Optibiz, California

08/24/2017

Solar energy has been on the rise, and based on new data from GTM Research, it could rival nuclear energy in terms of global capacity by the end of 2017.

Solar’s steady rate of growth shows no signs of slowing.

07/10/2017

Research analysts at Morgan Stanley believe that renewable energy like solar and wind power are hurtling towards a level of ubiquity where not even politics can hinder them. Renewable energy is simply becoming the cheapest option, fast.
“We project that by 2020, renewables will be the cheapest form of new-power generation across the globe,” with the exception of a few countries in Southeast Asia, the Morgan Stanley analysts said in a report published Thursday.

Morgan Stanley research forecasts renewables will by 2020 be the cheapest new energy source, almost everywhere in the world.

06/02/2017

"Today, we passed the most ambitious target in the world to expand clean energy and put Californians to work," said Senate Leader Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles.

California took a major step in ditching fossil fuels after the state Senate passed a ...

04/16/2017

On March 11th, 2017 the California power grid broke 50% solar power for the first time – when considering ALL sources of solar power in the state.

According to the EIA, California solar power has been driving wholesale electricity rates towards – and sometimes below – $0/MWh – and on March 11th total solar power production b…

03/23/2017

For now, the researchers agree, more research is needed to evaluate the most cost-effective resource mix for deep decarbonization.

A new literature review argues keeping some nuclear and CCS on the system could be more cost-effective than relying solely on renewable energy resources for decarbonization.

02/28/2017

"The Zero Net Energy Home Ordinance expands upon Lancaster’s residential solar ordinance so that new homes built in Lancaster now will not only be environmentally friendly, but have a zero net impact on our environment, while reducing energy costs for the homeowners," said Republican Mayor R. Rex Parris in a statement. "This is a great stride in Lancaster’s journey to become a Zero Net City.”

The eager solar adopter city beat the state to the punch.

01/24/2017

We don’t look back at the internet transformation from analog to digital and think, “Wow, that was slow and cost a ton of money. We should have stuck with the typewriter and landline.” Fact is, it was blazingly fast and driven by those who understood the spend as leveraged investment, not cost center.

Likewise, the move to clean energy will seem fast and prudent as solar and energy storage continue to scale, smart cities accelerate and prices continue their fall.

If you’re not paying attention to what’s going on in energy, you should. We’ve seen this movie before. Spoiler alert: There’s massive economic..

01/13/2017

It appears Elon Musk’s revolutionary company is once again raising the bar for corporate sustainability.

Tesla plans to power their Nevada Gigafactory with a 70-megawatt rooftop solar farm, which would be the world's largest solar rooftop installation.

01/03/2017

We’re seeing a new reality where solar is the lowest-cost source of energy, and I don’t see an end in sight in terms of the decline in costs - Enviromena’s Khoreibi.

In some parts of the world, it's already less expensive than coal.

01/02/2017

Wishing everyone a year of success. May you reach your destination and may your journey be wonderful.
Happy New Year!

12/19/2016

Outdated regulations are preventing small solar plug-and-play systems from competing in the electric market. A federal rule making plug-and-play legal nationally would wipe away hundreds of these conflicting regulations, and allow U.S. consumers to save much more on their electric bills. It would also boost the energy capacity of the solar industry and provide U.S. retailers with a new source of sales revenue. It certainly looks like good business.

11/04/2016

This week, we hop around to a few U.S. states where there’s been a lot of action: Nevada, California and Florida.
In Nevada, we’ll look at the continued fallout after the decision to end net metering last December.
In California, we’ll discuss the unprecedented amount of activity on climate and energy at the end of the legislative session.
And in Florida, we’ll talk about the ballot initiative battle that has pitted the state’s utilities against a broad coalition of solar supporters.

As summer winds down, state solar debates heat up. This week, The Energy Gang looks at three important markets.