there is no such thing as clean energy." The Goldwater Institute has sued to overturn the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard policy, which mandates that utilities rely on renewable energy for some of their power and also says that a portion of this power must come from small-scale local sources, such as rooftop solar.

Read more: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/10/10/report-documents-walmart-heirs-efforts-destroy-rooftop-solar-revolution

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