Yearly Archives: 2016

In the last few years, solar homes have been sprouting up everywhere. Once a rarity in real estate listings, these homes with photovoltaic panels are now commonplace. If you’re considering buying a house with solar panels, you’ll need the answers to a few questions before making your final decision. Don’t Make Assumptions About a Solar Home’s Electricity Costs Buying a solar home (one powered by photovoltaic panels) should result in lower monthly electricity bills — theoretically. Certainly you could end up with low or nonexistent power bills, or you may even get credit from the utility company under its net metering program. But just because a home is solar-powered doesn’t mean your electricity will be free. For example, your household...

Photovoltaic power and wind energy system installations have been on the rise for decades, both here in the United States and around the globe. Last year, however, was a banner year for renewable energy. In 2015, led by wind and solar power, renewables surpassed coal to become the world’s largest source of installed energy generation capacity. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently released a renewable energy market analysis and forecast, revealing exciting world records for solar and wind power. Their key research findings paint a positive picture for the future. 2015 Was an Exceptional Year for Wind and Photovoltaic Power According to the IEA report, a whopping 500,000 solar panels were installed every day around the world in 2015. Altogether,...

Solar power is getting a new advocate: Salt Lake City. Joining nearly 20 other cities across the country, Salt Lake City officials have pledged to run the city completely on clean energy by 2032. Solar power projects will help in creating the path to 100 percent renewable energy. As the largest city in Utah, Salt Lake City’s decision to make the transition to renewable energy could spur growth elsewhere in the state and in the nearby Intermountain West states. Why City Government Leaders Planned the Switch to Renewable Energy Temperatures have been heating up all around the world, Salt Lake City included. In fact, research shows that Utah is warming twice as fast as the global average. The warmer temperatures...

Thanks to the falling costs of solar power systems, more and more homeowners are installing photovoltaic arrays to cover their household electricity needs. But many are failing to take energy efficiency into consideration when planning their solar power systems, and this ends up costing them money. When it comes to saving money with solar power, energy efficiency is a valuable tool. Fortunately, you have many options for making your home more efficient when investing in photovoltaic power. Energy Efficiency Gives You More Solar Power Bang for Your Buck Your energy consumption dictates what size solar power system you’ll need. The more electricity your household uses, the larger your photovoltaic array will need to be to generate enough energy to power...

Bringing down solar soft costs is key to speeding up the widespread adoption of photovoltaic power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). To that end, at the beginning of 2016, the department’s SunShot Initiative provided $13 million in state-level funding for research exploring new ways to bring down these expenses. Now the SunShot Initiative has awarded an additional $21.4 million in funding to tackle challenges in reducing soft costs. This research puts our tax dollars to work to help make solar energy more affordable for all U.S. residents. What Are Solar Soft Costs? Soft or indirect costs are considered to be one of the biggest barriers for those interested in solar energy. These expenses can account for as...

Could your photovoltaic panels create a glaring problem for your neighbors? Concerns about potential glare are common among homeowners throughout Idaho and Utah. After all, no one wants their rooftop panel array to be the neighborhood nuisance. Fortunately, you can put this worry to rest. Your rooftop solar panel installation is not likely to blind your neighbors anytime soon. Photovoltaic Panels Produce Less Glare than Standard Window Glass Glare occurs when sunlight is reflected off of a flat, shiny surface. Solar panels are flat and somewhat shiny, but they are designed to capture light — not reflect it. Photovoltaic panels actually cause less glare than standard home window glass. And research has shown that they reflect less light than snow,...

The solar energy industry is booming, and U.S. residents are definitely supportive of this photovoltaic power revolution. A recent survey from the Pew Research Center found that almost 9 out of every 10 adults favors expanding the use of solar power in the United States. Solar Energy Has Stronger Public Support than Other Energy Sources An impressive 89 percent of those polled want more solar panel farms. No other energy source enjoys this much public support, although wind turbine farms come close at 83 percent. Nonrenewable energy sources are not looked upon nearly so favorably. More than half of adults surveyed opposed expansion in the coal mining, fracking, nuclear power and offshore drilling industries. The survey results nearly mirror the...

Could commercial solar power be the answer to decreasing energy expense in the hospitality industry? According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, hotels across the country spend more than $8 billion every year on energy. Commercial photovoltaic power has the potential to create significant savings for hotels, since covering even a portion of electricity costs with free energy from the sun could massively lower operating expenses. Why Commercial Solar Is Well-Suited for Hotels Unlike some types of commercial buildings, electricity makes up a large part of the operational expenses at most hotels. Hotels continuously run air conditioning or heating to maintain guest comfort. Also, indoor and outdoor lighting are in use 24 hours a day, all year long. Solar...

Solar power is getting a major boost, thanks to a large investment by the U.S. Department of Energy. The DOE has already funded $39 million in solar power projects thus far in 2016, but their commitment to finding new renewable energy solutions doesn’t end there. Recently, the DOE unveiled another $30 million investment for a new consortium to speed up the development of low-cost, photovoltaic energy. This exciting project is a part of the DOE’s revolutionary SunShot Initiative, and will form the Durable Module Materials (DuraMat) National Lab Consortium. The project brings together the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operated by Stanford University. The DuraMat Consortium...

Not everyone understands how great solar power is. Help spread the word by giving some of these useful and unique holiday gifts for the solar power neophytes in your life. Solar Power Gadgets They’ll Use Every Day A wide range of cool solar gadgets is available for the photovoltaic power newbies on your holiday shopping list, and any one of them can help your friends and family members truly appreciate the free energy that comes from the sun. Solar rechargers, for example, are pocket-sized devices that carry an extra cell phone charge — or several charges, depending upon the model. Or, choose a portable flashlight or lantern with a built-in photovoltaic panel to provide power. If your loved one is...