Where are all the renewable energy posts?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Many posts in the past and none recently... but there has been some great news lately for the US:

In 2012 the US was #1 in new wind power installations (after two down years), though almost tied with China. These two countries accounted for 60% of world installations last year.

in 2012 The US installed more solar than in 2011, 2010, and 2009 combined.. and 2013 is projected to beat 2012 by a full GW.. The first quarter was 33% above last years record first quarter.

For the first quarter of 2013 the US was actually close to Germany is new Solar installations (775mw to 723mw)

Nine of the Top ten largest current Solar projects under development are in the US

In 2016 the US is forecast to install over 9 GW of new installations..

http://www.gwec.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GWEC-PRstats-2012_english.pdf

http://www.seia.org/research-resources/solar-industry-data

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/germany-installs-775-mw-of-pv-in-q1-2013_100010887/#axzz2ZQ2WEXX1

Not perfect but meh.. looking a lot better.

Forbes article:

Solar Power Soars in United States;

The United States added a staggering 3.3 gigawatts of solar power capacity in 2012, according to a new report by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association.

To put the scale of solar power’s rapid and relentless expansion in perspective, the solar power capacity added in 2012 was greater than all of the solar power capacity added for the three previous years combined. If you’re not impressed yet, consider the swell of super-sized solar energy projects scheduled to come online in the US over the next few years.

Indeed, nine of the top 10 largest solar power projects currently under development are located in the US, according to SolarPlaza.

First Solar, the Tempe, AZ-based solar manufacturing giant, is developing three of the largest solar power farms in the world currently under construction – the Topaz Solar Farm in San Luis Obispo County, CA, the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in Riverside County, CA, and the Agua Caliente Solar Project in Yuma County, AZ. These three projects alone will have a combined capacity of nearly one and a half gigawatts of electric power when they are completed.

Like First Solar, Sempra Generation and SunPower also have mega scale solar projects in the pipeline in California and Arizona.

The surge in solar power capacity deployed in 2012 is not surprising given the history of global investments in solar energy over the past decade. From 2004 to 2007, global private sector investment in solar energy increased nearly twenty-fold, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This investment trajectory and the resulting market expansion has driven down costs across the solar supply chain and made it considerably cheaper to generate electricity with solar technologies than it was previously.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2013/03/15/solar-power-soars-in-united-states-top-10-solar-projects-under-construction/

[GandD 5,966]

This is normally Steven's area.

Encouraging numbers though. I'm sure there are some negative environmental impacts even with solar

Edited July 18, 2013 by GandD