Happy Fourth of July From SGE Solar!
Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday 🙂
By Danica Bergmann
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Californians take a shine to solar power
By Jocelyne Zablit
July 2, 2017
Read the original article Here
Jacquie Barnbrook had grown tired of the high electricity bills and her gas-guzzling luxury car when she finally decided to take the plunge last year.
The 52-year-old Los Angeles resident joined an ever-growing number of Californians who are switching to solar power for their energy needs in a bid to not only save money but to also do their part for the environment in a state setting the pace for the rest of the country in that sector.
“At this time of year, my power and water bills usually were around $400 a month,” Barnbrook said. “Right now, it’s $150 a month.”
As for her vehicle, Barnbrook said she ditched it in favor of a hybrid one that she now plugs in and charges at her house.
“I was previously spending $80 dollars on gas every three or four days and now I haven’t put gas in my new car since the beginning of March,” she noted.
“That’s four months ago!”
Nearly 4.9 million homes are powered by solar energy in California—the nation’s green trailblazer and the most populous state—and that number is expected to continue to grow, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a non-profit trade association.
Even President Donald Trump, an avowed sceptic on climate change, is considering putting solar panels on the wall he plans to build on the Mexican border.
Snake oil
Although solar installations have slowed this year due, in part, to a record number of people rushing to sign up in 2016 for fear of losing a tax incentive, the market is expected to continue to grow, especially in places like California which has a plethora of sunny days, experts say.
Driving this expansion is the plummeting cost of solar panels—which were traditionally limited to relatively affluent homeowners—and improving technology on batteries to store energy, they add.
“Right now, we’re in throes of rapid change in the solar industry,” said Rajit Gadh, director of the UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center. “As people process all the information out there and report their success stories and it starts to become mainstream … the momentum will grow.”
He said apart from cost, another reason average consumers have gingerly adopted solar power in recent years was the dizzying number of regulatory hoops they had to go through to get approval from utility companies and a lot of complicated information to process.
Moreover, as demand for the product has surged in the last decade, so have the number of companies—both serious and shady—jostling for a piece of the pie.
“Solar power is confusing and for a long time it really didn’t make a lot of economic sense,” said Ryan Willemsen, CEO and founder of the San Diego-based start-up Solar to the People.
“In California, solar is really getting a snake oil reputation because of some of the unscrupulous folks involved who are pushing solar super hard,” he added. “In San Diego alone, for example, there are over 200 solar operations.”
Ara Petrosyan, CEO and founder of LA Solar Group, a consulting firm, said he believes that once the dust settles and shady companies inevitably go out of business, consumers will be able to make more informed and affordable choices and the sector will take off like “a rocket ship.”
“In five years, so many rules and regulations have been added that you have to be a really good expert to stay in the business,” he said.
He added that a clear sign of where the industry is going is the number of installations—which cost between $15,000 and $20,000 for an average size house—his company is handling.
“When we started in 2012, we did about 10 installations a month,” Petrosyan said. “Today, we do about 120 a month … and it will definitely keep increasing.”
Such projections are good news for a state that has mandated that 50 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy sources, including solar, by 2030.
Solar power is also growing fast in other states, including New York, which look to California as an example.
“The overall industry trend is that the cost of solar panels and other components is going down,” said Willemsen.
“And more and more standard folks are hearing it’s a good idea and once one person in the neighborhood goes solar, more and more follow.”
Exciting new material uses solar energy to remove man-made dye pollutants from water
By Phys.org
June 29, 2017
Read the original article Here
A novel composite material has been developed by scientists in the Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at Swansea University which shows promise as a catalyst for the degradation of environmentally-harmful synthetic dye pollutants, which are released at a rate of nearly 300,000 tonnes a year into the world’s water.
This novel, non-hazardous photocatalytic material effectively removes dye pollutants from water, adsorbing more than 90 % of the dye and enhancing the rate of dye breakdown by almost ten times using visible light.
The researchers, led by Dr. Charles W. Dunnill and Dr. Daniel Jones at the Energy Safety Research Institute in Swansea University, reported their discovery in the Nature open access journal Scientific Reports.
By heating the reaction mixture at high pressures inside a sealed container, the composite is synthesized by growing ultra-thin “nanowires” of tungsten oxide on the surface of tiny particles of tantalum nitride. As a result of the incredibly small size of the two material components – both the tantalum nitride and tungsten oxide are typically less than 40 billionths of a metre in diameter – the composite provides a huge surface area for dye capture.
The material then proceeds to break the dye down into smaller, harmless molecules using the energy provided by sunlight, in a process known as “photocatalytic degradation”. Having removed the harmful dyes, the catalyst may simply be filtered from the cleaned water and reused.
While the photocatalytic degradation of dyes has been investigated for several decades, it is only relatively recently that researchers have developed materials capable of absorbing the visible part of the solar spectrum – other materials, such as titanium dioxide, are also able to break down dyes using solar energy, but their efficiency is limited as they only absorb higher energy, ultra-violet light. By making use of a much greater range of the spectrum, materials such as those used by the ESRI team at Swansea University team are able to remove pollutants at a far superior rate.
Both of the materials used in the study have attracted significant interest in recent years. Tungsten oxide, in particular, is considered one of the most promising materials for a range of photocatalytic applications, owing to its high electrical conductivity, chemical stability and surface activity, in addition to its strong light absorbance. As a low band-gap semiconductor, tantalum nitride is red in colour due to its ability to absorb almost the entire spectrum of visible light, and therefore extracts a high amount of energy from sunlight to power the degradation processes.
However, the true potential of the two materials was only realised once they were combined into a single composite. Due to the exchange of electrons between the two materials, the test dye used within the study was broken down by the composite at around double the rate achieved by tantalum nitride on its own, while tungsten oxide alone was shown to be incapable of dye degradation. In contrast to other leading photocatalytic materials, many of which are toxic to both humans and aquatic life, both parts of the composite are classed as non-hazardous materials.
The scientists responsible for the study believe that their research provides just a taster of the material’s potential. “Now that we’ve demonstrated the capabilities of our composite, we aim to not just improve on the material further, but to also begin work on scaling up the synthesis for real-world application.” said Dr. Jones. “We’re also exploring its viability in other areas, such as the photocatalysed splitting of water to generate hydrogen.”
Summer Movie Night: “Catching The Sun”, a Solar Power Documentary
“Before the Flood” brought all kinds of attention and opinions out of hiding regarding climate change, and spurred an interest and an appetite in the public for environmental filmography; but this Netflix film which premiered in April of 2016 focuses much more specifically on the solar power industry.
Directed and produced by Shalini Kantayya in her film making debut, the film covers a lot of ground in explaining, outlining, and debunking solar energy; it includes a brief history of solar tech in America, as well as a look into solar practices in China, and follows everyone from laborers to politicians to show their respective connections to solar and how it impacts their lives. Best of all, it examines the ideologies behind solar energy- how people assume it will impact the economy, how industries such as oil might continue without solar, how jobs can be created and structured for this upcoming energy field.
In-depth examinations into the solar power industry such as this are a wonderful resource for the general population, to not only help dispel rumors and assumptions but to give a more rounded perspective of how the technology works, how it applies to our economic market, and how it’s influencing the present and the future as well. If you have questions but prefer a more presentation-based format of answers, or just want to inform yourself on this quickly growing industry in the comfort of your home, then this documentary is just about tailor-made for your viewing.
If you liked the overview of “Before the Flood”, but are interested specifically in solar energy and how it has progressed in the United States, I would highly recommend this glimpse into the industry, offering insight and explanation of one of our most plentiful natural resources applied to power the nation.
By Danica Bergmann
Solar energy is taking off
By Skye Borden
June 26, 2017
Read the original article Here
Last week in the Northern Hemisphere, we experienced the longest day of the year, when the sun showers our half of the world with bright and powerful rays of light.
Here in Missoula, that means more sunny hours to run up Rattlesnake, paddle the big wave or lounge outside with a cold local brew. It also serves as a reminder that today, and every day, we should soak up more of those rays of sunlight to power our communities with inexhaustible, pollution-free, solar energy.
It’s no secret that solar energy is taking off faster than ever before. Just in the United States, we have 43 times more solar today than we did 10 years ago — enough to meet the power needs of 8.7 million households.
So, we’re making progress. But of course it hasn’t always been this way. For so long — since the Industrial Revolution, really — we’ve relied on the extraction of old and dirty forms of technically sun-powered energy; long-dead plants and organic materials, pushed back into the earth and later pumped out as oil, gas, coal, and other fossil fuels.
We know now that extracting and burning these fuels for energy not only harms our environment and our health, but threatens the climate and the stability of the planet.
The time has come to move past such finite, dirty and increasingly expensive resources. Certainly we have the technical potential to directly use clean sunlight for nearly all of our energy needs.
In fact, the United States alone could power itself 100 times over just with the solar power that shines within our borders. Studies show that just around 2 percent of our land mass could power the entire country with solar; panels on American rooftops alone could power nearly 40 percent of the country’s energy needs.
The good news is, we’re reaching a tipping point for renewable energy in the U.S and across the world like we’ve never seen before. Ramping up our renewable goals is not a question of resources, science or technology. It is a question of political will. As more and more leaders in cities, companies, institutions and states commit to goals of using 100 percent renewable energy, we’ll only get there sooner and realize more of the benefits to Montana and our society.
Here in Missoula, we applaud Mayor John Engen for pledging committing to implement the Paris Accord. But, we can do even more. We urge leaders like Engen to commit to a 100 percent renewable energy future; a goal we can and must achieve.
So, on the longest day of the year, we should remember this: every minute of sunlight can be harnessed to create renewable energy to power our lives. We can and must meet this challenge. As we continue to use energy more efficiently, ramp up storage of renewable power and scale up our use of clean energy resources, we’ll make our air and water cleaner, and we’ll leave a legacy that we can be proud of.
Immigrant volunteer helps low-income families harness solar energy
By Karla Peterson
June 27, 2017
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It was a sweltering day in San Diego, and the sun was beating down on the roof of the Oak Park house like the sky had turned its high beams on. It was relentlessly bright and extremely hot. Just like Mohamed Hauter likes it.
Hauter is a volunteer with GRID Alternatives San Diego, the local branch of a national nonprofit that provides solar power to low-income families for a very low fee or no fee at all. At least once a week, Hauter takes a day off from his job as a project leader and software manager at Venator Solutions to help install rooftop solar panels on homes all over San Diego County. He makes up the job time by working weekends. The emotional payoff is more of a 24/7 proposition.
“Oh my gosh, solar energy is just beautiful. There are a lot of bounties in nature, and this is one of them,” the 32-year-old Hauter said, as he took a break from the day’s installation, an all-refugee effort coordinated by the Get Charged Up nonprofit group. “I know people, including my parents, who pay as much for their energy bills as they do for their mortgage. If I can help offset that, I can help make them a lot happier.”
Founded 16 years ago in Oakland, GRID Alternatives set up a San Diego outpost in 2008. Since then, the local branch has installed 842 solar systems and trained more than 2,240 participants through its installation training program. Like many of his fellow volunteers, Hauter came to GRID Alternatives because he wanted to learn more about solar technology. He did not expect the windfall of human perks.
Hauter joined GRID Alternatives in 2014. He quickly became part of the Team Leader Program, which gives participants expanded hands-on training and leadership responsibilities, along with experience that counts toward the National American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners professional installer exam. Hauter is proud to say that he recently received his California Solar Contractor’s license, which brings him closer to starting his own solar business. At this point, he could pack up his hard hat and move on. But he won’t.
“I could have stopped two years ago, and I would have been fine with my training,” said Hauter, who lives in Mira Mesa with his wife and their 2 ½-year-old daughter. “I’m still here because I love it. At the end of the day, when you look at the homeowner’s face as we turn on the system and they see their (electrical meter) going backwards, that means a lot. I grew up poor, so this is important to me.”
One of 10 children, Hauter grew up in Yemen. While it was once the center of civilization on the Arabian peninsula, Yemen is now a war-torn country struggling with extreme poverty and devastating famine. When you are living in the poorest country in the Middle East, it doesn’t take much to make you feel lucky. And by the standards of their homeland, the Hauters were lucky.
Hauter’s father was a farmer who split his time between Yemen and a newsstand he had opened in New York City. The kids didn’t have toys, and they didn’t always have shoes. But they had a roof over their heads and food to eat, and when Hauter was in high school, they had the rare chance to start over in much greener pastures.
In 2002, Hauter and his family moved to Fresno. It was a very good time to be out of Yemen and a terrible time to be a Middle Eastern refugee in the United States.
“It was extremely hard,” said Hauter, who could not speak English when he arrived. “Not because of the language barriers, but more because of all of the racism attached to 9/11. I was bullied a lot, and my name didn’t help. Basically, everyone saw a target on our backs, and they treated us as such. Pretty much all of our neighbors refused to communicate with us. My parents still live there, and they don’t know anyone but two of their neighbors.”
The language barrier fell pretty quickly, as Hauter became fluent in English and began studying computer engineering at Fresno State University. He went to school full time while also working nearly 40 hours a week in his father’s mini-mart. The racial barriers were still an issue, but Hauter and his siblings — most of whom are either college graduates or attending college now — would not be derailed by it.
“We just put our heads down and concentrated on the things that mattered,” Hauter said. “They were rough years, but they paid off.”
He came to San Diego in 2007 to take a job at Lockheed Martin. While he was there, Hauter got his master’s in degree in network engineering through an online program with UC Santa Cruz. When Lockheed closed the San Diego office in 2013, Hauter joined Venator Solutions. Then came GRID Alternatives San Diego and the giving-back light that will not go out.
Last year, the organization gave Hauter the Eugene Tucker Award, which was named after a standout volunteer and bestowed upon people who have followed in his generous footsteps.
“Mohamed is a smart person, and he has a very good way of making abstract concepts simple so that everyone can understand them,” said Laura Galavis, GRID San Diego’s assistant project manager. “He is quiet, but he will give you the information if you are eager to learn. And he is a very good guy. Even though he doesn’t really have to keep volunteering with us, he does. He is our right hand and our left hand. He could probably do the whole job by himself.”
Maybe he could, but he wouldn’t want to. As it turns out, the sun is not the only renewable energy source in Hauter’s life.
“In Fresno, a lot of people die of heat exhaustion because they can’t afford to cool their houses, and that’s sad. I would do anything to help people like that,” Hauter said, as he put on his hard hat and headed back to the roof. “When we came to the United States, we were helped by members of the community. They helped me get to where I am now. It’s my turn to give back.”
Malaysia a world leader in manufacturing of solar power technology, says minister
By Wani Muthiah
June 26, 2017
Read the original article Here
ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN: Malaysia is a world leader when it comes to solar power, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
“Malaysia is the second largest manufacturer of photovoltaic modules and the third largest producer of photovoltaic cells in the world,” said Tangau in his speech at the Astana Expo 2017 here on Monday.
He added that four of the world’s top five photovoltaic cell manufacturers are located in Malaysia and said that solar energy is a key contributor to national economic growth due to the nation’s strategic location on the world’s sun belt.
“We recognize that this natural resource is important if we are to be a leader of innovation in green technology,” said Tangau.
Meanwhile, Bioindustrial Bioeconomy Corporation senior vice president Zainal Azman Abu Kassim said in his speech that green innovations were one of the catalysts of sustainability in bio-based industries and the bio-economy.
“Our presence here at the Astana Expo 2017 illustrates how seriously we take green innovations in driving our bio-economy forward while finding solutions for global sustainability issues through cooperation with international players,” he said.
Zainal Azman added that Malaysian companies participating in the Expo were there to foster economic growth through the sharing of innovative technologies, supporting biodiversity and environmental sustainability.
Astana Expo 2017 kicked off on June 10 with the participation of some 100 nations and more than 10 international organisations in various events.
The main theme of the 93-day expo is “Energy of the Future”, which addresses the global problem of energy consumption.
Future Energy: China leads world in solar power production
By Chris Baraniuk
June 22, 2017
Read the original article Here
Ten years ago, Geof Moser had just graduated with a master’s degree in solar energy from Arizona State University – but he didn’t feel much opportunity lay at his feet in his home country.
So he headed for China.
“The solar industry was fairly small and there weren’t a lot of jobs,” he remembers. “Just a few for installation.” But the Chinese government had big ambitions to expand solar and Moser saw his chance.
He spent some years accumulating knowledge about the Chinese solar industry, before co-founding Symtech Solar, which designs solar panel systems using Chinese parts.
Market access
The idea is to make it easy for organisations outside China to access components without the hassle of having to source and assemble lots of different parts.
“You don’t want to buy a car door or a car engine, you want to buy a car,” he explains.
Symtech now has a portfolio of small projects dotted around the world and it is hoping to increase installations in the Middle East, thanks to a new office in Oman.
Moser isn’t the only US entrepreneur who turned to China. Alex Shoer, of Seeder, helped to launch a business that brings solar panels to the roofs of buildings within the country.
He deals with foreign businesses who, say, want to make their Beijing office a little greener. The firm says it has so far erected three megawatts’ worth of solar installations, with another 28 megawatts on the way for various clients.
“We will source the capital to finance, pay for the whole project and then sell the power at a discount,” Shoer says. Again, the model relies on sourcing the right parts at a favourable cost.
These kind of installations are known as “distributed generation” projects, in which electricity is produced on a small scale, at or very near to a specific point of consumption.
Within China, distributed generation is growing at an extraordinary rate, driven in large part by farmers who use the panels to power agricultural equipment that might not be connected to the grid.
Shoer comments that he was attracted by Beijing’s commitment to the solar industry. For years it has encouraged local authorities to do what they can to boostproduction, research and development.
Renewables growth
China’s rapid expansion of renewable energy facilities has since caught headlines around the world.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the country installed more than 34 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2016 – more than double the figure for the US and nearly half of the total added capacity worldwide that year.
Early figures for 2017 show China has added another eight gigawatts in the first quarter alone.
“It’s a huge market,” says Heymi Bahar at the IEA. Most of the world’s solar cells are made in China and Taiwan, he adds – more than 60%.
The impressive scale doesn’t stop there. The largest solar farm in the world – Longyangxia Dam Solar Park, all 30sq km of it – is a Chinese project. And the country recently opened the world’s largest floating solar farm, in Huainan, Anhui Province.
It has been constructed over an old coal mine, which over the years had filled with rainwater. Sungrow, the Chinese firm that provided solar cells for the venture, says its system automatically monitors current and voltage generated by the cells, along with humidity, which can affect their efficiency.
Because of the abundant water nearby, cleaning the panels – an endless task for solar farmers – will be easier, according to those behind the facility.
These mega projects have become possible, and indeed more common, thanks to the rapidly falling cost of solar cells.
“What we were all hoping for 20 years ago when the idea of cheap solar was just a dream, was that someone would come into this on an industrial scale and drive down the cost,” recalls Charles Donovan, at Imperial College Business School.
“That is exactly what China has done.”
But today, solar energy production accounts for just 1% of China’s total energy demand. A huge 66% of demand still comes from coal, something that the country’s National Energy Administration wants to change drastically by 2050 – not least because of China’s well-known air pollution problems.
But by that key date of 2050, a very different mix of energies could be powering China, should some projections become reality. One government report even suggested that renewables could supply 86% of the country’s energy needs, with solar providing around a third of that.
Can China do it? According to one expert observer, the answer is, “maybe”.
“What China is trying to do is rationalise a very large, fast growing system,” explains Jeffrey Ball at Stanford University’s Center for Energy Policy and Finance. Ball is the lead author of a recent report that details China’s success as an innovator in the solar panel industry.
Lofty ambitions
But as Ball points out, the revolution has not been without teething issues. For one thing, Chinese subsidies, which some argue are unsustainable, have not always been smoothly administered. The “feed-in tariff”, for example, often offered to solar companies that generate electricity, has sometimes been paid late.
“The government is often a year or more late in delivering that revenue – that wreaks havoc with the financials on a project,” says Ball.
The value of subsidies has recently been cut, too. What’s more, China’s large solar farms are largely in less densely populated areas in the west of the country, far from population centres like Beijing or Shanghai, in the east.
Building extra grid capacity to transfer it is time-consuming and expensive. This leads to a problem known as curtailment – a solar farm produces, say, 20 megawatts of electricity but can only find buyers for 15 megawatts.
“Depending on who you talk to in the provinces that have by far the largest amount of solar production, curtailment rates are 30% and in some cases significantly higher than 30% – that’s extraordinary and that’s a real problem,” explains Ball.
Whether China can achieve its lofty ambitions for renewable energy remains to be seen – but it has certainly proved its ability to foster a world-leading solar industry. For US entrepreneurs like Geof Moser, that’s enough to propel his own business towards further growth for now.
“The reality is that renewable energy is very cheap – especially solar energy,” he says. “And the reason is China.”
Syrian Refugees Help Install Free Solar Panels For Low-Income Family
By Samantha Tatro
June 20, 2017
Read the original article Here
Dozens of Syrian refugees spent their Tuesday morning installing free solar panels for a low-income family in San Diego’s Oak Park neighborhood.
The refugees, in partnership with GRID Alternatives and Get Charged Up, worked through the rising temperatures to learn new skills and help the family in need.
The installation falls on World Refugee Day and Ramadan, organizers said, a challenge for some volunteers.
“We know it is tough working outdoors on any given day, but, some of the people working today are fasting,” said Faisal Elazzouzi, founder of Get Charged Up, a non-profit focused on providing energy education while protecting the environment.
The event hit home for Elazzouzi – he was a Lebanese refugee whose family fled the country in 1982.
“It’s very personal to me, myself, because I was a refugee at a young age myself and I know that a lot of people in our situations are extremely motivated,” he said. “We know we can contribute, we know we can change the world, we know we can change our situation by working very hard. And I know by experience and we see it here live today, that with a little bit of organization, a little bit of support, we can really turn things around, we can really provide jobs, and bring a brighter future to a whole family.”
Elazzouzi said as he grew up as a refugee, he met people along the way that helped him out and gave him opportunities, leading him to give back later in his life.
“There’s always been a helping hand,” he said. “So it just makes sense for me to do the same.”
The solar panels installed Tuesday will help homeowner Dexter, who lives on 55th Street with his wife. Lately, he said, he has been struggling to make ends meet as he takes care of his wife, who suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease.
“I try to be as positive as possible…but there are moments where you have to deal with what is in my terms, reality,” he said.
Seeing the refugees work on his house all morning and into the afternoon, through the blazing sun, moved him.
“It’s a great thing to witness this to see it first hand. I was here when they started to arrive and I listened to them speaking their own dialect and to me that’s very moving, to see people from a different country, who have come from some difficult times, have an opportunity to get hands-on training,” Dexter said.
The solar panels will lower the cost of energy bills at the home and lower the family’s carbon footprint. In turn, the refugees will get hands-on training in solar installation.
“We never get tired of, we’re always eager to provide opportunities to people who want to seize those opportunities, help themselves, and build their skills and get a job in the industry,” said a representative with GRID Alternative. “We’ve seen many stories like that, people who come out here on their free time. They’re just trying to build a life, whether they’re coming from another country as a refugee or whether they’re in this country and want to change.”
Think Wind Turbines And Solar Panels Are Fads? Think Again
By Travis Hoium
June 17, 2017
Read the original article Here
Renewable energy often gets dismissed as a relatively insignificant part of the power picture because it doesn’t generate as much of America’s electricity as coal, natural gas, or nuclear plants. The president of the United States has even said he doesn’t think wind “works,” and he’s certainly no fan of solar energy.
But the opinions that wind and solar are fads, or are too minor to care about, or “don’t work” are simply wrong. In fact, wind and solar will soon overtake nuclear for the percentage of U.S. power they generate, and coal could be next.
Wind and solar are becoming big business
New data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that wind and solar combined to provide 10% of U.S. net electricity generation in March 2017, up from about 1% a decade ago. Wind accounted for 8% during the month and solar accounted for 2%.
(Image Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration)
You can see in the chart that wind power generation has grown by nearly 10 times in the last decade, and solar generation has gone from almost nothing in 2011 to a fairly impressive 2% in March. Solar energy has seasonal swings, but with more installations being completed every month and the summer months being the highest generation, we can expect more records for solar generation as April, May, and June data is reported.
Where the wind blows and the sun shines
The report also showed where wind and solar power was generated in 2016. Some of the states that produce a lot of wind and solar electricity are fairly predictable: California got 20% of its electricity from wind and solar, and Texas got 13% of its electricity from wind (solar was almost negligible in Texas).
But some states that get huge percentages of their electricity from wind and solar may surprise you: Iowa (37%), Oklahoma (25%), North Dakota (21%), and Kansas (30%).
And some surprises went in the other direction: Consider that Arizona only gets 5% of its electricity from wind and solar, despite having one of the best environmental profiles for solar in the country.
Where’s the money in renewable energy?
The rapid growth of wind and solar is good news for the renewable energy industry. On the wind side, fast adoption is propelling a growing business for General Electric (NYSE:GE), though wind remains a small percentage of its business overall. In solar, First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) and SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) are two of the leading U.S. companies.
But a bet on the continuing and profitable growth of renewable energy, no matter which energy source or what manufacturer, is better made by putting money into utilities. NRG Energy created NRG Yield (NYSE:NYLD) to own most of its renewable projects, while NextEra Energy created NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP). Those yield co’s have plenty of opportunities for growth, and already hold long-term contracts to sell renewable energy to utilities that ensure dividends for decades to come.
Now that wind and solar are providing 10% of U.S. electricity production, it’s clear that renewable energy is far more than a fad. And the pace of installations is accelerating, despite the fact that government subsidies are being phased out. Wind and solar energy should be taken seriously in the U.S. power picture because their share and impact are only going to grow.
Mark Cuban predicts this will make someone a trillion dollars
Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban recently predicted that an emerging tech trend would make someone $1 trillion. That lucky future trillionaire is just the beginning — and the trend itself could be worth as much as $19.9 trillion.
Fortunately, this hasn’t yet gone mainstream — most people haven’t recognized the scale of opportunity here.
We believe that one market expert has the right answer for investors looking to get in early — and potentially win big.