The International Solar Energy Society (ISES) Solar World Congress may be an international event, but this year, Mexico stole the show. Not only was it hosted by the Asociación Nacional de Energía Solar (ANES)—Mexico’s leading solar association—in Cancun this...
Author:
Mark Liffmann
Reflections on SPI: 3 signs the solar industry is maturing
Each year, Solar Power International (SPI) gives us the opportunity to take stock of the U.S. solar industry. This year’s event, held in Chicago Oct. 21-24, was no different. The 2013 version of “North America’s premier business-to-business event for professionals in...
California Solar Initiative at 85% of MW goal (and how we helped them get there)
It’s a remarkable achievement that in just seven years, the California Solar Initiative (CSI) has reported an estimated 1,629 megawatts (MW) of solar PV has been committed. That is a whopping 85% of its goal to install 1,940 MW of solar by the end of 2016 in...
Solar trends hold strong at Intersolar 2013
Those of us from Clean Power Research who attended this year’s Intersolar North America in San Francisco were pleasantly surprised to find a robust show. Although Intersolar is always well planned and executed, drawing the best companies from all over the world, many...
Georgia blazing new trails with its value-based FiT
California and New Jersey are known for solar policy innovation, while the states of the Southeast have tended to stay on the sidelines despite having abundant sunshine. Until now, that is. Georgia is quickly emerging as a solar power innovator. Over the past 12...
Department of Energy’s aggressive fight against solar soft costs
Clean Power Research recently attended a U.S. Department of Energy workshop focused on solar soft cost reduction. We came away impressed by the DOE SunShot team’s clear focus on the right problem. While the cost of modules was once the dominant component of...
Top 2013 trends part 2: the NEM debate
Last week we identified the first of three big trends for the solar industry in 2013: soft cost reduction. This week, we look at the next big trend: a re-evaluation of net energy metering (NEM). While discussions about NEM aren’t new, they’ll be accelerating in 2013....
Top trends to watch in 2013: solar soft cost reduction
Over the next few weeks, we’ll share our views of the top three trends to watch for in the U.S. solar market (focusing on the PV market; apologies to the solar thermal folks reading). This week, we look at the first trend: soft cost reduction. It’s no secret that...
LADWP doubles solar generation capacity with streamlined incentive processing
The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) – the nation’s largest municipal utility – processed 400% more solar incentives in the 2011-2012 fiscal year after implementing a new, more efficient program management solution from Black & Veatch and Clean...